Bob Cleek

Excellent and essential advice! Additionally, don't airbrush by bending your wrist to cover a distance. Keep the airbrush at the same distance to the surface as you move the airbrush across the surface with your arm, not your wrist. If you spray with a "flick of the wrist," the center of your arc will be closer to the nozzle than the ends of the arc and you'll have an uneven lighter coat at the ends at best and, at worst, a big runny mess in the middle. Similarly, when spraying a curved surface like a boat hull, be sure to keep the distance between the nozzle and the work surface constant to ensure an even coat. It takes a bit of mindfulness at first, but quickly becomes second nature.

Excellent and essential advice! Additionally, don't airbrush by bending your wrist to cover a distance. Keep the airbrush at the same distance to the surface as you move the airbrush across the surface with your arm, not your wrist. If you spray with a "flick of the wrist," the center of your arc will be closer to the nozzle than the ends of the arc and you'll have an uneven lighter coat at the ends at best and, at worst, a big runny mess in the middle. Similarly, when spraying a curved surface like a boat hull, be sure to keep the distance between the nozzle and the work surface constant to ensure an even coat. It takes a bit of mindfulness at first, but quickly becomes second nature.

Excellent and essential advice! Additionally, don't airbrush by bending your wrist to cover a distance. Keep the airbrush at the same distance to the surface as you move the airbrush across the surface with your arm, not your wrist. If you spray with a "flick of the wrist," the center of your arc will be closer to the nozzle than the ends of the arc and you'll have an uneven lighter coat at the ends at best and, at worst, a big runny mess in the middle. Similarly, when spraying a curved surface like a boat hull, be sure to keep the distance between the nozzle and the work surface constant to ensure an even coat. It takes a bit of mindfulness at first, but quickly becomes second nature.

This is great advice.  You can also do this with initial clear coat spray to seal the edges before spraying color.  One other thing that I learned from a lab techie when I worked for PPG Industries coatings and resins division ----do NOT ever start the spray on the object.  Start next to, but off the item to be painted then move steadily laterally across the item and continue until you are PAST the item.  If you start and/or stop on the object the spray will be uneven.
Allan

I think you are basically asking how to paint, because once basic painting is mastered, spray painting is just another way of putting the paint on the piece you want to paint. Total mastery of painting is a broad subject well beyond the scope of a single response on an internet forum. I'll just offer some general advice I've found helpful. No doubt others will chime in to disagree and then you'll be more confused than ever before!  
 
You have to learn to walk before you can run. Spray painting requires a command of basic painting techniques to do well. None of the common challenges and problems encountered spray painting can be overcome without a basic understanding of coatings and their applications. The most important thing to master with spray painting is control over the amount of paint you are applying to the surface. Too much paint will result in runs, sags, and "curtains," which will ruin the job, require wiping off the uncured coating with solvent and re-prepping the surface or waiting until the paint is fully cured and then resanding to perfect fairness.
 
First, I would not advise that any serious modeler use rattle can spray paint for much of anything, except perhaps a sanding basecoat. The quality of the nozzles on rattle can paints, while remarkably good considering the manufacturing tolerances required, aren't good enough for the finish perfection scale modeling requires and are primarily designed for spraying large areas, not small ones. Besides, if you need just a small amount of paint, you're stuck buying the whole rattle can which, like as not, will "die on the shelf" before you get around to using it again. They are also an expensive way to buy paint. If you are interested in spraying paint, the sooner you acquire an airbrush and learn to operate it, the better. It's not rocket science and the cost of a basic quality airbrush and small compressor will be quickly amortized in paint cost savings. If you can't afford an air brush, then learn to paint with a quality bristle brush. An experienced painter can achieve the same results with either application method. (The airbrush is more forgiving in covering large surfaces, but others may have found otherwise.)
 
It is essential to learn how to properly "condition" your paint to achieve perfect finishes. This is done with thinners, "retarders" (that slow drying and so permit brush strokes to "lay down"), and "accellerators" (which speed drying to prevent runs or "curtains.") There are also additives that will achieve the finish desired from high gloss to dead flat and anywhere in between. The consistency of the coating is a major determinative of the quality of the job. Learning to condition paint is a process of acquiring "hands on experience." If you know someone who knows how to paint, getting some one-on-one instruction would be helpful.)
 
