For all you experienced painters out there, I am in need of a little tip.
How do you go about weathering an aircraft? I use Photoshop CS to repaint an aircraft, but I'm clueless about weathering.
Could somebody please explain how to get the weathering effects?

Thanks very much

Scott Slaughter, of Abacus Publkishing, has an article on "adding dirt" ... Adding Dust and More

Then there's Basic Weathering from the Simmer's Paint Shop site.

Both tutorials are good, and you can use theír principles to work out your own repaint, even if you're not using the programs they're showing.

a bit less defined imho...

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I agree, and since different aircraft "weather" and "get dirty" in different situations, that's why having a different set of tools and techniques available makes each repaint unique.

You can have a "clean" but "weathered" aircraft, maybe it has some parts from another airplane and hasn't been reapainted yet?  etc.

wji, your model looks good - not the crisp, just painted look, but that airplane has been "used" - a lot!

fixed it for ya
http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/skin

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The tags work just fine - you had a space between the image suffix and final brackets...

you had   jpg [/img]  vs jpg[/img]

heres a few off the top of my head....i see them every day working at my airport (KPNE)

remember that there should be some tiny bare metal areas showing, particularly around overwing refueling points, and fuel panels, and maybe even by luggage doors and panels.

add maybe a scratch from some time a dumb line rat scratched the paint with the refueling nozzle,

add like a TINY LITTLE tiny hint of blue on the top of wings where AVGAS may have overflowed and evaporated, leaving an oval (egg shaped, kinda) shaped ring of a faint blue. have the pointier end of the oval aft, and rounded side closer to the front side.

dirt on the belly, depending on plane, in line with the plane of rotation for wheels,

maybe some stains from hydraulic fluid, some effect of peeling due to Skydrol (nasty stuff!!!!!!!!!)

chipped paint on leading edges, nose, and along the seam where the radome and fuselage meet, also near handles on doors.

dirt on handles and foot holds/steps...

maybe some brake dust (dark gray) on the main wheels,

grease slung away from the center on nose wheels of some jets (hawkers and citations are notorious for this).

soot build up on fuselage (depending on aircraft) due to thrust reversers, exhaust residue (soot) build up from APU exhaust, trailing behind the exhaust exit, due to it being used in flight,

streaks of discoloration on the underside of engine cowls due to slight leaks from oil, etc out of the drain ports on said cowls.

if working on planes dealing with salt water, use lots of different shades of the same color. look at the internet for F-14 or other older naval aircraft pics....no 2 panels are the same color...corrosion owns!

theres a lot more ideas, but i cant think of them right now because i took a sleeping pill, and my attention span is about shot.

good night.

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He wasn't trying to show any shots, he was posting some IDEAS off the top of his head . . .