Ship painting tips?

Steve,

Is the deck seperate from the hull?  Is the deck molded to the hull as one piece?  Are you painting it or applying a wood deck?

Bill

The deck is separate and I will be painting it.  

It basically depends on what's easiest and best for you on that particular build.

I tend to build all the major structural pieces before painting; essentially if there's going to be a visible seam I want it puttied and sanded before any paint goes on (I don't always get what I want). I prefer to paint the vertical surfaces first (bulkheads, vents, etc.) because I find it easier to mask them off as opposed to having to mask off the deck. I can wrap tape around a round vent, for example, but masking around that round vent on the deck is prone to octogons....

Build to keep the fragile stuff off as long as possible; don't put that tiny 20mm gun in before you've done all the work that could cause you to damage it accidentally. Working up and out as a general rule (put the central guns down before the outboard ones, so you don't have to reach over the outboard ones to reach the inner ones and risk accidentally pranging one with an errant finger.

Generally it's best to paint from lightest to darkest, but I find it easier to start with the hull and work my way up, even though the hull red and black boot topping are darker than haze gray. This is largely driven by the properties of tape. Even though I have to get a thicker coat of gray to cover the bot topping, the paint step it creates isn't really that visible because it's a step DOWN as most people view the model, so it's not as apparent.

I pretty much agree with Tracy. I usually glue deck in place on hull, then paint hull and then mask off the entire hull while I paint the deck.  I then paint superstructure as assemblies and attach to previously painted hull/deck assembly.  I paint deck fittings that are seperate parts while they are on sprue and attach later.

In many kits there are fittings molded as part of deck, which have to be painted a different color than deck. I do these by hand with fine brush.  Brush painting small parts with a brush is not that bad when the paint is flat.

The ease of masking the hull/deck interface depends a lot on the form of the ship- any bulwark areas?- and whether the fit is close enough that you do not need sanding and filling at that joint.

In some cases the fit has been so good that I have painted the deck seperately and installed it without needing touchup along the joint.  So it depends a lot on the kit.  When the hull halves are glued together, trial-fit the deck carefully and see how good the fit is.  That may determine your painting choices. If the fit is good enough that you can insert the pre-painted deck, it saves a lot of masking.  Sometimes if there are very minor, thin gaps you can fill with white glue or micro-glaze and hand paint that area.

Thanks guys!  I'll keep your tips in mind as I proceed and see how things go.

Steve