How do you Dirty up and Fade a Bright, Gloss paint when weathering?

How do YOU do this and what do you recommend? I have seen several things people do: Black wash spray (water & paint misted), chalk dusting with a brush, and Flat Paint mist standing several feet back. Here are details on what I've done & what I want:

All my paints are Gloss Enamel, which I've wet sanded down with 1000 grit. This took most the gloss away, but still semi-reflective. I tried a spot with wet 600 grit, which dulled it down too much, drastically fading the color (not looking worn, just lighter & sanded lol). I have my scratches & paint peeling down, but not the color-fading. I'm now wanting to weather & dirty up the armor so that it looks WORN and OLD (like I didn't give a **** about it). Much like Boba Fett's helmet has the faded green appearance.

I want it all to have a uniform sun-faded, dirty look, as if I spent too much time in windy conditions on Tattooine.

I think the black wash would look good & uniform, but might make it look grimey and less worn/faded.
I think the chalk dusting will work good, but time consuming & less uniform.
I think the Flat paint Mist will be fade it, but in even less uniform the previous two options.

Could anyone comment on comparing these methods for fading & uniformal Dirtying, or have new methods to add to this?

Thank you!!!!

000 steel wool will take the gloss right off and leave it pretty uniform. Testors Dullcoat also works.

Madmartigan said:

000 steel wool will take the gloss right off and leave it pretty uniform.

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Roger roger...

I use Testors Dullcote.

Thanks guys! Did not know that the dullcote is all that's needed to remove all the gloss.

How did yall fade & dirty your armor between the paint & the dullcote? I've seen suggestions of black/brown wash, chalk powder, real dirt, acrylic paint rubbed in the cracks, and Flat mist spray from several feet back. All sound like great ideas.

Anyone have better results with one method than the other? What is the difference in appearance between a black wash & a chalk powder coating??

All methods listed will work. I flattened my items by using white scotch-brite to knock the gloss off the surface. The one factor is which one would you feel more comfortable in using. IMO, paint washing and applying pastel chalk for weathering both provide remarkable results. Using chalks, I feel, would be more foregiving to a person who thinks they are not that skilled plus it has more of a "3D feel" to it. Washing with paints could be more difficult to correct mistakes, depending how your base and wash paints are made. (enamel, acylic, polyurethane, etc.)