where in usa are you?
Soleil Royal - ZHL 1/90 Scale by Paulb [COMPLETED BUILD]
The shipping cost was $127.37 to Utah. I ordered it on March 23 rd. I received an email that it had been shipped on April 6th and it arrived in the 8th.
I just ordered same yesterday. They are now taking orders. Cost $398, plus $118.50 shipping, the customs fees are a hit and miss type deal. If customs and duty is applied, usually about 15%. When ordering there is a request box, put in "gift" as customs, duty, taxes, etc are seemingly based on cost and Max will put in a low amount. Due to virus situation at this time... who knows when delivery will be. I've been checking periodically hoping to get a "shipping", "shipped" email. More to follow as I find out. Ken
I'm perplexed by the wicked fast shipping - I mean 2 days? I imagine that the e-mail notifying me that it was shipped was sent out a couple of days after it was actually shipped.
I'm very happy tho - it arrived very intact (see pic above), and with all of the pieces. I have ordered replacement blocks and some rope from Syren's - the included blocks are really inferior to those offered by Syren.
I'm very happy tho - it arrived very intact (see pic above), and with all of the pieces. I have ordered replacement blocks and some rope from Syren's - the included blocks are really inferior to those offered by Syren.
Bulkheads are fitted. I had to sand the interfaces because the fit was rather tight.
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You are off to a great start.
Kurt Konrath
Kurt Konrath
The fun of looking and thinking is over now, time for the real work to begin.
I will glad to watch as you build, maybe one day when I get more kits built I can justify buying a large kit like this.
For now just sitting back in my chair and watching, as we can't go to movies this will have to do for now.
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The laser cutting looks very clean and accurate. I like your idea of reinforcing the hull structure with the blocks of wood butting up against the joints of the false keel, false deck and bulkheads. This structural assembly can never be too strong.
Another update and a couple of questions...
Question 1... there is a gap here - should I trim part 22 so it fits lower - or leave it as is?
And question 2 - it seemed better/easier to just glue parts 12,13 and 23 on the table before fitting to the stern. It seems like fitting and aligning the parts on the stern separately is kind of finicky since there are no secure anchor points that lock the parts in place. Any thoughts on that? It's gluing now, so it's done lol. I guess I could tear it apart tho if someone has a good reason.
And a final observation - really none of the measurements in the pic below match the parts. I know this has already been addressed, but now that I see it with my own eyes it makes me realize that the whole build is pretty fluid. The problem is, if I just go ahead and assemble as the parts fit together - will that cause problems with fit or positioning down the line? Am I going to have to break out the chain saw to fix stuff later
Question 1... there is a gap here - should I trim part 22 so it fits lower - or leave it as is?
And question 2 - it seemed better/easier to just glue parts 12,13 and 23 on the table before fitting to the stern. It seems like fitting and aligning the parts on the stern separately is kind of finicky since there are no secure anchor points that lock the parts in place. Any thoughts on that? It's gluing now, so it's done lol. I guess I could tear it apart tho if someone has a good reason.
And a final observation - really none of the measurements in the pic below match the parts. I know this has already been addressed, but now that I see it with my own eyes it makes me realize that the whole build is pretty fluid. The problem is, if I just go ahead and assemble as the parts fit together - will that cause problems with fit or positioning down the line? Am I going to have to break out the chain saw to fix stuff later
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lots of fun in one little box.
That's a big discrepency. I looked on other builds and saw nothing about part 22......if need be you might be able to contact Max at zhl via facebook. Might take him a couple days to respond. They are about 12 hours ahead of us eastern time.Another update and a couple of questions...
View attachment 143754
Question 1... there is a gap here - should I trim part 22 so it fits lower - or leave it as is?
View attachment 143755View attachment 143756
And question 2 - it seemed better/easier to just glue parts 12,13 and 23 on the table before fitting to the stern. It seems like fitting and aligning the parts on the stern separately is kind of finicky since there are no secure anchor points that lock the parts in place. Any thoughts on that? It's gluing now, so it's done lol. I guess I could tear it apart tho if someone has a good reason.
