Hull weathering. I started out by giving it all a semi dark wash over a dried semi gloss. It was either i keep the hull and everything else clean, or add some rust and grime, i liked the clean look but really wanted some rust and streaks..so away i went. Panic set in as the wash i had applied wasn't coming off as easily as i thought it would and i could see the lighter shade really starting to discolour more than i wanted. So then you get a guy bolting from the shed to the bathroom in the middle of the night, brushes and ship hull in hand. I spent a few minutes running water over the hull and basically scrubbing at it with one of my softer larger brushes. Crisis averted, well, besides overworking the original paint a little bit. The next little while was poking around with a rust wash and trying to build up thin layers without over doing it. Ha! Me, overdo it, yeah right. The front of the hull needed some repaint on both sides and then it sat for a few days like this.
I attacked it again to knock back the anchor chain rust. Still not overly happy and may change it again as the build moves on, we'll see.
In between spending far too much time on the front, which needed another repaint as well as the stain rework, i have managed to sneak some other stuff in as well. Turrets, bridge and other parts and started on the barrel bags and hull mounted secondaries.
A loose fit up of how it is all starting to look.
Search lights, flag bins and other small pieces to start filling out the bridge. The searchlights and bridge windows i used Tamiya smoke for, it gives you a bit of depth and keeps a nice gloss.
And a pic of where it all at at the moment. Man, ships have a lot of parts. Small AA all finished, thank god. Turrets nearly done. I'm only putting the AA buckets on the two with the cut outs and the leaving the other two clean. The buckets look messy and take away from the ship overall imo. Bridge done except rigging, railings and some braces and poles. Hangar still needs a bunch of items added. Life boats done, secondaries still to be finished, rear gun director nearly finished, life rafts to be painted and still plenty of bits left on the sprues- deck fittings, hangar fittings, AA buckets and ammo boxes, anchors, mast pieces, rudders, props and prop shafts and some hull fittings. The bridge and hangar in this pic are still not glued, everything is just sitting there, Pom pom guns, funnel, cranes etc.