¹⁄700

Building the Garibaldi

I then primed the entire hull and superstructure. Due to the nature of the ship, construction of the island could run independent of the hull.

Once the hull was primed and dried, I put multiple coats of white on the deck to make up all the lines and elevator demarcation lines. Once dried, I used 1mm tape (found on E-bay) to mask off the lines according to the nice color pic included in the kit. I had to mail order the stuff from Japan and Australia.

Once I masked off the white lines, I sprayed the yellow in the area where the yellow deck line would go. Another strip of 1mm masking tape where the yellow would go, and I was ready to spray the deck grey (Tamiya XF-24) Multiple very light coats of the dark grey covered the rest of the deck. Once the tape was removed, only a few small touch ups were required. The dashed lines and white “551" on the deck were custom made decals provided by Starfighter Decals.

I applied these after finishing the lower hull because I needed to avoid any overs pray on the deck so I had to completely cover it with tape while working on the hull waterline etc. After the lower hull was completely painted, I sprayed the entire hull and island with Tamiya gloss clear (in a rattle can) This is to give me a glassy surface for the deck and island decals as well as to allow for easier clean up of the “Mr. Detailer” black detailing “paint” which I used to highlight all the details on the ship and provide depth and shadowing.

The trick here is to use a small, damp brush to apply the very thin detailer “paint” into the corners and areas you want to darken. Wait for it to dry for about a half hour. Then, come back with a damp (not soaking wet) piece of cloth grasped with fine tweezers to carefully wipe away any detailer in areas not to be shaded. By using the gloss first, the detailer comes right off (even if fully dry) flat surfaces, but sticks in the “nooks and crannies”. I final coat of Testors dullcoat seals the surfacer on and also dulls all the decals as well.

With all the decals applied, final construction required mating the island to the hull. I finished the island up to the top deck so that I could handle it and not damage the railing or radar assemblies.