“Weathering” (applying a worn-out or used effect) can really bring life to a gundam model kit, especially when you don’t have time to paint it. I used mostly Pastel, and Water based color for weathering until recently I started using Gundam Weathering or Wipable Markers. They are great for precise application and extremely easy to use. Basically, you just paint over an area, and wipe it out lightly to create weathering effects like oil spill, and muddy surface.

I took my unpainted MG 1/100 Rick Dias shoulder piece, and started applying the weathering effect using the Gundam Weathering Markers.

	Step 1 - the unpainted, unweathered shoulder piece. Note the spruce (leftover from the molding tree) is very noticable.
	Step 2 - Sliver were added to highlight the groove and shows “used” metal effect.
	Step 3 - dark brown were added to the surface. I let it set for a few seconds, and then wipe out lightly the brown color. (don’t wait too long, otherwise its hard to remove it; you can removed it using RealTouch Shading pen ).
	Step 4 - I wiped out too much of my initial sliver color, so I am reapplying the sliver highlights.
	Step 5 - I applied the blending a bit with the sliver and brown. The blending is done using the RealTouch Shading pen. Note that the spruce that you saw in step 1 was now hidden by some muddy weathing effect