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Jigs had been made to hold the model turret and hull. The turret was put onto a drill bit which was pushed into a hole in a piece of wood so it could be stood on a flat surface or hand held while painting. The hull base plate was drilled in the centre and a homemade tool which was made from a piece of broom handle cut to length and had a hole drilled into one end. Into this hole a self tapping screw was epoxy glued and when dry it was screwed into the hole previously drilled into the hull base plate. Now the model can be held at any angle for painting. A jig was made from a length of pipe fitted into a polystyrene block so that the handle could be placed into the tube and the assembly could be left to dry.
I have a mobile extractor unit and this was set up on the work bench and the exhaust tube was pushed through an open window. This will remove the smells and paint over-sprays.
The model was now given a coat of semi gloss black paint making sure to cover it completely, especially in any troughs and into all corners.
Remember light coats of paint in several layers are far better than one thick one which will hide detail. Once satisfied with the coverage the model was put aside and covered with a plastic box to keep off the dust while it dried. I normally leave it for 24 hours but if it is one of the acrylic paints it will dry fast and work can continue in a couple of hours. I just like to let the paint cure to a hard finish before continuing with the base coat.