Iv'e been working on this build for awhile now an even after 35 years of building it seems to be a challenge for me. There are diagrams but no instructions of any kind. 
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LUCZORAMA SHIPWRECK SCAVENGER HUNT GIVEAWAY. 4 Weeks of Fun • 1 Legendary Prize ((OcCre’s Fram Ship)) • Global Crew Welcome!
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Black pearl build from China [COMPLETED BUILD]
Is this a Zhl kit or it was a nonbrended version?
It is a ZHL model purchased from ebay a year ago
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Id question if its a real ZHL because I have that kit and am doing a build log on it now I have full instructions for the kit. That said I found ZHL through a recommendation because I bought an ebay Black pearl kit that had no instructions aaaaand 10 pieces of planking, parts missing from the laser cut sheets, No rigging line, wrong size mast dowels and for only 1 mast it was a mess thank god I used Paypal because I would have been real mad lol
I'll post some pictures of the box and supplies. I does provide rigging, sails, deadeyes, blocks, all the wood needed. Included 6 sheets of plans with numbers only as reference.
I went onto your build log. I see a lot of differences with the kit supplies materials from mine. The pattern of your bulwarks is different from mine. Mine my be an early version of the kit. Your build looks great.
That's possible as I went and looked and found there were 2 versions I have the gold addition and there is another version with cut away sections so that's actually 3 versions of the ship. With the ebay one I bought the rear figures were plastic and the figure head was just a piece of wood in the shape of the figurehead but only 1/8 thick so cant even carve it without adding more layers to it. The kit I got from ZHL directly has nice metal cast figurehead and the rear figures are also cast metal including the supports for the captains quarters that hangs off the stern. Max is part of this forum you may be able to chat with him and ask if any instructions were made for the version you have.
Thanx for the complement on my Build I am waiting on some new planking and I can get back to it. Ill be giving this Build to my Grandson as he's a big fan of the movie and loves pirate ships. The ebay kit I got was just so bad it would have been impossible to build that ship without having to spend at least $200 more and I would have had to fabricate quite a few parts that were missing. it came in a plain brown box that looked like someone just threw everything in the box and shook it up a few dozen times lol
The parts were just fine, the figurehead and stern figures are of a cast metal and are of good quality. Later today I will try and send some picture of the box and materials. I will be closely watching you build as good reference for mine. Thanks
Here are some pictures of the kit I received.
These are pictures of the only plans with the kit. There are on written instruction of any kind, you need to try and match the numbers shown with the corresponding part on the "A" "B" "C" "D" or "E" wood laser cut sheet. Trying to figure out what number goes with which part has been a challenge.
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mine is listed as ZHL- 506 so definitely a different version the Box looks similar though in that they use a decal on the box as apposed to printing directly to the box. This has to be the one folks were talking about being difficult to build due to no clear build instructions. I honestly thought that's what I was gonna get when I bought mine from Max. I thought I'd be able to figure it out. Turned out it came with instructions so I was happy to see those. That got me thinking Maybe the ones folks were talking about were the first Mess I ordered from ebay. I know what you mean about the A,B,C,D thing, The instructions don't tell you those letters correspond to the laser sheets I was like WTH I Guess I just have to look through every single sheet to find a part that looks like the part in the instructions while I was doing that I found the letter on the sheets and a porch light came on AAH-HAA I started the Log for that ship just incase someone had one without instructions but it appears the kits aren't exactly alike anyhow. So I hope my log is atleast good reference for folks to follow and get the ship built. I hope to have the planking in a couple weeks at most and I can get back to that build. I tend to build things fairly quick because I have a good amount of time to work on my models so I should catch up to where your at in a day or two. Ill keep posting a detailed build so hopefully you see something that will be useful to your Build and help you complete that one.
It will be very helpful to follow along with your build as you go. I'm retired now so time I have. I am posting some pictures of the second planking I received. It was so light that if I wanted a "Black pearl" I would need to darken the wood. I decided I didn't want to paint so I used some wood stain from Micro-Mark.
This is the original wood color resting on the dyed wood I used on the second planking.
I wanted to wood dye mine as well as I use that stuff on Guitars and they come out Beautiful once the clear coat is applied. I use the Trans-Tint Brand its expensive, but I have always gotten consistent results from it. The Problem I had was the planks are of a different wood then what is used to make the Plywood laser cut parts from so they wouldn't take the dye the same I didn't want to go through the process of trying to blend every single part to match so I chose to use Tamiya XF-1 paint for all the Black parts. That paint is water thin with an alcohol base so it dries fast and sinks deep into the wood leaving the grain raised so it looks like Black wood in the end and Not a gaudy thick painted surface. The coverage is fantastic as well and so far is covering in a single application. I have used that Brand of Paint for everything and I like it a lot. Unfortunately I'm still 10 years or so from retirement, But I no longer put in 60+ hours a week at work. All work and no Play was making me a very dull boy so I now limit my work hours from 40 -45 hours a week max. I go in early at 4AM so I'm off before the rest of the guys this is great in the summer as I avoid the hottest part of the day. since I'm off early I have more daylight hours to do things I like to do. I spend a good amount of time with my Grandson when he's here he likes fishing so we go often, a few more years I'll have him Hunting with me.
I decided that since the plans are not all that clear and I do have lots of loose wood I would produce a lot of my own railing and trim as needed.
My rails have some ornamental scrolls in them at the ends they made those laser cut but not very detailed because a laser cant really do that well. so Ill have to choose to go in with a dremel and detail the scrolls or just make my own tightly rolled scrolls I've done those in the past by rounding over both edges of 1X4mm wood strips and wrapping them super slowly around a dowel rod this requires a good soak in water and Ammonia to get a tight scroll the rounding of the edge relieves stress on the wood keeps the edge from splintering and gives it dimension and depth. once its rolled where you like it a small wood bead is inserted in the center to finish it off. I haven't done them in a good long while but I think I still can it can get frustrating getting it tight without breaking but once you find your groove its pretty easy. BTW Dave I got my book on the Constellation thanx so much for that Information the book is a wealth of information, that along with Pictures I take I should be able to scale down the info and scratch build that ship
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I hadn't thought about rolling around a dowel, good idea. Now I have soaked and used a hot iron to bend wood but never used ammonia, how does that work?
A couple of the completed ships in my new workshop.
the Ammonia help break down the bond the fibers have to each other. Ammonia reacts with the lignin in wood, which is the adhesive material holding fibers together. After soaking the wood in ammonia, bend it to the shape desired. As the ammonia evaporates the water in the air replaces it in the lignin and restores to original glue strength. a few tips for this you probably know that wood grain orientation is one of the main factors in how much wood can be bent before breaking so you will want a nice tight long grain. I learned this ammonia trick from My Grandfather who was A Cherokee Indian this method was used handed down generations the ammonia was obtained from Urine back in those times. you do have to be careful with Ammonia and wood as it will darken the wood if you're dying it black then it wont matter, but you'll want to be careful using it on wood you want to remain natural in color, and make sure you take it to a place the wife cant smell it. I usually do ammonia soaks in my garage as its detached from the house. Happy Wife Happy Life