I bought this kit about 10 years ago from a German model shop. It is definitely old-school, with great detailed plans, detailed stock list, but no instructions beyond a couple of paragraphs. I have not built a model in 20 years but was very active in my youth 50 years ago. I find that my skills have deteriorated and this will not be a great build, but it is enjoyable solving the problems and figuring out how to build this thing.

It has a plastic hull, a very nice plastic fitting set, but the rest of the kit is wood, with many pieces which have to be cut from printed sheets. Luckily, I have access to a wood shop with jigsaw and sanders.

I have fitted out the hull, added the motors, and started the superstructure. Stay tuned for further progress, I hope.

I am making progress on the superstructure. However, I do need some advice.

In the past, when building boats like this, I made the superstructure (pilot house, cabin..) removable to allow access to the RC, battery, motors, etc. The removable pieces were held in place with unobtrusive screws, velcro, or similar.

In this kit, there are no instructions on how to handle access, so I have two options:
1. Made the two pieces of superstructure removable. This is not straightforward and provides quite limited access. It will be a squeeze to get batteries in and out or maintain the gear. Comments?
2. Make most of the deck removable. This would provide excellent access but is challenging because the deck is large and thin and there are no obvious unobtrusive ways to hold it in place. I was thinking of buying small powerful magnets from China and using 6 to 10 of them to hold the deck in place. Any other ideas?

Photo below of the hull and uncut deck with some of the superstructure sitting on top (nothing glued to deck yet).

Lots of fiddly details to add to the tower. Hard to do with no written instructions but the plans are good and the reference book is very helpful.

Plans are really vague in some places but the reference book helps a lot.

Growing up in the 70s, it was popular to build "standoff scale" control line models. This was a plane that looked like the original at a distance, but had major changes like a stunt wing, longer fuselage, etc. My boat is definitely standoff scale. At a distance, it looks really good, but up close, you can see the mistakes and shortcuts.

I have progressed and figured out how to make the deck detachable using a slide-in method. It is quite tight to the hull and seems to align well. I assembled and painted a number of the plastic and wood detail fittings. The provided railings are very nice, look good, but are tedious to install. I am using acrylic paint with a matte clear finish over top for some water resistance. Had to do some work on the stuffing box and rudder mounts to make them completely waterproof.

The next steps are further painting of the hull and deck, connecting up the motor and radio control, adding a lot of the fittings like the secondary armament and portholes, adding more railings, and testing and ballasting as needed.

- finished main deck
- attached rear deck and added railings
-assembled seaplane
-adding guns

Superstructure almost done except for masts and rigging. Need to paint the hull and wire up the propulsion. Then ballast and test.

I wired up the propulsion system and added the RC, which was easy. I am using a DSMX receiver with TX16S transmitter. There is room to do some more customization like rotating turrets and lights, but I am unsure if they are needed.

I finally figured out the painting of the hull. I used acrylic matte paint for the colours and will spray with waterproof matte clearcoat soon, weather permitting. I used automotive pinstriping to get the black waterline on the hull.

All in all, it was a good experience, my first boat in many decades. I relearned a lot of things and a few new ones. My hands are not as steady as they used to be, painting and glues changed, think carefully before you act, use the internet to get advice and information (thanks to all who helped with this model), and try to learn from your mistakes and not dwell on them.

Anchors and chains, some portholes, antennas/rigging, crane rigging