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Working with Resin Ships

The turrets Almost completed

I begin the ship by painting the hull color. In this case I used gunship gray with a little black. The entire hull and deck area is painted as well as any other large parts. Once this has dried a coat of acrylic floor wax (Future or Kleer) is applied overall to act as a barrier between 2 different colors of paint and to smooth the surfaces to allow paint to flow more freely. Once this has dried I brush paint the decks. The paint is thinned to allow it to flow along the bulkheads and other deck details. The ship is then assembled following the instructions. Different deck levels are attached to a piece of cardboard and painted, then glossed. Any windows or portholes are then painted dark blue and a light drybrush of lightened Gunship Gray is applied. Small parts like searchlights and guns are painted while still on their sprues then cut off and attached as required. The photo etched parts are painted the hull color while attached to their frame then cut out, shaped (if required) and superglued in place. Once the glue has dried they are touched up with the correct color with a small brush. The cage masts were painted light gray overall, then referencing the instructions, were masked off and the lower color was applied before they were removed and rolled to shape. To shape the masts I began rolling them with a large diameter paint brush. Then I worked my way down to smaller diameter brush handles until I had a nice round cross section and the 2 ends met along their length. Carefully holding it in my hand and aligning the meeting surfaces I applied superglue along the joint with a toothpick. I used a round file to enlarge the opening in the center of the mainmast searchlight platform until it slid easily into its position on the mast. Before I glued it into place I added the railing surrounding the platform and the searchlights. Once the Fighting top was attached I cemented the masts into place with slow drying super glue. This allowed me time to make sure they were aligned along the centerline from above , were sitting straight up and down, and were aligned to each other when looked at from the bow or stern. The blast bags for the main turrets were made by building up layers of white glue, then painted white. The photo etched boat cranes and stern catapult crane were bent to shape and assembled. The stern catapult was replaced with a photo etched catapult from Gold Medal Models Cruiser/Destroyer set. It may not be 100% accurate for this ship but it looks fine and I preferred it over the white metal kit offering. Now we are ready to set the ship on the base.