syren painting and staining
 

I am working on the Model Shipways Syren kit (I am enjoying it very much) and am getting ready to apply some paint and stain. I will initially be painting the gunports and I have mixed some brown in wiith the model shipways orange - red paint to get more of a reddish brown color. My question is do I need to do anything to prepare the surface of the wood? Also do I sand between coats of paint and typically how many coats typically are applied?

I have the same question about the stain application to the planks. Do I apply more than one coat of stain and do I sand between applications. I have been following the threads about the color of the stain and plan on mixing some thinner with the Golden Oak stain to lighten up the stain color somewhat.

Thanks for any feedback.

Mike

PS I had to lower the rear gunports slightly to accomodate the cannons. Everything else seems to be fitting as per the plans.