Stage 17 - Contains 8 short & 8 long planks, anti-aircraft gun and tool pouch.

The portside hull planking is repeated on the starboard side.

Assemble the anti-aircraft gun and paint it grey and carefully store the gun.

Future stages:

Stage 18 - Contains bow frame thin x2 & thick x2, deck plate & anti-aircraft gun & gun platform.

Stage 19 - Contains planks short x7 & long x7, chamfered moulding, and anti-aircraft gun parts.

Stage 20 - Contains short & long planks, chamfered moulding and an A6M Zero aircraft kit.

Stage 21 - Contains the port stern deck plate, planks and a decal sheet.

Stage 19 - Contains short & long planks, chamfered moulding, and anti-aircraft gun parts.

Don't forget to chamfer the bottom edge of the planks where necessary and to glue each plank along its full length to the next as well as to the frames.

Take a short plank and cut a piece so that it sits edge-on between frames 12 and halfway across frame 13, then glue into place.

Take the chamfered moulding, this is fits across the frame slots of 13 to the middle of frame 19, the moulding should be placed with its angled edge facing outwards and upwards as shown in the steps, cut to length then glue the moulding in place.

Run a short plank to fit from frame 12 to the middle of frame 17 so that it fits at the bottom of the frames against the bottom plate, cut it to length, chamfer its bottom edge, and glue into place.

Take a short plank and locate above the previous plank, so that it runs from frame 12 to the middle of frame 16, cut to length and glue into place, then repeat with another plank.

Take another short plank, place above the previous, this time so that it runs from frame 12 to halfway across 17, cut to length and glue into place, then repeat with a second plank.

Take a long plank, and fit above the chamfered moulding so that it runs from frame 14 to halfway across frame 19, cut to length and glue into place.

Take a long plank, start it behind the bow frames located on the deck in front of frame 13, and run it to halfway across frame 18 and cut to length. When gluing this plank in place it should sit approx 1mm above the frame shoulder's, but do not glue it to the bow deck frame.

Take a long plank, and fit it from frame 14 to frame 19 and is located above the plank above the moulding, cut to length and glue into place.

Take a long plank and fit above the previous plank so that it runs from frame 14 to halfway across frame 18, cut and glue into place, then repeat with a second plank.

Identify the planking gaps and fill these area's as before using the remaining planking.

Issue 20 repeats the hull planking from this issue on the opposite side of the hull.

Anti-aircraft gun - assemble and paint as per the previous gun.

Future stages:

Stage 20 - Contains short & long planks, chamfered moulding and an A6M Zero aircraft kit.

Stage 21 - Contains the portside stern deck plate, planks and a deal sheet.

Stage 22 - Contains the starboard stern deck plate, an anti-aircraft gun and platform

Stage 23 - Contains planks, chamfered moulding, boat (hull & deck), rails and diecast parts.

Stage 21 - Contains the port side stern deck plate, planks and a deal sheet.

Start by checking the shoulder height of frames 22, 23, 23A and 24 which is to allow the stern deck pate to sit level across frames 20 to 24, use a file to remove material where necessary - I found the shoulders of frame 24 to be approx 2mm lower than the frames either side (despite the top of frame 24 being level with the frames either side),. therefore I packed the shoulder of frame 24 with a scrap length of 2mm thick planking to level off to the shoulder to the correct height, (the same will need to be done at the opposite shoulder of F24).

Test-fit the deck plate on the port side into the slots in frames 19 and 25, resting on the shoulders of frames 20 to 24, when you are happy with the fit glue the deck plate into place.

Shape a plank to fit from frames 18 to 24, underneath the deck plate and glue into place so that it is flush with the underside of the deck plate.

Shape and place another plank, running from frames 19 to 25, above the slots part-way up the side of the frames, glue it into place and then fit another plank from frames 18 to 19, so that it projects about 1mm above the shoulders of the frames.

Shape a plank to fit from frames 18 to 19, in the gap between the shorter plank from the previous step and the deck plate, you'll need to remove a section to make it fit and glue into place.

Shape a plank to fit above the long plank from step 4, running from frames 19 to 24, you will need to taper the end of the plank so it fits between the planks, the glue into place.

Finally, as before, fill any gaps with shaped planking strips.

Decals - The steps show the painting and decal placement to suit three Zero aircraft, to avoid damage to finished aircraft, I have opted to leave the finishing of the aircraft until later on in the build.

Stage 22 of the build is a repeat of the stern deck plate & hull planking on the opposite (starboard) side of the hull.

Future stages:

Stage 22 - Contains the starboard stern deck plate, planking, anti-aircraft gun parts and platform.

Stage 23 - Contains planks, chamfered moulding, boat (hull & deck), rails and diecast parts.

Stage 24 - Contains short & long planks, chamfered moulding, anti-aircraft gun parts and platform.

Stage 25 - Contains stern frames, planks and a Nakajima B5N aircraft kit.