US Screw and Paddle Squadron Blocking In

I have completed most of the blocking in on the screw and paddle warships for the North Atlantic Squadron, up to the white bits which I'll do tomorrow. The idea is to block in all of the masts, paddle boxes, boats and other parts, so that I can go over some of them with light shades of brown or buff as required, apart from the bits that will stay white, prior to the all over ink wash that I usually do. I'm hoping this will make the masts and spars pop a bit more than they would if I just painted over the black basecoat. If it works, I can go on to do something similar on the Napoleonic ships, assuming it looks good and is worth the effort?