A high quality kit that would be excellent out of the box, but just screams for customization with add ons. The hull is slide molded and there is very little flash. The parts fit together well, with only minor gap maintenance required. The photo-etch, with the exception of the main battery fire control radars is nicely rendered. The life rails have notches at the bend point to aid in their installation. I modified the kit with a wooden veneer for the main deck, 3rd party anti-aircraft guns, radars, 12-inch gun barrels and mast parts. While not a kit for a beginner, it is quite approachable for someone with intermediate skill and is still a fun build for the experienced modeler. It is definitely not a weekend project; I spent just under 300 hours of bench time putting it together. The Alaska was my first Hobby Boss kit and I was quite impressed.

Ordered a wood deck kit, which looked very good but was a disaster putting down. Probably my fault. I hate PE and this thing is very heavy on it. So it is now just started and retired to the :maybe some day department.

Just got it,looks good,,can't wait for the build ,,lots of projects ahead of her though! lol