Morning Ian,
Thanks for you comments and glad you liked the kit.
For mud I use garden soil, mixed in with dark coloured paint, dark umber, black red or whatever comes to hand. Mix it in well with the mud and when you have a nice sticky mess just dab it on to where you want. You need to build it up slowly and lighten the colour as you go, so several attempts may be need until you get what looks and feels right. This one could do with a little more contrast.
For dust I use Mig Pigments, again working dark to light. You can either dust them on and rub them in with a soft paint brush or add a little water and let them soak into the mud. Surface dust, I just dust one and let it settle naturally - my basic pigments are Dark Mud, Brick Dust and Light Dust.
Dark Mud can be a bit scarey, it's such a strong colour but it works well if you rub it in. I normally take the fresh look off the base coat with a very watery wash of matt black, although I read some where not to use that but it works for me. I imagine a wash of brown, dark umber of dark green would work just as well.
I always roughten up the steel plate behind the bogies and on the smooth surfaces with a little glue and an old stipple brush. Nothing drastic, just enought to take the flat smoothness of the plastic away.
This helps the pigments stick and also gives a more natural look to the metal, at least I think so. I also use my finger to rub the pigments in if I want a stronger effect. Here' s a picture of one of my Mk I's - that brownish sheen was done with the stipple effect, base coat, watery matt black and dark mud pigments rubbed in with my finger, it think the greese on you finger also helps the final look - again something I read you not supposed to do, ie handle you models LOL, LOL.
You can see the same effect but not just as strong on the sides of the Stuart.
The good thing about garden soil is that if you don't like it you can just wash it off, it 's also very cheap LOL, LOL. Don't worry if a few bits drop off that would happen naturally. You can add contrast by either dusting or using the pigments with water or if you like you could mix the pigments into the sticky wet soil to start with.
Painting is a big experiment for me so I tend to try something new each time. Hope this helps a bit and if you're not happy with the final look don't be afraid to go back and change it.
Cheers
Al
