Since we're (sort of) on the subject of skipjacks, I'd like to mention another kit that I discovered recently.
I was browsing on www.oldmodelkits.com (a site that offers lots of fascinating old kits - though not at bargain prices) when I came across a company called Maritime Art. From what I've been able to determine, this was the one-man operation of a model railroader named Art Johansen, who thought more high-quality boat kits ought to be available for model railroad layouts.
He produced a series of at least a dozen HO-scale (1/87; close to 1/8"=1') waterline workboats. When I saw the skipjack, for (if I remember right) about $42, I just had to give it a try.
It's a remarkable kit. There are a few cast resin parts: the hull (with the deckhouses and hatches cast in), the pushboat, the anchor, and the steering wheel.a bunch of extremely small strip wood pieces (mostly basswood, but there's one of mahogany; a few cast britannia (I think from Bluejacket) and styrene parts, and an assortment of brass wire, aluminum tubing, brass strip, shrinkable plastic tubing (for the dredge rollers and the mast hoops!), a little piece of 1/64" plywood, and birch dowels for the mast and boom. Then there is, of all things, a coffee filter (looks just like silkspan) for the sails. There's a little sheet of decals containing lots of real skipjack names and ports of registry in Maryland. There's even a small piece of clear, flexible, pressure-sensitive plastic to form the windows in the main cablin. The contents are rounded out by a little cardboard card with extremely fine wire and thread (apparently fly-tying silk) for the rigging and various other parts.
The instructions are highly detailed, and demonstrate some really ingenious thinking. The diagrams show how to make the dredge winder and dredges (without which no skipjack would be complete) out of the included brass strips, and just about every piece of rigging. (The only thing I've found missing is the centerboard tackle.) The railings and stanchions are to be cut from the included styrene HO ladder stock.
In addition, there's a CD-ROM, containing lots of photos (dated 2004) of operating skipjacks, along with some more diagrams that you can print out on your computer. I have no idea what the original price of this kit was, but there's certainly $42 worth of materials and enjoyment in that little box.
Highly recommended - if you can find one. Unfortunately, as I understand it Mr. Johansen has passed awaty, but oldmodelkits.com does still have some of his other workboats - including, of all things a USCG 38-foot picket boat. Go to http://www.oldmodelkits.com , click on the list of manufacturers at the top of the page, and scroll down to Maritime Art.
I'm about to start on Bluejacket's little HO-scale Maine lobster boat ( http://www.bluejacketinc.com/downeast.htm ) , which is just about as nice (and a lot simpler). It's going to be named after my stepdaughter. If it's a success, I think I'll build this skipjack and name it after my stepson. Then the family biggie: a Gloucester fishing schooner named after my father. (I've already got a tugboat named after my wife.)
All this points up a fact that, I'm afraid, few ship modelers have noticed. The HO railroad hobby has lots of enthusiasts who demand very high-quality, highly detailed merchandise, a surprising amount of which is applicable to ship models.