I am really loving how the armor turned out after weathering!
The dents and deep scratches were cut into the armor using a dull boxcutter (to promote jagged cuts instead of clean straight ones), and then filled in with yellow and then silver. The yellow and silver were applied using a makeup applicator sponge and toothpick, to make the detailing really fine.
Now, the knee armor was formed using cardboard from a box, not the thick cardstock that i used for the torso armor and helmet. So the resin absorbed a little unevenly, leaving some high/low spots, bubbles, pockmarks, and different textures. I sanded out the really bad spots, but I'm glad I left the pockmarks in place because that would help with weathering. After hacking some scratches and dents into the knee armor, I started filling in the first dent with silver, and didnt like how it turned out. I used the sponge to wipe away the excess silver, and accidentally wiped silver over some of the adjacent pockmarks... Which led me to my eureka moment!
The silver had filled in the pockmarks, making em look like mini-shrapnel damage, as well as perfectly filling in some scratches. It made the weathering look a LOT more realistic than applying with a toothpick (some damage spots looked "drawn-on"). Also, the yellow was looking too vibrant against the dull silver. So I decided to add some silver to the sponge and smear it all over the knee armor, filling in each scratch/dent/imperfection, and giving the vibrant bright yellow a bit of a dull metallic/almost greasy look. I was pretty happy with the outcome.
All the armor needs is decals, some black misting, and it should be all done!
Yes, of course I took pictures lol.
Stage 1 of weathering
Stage 2
Finished armor
Close up of knee armor