GOT SOMETHING IN MY EYE!

Can't believe the luck I'm having recently! First of all, someone gives me a Billing Boats Half Moon No.450 kit, then after lusting over a Billing Boats Nordkap No.476, I find one on ebay and the seller lives on my doorstep.Unbelievably, this guy bought the kit 25 years ago and after putting the very basic skeleton together, he put it all away in the attic and it stayed there for two and a half decades!

When I saw it on Ebay, I looked up the cost of a new one from CORNWALL MODEL BOATS and they're £270 ($370), so I rang the guy and asked if I could pop over to examine it. He said yes.When I got there, I was pleasantly surprised to see how good the condition of the kit was because his own photo on ebay portrayed it in a very poor light. Anyway, after looking through the boxes and determining that there were a couple of bits and bats missing, I asked him what he'd take for it. To my utter amazement, he said £60. WOW!!!

Needless to say, I threw £60 at him and while he was bending down picking up the notes from the kitchen floor, I legged it to my car and screeched away with a smug grin on my face.The timber seems to be in pretty good condition, but maybe not as stiff as brand new wood. Maybe it'll harden up in my hobby room. A couple of the bulkhead pieces at the stern were loose, so I carefully removed them. I guess the 25yr old glue has lost some of its stickiness.

When I start the build I'll check the others thoroughly.The seller explained to me that he bought the boat-kit and the fittings-kit separately, claiming that's how they were sold back in the 80's. The fitting-kit has a Box Number of 477, so it sounds right enough. I've not yet carried out a full inventory of the parts to determine which bits are missing, but I'll get around to it soon enough.I will not be starting this build until I finish the St.Roch project. I had previously planned to start my Vaporetto next, but I'm too excited about the Nordkap.

Billing Boats Nordkap No.476