I'm still getting the hang of painting, and I'm finally working with colors where fading and mottling will show up (in this case, USAAF Olive Drab shades, P-47).
I've read so much and watched so many videos that the notes I've taken along the way are contradictory. I'm starting to confuse myself.
Rather than describe what I did with a practice model, I'll cut to the chase and ask:
1) Do you spray on the darker shade first, then the faded color on top of that, or...
2) Do you spray the faded color first, then figure out where to spray the darker, non-faded shade (e.g., panel lines, vertical surfaces, random areas)?
Option 1 makes intuitive sense (dark paint fades to lighter shades), but seems like you could end up putting on more paint than desired (using light paint to cover dark paint).
Option 2 seems to work better but requires a much better understanding in advance of the desired end-product (working in reverse, or working in negative space).
Also, in regards to both Options, I'm not sure that pre-shading is really necessary. It's handy, but ultimately a lot of that preshading work gets lost in the light vs dark layering.
I'm sure there's more than one way to skin a cat, but any thoughts or techniques are appreciated.