Wood lasercut decks on a plastic ship

Excellent advice. I did this on the second wood deck I applied and am very happy with the results.

I have done two ;

 In both cases I sanded the decks lightly with 2000 grit to remove any burrs or feathers . Just remember .If the deck mfgr. didn't plan for any changes in the thickness /part size ,you have to ! other than that I love them . Saves a lot of work on my part .I usually stain some with A mix of paints and thinners approximating the old " Humbrol " Color of " Deck Bleached Teak ". I use the paint thinned so much it looks like slightly dirty thinner . This does work though .If you are doing say a 1920s era tugboat for a dio ,they would,ve had wooden , oil and grease stained decks . Not to be aggravating , the paint chip is an old model ship deck that was molded in white and somehow I don't have the ship , but I have that deck with beautiful " Deck Bleached Teak covering every cranny of it .The nooks too !  Tanker-Builder   Model  - On  ! !

I have a set for the Mikasa.  Is there anything that has to be done to prepare them for application or afterwards?

I think most of those laser-cut decks are basswood.  The grain is so tight it is hard to discern at unaided eye viewing distances. I've built two ships with laser cut decks and really like the looks.  You can see the laser scribing that differentiates the actual planks, but grain is very hard to see without closeup lenses.

At the time of her loss the Yamato's decks were stained with diesel oil and black soot.

Early to mid-war the decks were natural Hinoki Cypress. Go with a creamy-yellow

The trouble with natural wood decks is the 1:1 scale grain which often is difficult to deal with in scale models

Try the ship forum.