This stuff is a wooden veneer deck. A thin sheet of straw-coloured wood, with an adhesive backing, pre-printed with a plank pattern and cut into the various odd shapes needed to cover the deck of a model ship. It is supplied on a plastic sheet. A length of very fine chain was included in the package.

Instructions were a photo of the material on the deck, with numbers referring to a picture of the sheet. Sounds simple, and was enough to fit the stuff with no problems, and not much head scratching.

To use it, just peel a piece from the backing and apply it to the model, very easy. The pieces on the set I have used for the Airfix H.M.S. Repulse kit were an exact fit. The adhesive is not strong, so the piece can be repositioned, once in the right place a rub down, I used a toothpick, will fix it.

The only spots I didn't get a good fit was where I had fitted etched brass hatches and doors, the thin brass was enough to spoil the fit.

Like all these sort of things there are a few little tricks and tips. The wood material absorbs paint and other liquids like tissue paper, so it needs protection if you intend to paint the model afterwords. Just to make things difficult, it is a lot easier to fit if the model is un-built, so there is a problem.

My normal method for building ship models is to assemble the hull and superstructure, paint it, then add all the pre-painted little detail bits. To use the decking material, I fitted it after the painting was done and before adding the small parts. This generally worked OK, but I did have to cut up some of the deck parts, mainly the shelter deck areas, to get it to fit into the nooks and crannies.

I did some experimenting with surface treatments, and found that ordinary floor polish, like Future or Long Life, works very well. Other acrylic clears also worked fine. There is a good chance that any of the multitude of commercial wood stains, either acrylic or spirit based, would work well. It may be better to do any surface treatment while the material is on the backing sheet, as it would be a lot easier to get an even coat.

There is a lot of material left over, enough for a 1/72 Albatros fuselage, or a lot of little boats. I'm sure I'll think of something useful for it.