PART 2:

It’s time to begin painting the model. I will be using Testors Model Master Light Sea Gray for the hull above the waterline and the superstructure. I didn't mask anything for painting at this time since most of the model will be this color. I used some pieces of foam core board and wood covered with strips of double backed tape to hold the small pieces for airbrushing.

I began by airbrushing the hull, superstructure sections and small parts such as the turrets and searchlights. After letting the parts dry overnight I masked off the bow and stern and painted them Model Master Euro 1 dark gray. The hull below the water line I painted Pactra Hull Red. The Boot topping is Testors Flat Black and the false bow wave is Testors Flat White. I brush painted the main deck Polyscale Deck Tan acrylic and the S/S decks Gunship Gray.
 

I learned a technique from Tom Norrbohm that makes masking curves on a curved surface easy. I cut the curved shape, in this case the bow wave, from a piece of paper. Using a paper punch I made a series of holes along the curve. The mask was then attached to the model surface by placing small pieces of masking tape over the holes. Spray perpendicular to the surface. Tamya masking tape was used to mask the black and white stripes on the side of the hull. With its low tack glue, the Tamya tape works particularly well because this requires masking over recently painted surfaces. Although Polyscale paints flow and cover very well, I still needed three coats to cover the main deck.
 

The white circle for the swastika on the foredeck was masked with Tamya tape, marked with a compass and cut out with an #11 exacto blade. Testors flat white was applied with an airbrush.