Newbie Needs Start-Up Advice

vyrus724,

Thanks for the info. It sure helps me deciding which method i should go 1st. Though i prefer the one you mentioned, as masking the whole deck will take more time, not to mention tedious. Thanks again!

Well, I'd airbrush the hull gray first and avoid getting any on the deck--it shouldn't be TOO hard, and if you do get a little, airbrushed paint layers are usually so thin you can sand them off with a mild grade paper. Moreover, since you're brush painting the deck, you won't need to worry about any discoloration and/or heavy texture showing through since brushing produces thicker layers--and wood tones require multiple coats of different colors anyway.

Plan to start a new thread but since someone has asked, might as welll cont' from it.

I was about to start building my 1st 1/350 Tamiya Tirpitz, but was undecided whether which option would be better.

My concerns on painting the deck:
1) Should i airbrush the whole hull + deck with gray before brush paint the deck.
2) Brush paint the deck, mask it, then airbrush the whole hull + deck

Which options better? Though would appreciate if there's any other alternative at all.

And please note that i am leaving out the island as i plan to glue them to the ship when painting was completed.

Hi!

Good modelling requires a lot of careful planning, which includes deciding when to paint what parts, and how. I'd advise you to consider sub-assemblies and ask yourself if it would be harder to paint them after they're installed. Experience (read: many, many mistakes!) will eventually set in to guide you. This is why I'll also advise you to get a couple of smaller, less expenseive kits to learn on before you tackle too much of your expensive Vicotry model.

Good-luck!

pre assemble the model to see what goes where so that you don't paint an area that the glue goes onto as glue & paint don't stick to well. try to leave the outside of the hull unpainted due to all the handling of the model you will be doing til the end.

Welcome Michael,
I mainly build aircraft but I am building a battleship now. In my experience of model building, I find it easier to paint as I go, such as sub-assemblies or small detail parts that may be hard to paint after attaching to model ( such as aircraft cockpit intereors). Every modeler is different, so I hope this helps.
emo07