okay, so got my Simba in and gave it a good cleaning (had a strong machine oil/ cutting fluid smell when I opened the package - but was amazed at how quickly HG ships - thanks again!)
went straight to the rta - installed a set of dual 26g SS 316L coils (8/9 wraps - ohming around .3) and got it wicked up with some supima gold cotton... was a little curious about how the wicking would work, since the chimney/ cover seats down directly on to the deck it seems - got the wicks saturated and tucked them into the wicking channels, cut so that they were about halfway up the channel - it looks like juice flow is through two cyclops style holes on either side that feed to the four wicking channels, but you don't really see the channels/ wick through the cyclops holes... thus far, zero leaks, hits like a champ - good flavor, very nice vape overall - have not tried the premade coils yet, however...
couple of observations about the rta deck... the post screws were crazy tightly seated - used a pair of flat nose pliers to turn them initially as i had some concerns about stripping the tops (they are phillips heads)... construction seems solid overall, airflow is excellent... interior space seems tight, but keep in mind, i have been building most recently on steamcrave aromamizer and boreas (and those are both huge build decks inside)
going to give it a couple of days and take 'er for a spin - will report back - thanks again, HG!