The manufacturer of the kit is gone and search for Maritime Art produces a long list links which have nothing to do with HO scale models. A little hint to future kit makers. Don't pick a name for your company or product line that has very broad meaning. If you do you will get lost in a sea of Google search results. Anyway, I have managed to find few pictures of other kits by the same manufacturer and that was it. No reviews, no on-line builds. I figured I was on my own.
First thing I noticed after opening the box that kit had big number of small parts and the hull with very uneven surface. I started with filling all nooks and crannies with epoxy. I don't know if that was the best way to do it but it worked somewhat. In some places the epoxy layer peeled off. Perhaps because it was very thin. I thought of using automotive filler but whenever I use it to fill bubble holes in resin detail parts it comes off. I was afraid I was going to get same results here too since the hull is made of resin. After I got through this step I found that instructions were a little hard to read. They were full of ship terms which I was not familiar with. The diagrams with those terms and arrows pointing to appropriate parts of the boat made it easier though. After I figured out what I was supposed to do I needed to glue some pieces of styrene to the hull. I thought epoxy would do the job but styrene kept detaching. Then I tried CA. In general I don't like using it but I find it useful in certain situations. I guess it was certain situation.
The progress is slow as there is some learning curve. I do one step and then go to the next. Sometimes it means I can't do it right away. I will get through this eventually. The next one will be much easier.
