I always prime the deck before applying the gloss coating, but mostly it's because I spray it on. I think it's better to have a nice, even coverage than just overspray from the sides, etc. Also, if you want the decal to "pop", it's better to have a very light/white deck. A dark colored deck will mute the color of the decal.
Are you going with a resin model? The FDM material will be very bumpy and you'll want to follow the FDD instructions to make it as smooth as possible.
I think I have to go with Alabama...great punch, Armor 9 and escape death once? Yes, please.
Honorable mentions to Musashi...the destroyer of so many USN battle plans! Just a great brawler! And Helldiver...the bomber that hits like a battleship!
You can check out many of my posts on the first 3 pages of the Naval Modelling subforum if you want to see Ghukek's mini's painted.
A lot of what I've done are carriers from Ghukek (in resin) combined with the decals from Flight Deck Decals, but you can see I painted an Iowa class, as well.
I only work in resin and I buy Ghukek's minis from XPForge.
If you've ever seen the Shapeways ships in FUD, his resin ships are similar, but not as fragile.
If you're more into FDM or what Shapeways calls "white strong and flexible" (or at least they used to), he has that option, too.
His resin ships like the Iowa class don't have as much detail as, say, the same ship on Tiny Thingamajigs, on Shapeways. However, it will probably have more detail than the same unit from WOTC.