Hasegawa's kit of Hikawa Maru has simulated wooden planks on the decks, but for even great accuracy and appearance, there is a set of real wooden deck upgrades.

These wooden decks are .001"/.25mm thick. Each piece is very flexible, and there is good color variation between the planks. Every wooden, planked deck has a replacement here, and there are even wooden upgrades for the cargo hatches.

A small scrap test piece was applied. It was easy to position, and re-position, but once the adhesive was burnished down it was set. Attempts to remove or reposition the deck let to the wood splintering and tearing.

There are no markings included in this set.

A double-sided sheet of instructions is included. It is not readily apparent from the instructions, but these decks and photoetch parts are intended to be installed before assembly.

Why spend your days sanding and shaping a wooden deck for your Hikawa Maru when you can use these easy-to-attach parts from Hasegawa instead? The set features adhesive-backed wooden deck parts, plus photo-etched parts for recreating the ship's winch base. There are even enough unused portions left to add some detail to the ships boats, if one desired. Note: while nothing in this set indicate such, the make-up of these decks; the style of etching, backing and adhesive appear identical to other deck veneers as produced by KA Models.

Like many name-brand accessories, this deck set is pricey- but should fit the decks without issue.

Thanks to Great Planes Model Distributors for the review sample. It is listed as #72151 1/350 Hikawa Maru Wooden Deck Parts Set with a MSRP of $69.95 US. Great Planes is the exclusive US importer for Hasegawa.