What do washes do?
From what I understand they bring out detial, like darking around the bolts etc. Washes apply dark highlights to the recessed parts of the model. Washes are highly diluted paints that wash over the model and deposit color in all the cracks and crannies of the surface. The excess paint is wiped off the upper layers so that the original color remains.
Be sure to spray a clear coat of latex over your model to seal the surface and protect the paint, base coat.
Hope this helps
That’s it. It gives it depth. You can do acrylic washes too by mixing acrylic paint and acrylic thinner. I use black, dark gray and browns for washes. I never put a clear coat on first when I do acrylic. Enamel washes, you definitely want an acrylic clear coat first to protect the base coat
G’day ygmodeler4 heres a link for you its swannys article and it should expain some of your questions about washes …
http://www.swannysmodels.com/Weathering.html
cheers mike