Radio Controlled boats come in many shapes and sizes. They also come in various stages of assembly. From builders kits, almost ready, to ready to run, it can take months or it can be no more than a few minutes, to get your new rc boat ready for action. If you don't count the fact that all rc boats need to have batteries installed, the electric lower priced model boats, are ready to go. Something like the Traxxas 28" plastic molded electric boat is an excellent choice for kids. If you're like me and like to mess around with engines instead of batteries, but not into spending a lot of time with assembly, a ready to run, gas or nitro, radio controlled boat is something you might want to consider. So that you can get an idea of the assembly required for a typical hobby grade gas rc boat, the following is a description of what I had to do in order to get my new boat ready for action. The boat I had ordered was a 48" fiberglass gas boat called an Osprey. It came with a 26cc Zenoah engine and can go 50 mph. Like a lot of rc boats, mine was made in China. The directions did help a little but there's a lot lost in the translation. The Futaba transmitter's directions where all in Chinese. If I would of had good directions the assembly would have been about 20 minutes max, but since it was my very first serious rc boat, it took me more like an hour. It didn't help that after laying out all the parts, I was missing one of the two included allen wrenches. The hardware, (propeller and rudder) looked like they were going to be a challenge to attach, but they were really no problem at all . The radio box and the servos were already installed and ready. The antenna had to be set up, 6 AA's for the receiver and the Osprey was ready to be gassed up. Just like a car engine, some of these rc boat engines require a little breaking-in before the first time out. I found out by going online, that the Zenoah had been broken-in at the factory. My boat was now ready and I must say, worked perfectly all day as well as being wicked fast. Although RTR (ready to run) rc boats will always need some kind of basic assembly before their first time out, you can rest assured that no matter what your handyman skills are, you'll be up and running in no time.