Learn how to work with the medium you choose, be it solvent/oil-based paint or water-based acrylics. Learn to use sealers (shellac, etc.), sanding base coats, and finish or "top" coats. Learn how to mix colors from a basic pallet. (Study the "color wheel.") There are hundreds of pre-mixed colors available in tiny bottles with high prices. Use these if you wish, but realize that tubed paste artists oils or acrylics are the basic building blocks of all those pre-mixed colors and if you "roll your own" you will save a lot of money and rarely find yourself running from hobby shop to hobby shop (often far and few between) or waiting days for the arrival of an internet purchase to find more of that particular color you just ran out of which may or may not be still available.
 
Remember that painting anything is 90% preparation and 10% application. Especially in modeling, surfaces should be perfectly smooth (or textured as required) and perfectly clean before the paint is applied. And if you use brushes, learn how to clean and care for them so they don't become "dust applicators" that ruin what otherwise would have been a perfect job. Cleanliness is essential. Store masking tape in zip lock bags and never lay a roll of masking tape down on its side. The side of the tape roll will pick up every bit of dust it contacts and ruin the tape for producing the perfect razor-sharp lines sought in modeling. (Buy quality 3M "fine line" tape or Tamiya masking tape. These tapes will produce the sharp lines required for modeling. Household "painter's tape" is not suitable.) Use a "tack cloth" to remove sanding dust from a piece before painting it. Store your tack cloth in a zip lock plastic bag, too. Try to paint in a dust-free area. While often easier said than done, painting on a dusty  workbench where you've just sanded the piece in a room with dust hanging in the air is not advisable. 
 
Unless you are completely familiar with the coating material you are using, (meaning you used it recently,) always, always, always test your materials and surfaces before committing to painting the workpiece. Paint can thicken or even lose its ability to "dry" while sitting on your shelf. (The modern synthetic coatings can be quite finicky in this respect.) Colors will often appear different when "dry" than when applied. Sometimes coatings are incompatible and disasters will result when they come in contact with each other. By making a test strip using the same surface, including undercoats, to be painted and the paint you want to apply to it, you can determine what the results will be. Failure to do so can result in a hull that is coated with a dirty, fingerprinted, sticky mess that refuses to dry and must be laboriously stripped off down to bare wood before another attempt can be made. 
 
 

Hi Richard. I have the dewalt scroll saw, and three table saws. A ten inch cabinet saw from grizzly, Jim saw with a new 18"x 10" table top and a Preac saw for cutting grating and other parts. My Jim saw get's a lot of use compared to the other two and really enjoy using it. I would recommend the dewalt scroll saw and the Jim saw. Can't do with out them that's for sure. Also have the sherline lathe and mill which the mill gets the most used between the two. Gary

Take this a step further... will you be buying parts such as cannon?  Milling the wood from billets or buying sized wood?  Also, figure out what needs to be priority in tool needs.  As Chris and Druxey pointed out... amazing stuff can be done with nothing but hand tools.
 
Pat gave a good list but I'll add maybe a small laser cutter and lathe.  Of all the tools, the small table saw and scroll saw get used the most and lathe getting used the least.  Even my belt/disc sander (it's a combo unit) is not used much.  Same for the thickness sander. 
 
I do have some small power tools like a mini belt sander and dremel type tools that get used on a regular basis.  
 
Lastly... don't buy any tool until you really need it.  Been there, done that, have a pile of stuff under the bench.

Dave I have quite a few power tools as I use them for other hobbies/carpentry as well.  I will provide a short list of the ones I use the most / find more useful, BUT all the others have a purpose as well and it depends on what I am doing at the time (for example while doing the spars, I would include the lathe ahead of the saw).  These are listed in  the order which I rate their assistance/usefulness in my building style.
 
As Druxey says though, hand tools can do the job just as well (but I am a boy who loves his power tools  :))
Disk sander (good quality, accurate) Mill Drill (Micromotor - Dentist type) Benchtop saw Resistance soldering unit cheers
 
Pat

No kidding! I turn 73 this week and it's still tempting. Of course, I'm sure there will be a price involved. I doubt they're just giving it away!  

These two shots are from my research collection. They may be of help to you if you don't have anything better. It appears to simply be a flat trim piece that doesn't bend at the bottom.
 

 

 

Well, the inside cover of the book bears the name of a "Major Robert S. Meade," and since there were no majors in the Navy, this may explain why "by 1890 anyone would have expected a crew in a small craft to still be able steam up to a major warship and poke it with a spar torpedo."
 

No kidding! I turn 73 this week and it's still tempting. Of course, I'm sure there will be a price involved. I doubt they're just giving it away!  

No kidding! I turn 73 this week and it's still tempting. Of course, I'm sure there will be a price involved. I doubt they're just giving it away!  

