Thanks for taking the time to comment and especially for the link to DickyD's build thread, John.
In answer to your questions- no, I was fully aware of the type of kit it was and although new to this type of construction, I diligently researched the techniques, materials and tools necessary for the job. I quickly gathered that all of these types of kits have their quirks and I accepted that. On the other hand, perhaps I wasn't clear on just how "quirky" the Deans kit turned out to be- to wit:
the instructions were unclear, very badly written with numerous misspellings, appalling grammar, puzzling ambiguities, fractured syntax, important omissions etc.
The hull had confusing extra lines on it (from "a well used mould" according to one of the Dean forum posters) and other issues that I have detailed here in photos. The hull, the plans and the drawn-on styrene sheets rarely match and sometimes differ significantly from each other.
The quality of the fittings ranges from good to poor with most requiring a fair bit of cleaning up but I guess that's pretty normal.
The plans also seemed quite inaccurate in many regards as a comparison with plans I obtained from John Lambert revealed. After adjusting to these shortcomings, I decided to go ahead anyway and accept the challenge, figuring that I would learn a lot in the process.
I should mention that all of my direct dealings with Deans were fine and relatively pleasant: They managed to save me some money on the considerable shipping charge to the US and when I had a question about sanding the hull, they responded promptly with advice. (It turns out that that advice may have been incorrect but that's not the issue atm).
The only issue I had was on the forum itself. When I mentioned my concerns about the kit on the forum, I was threatened with banning unless I self-censored my comments which I did. Later, I made the suggestion that Mr. Dean hire an English major for the summer to rewrite the messy instructions- heck, I even offered to rewrite the Amethyst instructions myself after I finished the build. Somehow that was taken incorrectly as me insulting Mr. Dean and again I was threatened by Colin. After that, I vowed just to stay clear of any hint of criticism as I valued the advice on the forum from Radio Joe and a few others. I hadn't commented there in a few weeks so when I saw that I had been banned yesterday it seems clear I've been banned for my critical (but I think not inflammatory) observations in this thread that you can read here for yourself, none of which I have edited after the fact.
I will survive without Deans forum though it's a pity that Colin feels it necessary to ban me for reasonable comments made on
another forum other than Deans. Frankly, I've never heard of such a thing! I figure it's an instant karma situation though. By acting this way, even though he is not a Deans employee, Colin presents an unsavory view of Deans to the modeler's community at large for seeming so petty and unnecessarily defensive. I imagine that many people will read threads like this and steer away from Deans on principle. He may have rid himself of a "problem poster" but instead cost Deans business that they otherwise would have been getting.
I'm putting that all behind me now as I soldier on with the build. I thank you and the others for taking the time to comment. Time to go cut some fiddly little bits of wood
Dave