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Note in the pictures above, I had not yet decided on a color for the cockpit and cabin sides. 


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Note that now you see white primer on the entire hull.  Even the bulwarks and inside the cabin and battery compartment.

I also applied two coats of primer to the both sides of the cockpit roof, the shoe, both sides of the cabin roof spray rails and the three buoys. 

After the primer had dried on the hull, I sanded the hull and cabin area with #400 wet or dry sandpaper.  I then sprayed the hull and cabin areas with Krylon® 1502 Flat White for the white color coat.  Note that the flat finish will "hold" onto any dirt or finger prints more easily than if a gloss finish had been applied.  In this application, smudges and dirt marks work for us.  Plus when you go to add the clear top coat, it will seal in the stains.  This makes the finish look much more realistic.
 

Midwest used a paint brush to paint the model on the box top.  I do agree it will make the finish look more "realistic" when done right, but the look is not worth the required effort.  For this model, using spray cans will give you a good finish with far less effort and aggravation.   Using a "spray gun" type handle on your spray cans will further ease the job of painting your model.  I got my spray can handle at my local Wal-Mart.


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The full scale lobsterboats are made of wood, allowing you to see the wood grain, and layers of paint applied to the boat.  The wood included in the kit is a high quality basswood. This simplifies the work needed to sand,  prime and make the wood ready for paint.   The wood in the kit is easy to sand and paint.  I have built two of these so far and the quality has remained the same.  I will be building my third this spring when I start my Orca project.

The hull and cabin need primer.  I checked the hull for defects, and filled any needed with Bondo®.  And wood voids were also filled with Bondo®.  After this, I applied the first coat of primer.  When this was dry, I sanded the hull and cabin area with #400 wet or dry sandpaper and applied the final coat of primer.  DO NOT get carried away and fill all the wood grain.  Remember the real boats are made of wood and you see that.  We would have to go a bit further in our finishing IF the real boats were made of steel.  The idea is to make the wood "water proof", nothing more.  For the primer, I used Krylon® 1315 All Purpose Primer WHITE, and Krylon® 1502 Flat White for the white color coat.


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