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First and foremost, I would like to give a huge THANK YOU! to Bill Chapman for the upgrade in postage from what I paid. As tracking got "weirder and weirder," I suspected he'd done this, and receipt proved my hunch correct. What I paid for does not ship that fast. This thing litteraly flew here within 3 days of the Post Office getting it on the other coast. (And he did not hesitate in printing it up, either. Shipped out only 2 days after I ordered it, one of which was a holiday.) Arrived very well packed. So, for customer service, Bill gets as many stars as there are to award. Above and beyond, Sir. Thank you again!

This specific subject is--at this stage--little more than artist's renditions from a modeling standpoint. So, in the first place, no one (sane) is going to spend 10s of thousands of dollars to make molds for styrene injected kits. This subject is the domain of the resin industry. Realizing this, when I first shopped the subject, I got 4 choices...on Shapeways were Dutch Fleet Miniatures and Bill's Models. On ebay, in China was a printed one from a company called Smelly Cat. (Yes, that's right... Remember, it's China, and their command of English is tenuous.) And, there's a cast resin and PE number from EV Resin. To this shopper, the Shapeways models were over priced, Smelly Cat's offering showed damage in the images they posted to "advertise" their product. (Yup. It's China, as I noted.) And, the EV resin kit, with all that PE is beyond my skills and ambitions.

The death of Shapeways lost Dutch Fleet from the list. As Bill got himself his own high quality printer and materials, and freed himself from them, he thus remained on the list, but also benefited from both better pricing and quality control. I won't attempt the EV kit. I will not purchase any kit where the "advertising" photos show major damage/print errors. Dutch Fleet is gone. With Bill's kit now better priced at higher quality, it was easy to make the investment. This is the largest 3d printed item I have ever bought to date.
And I can now see those print layer lines I have read mention of in the past. They are most noticeable on the foredeck, but they're subtle, and I think will disappear under paint. The rest of the model is pretty smooth, and I literally need to take a magnifying glass to see faint traces of anything.

What I got was a very solidly cast piece of gray resin. I expected something more delicate/fragile. I am pleased this is hardier than expected. The mast is "sturdier" than the CAD image on his site, but it is not going to damage as easily, and will accept detailing items applied to it better. Since the subject is by nature speculative, there can be no judgements about accuracy. All the major features shown on most images are present, except any indication of the boat deck. The CAD showed no open deck, so it was not expected, but there is no trace of the cover, either. That, like anything else, can be easily added, though. This is very much a "blank canvas" which can be detailed to the owner's self content, or left more plain/basic.

I am not normally a rivet counter, but felt compelled to measure. I got 8.5 inches bow to stern, and an even 1 inch wide at the flight deck, everything narrowing as it went forward. The specs I get for the ship are: 496.1 feet long by 64.6 feet wide. In 1/700, my measurements make this model 495.8333_ feet long by 58.333_ feet wide. Quite within close enough in length for my rough measuring, and a bit too narrow even for my rough measurements. But, as noted, I am not a rivet counter, so this satisfies me well enough, especially when I consider the alternatives I am aware of on the market.

Overall, I am delighted I got this. I had become mentally prepared to wait beyond the end of the decade for an injection styrene kit of this subject in this scale. This certainly changes that! It is a fine new addition to my collection right now.

Bill offers subjects you won't fine as styrene kits. His prices are good. His customer service is outstanding. If you see something you like, do not hesitate to buy with confidence.

His site:

http://billmodels.site/index.html/#/