So, I've been modeling since I was 7, but only recently got into ship modeling. Currently on the bench is the Tamiya 1/350 Musachi.
I'm looking for some tips on painting this big one.
It will be a full hull model, so I'll have to paint her lower half hull red.

What are the best steps for painting, and to avoid tons of masking?

Paint the entire lower half hull red and then mask for painting the hull and super structure grey?

Deck - paint this first then mask for painting the superstructure ? or paint the super structure first, mask that, then paint the deck tan?

Guns - numerous guns that will be painted a metallic gunmetal.
paint then seperately, and then glue on after the ship has been painted? or
glue all guns on, paint the entire ship, then paint each gun a metallic gunmetal one by one?

This is the first of 6 big battleships and carriers I'm working on- needed a nice change from German tanks.
Thanks for any advice!
Peter

Paint the ship grey first then mask for the hull red. The majority is grey so get that out of the way and work from there.

I am under the assumptin here you are using an airbrush to do this. Brush painteng the large areas would be rather painstaking and tedious. If you don't have an airbrush, check into a good dark grey and hull red with spray can. The deck tan you might want to go with a very light tan/sand color

The beauty of the Japanese warships is that there was no thin black line between the grey and the red. I would paint the red first. Then tape off with blue painters tape. I don't put the deck on to the hull until after I paint it. Do the deck tan first. Don't get too wild with masking, Just the front rear and the superstructure. the rest of the stuff is pretty easy to hand paint later on. Do all your sub assemblies and paint them your grey color as well as the upper hull. I make it a point when spraying the hull to do it at an upward angle as this avoids any spray on the deck and those large deck sections. To the front and rear you'll need to remask to protect your wood deck color. There is no way to really avoid masking on one of these giants. It's not like doing a tank where overspay gives it a nice feathering look. Lines have to be sharp on a ship as in a lot of cases (the deck) it is a totally different material.