maybe not the right topic but I think it is related does anybody have a good method to paint exhaust soot on armor or can you direct me to the thread that talks about this please.
I moved this post to its own topic.
In the hope of getting more responses …
My spontaneous answer would be to try and find photos of the real thing
or at least a similar exhaust.
Thank you very much I have an M88a1 in the roster to be built and I want to soot up the exhaust deflector so any ideas would be amazing.
Black pigment.
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Lightly spray around the exhaust area with flat black paint using low pressure w/an airbrush. Alternately, you could drybrush flat back around the exhaust area. Lastly, you can use ground down black artist chalks and rub them into the exhaust area in the same way you would the drybrush method above.
Here’s one
https://www.reddit.com/r/modelmakers/comments/qywury/how_can_i_make_gun_smoke_and_exhaust_stains/
H.P.
Black pastelpowder does the trick. Or the black soot from Tamiya’s “model make up”-set.
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I would replace black paint color with Tamiya smoke to build up in layers to want you want. Black can be too stark at times.
Similar for me too, black pigment stippled on with brush, slowly building up and adding staining to appropriate places.
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Cheap substitute could be Revell Tar black. i just love it, both acryl and enamel…
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Once again; pigments (or oil pastels) slowly built up until the desired effect is achieved.
The absolutely cheapest way ( 
) is to take a scrap of wood (balsa is best) and burn the end - instant carbon! You can then pencil the charred end directly to the model, or crush and powder the carbon and dry brush it.
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Pastels for me, which I scrub in with a cut-down brush; the only time I add extra is when I’m depicting the revolting stuff that one sees, say, on Soviet BMPs - looks more like tar than a sooty deposit. I then use smears of putty and a semi-gloss black paint then add the pastel black.
That seems pretty legit. I have not tried it.
What I have done is burn the plastic spoon in an MRE to create soot for my front sight post on my M4. I used to tell soldiers your MRE can help you engage the enemy better. They thought I was joking. You can also use the cardboard to make range cards, like anyone really does that these days. I imagine you could collect that soot and brush it on where needed - never tried it. Never understood why people spent good money on sight blackening products.
Speaking of which, why buy little of pigment for ridiculous prices?
This is decidedly not difficult to find:
A whole pound for less than the cost of a tin. Hook up your entire club for life.
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Now don’t you go around destroying the business for a bunch of honest merchants
trying to sell cheap stuff in small expensive packages.
Them there business people got kids to feed and cars to fill with gas too you know …
I see your point. I mean, what if the day came when I needed to make some extra coin selling my dirty thinner as “rain streaking?” 
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