There are other tidbits like these that can leave the modeler scratching their head if they haven't done their research or used a few of these sets before. There are four lengths of inclined ladders as direct replacement for kit inclined ladders but this isn't mentioned in the instructions and some may find this confusing until they figure that out. Overall the instructions work, but there are times the modeler might be left wondering what kind of jigsaw puzzle they've gotten themselves into. I spoke to Loren Perry about this and he said that the next printing will be better; Gold Medal Models is in the midst of moving currently and what with the move, rush of kits, and normal business going on the instructions were a bit rushed to get the set out in a timely manner. 

There is the normal assortment of three-bar, two bar, and chain railings. There's over 55 inches (141cm) of three bar railings, 46 inches (118cm) of chain railing (with the droop between posts), and 18.5 inches (47cm) of two bar. Although not mentioned in the instructions at all, the two-bar railings should be used in the .50 cal AA nests up near the top of the funnel where there are no splinter shields. Otherwise the only other area you might want to use them would be on top of the 8" turrets that were removed before the battle of Coral Sea, which are not included in the kit. While I'm at this point I'll mention quickly that there are some parts included for the prewar fit of Lexington; the stern-mounted direction-finding antennaes and two railings for port boat pockets that later had AA platforms mounted with splinter shields. There is no extra railing for the starboard boat pocket however. A curious omission but I would imagine that there will be enough people with extra parts that trading will be relatively easy.

There are some nice structural pieces included, such as supports for the undersides of the platforms behind the stack and underneath the 20mm platform added just outboard of this stack during Lexington's last visit to Pearl Harbor. Using these will require a little bit of work due to the way Trumpeter designed their parts; retaining slots will need to be shaved off and sanded smooth to make the open walkway this area actually was. This will fix a problem with the use of the Nautilus models wood deck that I'll touch on in part II of "So you want to build Lexington?"

Also included are such "standard extras" as life rings; cable reels; arrestor and barricade gear, ships and some air group propellers; cradles, pulleys, and rudders for the ship's boats; flight deck palisades and elevator railings; and fittings for the Anti-aircraft weapons such as 20mm shields and sights and the fuze setting assembley and railings for the open 5" /25 cal guns. One comment on these, I do wish that they had been relief-etched like much of the other details, they just look a little flat to me now after all the spoiling I've had. Other extras include equipment for the interior of the bridge and a figure of Lexington's last captain, Frederick Sherman. Finally, parts are included to replace the bottoms of the ship's rafts hung on the side of the stack and to add paddles to them. 

Next up is the safety nets near the bow. If you look at the safety net image a bit further up the page you'll note that it is labeled as a bow net; on the edge at the bottom of the picture there is a slight curve to the edge so that it will better conform to the curve of the hull. When test fit this work fairly well over most of the forward area; however the forward area does not have a constant radius and there are some tighter curves that may cause problems. Once again I invite you to check back to my online Lexington build in a bit where I will go more in-depth.

The last thing I checked quickly was the funnel cap grills. The outer dimensions match the kit and also fit perfectlu on the front funnel vent with it's extra shielding. Some extra work will be required in widening the openings a bit due to the finer detail of the PE parts, but that should be expected when replacing plastic parts with metal.