All,

I'm building a model of the USS Fiske for my father who served aboard her from 1956-1960. I'm looking for some assistance on the paint scheme. My research indicates that the vertical surfaces should be haze grey, and the horizontal surfaces should be deck grey.

Regarding the anti-fouling red I was planning on using hull red all paints from White Ensign.

The question is should there be a black line of demarcation between the red and gray on the hull (don't know what that line is called , sorry), and what are some ways of laying that line out on the hull?

BTW the model is the 1/350th Radar Picket Destroyer from Yankee Model Works. This is my first real resin ship kit and I'm really enjoying the build. For the most part the resin parts are well done. A couple of the white metal parts are a bit misformed, but I'll probably replace those with brass and styrene.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

Lou

The black line you're referring to is the normally called the "Boot Topping." Yes, USN ships of that time frame would have it. The line varies according to the size of the ship. My best estimate for size on a destroyer is about 6 feet. In 1/350 scale that works out to roughly a quarter of an inch.

As to how to paint it this is my least favorite part of ship modeling. The hardest part, for me, is to line up the masking tape straight. The method I've used is to first paint the black line where you want it. You don't have to be neat doing this. Then mask off either the top color, or the bottom, by putting the masking tape alone the black line where you want the top or bottom of the line. Then paint that color. Wait for it to dry then remove the tape, and put more down to mask off the other color.