Best practice when using wooden deck stickers

[calistan]

I'm not a huge fan of wooden deck stickers, and my only previous experience with them is 1) as an add-on for a 1/700 ship which completely ruined the model (the thickness spoiled the alignment of all the other structures), and 2) bundled with a huge detail set for a 1/350 ship (I used a couple of small bits to mask the paintwork and threw the rest of the wooden deck away).

 

Now I've got my first model (Pontos Soya) where the wood sticker is an integral part of the kit - there are no planks etched into the plastic, it's completely flat. The wood sticker is not optional.

 

So I was wondering what's the best way to use this thing. Obviously I only get one shot at it, and if I try something that makes a mess it might be hard to hide the damage. Specific things I'm curious about are:

The deck will have to go on early, so should it be masked? It generally isn't masked in the builds I've looked at, so how do people paint and weather the superstructure?

Will it get ruined if paint or varnish gets on it?

What products are best for darkening or ageing the wood so it looks less like a strip of balsa?

 

Any advice gratefully received for whenever I pluck up the courage to start this thing!