Hey,
late to the pary?
i would prime them with spray paint!
I used a white spray paint for sails and hulls (paint them seperatly).
I used Snakebite Leather Contrast for some wooden parts. It works realy well. Paint a second layer on the bottom part to get a good color gradient. I highlited some planks on the upper part.
For the Sails i used Snakebite Leather Wash. Realy good stuff.
I know a guy who just coloured them with contrasts in one evening:
Cheers,
Jan