View attachment 143757
View attachment 143758
And a final observation - really none of the measurements in the pic below match the parts. I know this has already been addressed, but now that I see it with my own eyes it makes me realize that the whole build is pretty fluid. The problem is, if I just go ahead and assemble as the parts fit together - will that cause problems with fit or positioning down the line? Am I going to have to break out the chain saw to fix stuff later
View attachment 143759
Ken - good thought. Following your suggestion, I've sent Max and e-mail via the website and FaceBook. In the meantime, I've glued parts 19 and 20 (2 of each) to parts 12,13, and 23. When this was set I glued it to the hull. Then I discovered that I still needed to glue in part 16. Well, that's just not gonna fit after gluing the previous stuff on. So I sawed 16 into 3 parts and fit it in, glued it and braced it with blocks on each side. It was effective, but not pretty.
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I got an email from Max earlier today.... my Soleil Royale should be on its way in a couple days. He said he's send tracking info in a day or two. So, obviously, I'm following what you do with great interest.
One hint - when you slide the bulkheads down on the keel - be sure they are all down all the way. You don't want to discover that one is 1/16 inch too high after you have installed all of the decks. Don't ask. It's fixed now, but I'm really tired of hammering. I think I'm going to take a nap.
I also learned that the hardway..... a looonng long time ago.....I'm working on my 8th build at the moment. Which is a Mamoli victory 1/90....Will be doing the soleil alongside.
Are we busy today?
Kurt Konrath
Kurt Konrath
Well maybe Paul is still on his nap, working on ships can wear you out sometimes!
No nap - yet. I've been busy.
I used soft pencil to replicate caulking and wood pegs. The dark stained area is where I tried out some of this...
but it's way too dark. I will probably finish the decks with this...
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. I'm using a plank length of 60mm as it seems to look good and it's about 12 feet in length for a 1/60 scale. That's the closest realistic scale I've come to based on a total ship length of 200 feet. The supplied teak strips are 120 mm in length so each strip can produce 2 planks. I'm using a 4 plank repeat schedule.
but it's way too dark. I will probably finish the decks with this...
Any thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated. I'm using a plank length of 60mm as it seems to look good and it's about 12 feet in length for a 1/60 scale. That's the closest realistic scale I've come to based on a total ship length of 200 feet. The supplied teak strips are 120 mm in length so each strip can produce 2 planks. I'm using a 4 plank repeat schedule.
Another update and a couple of questions...
View attachment 143754
Question 1... there is a gap here - should I trim part 22 so it fits lower - or leave it as is?
View attachment 143755View attachment 143756
And question 2 - it seemed better/easier to just glue parts 12,13 and 23 on the table before fitting to the stern. It seems like fitting and aligning the parts on the stern separately is kind of finicky since there are no secure anchor points that lock the parts in place. Any thoughts on that? It's gluing now, so it's done lol. I guess I could tear it apart tho if someone has a good reason.
View attachment 143757
View attachment 143758
And a final observation - really none of the measurements in the pic below match the parts. I know this has already been addressed, but now that I see it with my own eyes it makes me realize that the whole build is pretty fluid. The problem is, if I just go ahead and assemble as the parts fit together - will that cause problems with fit or positioning down the line? Am I going to have to break out the chain saw to fix stuff later
View attachment 143759
Hey Paul your moving right along as to your questions,
1- I did not have that issue with #22 it fit properly. It will be interesting to here what Max has to say.
2- I did as you and glued together off model, makes more sense.
3- The drawings confused me. I don’t know if it has something to do with them being a combination of both the older version and the newer. I had to trim both poop decks. If I would have noticed earlier I think I would have built to the drawing with the ornamentation on it. I had to adjust the railing and where, the round gun ports are located. They are close but not right. I believe my fore deck is to long also.
I assumed the parts were cut to the right dimensions. You know what happens when you assume
I think on page 4 or5 of my log MrDeep posted a fix to the stern bulkheads, building up the last bulkhead.He also raised the poop deck.
Things worked out for me with a little fudging, what would a kit be without problems. Just keep looking way ahead in the build.