No kidding! I turn 73 this week and it's still tempting. Of course, I'm sure there will be a price involved. I doubt they're just giving it away!  

I'm sure they got into the game long before the prices started increasing geometrically.   
 
This is great news, actually. It's about time that quality ship models began to adequately reflect their status as fine art. While this is a much later model (1803,) it is still apparently an "Admiralty Board Model," of sorts and it appears its provenance is impeccable. A price point just a tad over $600,000 USD seems about right, all things considered. Such models don't hit the market all that often. Seven years ago, the 12 foot long builder's model of RMS Mauretania sold for $195,922 USD (162,000 GBP.) This is definitely a sale to watch.
 
I'm not so sure about the catalog estimate of 20,000 to 30,000 GBP for a lantern from Victory, though. Bid Now: A painted tin and horn lantern from the Gun Decks of HMS Victory, English, circa 1800 - July 2, 0122 2:30 PM BST (invaluable.com)
 

I'm sure they got into the game long before the prices started increasing geometrically.   
 
This is great news, actually. It's about time that quality ship models began to adequately reflect their status as fine art. While this is a much later model (1803,) it is still apparently an "Admiralty Board Model," of sorts and it appears its provenance is impeccable. A price point just a tad over $600,000 USD seems about right, all things considered. Such models don't hit the market all that often. Seven years ago, the 12 foot long builder's model of RMS Mauretania sold for $195,922 USD (162,000 GBP.) This is definitely a sale to watch.
 
I'm not so sure about the catalog estimate of 20,000 to 30,000 GBP for a lantern from Victory, though. Bid Now: A painted tin and horn lantern from the Gun Decks of HMS Victory, English, circa 1800 - July 2, 0122 2:30 PM BST (invaluable.com)
 

Well, the inside cover of the book bears the name of a "Major Robert S. Meade," and since there were no majors in the Navy, this may explain why "by 1890 anyone would have expected a crew in a small craft to still be able steam up to a major warship and poke it with a spar torpedo."
 

Excellent point! It addresses a shortcoming of internet forums: Everybody has a soapbox, but some have a lot more to say than others do.  Forums are like good restaurants: Once they are discovered, they often tend to begin to decline in quality. The reason there are so many highly accomplished and experienced modelers on this forum, aside from its association with the Nautical Research Guild, is because they seek out each other and the rest of us are lucky to be able to look over their shoulders. They are here and make MSW what it is because this is where they can continue to learn from those who are playing the game at their level.  When a forum becomes inundated with "newbies," the "level of play" naturally drops and the "high achievers" find it increasingly less worth their while and drift off.
 
Learning is an exercise best done with the eyes open and the mouth closed, (although in my case clearly more so of the former than the latter.) The most useful learning tool of all it the search engine. Notwithstanding that most of the forum platform software packaged search engines are disappointing in the performance when compared with stand-alone search engines such as Google and Bing, they still remain the best way to look up something specific within a given forum. Given the size and age of MSW forum, there is a very high likelihood that most any question one might encounter in the course of building a ship model, excepting really esoteric historical minutia, will have been addressed, often at length, before. It's poor internet forum manners to ask others to answer a question before having exhausted your own efforts to find the answer on your own. Don't expect others to become your "information codependents." Everybody soon tires of a forum that requires hours of wasted time "separating the fly poop from the pepper" (like that other ship modeling forum we all know.) The very basic questions "newbies" ask over and over again have all been asked before. While I encourage and welcome beginners, I must confess that I rarely am moved to devote my time to answering a question they could have found themselves using the search engine.
 
To the original poster who bemoaned the lack of responses to his build log, and to the management of the forum which encourages "build logging" and "newbies" to the hobby (and we all should,) I express my sympathy. On the one hand, build logs are a valuable feature of the forum, if not its heart and soul, but on the other hand, the "build logger" has to understand that he is competing with all the other build logs for attention and it's a jungle out there. If you are new to the hobby and are posting the seventeenth active build log of a popular kit model, your build log isn't going to generate the same amount of interest as the scratch-built masterpiece of one of the published "Superstars of Ship Modeling." I'm not knocking kits by a long shot, but they are ship modeling's "gateway drug." There is an inevitable progression, at rates varying as to the individual, from building kits to "The Dark Side" of scratch-building. No two ways about it, there is far more to learn from following the scratch-build of a never-before- modeled prototype. Don't feel discouraged starting out. Learning to crawl is just as much an accomplishment as learning to walk. 

