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New kit from Occre 09/21/2025

Beautiful paintings!!! Simply beautiful!!!

Quick question: Was the Soleil Royal really completely blue? I can't imagine that at all.

Who can say something about it? :D Anchor
 
I may be being a bit naive here but are they really likely to sell 700 of these within a short-ish timeframe? I'd have thought 100 - 200 per year would be fairly good going. This isn't the kind of kit that will be stocked in a local hobby shop, is it.
If a modeler wants to have fun at little cost by dreaming a little: a few pieces of wood will do the trick, here I have illustrated a plane that crosses the wall... sound LOL

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Long time listener, first time caller. I would say I am an intermediate level modeller and had been out of the hobby for some time. The last time I touched a model Occre was not available in the US or more than likely safer to say I had no idea they existed up until a year ago so they are new to me. I jumped back into the hobby with the HMS Beagle and I have progressed to the masts. Even though I might consider myself intermediate I have found many issues with the kit. This is my first and quite possibly last OcCre model. Although.....The USS Missouri is tempting.

More to the point. When I saw the video for this model I tried very hard to see the blocks included or if I could spot plywood. I could not determine anything but did note it appeared to have the exact same belaying pins and possibly same dead eyes as the Beagle. The same blocks, brass eyes and cleats in the Beagle kit appear to be in the recently released America's Cup Endevour by OcCre and looks absolutely horrible IMHO. I understand the economy of manufacture and using the same parts in different kits but If that is the case with the exclusive and numbered super special Soleil then i am already at a hard pass. Add to that the $2200 USD (soon to be $2250) is an eye watering and ridiculous price and is enough to make me choke....or spit my coffee out of my mouth. Sorry, I have to apologize to my wife and get her a towel. Although I have not looked for the most expensive model I have never seen a model over $2000. Even with tariffs possibly at play I hope we are not in a world where this is the first shot at making it acceptable for models to get to that level of money. it is a pretty model though.
 
Add to that the $2200 USD (soon to be $2250) is an eye watering and ridiculous price and is enough to make me choke....
Ah yes, and for those of us in the US, add another $330 in tariffs on EU products plus shipping from Spain, you're probably looking at $2700 to $2800. No thanks.
 
Hey folks,

yes, I think it's a really nice model, for the modeller who wants it just like that. For me personally, a model that is just pretty is not enough. If we're talking about exclusive, then it really has to be exclusive. This starts with high-quality wood and ends with a beautiful rigging with unique yarn. I don't even want to start with beautiful fittings and cannons that are true to scale, because then I dread it. Nothing is in the correct scale and it always looks clunky and artificial.

I am really disappointed with this model, which in my opinion is not exclusive. A great, great pity! :mad:

A merely pretty model for over 2,000 dollars must offer more than what OcCre has put there ...Exclamation-MarkAnchor
 
I wanted to say pretty much everything that Seattle Dave has said above, including about being a newbie to SOS. I have just about completed Occre’s Beagle and was hoping to move my hobby up a level, perhaps to a Soleil Royal. I’d hoped that this new release would be the challenge I needed.
However, I can’t help but feel that Occre are focussing on marketing gimmicks rather than a product that justifies its wallet-busting price. How many of us give a stuff about a limited edition coin? Do we care if it’s a limited edition or not?
With other companies working in 3d printed resin with extraordinary detail, Occre’s brass ornaments seem… dated already. For less money, compare the San Felipe with the addition of detailed wood carvings from ZHL (or their Royal Caroline.) In comparison, they make the Occre Soleil Royal look like Lego.
I don’t want to be mean and critical, but after The Beagle, Occre have a long way to go to persuade me to buy another of their products. Their written instructions and plans are packed with mistakes, which they are well aware of, but are not bothering to correct. (However, I admit the video instructions saw me through.) For the price of this new Soleil Royal, we’d expect the best quality blocks and deadeyes and pins… but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps if this kit was more like 600 (euros or pounds or dollars), I'd have bought it.
I’m off to order something from Vanguard instead.
 
Hey folks,

yes, I think it's a really nice model, for the modeller who wants it just like that. For me personally, a model that is just pretty is not enough. If we're talking about exclusive, then it really has to be exclusive. This starts with high-quality wood and ends with a beautiful rigging with unique yarn. I don't even want to start with beautiful fittings and cannons that are true to scale, because then I dread it. Nothing is in the correct scale and it always looks clunky and artificial.

I am really disappointed with this model, which in my opinion is not exclusive. A great, great pity! :mad:

A merely pretty model for over 2,000 dollars must offer more than what OcCre has put there ...Exclamation-MarkAnchor
For $2k, you can buy a cheap model and a coin made of brass, if it's made of brass at all. However, for $2k you can also buy a coin at auction, only this time from a real spanish wreck galleon, and made of pure gold. So, it's an ironic approach...???
 
Was the Soleil Royal really completely blue?
Absolutely right. The highest royal status and huge financial resources made such luxury quite permissible. Carving and gilding were much more expensive than painting the ship hull, and so no expense was spared in painting the ship hull.
Blue was the color of royal power in France in those years.
If an all-blue ship looks exotic, it was actually not the only one.

I have also seen all-green French ships.
 
Ahoy Iutar,

Thank you for the information. Is there a painting where you can see them in blue? I would be very interested in that. I would also be interested in the green ships.

Then another question, if you don't mind. I am looking for beautiful paintings for my future ship, the Victory from 1765. I know that the Royal Navy always used Roman and/or Greek myths in their paintings. Unfortunately, I can never find the right thing I need or what I would like to paint on my Victory. Can you perhaps help me and let me know where I can find such objects?

Many thanks and best regards
 
I’d hoped that this new release would be the challenge I needed.
Belated welcome to SoS CoastHiker
There are exceptional kits from Modelship Dockyard and some good kits from Vanguard that may interest you. The old school brands like OcCre, AL and others seem to be falling behind in the many ways and not worth considering by many folks as is being pointed out here lately. It is a shame we are losing choices.
Allan
 
For $2k, you can buy a cheap model and a coin made of brass, if it's made of brass at all. However, for $2k you can also buy a coin at auction, only this time from a real spanish wreck galleon, and made of pure gold. So, it's an ironic approach...???
Perhaps this kit will appeal to those who think we will be impressed by the size of their wallets.
 
Hi Gunther, If I understand you correctly, you want to hang small framed pictures in the saloon/wardroom and other cabins on the Victory model.
Paintings and engravings depicting marine themes (marinas) were purchased for the ships. Copies of the works of the famous John Cleveley the Elder were especially popular. His paintings suit your time period.

The wardroom should also contain a portrait of King George III and his wife Charlotte. There could also be a portrait of Lord Anson and a couple of portraits of some admirals. But frivolous images are prohibited.

John Cleveley the Elder:
John_Cleveley_the_Elder_-_An_East_Indiamam_in_three_pasitions.jpg
 
Hello Iutar,

beautiful picture. Please excuse me, I meant the painting on the stern as well as starboard and port and the forcastle. I always see symbols from Roman and Greek mythology and mythical creatures there.

I hope I have now expressed myself in a way that you understand. Please excuse my poor English!





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