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Help with Painting


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#1 Captain Corcoran

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Posted 05 December 2012 - 05:54 PM

Greetings,

I've recently bought some very nice GHQ micronauts for WWII for the Pacific.I'm focusing on the Guadalcanal period and have Jap & US ships.

Any recommendations as to the best paints to use, and what colours I would need for each side?

I also want to base the ships, so welcome any suggestions for best material and for painting the bases.

Cheers, Captain Corcoran

#2 Chris Lane

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Posted 07 December 2012 - 02:53 PM

Hi
I use Vallejo for my fleets and primarily medium sea grey. I know that some navies used darker and light shades but one shade of grey suites me fine. However I do use various shades for particular capital ships, so my USS California is a darker grey. I use a range of blues for camouflage and I think German field grey, sea green and some shades of olive.

For basing I used plasticard layered with Vallejo latex paste, smoothed on with a knife. I stick the ship on, use a cocktail stick for waves effect and leave to dry. Once dry I 'snap' the shop from the base and glue it back on to make it stronger. I've had some occasional when various ships have decided to leave port.

Hope this helps.
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#3 Dave Schueler

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 02:43 PM

IT sort of depends on how detailed you want to make your ships. Chris' suggestion is a good one and works well for gaming. If you want some more detail, then here are a few suggestions:

For the U.S. Navy, I would look at the Ship Camouflage website (http://www.shipcamou..._camouflage.htm). They have good descriptions of the different USN measures for painting ships. But this can be a little overwhelming too. Most paint lines have USN colors in acrylic and enamels.

For the IJN, they had four colors of grey for their ships with the color used by a ship depending on the shipyard where the ship was last painted. The four shipyards were Sasebo, Kure, Maizuru, and Yokosuka. Testors used to have these in colors in both acrylic and enamel, but I can only find them in enamels now (you can see them on this page: http://www.testors.c...73/Naval_Colors). Tamiya also makes some of these paints (they have a nice page explaining some of this at: http://www.tamiya.co...color/index.htm). For the decks, the IJN used dark brown linoleum or wood (depending on the ship).

For basing of detailed models (like the GHQ stuff), I like to go with thicker bases that give players something to grab onto, instead of grabbing the ship model. If you have the tools to cut plasticard or wood, then that is a really good option. If you don't have the tools, you might want to look at the Litko game accessories website (http://www.litko.net/) and check out their basemaker stuff. They have pre-cut and custom order bases. I use Liquitex gel (available at art stores) to build up waves/wakes and then paint over the base with a blue and highlight with white. You could also look at clear acrilyc bases (Litko can do those or you can buy sheets of plexi at various stores), that way you don't have to match the game mat color, just paint some wakes on the base.

Hopefully that helps out some.

Dave
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#4 Chris Lane

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Posted 08 December 2012 - 03:20 PM

If you want to see some of my ships then here is a link

http://combatlane.blogspot.co.uk/

Mine are 1.3000th because I'm a stingy but I like the detail!
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#5 Aman

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Posted 12 December 2012 - 12:13 PM

If you're going to invest in GHQ, then you may as well paint them well, and for effect.

The above suggestions are good. White Ensign has a nice line of paints, but they aren't always available. They are made from paint chips and such and are supposedly accurate. They don't appreciably add to the cost of the project, maybe $10 as the paints are about $1 more a tin.

the "for effect" is that small ships need to be lightened in color for the color to stand out. I'd at the very least prime with a white primer or good quality white paint - sometimes paint is better as it is thinner and won't obscure details like a primer might. You don't really need the slightly better binding ability of primer v. spray paint.

Also, make certain the paint isn't going on thick. You can try keeping the brush clean and thinned, or use a palette with a bit of thinner into the drops of paint.

a drybrush in light grey with a very light final one in white will probably pick up the details nicely. That seems to be what GHQ does with their models at the site, btw.

Finally, cruise the gallery and forums at www.theminiaturespage.com and www.modelwarships.com to get ideas on little touches that will make the models pop - flags, covers, et al. And GHQ has nice details on their ships, also.

I started with 1/2400 and while I keep them around I've presently gotten into 1/700 which is just much more visually exciting. But with a small table space or a desire for less scale distortion, 1/2400 is a nice scale. Note that it isn't cheaper, I've gotten loads of 1/700 kits for the same prices or less than GHQ models!

Oh, and I agree on clear plastic bases thick enough to handle the ship during gaming. This will preserve your ships from ham-fisted gamers a bit. The clear plastic means that your ships always look right on whatever ocean you choose.
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#6 Captain Corcoran

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Posted 20 December 2012 - 09:04 AM

Many thanks for the useful advice and links to other info sources. I've gone for a selection of vallejo paints and how to get started over the winter festival on painting so I can get some playing. Very nice ships by the way Chris

Cheers

#7 slojax

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Posted 17 August 2013 - 02:07 PM

Four or five years ago I read something somewhere that recommended using paints designed for ceramics, in place of conventional "Hobby Paint", for wargames figures. Figuring that if it worked on lancers it ought to work on battleships I gave it a shot and now Delta Ceramcoat is all that I use. It is very actractively priced. You get 2 Fl. Oz. for about $1.50 as opposed to 1/3 of an ounce from Tamiya for $4.00. (I was previously a Tamiya acrylic only sort of guy). When the craft store has them on sale I've gotten them for 49 cents a bottle. You have to thin them a bit (I generally go 2:1 paint:water). I prime my models with whatever Dark Grey spray paint is on sale at the time; dry brush and block paint with the appropriate Ceramcoat colors and them overcoat them with Games Workshop clear matte spray before I mount them on their bases. Now, Delta doesn't sell anything called Japanese Navy Sea Grey or British Navy Deck Tan, but I haven't had any problems making do with the 7 or 8 shades of grey or the 5 shades of tan that they do sell.

#8 Kenneth D. Hall

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Posted 28 August 2013 - 05:45 PM

Second the recommendation of Delta Ceramcoat. I get very good results very economically.

The basing suggested above is quite attractive. I use a lazy man's approach; steel banding in various sizes (1/2" for destroyers through heavy cruisers, 3/4" or occasionally 5/8" for capital ships). Painted sea blue with appropriate wakes painted on in white, they don't look bad. The advantage of the steel is that I use 8.5x11 plastic file drawers (three to a small cabinet, retailing for about $10) for storage and transport. I glue magnetic business card material to the bottom of the drawer, and the steel base makes for secure storage.

#9 Captain Corcoran

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Posted 08 November 2013 - 07:52 AM

Hi Guys & Gals,

Just a quick question. I assume if say I am painting the Cruiser Northampton in the camo MS21 Navy blue system, that I paint the wooden decks in deck-blue 20-B? The excellent http://www.shipcamouflage.com website states this.

Cheers

#10 Cpt M

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Posted 09 November 2013 - 08:55 PM

Hi Guys & Gals,

Just a quick question. I assume if say I am painting the Cruiser Northampton in the camo MS21 Navy blue system, that I paint the wooden decks in deck-blue 20-B? The excellent http://www.shipcamouflage.com website states this.

Cheers


Yep, that would be correct. During WWII, the USN painted all deck surfaces (wood and steel) 20B deck blue.




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