@Nickiow:
Just out of intrest, did you consider dry brushing?.
Also Flames of war models paint up and fit very nicley on the discs, ive tried the dry brush over basic national coulours and a more detailed approach and don’t know which way to go as i kinda like both!!.
I normally do a bit of drybrushing on models, but i fnd the AA50 models too small to really utilize that technique. I did drybrush the metal parts on the German artillery (88flak) however. I tend only to drybrush metal.
What I do instead is a lot of inking. Taking black (or a darker shade of the original colour if black is overkill) and the original shade, mixing them and then applying a lot of water. You then coat the model in the watered blackish mess over the original paint. It falls into all the cracks and once dried, you paint the higher areas of the model again and is creates a nice layered effect. When I post pictures of the fleet you should see that a bit better.
The key to painting, i think at least is practice. Start simple and build up. Be prepared to paint lots of crappy models, you should see my original blood bowl team from when I was 13!
I learned a lot from various friends who paint in a whole league above me (One friend even has a couple of games workshop golden demon placings) . I sat with them and painted horribly for years and they gave me advice and guidance. Slowly, and surely I got better. I’m not a fantastic painter, but i’m not horrible either.