model building

[Iriorne]

Iriorne that is a great looking G. One day I will get to building and lighting my Mobius Vipers.

Cheers! Cost a small fortune for all the tools and parts but I'm pleased with how it turned out. Pegasus is next up, it's gonna dwarf the old Bucket.

Question for you gurus, you guys have advocated the use of a gloss coat but I note that your finished kits have that wonderful worn appearance and looks very matt.
How is that achieved?

Flat clear on top to seal all your weathering. You can always add more weathering after the flat coat also.

Yep. Generally, I use a gloss coat between layers for paint, decals, weathering, etc. Your final clear coat can be gloss, matte or satin, depending on the effect you're going for. The only exception is generally pastel weathering which goes on better over a matte coat; the rough surface gives the pastel dust something to bite on to and you can seal with another clear coat.

Plenty of options for clear coat, I used to use Tamiya clear, adding flat base for matte, but I've started using the MicroScale gloss and matte coats which are a bit more convenient and spray and clean up just as easily. Just be aware of the basic rules about mixing paint types. Acrylic goes fine over lacquer or enamel but the other way round can cause your paint to dissolve.

i'm still learning the weathering but with every tip you get better. [...] this is the first time i've really attempted to do the mottle camo on a german fighter but it turned out ok-ish.

Your mottle camouflage technique is getting better, no runs or spiders this time.