Apparently the release of the Aoshima 1/350 Maya has been delayed. On Hobbylink Japan it has been reclassified from a December 2007 release to a "Future" release. Who knows when it will actually come out. Maybe Aoshima figures it was hurting sales to release the first 3 so close to each other. It's disappointing to me as this was the one of the 4 sisters that I was really looking forward to getting.

Well, 2 are out the Takao and the Chokai. I think the Maya was going to be the same late version time frme as the Chokai. I never heard anything about an Atago release either. You could get one of the released kits and modify it to your needs

Maya is the late war version, with the upgraded AA fit and the removal of the furthest aft forward turret.

Maya was already released (and apparently sold out?) as a special edition in Japan. Over on Modelwarships, one of the members picked it up from a local hobby shop in Japan, near where he lives.

According to HLJ, Atago has been released late Nov./early Dec. and Maya was on the verge of being released by end of Dec. but for some reason was withdrawn until later ie. Maya went from a "Low Stock" status in late Dec., meaning sales were commencing, to a " Discontinued/Future" release. It's unusual for the Takao, Chokai and Atago to be released right on the heels of one another then the Maya get stuck in the pipeline.

As far as modifying any of the preceding 3 kits, Maya is different enough from the other 3 as far as secondary armament and radar (among other things) to make a mod not worth the while, especially when the kit could be released at any time.