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BTW, I'm finding weathering hard to master. Harder than painting or even oils.
Dan, it was about a month ago that I talked you through your first airbrushing session. Trust me, Padawan, you have yet to "master" anything. You may be having success, but it will be months before you reach competency and years before you achieve mastery. This hobby has a very long learning curve. That's what makes it so interesting. You never stop learning. It may take you years to develop and perfect your style of weathering with oils and branded weathering products. In fact, it will. 10 years from now you'll have it down solid, but by then you'll be trying new things. That's why this hobby never gets boring. If you're doing it right, you're never doing the exact same thing twice.
You can't put a weathering effect on a gloss surface because it will just scatter all over the place and you'll spend all your time with a rag and a brush full of thinner cleaning up all the weathering product that wound up on the other side of the tank and in your hand. It needs to be applied to a semi-flat or flat finish. (See my "Finishing and Weathering Sequence" post at the top of this forum for all questions answered). Always build up a weathering product, even mud, a little bit at a time, so YOU are in control of how much ends up on the tank. Keep a cup of thinner and a short stencil brush handy so that you can scrub away (most of) any mistakes. If you make a big OOPS, take the original base paint color you just screwed up and drybrush the area back to it's original condition. Recoat with clear flat and start over with the weathering product. All is not lost if you go FUBAR. Weathering products are wonderful things with a light and controlled touch and if you can keep them where you want them. I remember that after 2 hours of driving in the summer, our Bradleys were so covered with dust that you couldn't see the NATO 3 tone camo all the way up to the turret. Weather a model that way and judges will just frown at you!