Ship Painting Guide
( Try saying that fast )
These are best approached from a black undercoat ( I use either ‘Halfords’ or ‘Citadel’ Spray Acrylic Matt Black, which are about the best available in the U.K. ). Next, paint the interior, because it is usually drab in comparison to the exterior. Using a large brush, ( I use a size 10 ) drybrush the interior dark brown, light brown, sand, cream, then white, making sure that each coat is dry before lightening the colour. If this looks a little scruffy, you have not removed enough paint from your brush before drybrushing. Do not despair though, drybrushing large areas is something that only comes with a little practice, and there is a technique to remedy this. Give the interior a wash of a mixture of yellow, dark brown and water ( something the colour of mustard and the consistency of milk is perfect ). If in doubt about the consistency of your wash, too thin is better than not thin enough, because several thin washes will give depth to your paintwork, whereas a thick wash will just obscure any earlier work. As with the drybrushing, ’washing’ is a technique that comes with a little practice.
Next it is time to tackle the exterior. If you want a light coloured hull ( or you are using paints with low density pigments – acrylic yellows and reds can sometimes require a couple of coats ) then you will need to ‘prime’ the required areas white before you add your base colour. If you are using denser colours, ( blue is usually a good example ) then you can drybrush up from the existing black undercoat. As with the interior drybrush the exterior with progressively lighter shades of the required colour ( four or five drybrushings will give a nice depth ). For two – tone exteriors, it can be a good idea to choose two colours that can be drybrushed with the same colour, ( for example red and green can both be highlighted with a drybrushing of yellow ) until you get the hang of it.
See our painted ships in the catalogue for a better idea.
