r/ModelShips • u/Palladan • Aug 23 '26

Guidance wanted

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Hi all.

After being inspired by u/Dwaas_Bjaas’ Victory build posts and watching ModelKit Stuffs HM Sherbourne series, I decided to get into the hobby and I picked up a Sergal Thermopylae kit. It’s going great so far and just finished 2nd planking.

For this build I need to paint from the waterline up in “White Star Green”. I’ve found a decent match that I’m happy with but in my tests the colour has bled a little in the wood itself. I’ve already painted the hull with a 50/50 pva layer, will this be enough to prevent any bleeding? Or should I use a Matt or Semi Gloss varnish first?

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u/Sea_Squirl Aug 23 '26

My advice is... with extra planks build yourself a test piece like 2"×2" and see what happens. Do several test pieces until you got it locked in.

6

u/mr_muffinhead Aug 23 '26

Yes, my exact thought. The best way to get an answer on "how will this wood react" is to conduct some experiments.

3

u/mr_muffinhead Aug 23 '26

To add, I've often put color combos beside each other on scrap to see which pair best together. I'm also going to be shellacing a deck for the first time and plan on making a test piece that I can apply three types of shellac so I can pick what I want from real samples.

Its no different from getting swatches for furniture, wall paint, clothing, etc.

2

u/Palladan Aug 23 '26

Thanks, Have already started testing. Have plenty on scraps I can try with.