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Scratchbuilding A New Deck for IJN Kaga

Step 1…

My first step was to figure out the layout of the Kaga’s deck and create it in sections. I decided to use the kit’s deck as a template. I also got online and found a few Kaga models and some line drawings to be excellent references. I quickly discovered that the Kaga had five sections of wood planking in between the metal bow and aft parts of the flight deck. After some experimenting I decided on 1 ½ inches for the spacing of the wood deck sections. I measured the sections along the straight edge of the kits deck then used the square to get the right mark on the other side of the deck. I verified that the box car siding had a perfectly straight edge on one side and placed the kit deck on it and drew an outline of the kit’s deck, the two elevators and section marks on the styrene sheet. I used the square on the styrene to draw a line and mark the sections. With that done I put a new blade in my hobby knife and using the metal ruler I cut out the wood sections in the styrene. I immediately wrote numbers on the underside of them in order and drew an arrow indicating the front of the ship. I then gently filed the cut edges of the styrene on a larger file to remove any irregularities.