%)Just found this site and read some of the comments re. kit quality and thought you might be interested in my experience with Deans Marine and Komet a couple of years ago. I have built a number of boats, larger and smaller than this, both scratch and kits from a number of manufacturers. I can honestly say that by comparison to anyone else this kit is appalling especially when you consider the cost. The drawings are totally inadequate information wise (apart from the fact that Deans say - don't leave them in sunlight, or they will fade - come on! its 2011 not 1950 - change the way you print them) I contacted 'Float a Boat' in Australia for a decent set when Komet was Akuna and their drawings are properly detailed and even show hull profiles, so you could make the hull yourself and scratch build it which would be easier than paying a furtune for the kit.
The instructions are photocopied sheets clipped together in one corner with so many errors that it is laughable. Some photos are out of focus. The box detailed length and breadth in German (why?) and was wrong anyway. The upper deck plywood had a knot hole in the middle of the planking nearly half an inch across and one of the funnel mouldings had a fault that also had to be replaced, how could quality control have missed that?
Puzzled by the unprofessional approach I contacted Deans to ask if I had received a preproduction kit by mistake as I couldn't imagine anyone actually selling something of such poor quality. No came back the answer, and if I found difficulty with the build it was probably that my skill level was not up to the standard needed for this kit!
Call me old fashioned if you will, but what happened to 'the customer is always right' logic. As a mug who had just paid them a shed load of money their arrogance just about topped off my frustration. Needless to say I will certainly never buy another of their kits and have passed on my experience to all our other model club members.
It actually took me a year to return to the model and carry on with it, many times I resisted the temptation to parcel it back to them as ' not fit for purpose' or 'not of merchantable quality' but in reality I hated the idea of heading down that road when who is to say what is acceptable in a kit. Chuck any old rubbish into a box and stick a fancy label on the front and off you go - no standards, little quality control, poor component identification, poor instructions, I could carry on but isn't it a shame that there are no quality standards, score out of ten, etc. to judge a kit before you buy it. Thankfully there are now websites like this around so with a little sideways research you can get other peoples views on the subject.