Yes, a sticky for tutorials and tips&trick would be very helpfull, but previous attempts didn't work (got lost). But hey, let's try again.
Most ideas are not mine, but here we go:
I use acrylics for my miniatures, although the final varnish is white spirit based.
First I clean the metal from casting lines and flash. I glue them onto nails or whatever to make them easier to handle and paint. Then I put them in a cup of ammonia mixed with water and leave them for a night (like 8 hours). I clean them with hot water and a brush and leave them to dry for at least a day. Then I spray prime them with a grey colour and leave the miniatures to dry for at least 2 days (preferably more than a week). Then they are ready to get painted.
First layer is the base colour. Yellow or grey for Germans, Khaki (usually mixed with a bit of olive drab) for the British. This base paint is much lighter than I want my final look, because washes will darken them quite a bit. I like greyish (not bright) colours, so I like a thin (add water) coat so that the grey colout of the primer shines through. This way I already get a very soft wash effect with the first layer. The miniatures need to dry at least a few hours.
For German camo, the next layers are a brownish red and green (olive drab) colours. After that I add details like tires, tools, guns, rusty exhausts and tracks etc. Then I add 2 or 3 washes (dark grey/ light brown and a rusty colour). I prefer to add light washes to have more control over how dark the model becomes. The last wash or washes are selective. Unually dirt or rust doesn't cover the whole model but only a couple of places.
After the washes are dry (at least a few hours) I do some drybrushing. Usually that is the base colour mixed with white.
The miniatures are then sealed with a gloss acrylic varnish. A gloss one seems stronger and leaves a better surface for decals. I use white glue mixed with water to add the decals to the model with a brush. When dry, I gently add some more mixed white glue on the decals. The second varnish is an acrylic matt one. Third and fourth varnish are the matt and white spirit based. You might think: "What? Four layers of varnish?! But for me two layers weren't enough (paint came off). Acrylic varnishes don't seem strong and matt enough to me. The white spirit one is, but when I put it onto the acrylics it sometimes slighty dissolves the colours.
