Starting the Flight Deck

 I like to remove all the raised detail from the flight deck surface. First I use a small drill to locate certain important items such as the arresting wires, catapults and the angle deck centerline. The holes are small and can be easily filled later. A chisel exacto blade makes quick work of the bigger pieces and 400 wet sandpaper does the rest.
Instead of removing the railings and sanding the catwalk smooth, I've decided to just remove the catwalks from the flight deck and replace them with styrene angle. Again the exacto saw and a cleanup with 400 wet sandpaper works well. I have some very good drawings of the Yorktown flight deck to go by. I intend to cement the elevators in place and fill in the gaps and sand them smooth. The decals will indicate the elevators.