So I proceeded with the Scarabs as advertised. They got their battle damage mask, then a light blue followed by white airbrush. A final black lining with Badab Black (black wash) and I could remove all the masking. For me this is a ridiculously satyisfying thing to do, a combination of anticipation at seeing the finished model revealed and that urge that makes you want to pick the dried paint from the lids of paint pots.
At this point I was on the fence, again. The reason being, I’m not sure the battle damage being the same colour as the legs and tail is a good idea, because in places it obscures the definition of the model, especially when there is a lot of battle damage. This is best seen in the 3rd Scarab from the left.
I decided to test a different battle damage colour so broke out the Deathmark torsos again. The left one is painted in a blue grey, the right one in a darker brown grey, and the middle one will remain as a control.
The second photo has the top layers added and battle damage revealed. Ignoring the over the top black lining here, I think the first (lighter blue grey) test is the most successful. The darker one on the right is a bit too dark and leads to a too cluttered model, IMO. I’ll probably be proceeding with the left hand version for the finished Necrons (and, at some stage, updating the scarabs too).