Mosquito weathering

That’s kind of what I was thinking, and while I am by no means a “river counter”, I still want to try and give the paint some interest and depth, but don’t want to overdo it too much.  My only thoughts of the difference in paint weathering between the wood and metal sort of stem from my automotive refinish experience, where the different substrates between plastic bumper covers and steel (or aluminum) body panels created different paint appearances and paint mismatch, even if painted together...

thanks for your insight and opinion, Bish!

I would not think being made of wood would keep it any cleaner, it would still stain. Of course, what you would not have is lots of metal chipping. I recently finished a Tamiya Mossie and weathered it as i would any otehr kit. I was doing an aircraft that was pretty new so just some exhaust stains and a light flory wash.