's motivation to paint Napoleonic ships returns!
Once the bases were back from the oven, the excess Sculpy got removed. A hobby knife took most of it off, and the rest was sanded to round with an emory board.
The edges got slathered with Delta Ceramcoat Black. I say "slathered," because balsa really sucks in the paint when painted on a cut, as I have done here. (I will probably have to come back and touch this up, as paint gets drawn inside the wood.)
The top got a good, thick coat of Delta Ceramcoat Midnight Blue. It is important to get all the nooks and crannies, and to leave a bit of bare Sculpy in the hull depression. The latter is to help the glue afix the ship to the Sculpy.
I let the Midnight Blue dry, and came back and touched it up. Sculpy does not take paint well. Occasional gaps will open, as the paint shrinks as it dries.
When the Midnight Blue was dry, I drybrushed the high areas with Delta Ceramcoat Denim Blue.
When the Denim Blue was dry, I highlighted raised areas by drybrushing with Delta Ceramcoat Periwinkle Blue.
When the last of the blue was dry, I drybrushed with pure Reaper White. This last step was very subtle, with white only around the outline of the ship and the faintest wake.
Most healthy people can run faster than most ships of this day could sail, so no bubbling wakes or foam-spraying bow lines here!
Test fit!
