Dana!! YAY for you!! Diving off into the madness and turning out such good-looking product - way ta go! As for the gray on the Phase 1.5 ARC, my personal preference for my own work is to go darker than is necessarily accurate, just to be sure my details have enough contrast to be seen. And the great thing about the AppleBarrel/CeramCoat/Folk Art paints - there's usually already a bottle of the exact shade you need. Finding it, however, can be a challenge.
LS - thanks for that thinning tip! Knowing me and my droids, I need to invest in some windex.
