Thanks for the props guys. I'm so relieved this project is done. It was a labor of love for sure, but I'm happy to be moving on to the next big project (studio scale sandcrawler).
As for the paint scheme - it's quite involved and required alot of color experimentation. Pure grays ended up too "cool" so a few light layers of color (grays and buff colors) were needed to get the right tone. Used floquil paints exclusively, except for the primer, which was Krylon dark gray. I tried to match as best I could the markings and weathering of the variant commonly called the "yellow" or "gold" Y-Wing.
Weathering was done in 4 stages...
Overall wash in umber and sienna oils
Spot washes, some darker and some with a more rust color
Airbrush shading and blast marks, mostly in grimy black (interesting side note: not a drop of pure black paint is used anywhere on the bird)
Pastels/pigments for finer blast marks, scorching, and general filth and dirtiness.
It was a ton of fun to paint. The toughest part was the cockpit and nacelle markings (ie masking off compound curves is always nasty).
Watch out for the next issue of SF&FM - more details in there. Also, at the request of alot of guys I'm pulling together a detailed paint guide - more to come on that later.
Thanks again..
Dan