Looking for some suggestions for tackling a weathering question. I'm currently building a F*F Bearcat in 1/48. I'm finishing it in late war/early post war USN livery. The dark blue is rather bland on its own so I want to weather it (just enough) to make the model "pop". I looking to show use but not "neglect". I've done advanced weathering on other colors but never dark navy blue. I'm hoping some veteran modelers can share some of their secrets.

Many thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Fred

You need to go with lighter colours on dark blue. Exhaust stains show up as greyish brown, panel edges get highlighted with wear making them lighter. It's a little counter-intuitive but a light coloured wash will help to make the panel lines stand out a bit. You can also vary the panels a little with shading the blue so it isn't a solid shade.

You can also try the dot filtering technique. See page 8 of this build. Actually that entire buld is an incredibly inspiring textbook on how to do a Navy aircraft.