USS Constitution - Preparing the Hull and Stern Cabin

The hull comes in two large pieces that need some finishing and, of course painting.

I started painting in black the wooden part of the hull. At this stage, I didn't apply any masking tape:

Second step was to paint the white stripe corresponding to the gun deck. This time I used tape for masking:

Next, painting the inboard:

I have to admit I made a small mistake here. While painting, some of the small holes were filled with paint. I forgot to clean all the holes, and during later stages of the assembly, I had to clean them while the parts were assembled, which was harder, since the holes were far less accessible.

After waiting one day to have the black paint completely dried, I started to prepare painting the plating on the hull sides. For masking, I needed to use a transparent tape that doesn't stick too much, so I didn't risk to peel the black painting applied earlier.

Unfortunately, it seems I lost the pictures with the fully painted hull sides.However, in the next few episodes, I will continue the assembly of the hull and gun deck, with photos of fully painted hull.

While waiting for the paint on the hull sides to dry, I focused on the gallery stern. First step was to apply a black paint on the entire surface, and then to paint the window frames:

... then I continued with the golden paint over the various details:

... only to find out that I need to use other colors for some of the details, so... more fun painting:

Eventually, I glued a piece of transparent plastic film for the windows glass:

Stern cabin pieces from the kit are the back, port and starboard bulkheads, starboard and port inner gallery walls, two bunks and one table. Since they are made from plastic, they needed some finishing attention, as usual

... and then, of course, painting, lots of it: