I built the kit about 15 years ago-- fit was reasonable, as I recall. I recently picked up the latest re-release of the kit-- but I havent' done anything with it yet.
Spar is a tan color with maybe a yellowish tinge. IIRC, the Testors square bottle "wood tan" was a pretty close match.
I think the kit would make a nice lighted model. You can find little electronics kits online to add a flasher for the light.
I was originally thinking about building this kit as a little RC model, but now I'm leaning more towards a 1/48 scale model based on the Microglass fiberglass hull.