HELP PLEASE!!!!

Welcome aboard chevalier_knight.

I'm not sure exactly what you're after in regards to decals, but there are several good FAQs and plenty of help to be found in the decal forum if you have a specific problem.

You sure can paint a model without an airbrush. There are people I have seen who can achieve some great results using brush painting. Just be aware that some paints (Tamiya for instance) don't brush well out of the bottle and should be thinned.

Cheers
Darren

As Darren said, the Decals area is the place to go for specific questions on decaling. In general, make sure you have a smooth surface for the decal. Cut the single decal that you want to place out of the sheet, soak it in water for a few seconds and place it on a paper towel with the decal itself up. Once it has released from the paper backing and you can slide it around, slide it onto the model (DO NOT try and pick it up off the backing paper, just slide it onto the model). Use a wet Q-Tip or something similar to gently push it into the position that you want it on the model. If it gets to where it won't move, put a drop of water on it. Once it is where it belongs, use a paper towel or Q-Tip to gently squeeze all the air and water out from underneath (I usually use Q-Tips and roll them across the surface of the decal). Decals are very fragile so be careful when working with them.

When it comes to painting you have three choices: Brushes, spray cans, or airbrushes. Each has good features and bad. Brushes make it difficult for most people to get a good finish without brush marks, and acrylics paints can be difficult to hand brush. Some people can do a fabulous job with just a brush, but I'm not one of them. Spray cans do not provide much control in the spray, so you have to mask what you don't want to get painted. They do give a much better finished appearance than a brush for most people though. Airbrushes give very good control and finish, but they can be expensive and difficult to use for the beginner.

If you have specific questions, ask away and we'll be glad to try and answer them for you.

Since you're beuilding a ship, and I am assuming you don't have an airbrush... I think I would go the spray can route if you can find the color you are wanting.... I'd spray all the decks, hull and superstructure right on the sprue. If it is a two piece hull you'll need to repaint the bottom anyway so it wont hurt to sand the grey when you get the seams out... if it is one piece better yet!! just paint OVER the grey when painting the below waterline color...

Once it is all finished and hull seam sanded, just hit it with the spray again to cover the sanding and putty you did, maybe a light coat over all the superstructure/deck areas and WAALAA!

As far as below the waterline you could go brush or can on that... I think I'd spray the main (under the waterline) color and mask and brush the demarcation line...

When it is all done, I would use something like Testors dull coat (after decals) to make it one even dull look...

Since you said you are a beginner there is a good how-to page on Swanny's website on how to fill gaps in a seam with putty and get it looking good... here it is: http://www.swannysmodels.com/Seams.html Almost every two piece hull I've built needed a little putty at least...

hope this is a good build for ya! maybe you can post the pics of it when you're done so we can check it out!

oh yeah... almost forgot... let the paint dry at least 24 hours before painting again on top of it... same for decals, let them dry over night before putting dull coat or anything else on top of them..