Full hull painting question

I usually join the hull together and airbrush the black water line. I then put a layer of dullcoat over it, and mask it with tamiya tape cut down with a straight edge on a peice of glass. Then I paint the whole thing hull red because it's actually below the haze grey upper parts of the ship. I put tape and paper together along the black waterline to mask the lower hull, keel, and roll chocks. Then comes the haze grey and your on your way to the deck and superstructure.

Hull red is a sort of primer then?

For the deck surfaces I use Pactra tape and liquid mask after painting the decks gunship grey or deck blue. Use alot of liquid mask too it makes it easier to peel off later. The thicker you get it, the easier it is to slide #11 blade into it, and pull it all off at once. I also buy Gold Medal Models 1/350 ship decals for the fouling lines, Mk 45 gun lines, and helo deck lines, it's just easier ! It also lookes better too because you can sand down those raised lines for painting. Good luck my friend !

Yes the hull red is a primer. Having worked on nearly all the Burkes at Bath Iron Works, Norfolk, Pascagoula, and San Diego the hull red primer color, forgive me for not knowing the actual technical name I'm an electrician, is applied to nearly every square inch of the ship. Everything gets it but the radars and EW stuff like SLQ-32 and what not. In some cases the hulls have a pepper like additive for certain oceans to prevent marine growth. Standing within 25-50 of the drydock while it's being applied depending on wind conditions, can result in a very uncomfortable burning of the eyelids.

"Hull red" is actually an anti-fouling and not a primer. There is a red primer, so not all red is hull red or anti-fouling. The USN has been experimenting with / moving too a lighter blue antifouling compound recently as well.

Masking is a fact of life in ship building unless you don't care as much about seams or are a superlative brush painter.

One other thing. I'm not familiar with the Arleigh B. models (although I'm prone to trust Dragon),but usually the way that the manufacturer split the hull is NO GUARANTEE that it's correct. For that you have to do a little research.

Tracy White

"Hull red" is actually an anti-fouling and not a primer. There is a red primer, so not all red is hull red or anti-fouling. The USN has been experimenting with / moving too a lighter blue antifouling compound recently as well.

Masking is a fact of life in ship building unless you don't care as much about seams or are a superlative brush painter.

True for most salt water ships.  However, on Great Lakes where fouling is less of a problem, the hulls of many ships were finished in iron oxide paint, which is frequently used  as a primer.  In fact, a red oxide auto primer makes a good paint to finish the hulls on many GL bulk carriers (often called "ore boats").

I do it basically the same way Jake described. Paint a black stripe around the assembled hull. Tape with the proper thickness for the scale. Paint the lower hull my chosen red/color, then mask the boot stripe and lower hull. Paint my gray or camo colors as appropriate. Masking is just a fact of life in ship model building.