Weathering - how much is enough?

If you frequent any of the online forums and Facebook Groups, you'll notice quite quickly that if anyone dares to post a photo of their newly completed pride & joy in its factory-fresh state, they'll most probably be jumped on by a dozen people telling them it needs "weathering" and, if you do go down the weathering route, a dozen telling them it's too much! So, what's the answer?

Weathering is optional - entirely your choice.

Unless you intend to display your creation at an exhibition or modelling show, choosing a factory-fresh finish is fine if that's what you want and what makes you happy.

If you do decide to venture down the weathering rabbit hole, it's entirely your choice how far you go - from gentle exhaust staining to that junkyard look - your decision. To be honest, the only way you can be confident of how a particular aircraft looked on a particular date and time is to refer to an original, unadulterated photo and, even then, it's likely to be a black and white photo*, and you'll be unable to detect shades of black, brown, green and grey so, ultimately it's up to you to decide based on "reasonable" assumptions like "this aircraft would have been used in a monsoon and flown from a jungle airstrip". It's a creative decision on your part.

*Beware the colourized photo. A photo that's been electronically colourized by computer (or AI) will almost surely be unreliable. You've been warned.

As a general rule - less is more. It's as simple as that.

To be continued ...