Well. all of this discussion prompted me to "jump into the pool." My LHS had had the re-release in stock for about a year now and they were very happy to sell it. I guess that proves that there is less of a market for non-military ships in odd scales (the 1:350 warship kits seem to turn over very quickly).
Other than the usual ROG end-flap box (I can't believe that a two-part box would add a lot to cost) this is a very nice kit, well done, hardly any flash, and have yet to identify any sink holes, etc on part surfaces. I picked up some Plastistruct fittings to detail the helicopter pad and am not sure that the rails need to be replaced - for plastic they are very nicely done.
The kit depicts the Calypso in her near-final fit with the helicopter pad aft. If you wanted to bring the kit up to her final fit - it would be fairly easy, the biggest change would be to replace the pole antenna array on the pilothouse roof with a dome. Back-dating the Calypso would involve a bit more work including shortening the pilot house and relocating the funnel.
I found a press-release on the Internet regarding the Calypso's major refit in Miami in 1986 which included replacing all of the original wiring, hull repairs, and replacing the original GM diesels with Cummins KTA19-M six-cylinder, inline, four-cycle turbocharged diesels.
There are images of the old kit "Calypso" decals available on the Internet and I'm going to generate my own using decal paper and my color ink jet printer. FYI - Billings has discontinued their 1:48 kit, but have made the plans available.
Mike