All done I think, just need to take some pics, and apply any improvements that you suggest. Comments below:
I must admit I hadn't anticipated someone trying the chipping on metallics :-[ It works a little different there, at least that's my observation. Painting over the chips with a metallic paint, no matter how thin, is probably not going to work as the metallic pigments might ruin any illusion of depth we are trying to create. Also the highlights under the chips should be done with a very bright metallic paint as should be scratches. Overall my opinion is that chips and scratches on metallic surface are more successful in darkly shaded areas, because I think they profit from the flat/shiny contrast there.
Alright, on the AC barrel, I covered back over the asterisk marks and tried a new technique (for me) of representing extremely overheated metal. I like how it turned out, so I'm not going to pursue adding more damage to it. Used a successive series of washes, and then added a highlight line of silver, and finally a thin line of pearl metallic.
On the other hand, I added damage to the metallic surfaces of the other (LA, LT) barrels and followed your suggestions, highlighting the chips with silver.
What I mean is that you need some very small chips surrounding the big ones. Or you can even try to break up the bigger chips with the basecolor or by painting a few 'fake' highlights inside them.
I made another attempt with the sponge technique, and I think it improved things a bit. It added some smaller damage, although it definitely looks better on the lighter areas. I also painted some basecolor back into some of the larger chips to break them up a little.
3) Chips #2: I'd like to add a bright silver as a highlight to a few spots, especially where those chips overlap a corner. This might also give them the effect of more recent damage. Thoughts?
Try it out, see what happens. My limited experiments with chipping and using metallic paints were not to my liking, but this doesn't mean it can't look good. Maybe this is a step to developing your own method and adds a whole new dimension to the effect :)
Ok, I tried this, but it was on such small surfaces and corners that it's very difficult to even see. Regardless, I know it's there, and that's good enough. :)
4) Rear jump jet exhaust: According to the record sheet, the mech has 2 JJ's in each leg, and 1 on the torso. While I'm unsure of what exactly is modeled as JJ's on the legs, the rear torso JJ is very obvious and I think the paint underneath it should show weathering, perhaps scorching or at least some soot. I could do this with a very light targeted black drybrush, but I wanted to see if you had a better suggestion.
Yes, a targeted, careful drybrush should do the trick. My only concern would be that the result looks too flat. Maybe a *very* light drybrush with a metallic paint or light grey after the black would look good.
Alternatively you could try more of a stippling technique. Something completely different would be pigments. Black or dark metallic pigments stippled or rubbed on.
So, the issue with this, is that the main JJ is in the middle of the back, and he's been modified to be torso-twisting. Clearly, he could apply JJ's while twisting in either direction, and to represent that I would've had to add this weathering to the entire back half of the mech, possibly even the upper legs. I was unwilling to commit to what would essentially be covering a lot of paint I was happy with, with black dry-brush. Instead, I just applied a minimum of a dry-brush to the part of his back directly underneath the JJ, which had the added benefit of adding some weathering to the warning decal. I included a very light metallic element to this dry-brush as well. It's subtle, and likely to only be seen when the mini is held in the hand. If you think I should add more of this, let me know.
6) Actuators/joints: These just seem too bright. I think I need to do something to give them a more oily metal look. Maybe a brown wash, or a light layer of Tamiya Smoke.
Hmm, I'd say you either didn't shade enough or applied too strong highlights. Tamiya Smoke is a grey color, isn't it? It might work, but I'd be worried about the shine those Tamyia clear colors have.
I would shade the metallics again. Build up flat shadows with black and brown colors, building up the intensity with successive washes. This way you can nicely control how wide and bright your highlights are. Treat bright metallics just as you would bright highlight color. I'd use a bright silver only for selected hotspots.
I worked on deepening the shadows, and also applied a Nuln Oil wash that really knocked down those highlights. The highlights still show up, it's just not as bright, but let me know what you think.
Step 17: After reworking some of the weathering, I moved on to this step. Made absolutely certain my paint was thin and transparent and reglazed areas where I had applied weathering (scratches or chips). I used a Ceramcoat Antique White for final hotspots, and then took another look at all the chips, and added a bit of touch-up here and there.
Step 18: Skipped this step on this mech. I only had one potential black area, the rear of the LA barrel, but I was happy with the look it had, so I left it. I'm willing to go back and add this though if you think it needs it.
Step 19: I applied the rust technique to a couple small areas around the feet, and down the inside of the right lower leg area. These are very hard to spot. I also used this on both sides of the LA barrel to greater effect. I'm interested to see if you think I overdid, or under-did, this.
Step 20: I don't have a large collection of different pigments, so I mainly worked with washes and drybrushing. Worked over the rocks with various shades of gray, and the ground with earthy colors. I kept the colors within the skid trench a little darker and more wet-looking. Tufts were added, and painted with quite a bit of yellow color to knock down the bright green some. A little green flock to a couple areas was added as well. Grass and mud added to the raised left foot. The tufts seemed pretty tall, so I trimmed them down some.
I had a shallow depression that could potentially hold water, but I have no water effects. Started by painting in some blue and green washes. Then I covered that with a couple layers of white glue. Unfortunately that shrank a lot, so I didn't end up with the volume I wanted. I washed it a couple more times, and finished it off with some gloss varnish. Not too thrilled with it, but not sure if I should keep working on it.
Step 21: I've only got one pigment (Secret Weapon Pigments' Terracotta Earth), so I applied it sparingly to the earth portions of the base, and around the feet as well. Pigments need to be moved to the top of my 'Tools to add' list.
Alright, I'm adding some pics below, but these are just quick pics I took while much was still WiP. I'm hoping to provide better quality pics by tomorrow, but it might have to wait until Sunday.