Many thanks for your comments, fellas. Step 3 is complete and then some. After gluing on the hull sides, I used a single edged razor to free the ship from the pane of glass, and mounted it on a piece of foamcore topped with an ocean texture. Then I used a product called "Snow Accent" by Duncan to create a wake at the bow and stern. This thick and heavily textured paint is ideal for this purpose. I think a little more is needed, but I have to be careful not to overdue it.
Besides the hull sides, Step 3 also included the rings for main gun turrets 1 and 2, and the center superstructure walls and top surface. There are many more 2D guns printed on this top surface along with the Wilhelmshavener logo. I hate it when publishers prominently advertise like this
. I'm pretty sure the Arizona didn't sport this logo, and it shouldn't be smack dab in the middle of the model either.
I think I'm probably just going to build this one "box stock". It's tempting to detail it with scratchbuilt 3D guns, etc, but I have to remember that for me, its purpose was to serve as an introductory ship model. I have at least a half dozen 1:250 ships that I can go crazy on with railings, full rigging, etc.