pastels chalks?????

First you want to shave some material off with a razor knife - shave it very fine like dust. You can mix some of this with water and a drop of liquid dish soap and make a wash out of it or you can use it dry with a soft brush or a Q-tip to make gun blast stains or exhaust stains. Look at my web site under weathering or under the Fw-200 build page two - both places these techniques are explained in more detail.

First of all ... be sure that they are chalks and not wax.

Here's what I do for armoured vehicles.

This is the final step that I do on any of my models.

Take a chalk stick and sand it on a piece of med course sandpaper.
Gather up all the dust into a small container.
Using a ratty old, fairly course paint brush. Dip the brush into the pastels and scrub the pastels into the area you want weathered. Keep repeating this process on the model until it is at the level you want.
Then get an artists fan brush with very soft bristles. once again dip into the pastels and apply a light dusting to the entire model, heavier near the bottom and where dust would build up.

Place the model on your shelf and keep yours and everyone elses hands off.

Shermanfreak:
Can you use laquer to seal the chalk and prevent awed fingers to destroy it??

Ricardo ..... I've heard of some modellers using a finish cote over the pastels, but what I have found is that it takes away from the final product. The results are just not how I would like them. I like the dusty dirty look in my finished models and the selaer cote after the pastels just doesn't look right IMO.

Personally the hands off rule works very well for me and I just remind observers that the models are for looking at and you don't need to "look" with your fingers.

thanks guys. I will start the experiment on an old model then move to the unit I am currently working on.

Thanks Sherman....... I love to get advice from somebody with so much more experience