I started by gluing the two hull halves to the flat waterline bottom.  The kit-supplied weight was superglued to the hull bottom for heft and then the one-piece deck was glued onto the hull.  Fit here was superb.  A few elastic bands made sure the deck fit snugly and no putty was needed at all.

            I then proceeded to assemble the rest of the kit in sub-assemblies, which included:  4 main armament turrets, high angle anti-aircraft weapons, bridge, stack, and the aft superstructure with mast.

            Everything fit together crisply with no trouble.  Some of the parts are quite tiny and a good tweezers is mandatory.  Once these sub-assemblies were completed, I proceeded to paint and mask.

            I chose to model the ship as it appeared in February 1942 during the famed Channel Dash.  I chose this scheme because it looked quite attractive and the black and white stripe pattern is seen everywhere!  After reading some online discussions about the ship’s paintwork, it appears there is some controversy and no definitive proof on Prinz Eugen’s camo from any period.  There is a lack of photographic evidence and what you read is sometimes confusing.

            Anyway, the first task was to spray the deck with Tamiya Deck Tan XF-55.  I would enhance this later on with chalk pastels.  When dry, I spent a good hour masking the entire deck with tiny pieces of Scotch tape and a sharp #11 blade.  The wood decks were also present on upper levels so it was a tedious experience to get these little pieces of tape to stay down and fit around a curve!  Without a doubt, this is the part that I hate the most but I am learning that doing this part right makes a huge difference in the cleanliness and neatness of your model.

            When satisfied that all was ready, the next color was sprayed. This color was Tamiya Dark Sea Grey XF-54.  This was sprayed on the entire hull and all superstructure assemblies. After letting this dry for a while, I again spent an hour masking the hull.  The pattern calls for Dark Grey XF-24 in a pattern that slashes down the hull towards the water and the bow and stern portions were also Dark Grey.  I used Scotch tape and cut out the patterns with a blade.  I airbrushed the Dark Grey on the hull and a few minutes later pulled off the masks. 

            I decided to glue the sub-assemblies onto the deck before painting the blotches of grey to aid me with placement.  The directions called for Field Grey XF-65 but I used a mixture of Neutral Grey and Light Grey.  I thinned it down and picked my finest brush to delicately apply the blotches.  It mostly consists of tiny slashes on all vertical surfaces and on the tops of the turrets, bridge and direction finders.  I laid the instruction pattern behind the model and worked on one portion at a time like turret one and then moved onto to another section.  I should have made the blotches even thinner—it’s easy to lose your focus when going back and forth from model to instructions, etc.  Anyway, I am happy with the result.