Now here,s a model that,s been a great kit from day one . I didn,t notice any flaws on account of the age of the molds. I do wish they had kept molding her in white though . This is 1/200 at it,sbest. A generic set of rails and ladders as well as other stuff will work on her .I would recommend GOLD MEDAL MODELS or TOM,S P.E. forthis build.The rails they have in the kit would translate to 4"pipe in real life.Other than that , and the paint callouts for HELLER paints , she,s as I remembered . I will have to find out what those colors are as they don,t tell you anything other than the numbers . I will now have my own fleet of Oceanographic research vessels . They will include the ORIGINAL CALYPSO , the re-released version , The original LE-SUROITand three other types converted from LINDBERG minesweeper kits. They all have something going for them as I painted the last two in N.U.M.A. colors of turquoise and white The rest are as built Green hulls ,white houses and deep flat brown decks. The CALYPSO and the original LE-SUROIT of course are white . I recommend this kit to anyone who has at least about a dozen under their belt. The instructions are pictures(drawings) and they can be confusing . The parts fit is still good and the detail is still superb .I wish my JAPANESE vessel was that good . well, gotta go the paint for the ship is calling out to me . tankerbuilder