finally dips his toe into the world of Aeronef.
Here is Amphitrite, fresh out of the primer shed. When I scratchbuild, I call the first coat of primer the 'sin coat', as it shows all the sins and errors. This was no different: the sin coat convinced me that I needed to fill the two most obvious gaps left by air bubbles.
I use Elmer's Wood Filler for practically everything. It sets up fine, needs little sanding when applied with a wet finger, and can be painted unprimed in most cases. Here you see the filler plugging a hole where the deck meets the side, just under the foremast.
Once the filler is dry (about 30 minutes), the first sloppy deck coat goes on. I used Delta Ceramcoat Toffee Brown.
Once the brown is dry, I stain the deck with Reaper #18206 Wood Stain Ink - watered down. In fact, I paint the deck with water first, then while it's wet, I dab in the ink. I have to do very few brushstrokes with the ink.
So that the ink does not pool, I tilt the ship and let it all run to the stern, where I dab it up by letting it soak into a paper towel.
When the ink is dry, I do the first rough coat of Delta Ceramcoat Bridgeport Grey for vertical surfaces. I want the Amphitrite in war colors, and Bridgeport looks about right.
Close-up shows some touch-up needed!
Here is the near-final paint job. The deck and vertical surfaces have been finalized, a black band painted around the funnel, and the 10" guns blackened as well. The bridge has been added, with the canvas around the bridge painted Delta Ceramcoat Mudstone to simulate dirty canvas. Finally, Iron Oxide Red from the same company has been used to paint a rust line along the waterline. I have started painting the boats by dabbing onto the inside surfaces some Wood Shade Ink directly onto the grey primer. Later, I will take a dark brown and pick out the seats and other features.
Amphitrite was iron-hulled, so rust would have been plenty. I used a very dry brush to create some random rust shadows. There are actual products out there that can simulate granular rust, but I think the granules would be too big at this scale... and I don't have any, anyway.
The final paint job, viewed from the starboard bow.
And again, from the port quarter.
Portside view.
Above, showing size of model in U.S. inches.