Painting

[Marty]

Guys

Im currently midway through my build of the USS Lassen in 1/350 and I'm about to embark on the daunting task of painting her.

I'm fairly new to the hobbie and im looking for some advice on painting her. I've bought my humbrol paints, a mixture of matts and satins as recommended by trumpeter on the packaging. I was planning to prime the hull and superstructure with a couple of light coats of halfords grey plastic primers, then get cracking with the enamels. I hope to weather her a little and maybe even apply a wash to bring out some extra details.

What i would like to know is, after I prime her how should I apply the satin hull colour? Ive been instructed to apply humbrol 127 ghost grey satin to the hull, but on a test piece this seems a very watery paint.

Whats the best sequence of application after the primer to obtain a good finish that will let me weather her to bring out the best in my model?

Thanks for your help guys.

Attached is the colours I'll be using in the humbrol range.

Chees

Marty

[marijn van gils]

Hello Marty,

The best way to apply the paint to larger areas is with an airbrush.

But since you're new to the hobby, you might not have one. And anyway, it is also a bit of skill in itself to learn. But don't worry, top results can be achieved by handpainting. Humbroll is a great paint for this.
Some tips:
- This key in avoiding horrible brush-strokes: don't try to get a solid coat in one pass. Apply several thin coats (three or four usually is enough) of paint instead, with about one day drying time in between (for matt paints). Humbroll paint can be thinned perfectly with White Spirit. Try not to let the paint collect in recesses, but try to get it to cover the surfaces as evenly as possible.
- Use a brush with soft hairs, also to avoid brush-strokes.
- I would personally avoid satin or gloss colours. I find matt colors to brush-paint much better. I I want a shine on anything, I rather coat it with a varnish afterwards. As a basecoat, I also feel satin doesn't look good on small scale ship models.

After a good solid basecoat is achieved, and a day of drying, you can start weathering!

Cheers,

Marijn

[Marty]

Marijn

Thanks for the info mate. I've been looking online to fine an alternate to the satin colours. I'd rather a matt finish instead.

I'll get her primed over the weekend and i might even look into purchasing an airbrush, it's something I've wanted to experiments with.

Thanks again

Marty

[Kometa]

A good tip

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=158612

[Marty]

Thanks Kometa

What part of Galicia do you live in? I lived in Ferrol for a year, where my partner is from.

I'll be moving back there next summer permanently.

Cheers

Marty