I am about 85% complete with this Billings kit. For a
relatively inexpensive kit, I have found it to be a fairly
good value. There are however numerous details that deviate
from the full size vessel. If you have access to pictures of
the full size vessel many of these can be corrected. Some of
the mistakes are:
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1.
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The rubber bumper along the top of the hull is
in the wrong location. It should be just below the
hull/deck intersection. Also at the hull/deck
intersection there should be a round section. This
can be easily corrected.
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2.
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In the real boat the pilot house is partially
framed with the roll cage, this is not reflected in
the kit. I have not corrected this on my model. I
have added a roll cage within the pilothouse as a
compromise.
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3.
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The pilothouse floor on the real boat is made
with a raised perforated metal deck. The kit does
not have this. I have used a perforated brass sheet
to simulate this.
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4.
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Many of the fittings are of low quality and do
not accurately reflect the real items. Some of
these fittings can easily be replaced or fabricated
and others I will leave as is.
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The fit of the diecut wood I found to be
excellent. To ease in finishing I put a layer of
plastic on the outside of all the wood pieces.
Overall I give this kit a three star rating. If you
are not too picky about accuracy of the details and
want a low cost kit that is simple to R/C, this
model is an excellent choice.
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