Yeah it might be. I have also been unimpressed with Vallejo metallics
Here’s some nice variations. There were taken at the collection in the Buffalo Bill Museum in Cody. Sharing to illustrate that the flat black w dry brushing seems to be the best and reviewing this thread and these pictures (which I’ve had forever) has convinced to change mine from here on out.
If you ever take a road trip to Yellowstone I’d recommend a side trip over to Cody WY to check this collection out. Gents, I think the entire thing is something in excess of 12,000 firearms. You read that right and I’m not spinning a tale here, it’s a bit overwhelming and may put a tear in your eye. From blundebusses to a Barrett sniper rifle you’ll find everything in between. I can throw some more up in a separate thread if you guys would like.
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Holy moly, that’s legit! Yeah I did look up MG pics like yours and they all seem black or black/blueish with just metallic along most edges or understandable wear areas.
I will check that out if ever in the area. I’m just in a small town at the moment, which happens to have a WWII Navy blimp base, hangars turned air museum featuring some WWII relics, and a few more in another general town museum (maybe a k98 there and some WWI stuff), and a fire arms room in a maritime museum in the next town up which contains all sorts including an early 1900s Luger, so I’m lucky enough here - but definitely not 12,000 lucky 
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Those museum automatic weapons are in better shape than most that I handled during my career. The ones in the Army usually have a very long service life and only look so nice when brand new or fresh out of Army Depot overhaul when they will get a new parkerizing coat. Not that our weapons weren’t well maintained, because they were. But constant use and cleaning wears off the coating.
Here is a typical M60 that I came across in service off one of my old tracks.
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I’m trying to remember the exact donor but I want to say it was the Remington collection that makes up a large percentage of the guns there. If it wasn’t Remington then it was Winchester. It was certainly one of those two prior to them being bought up and somewhat going downhill. The best part though not everything is pristine, the barrel on the M-60 for instance, but they are certainly given attention before displayed.
Below a lot of the display cases are pull out horizontal drawers with addition copies and variations of what you see in the more open display. Firearms are divided by era and also application so you might see a 1911 in the military display, law enforcement area and shooting sports area.
And this is just one wing of a fabulous museum. His personal guns and effects are fascinating to see. Nice art wing and a nice Native American display also. And if you go be sure to see the raptor show, they do wildlife rehab on raptors etc.
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Ha that’s a decent amount of dry brushing. I’ll take note there is understandably a lot more wear on the cover.
@MontanaHunter Chris’s excellent pictures, like the one below, raise another question about MG’s.
What’s the best color(s) & procesd to use to paint the ammo & belt?
When you open up a fresh ammo can, the brass and copper jacketing are usually pretty bright, since they are in an air tight and water tight can for storage. Even the links are a clean nice dull black color. But once you start driving, dust gets on all of that…
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The feed tray cover, obviously, is made from aluminum, and quite bright compared to the steel on most of the rest of the gun. The butt plate and ventilated portion of the foregrip are lighter color than the barrel and receiver.
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I get a set of Army Colors metallics that are supposedly one pass with that provides the highlight and shadows in one easy step but I haven’t tried them yet. I prefer Citidals brass and copper right now. Don’t care for Tamiyas metallics w a hairy stick, would rather teach a cat to play fetch honestly. I’ve had great luck w the metal colors for the war gaming crowd as all those are designed primarily for brush painting. Give the belts after complete a dusty effect or a wash and call it good. I mean a .50 belt in 1/35 is pretty minimal in the overall scheme of a build so I don’t give it a lot of attention to be fair. Brass and copper and black strip. Off the top of my head I don’t recall if the tips are color coded leather ke tank rounds but not worth the effort in my eyes.
Yes .50 caliber bullet tips are color coded depending upon type. Black for Armor Piercing, Red for tracer, and I believe silver for Armor Piercing Incendiary. Usually the standard interval for tracer was every fifth round, with the rest being standard ball ammo (no colored tip). I never dealt with AP or API ammo, so I don’t know the ratios of those in the ammo cans.
Cats are real generous fetching and sharing their prey with you if they like you. 
No need to teach them that trick, its in their DNA.
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