Hello everybody! I am Hande, from Espoo Finland, and I'm fulfilling a 40-year-old dream.
When I was 17, I studied the brochures of Billing Boats with great enthusiasm.
Due to financial restrictions and priorities, the idea of starting a project remained dormant.
Well, now thanks to being laid off, I have time. And while I still had some savings, I spent it on an old BB528 that I found in the backroom of a Danish model (and other) hobby retailer IC Communication. To give you an idea - the Becker rudder is to be built from 29 pieces - each. Newer versions come with a complete rudder, I think. But the hull is ABS one-piece. Fortunately, as I don't actually care for building the hull from planks...
I know that the Smit Nederland is very popular, and hope that you are not bored by yet another one.
My special angle is the following:
The real Smit Nederland has a sister ship, the Smit Finland ("Finland" - you see? - My special connection), manufactured in 1979. After some not insignificant detective work, I have learned that Smit Finland was sold to Equatorial Guinea - over Morocco, where her name was changed into mere "Finland". In Equatorial Guinea, she was renamed "Ureka XIV" (Ureca is the southern part of an island that belongs to E.G.). For some untraceable procedure, she was reflagged over to St Vincent and Grenadines. Her AIS was received in Guangzhou, China in 2013, and she was sighted some months later in Tanger, where she was photographed by Jan Pieter Honkoop (thank you, JPH!). Her home port is Malabo, at least by the markings. May be her owner is in Morocco?
So, my plan is to make my BB528 look like Ureka XIV - with the proper weathering and change of paints versus the Billing Boats suggestion.
Well, this is my commitment made public. I will keep the forum posted, in case someone is interested...