Ace-Garageguy

If the "acrylic base coat" product has instructions and/or recommended topcoats...FOLLOW THEM.

There are many techniques that don't require an airbrush, using dry pigment powders, pastels, chalks, acrylics, enamels, various applicators including makeup brushes, Q-tips, etc. And there's no shortage of really good model weathering videos on youtube. Any technique for train or military models will work on cars too. No answers here can even come close to what's available if you do some searching and watching on YT. Here's a start.

Thorough cleaning of resin parts is a good idea prior to applying primer or paint. I prefer to scrub with Comet, hot water, and a toothbrush, air dry, then a quick wash with 70% isopropyl alcohol. Afterwards, any rattlecan paint you'd use on plastic will work fine. SEM flexible black coating makes a very nice "new" finish for tires, as do many cheap flat and semi-gloss spray paints. It's really all about looking at pix of real tires, then experimenting until you get the effect that looks right to you.

There are many youtube videos on weathering car models, railroad models, and military models. All the techniques can be used on anything. Watch lotsa videos, get ideas, try it yourself. Here's one to start:

Why, thank you. They say consistency is important. I try, ever so humbly.

Good eye...and for that, you get The Emperor's New Clothes Honorary Recognition of Excellence in Observation Award for 2023.

States of mind are not always voluntary.

The flat-topped front wheel arches identify the diver and its truckmate as '53 or '54 Chryslers. The car whose nose is just visible looks to be a '46 Plymouth.

You're pretty close, but actually, it's several different car models, each one having its own hyper-awesome-turbo-nano-miniaturized Klingon cloaking device. Impressive, huh?

Airport cash seizures when there's been no crime committed, proven, or even charged, is apparently becoming fairly common.

Hey...I finished as many this year as I did the three whole years before combined.

All the first gen Caddy OHV V8 engines from the '49 331 cu.in. version through the 365 and early 390 (through 1962) are very similar visually. The very best totally stock one in kit form comes in the Monogram '59 Eldo.

You might like this one...

Great backstory, great model emerging. Funny how those "this should be pretty easy, really..." projects seem to expand into more and more and more effort, isn't it?

Thanks for your interest and comments, and best New Year wishes to you too, sir. I'd hoped to get some extended bench time over the Christmas break, but a bout with some flu-like malady has left me with zero interest since Christmas day...though I think I might get a few minutes in today.

Toddlers should be kept well away from flamethrowers.

A Panhard bar adds additional positive control over the movement side-to-side of the rear axle relative to the chassis, which makes launches more predictable and consistent. Those long parallel lift bars don't do enough in that regard. A Watts link would be preferable, as there's zero side "sway" with a Watts setup, but available space required and additional complexity are also considerations, along with a possible unsprung-weight increase. A single transverse leaf spring suspension also benefits from limiting side-to-side relative movement, as there's a considerable amount of lateral "slop" due to the effects of the shackles and the bending action out at the tips of the springs. NOTE: The early use of the term "sway bar" did not refer to the "anti-roll bar" as we know it today, but rather to a Panhard bar applied to "tail-dragger" customs with transverse springs, where excessively long shackles had been used to achieve much of the lowered stance. Without a "sway bar" to control side-to-side movement, some of them killed their operators due to unanticipated rear-steering effects having terminal consequences. Even cars with parallel leaf springs will benefit from a Panhard or Watts setup if precise handling and/or chassis tunability are goals. The '47 Caddy, for instance, was factory-equipped with a Panhard bar. EDIT: For maximum benefit, a Panhard bar needs to be as long as possible, as it still allows the axle to travel side-to-side somewhat, relative movement being defined by the arc described by the radius the bar-end pivot points impart. Longer bar=longer radius=smaller arc.

"Show me the money" was a popular phrase to rebleat decades ago, but "follow the money" is the best way to prove corruption.

Heard the one about the sailor who walks into a bar with a manatee in a dress?

Called for jury duty, I was.