No kidding! I turn 73 this week and it's still tempting. Of course, I'm sure there will be a price involved. I doubt they're just giving it away!  

Oh my God! I've just spent the better part of a Saturday morning completely enthralled with your website: www.shipphotographer.com  I can't recommend it highly enough to the forum members. The photography is fantastic. I've see a lot of ship model photographs in my day, but always too few taken by a photographer who was a master of both photography and ship modeling at the same time. Your series on the Ukrainian ship modeling competition entries was humbling. I've never seen so much spectacularly fine work in one place outside of a museum. It would be so helpful to the ship modeling hobby here if more of us were multilingual. There seems to be so much ship modeling going on in Eastern Europe that we miss here because of the language differences. (Google translate is my friend, but our English language search engines seem to often pass over foreign websites.)
 
I'm sure I haven't yet seen a quarter of what you have posted on your website and I have to get on with today's chores, but I've got it bookmarked for later study. Your blog is really informative, as well, and your YouTube videos are wonderful.
 
I'm not the sort to gush over things, but I really have to say that your contributions are a remarkable addition to our craft. Thank you so much for sharing them. I can't imagine how one person could manage to have the time to put together such a great collection of ship modeling information and photographs and also hold down a full-time job as a highway engineer! Perhaps it's the synergy of having a marine archaeologist for a husband. What a great combination. You're both very lucky people!
 
I suggest the moderators consider some way to introduce and highlight your website and videos to the forumites. There's so much there of such great beauty and value and I fear many might overlook your complete body of work when all we have of it on MSW at present is one kit-build log, which is wonderful, but hardly representative of the scope and complexity of your total body of work to date.  You're unquestionably right up there with the finest modelers posting on this site, none of which, I might add, are anywhere near you when it comes to photographing their work.   

Well, the inside cover of the book bears the name of a "Major Robert S. Meade," and since there were no majors in the Navy, this may explain why "by 1890 anyone would have expected a crew in a small craft to still be able steam up to a major warship and poke it with a spar torpedo."
 

No kidding! I turn 73 this week and it's still tempting. Of course, I'm sure there will be a price involved. I doubt they're just giving it away!  

I'm sure they got into the game long before the prices started increasing geometrically.   
 
This is great news, actually. It's about time that quality ship models began to adequately reflect their status as fine art. While this is a much later model (1803,) it is still apparently an "Admiralty Board Model," of sorts and it appears its provenance is impeccable. A price point just a tad over $600,000 USD seems about right, all things considered. Such models don't hit the market all that often. Seven years ago, the 12 foot long builder's model of RMS Mauretania sold for $195,922 USD (162,000 GBP.) This is definitely a sale to watch.
 
I'm not so sure about the catalog estimate of 20,000 to 30,000 GBP for a lantern from Victory, though. Bid Now: A painted tin and horn lantern from the Gun Decks of HMS Victory, English, circa 1800 - July 2, 0122 2:30 PM BST (invaluable.com)
 

I'm sure they got into the game long before the prices started increasing geometrically.   
 
This is great news, actually. It's about time that quality ship models began to adequately reflect their status as fine art. While this is a much later model (1803,) it is still apparently an "Admiralty Board Model," of sorts and it appears its provenance is impeccable. A price point just a tad over $600,000 USD seems about right, all things considered. Such models don't hit the market all that often. Seven years ago, the 12 foot long builder's model of RMS Mauretania sold for $195,922 USD (162,000 GBP.) This is definitely a sale to watch.
 
I'm not so sure about the catalog estimate of 20,000 to 30,000 GBP for a lantern from Victory, though. Bid Now: A painted tin and horn lantern from the Gun Decks of HMS Victory, English, circa 1800 - July 2, 0122 2:30 PM BST (invaluable.com)
 

I'm sure they got into the game long before the prices started increasing geometrically.   
 
This is great news, actually. It's about time that quality ship models began to adequately reflect their status as fine art. While this is a much later model (1803,) it is still apparently an "Admiralty Board Model," of sorts and it appears its provenance is impeccable. A price point just a tad over $600,000 USD seems about right, all things considered. Such models don't hit the market all that often. Seven years ago, the 12 foot long builder's model of RMS Mauretania sold for $195,922 USD (162,000 GBP.) This is definitely a sale to watch.
 
I'm not so sure about the catalog estimate of 20,000 to 30,000 GBP for a lantern from Victory, though. Bid Now: A painted tin and horn lantern from the Gun Decks of HMS Victory, English, circa 1800 - July 2, 0122 2:30 PM BST (invaluable.com)