The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

hi i have this kit built up ready to be painted and was looking for tips/methods used in painting warships from the folks who have the experience as this is my 1st ship ,i'd like to paint it in the MAY 1941 scheme


this is how it disassembles to aid painting

if someone could let me know how wide a boot line should be before sunday as i will buy some tape to mask it when i'm at the huddersfield show
thanks craig

Don't know about the boot line, but the county class cruisers had their port holes plated over at the outbreak of war. The kit depicts it in pre-war garb.

I built it twice!
I'll hunt for my Airfix guide to warships and see it that's helpful.
CNG

Boot topping usually covers the area of the hull between full load and unladen. When a ship is unloaded, it will sit on the lower edge of the topping and when loaded with fuel etc it will touch the upper edge of the line. I think on this ship it would work out around 3.0 to 3.5 mm. I seem to remember my kit having two slightly raised lines.

Heres a link for the colour scheme.
http://steelnavy.com/images/WR_RN_CAMO1/sample2.jpg;

Painting ships: bottom to top, inside to out.

Check your refs for the ship in question. I understand during WW2 boot tops were not necessarily retained as they defeated the purpose of disruptive camo; the destroyer types kept them because they looked sharp.

I agree with John don't loose any sleep over the boot topping, when I converted the Airfix HMS Belfast into HMS Southampton I missed of the Boot Topping and it looked fine without it.

From chapter "Deck colours", page 15, Airfix Magazine guide 7: Warship modelling

"During the war most ships had mid-grey decks (including some capital ships where the timber was painted over) and it was usual for the tops of gun turrets to be painted the same deck colours."

Well I hope that means smthng to smbdy!
Oh, there are two nice pics of HMS Norfolk. Hms Belfast as she appeared in, according to the book, 1943. Only camo, if that is what it is, is on the top of the gun turrets.