Ok Guys, I left my house yesterday at 6AM and after a very long and eventful day, complete with blow out on the Autobahn at 95mph, I returned home at midnight last night, with boats in hand....safe and sound.
Carlos, Bruce and Walt are first up for these first three boats. You guys can go ahead and make payment, and the boats will shipped out as soon as I get them boxed up and secure.
As I said in the original post, these boats are big, and I am pretty sure they will end up being shipped via US postal service "space available". This will allow me to ship larger than the normal limit of 108", but it is a pretty slow process. The space available shipping says 4-6 weeks for delivery.
If by some stroke of luck, I can get them under 108", they will be sent via priority mail and would be delivered in about a week and a half. I am very aware that this would be the prefered method, but rules are rules. At first glance, I dont see it happening. I will start packing them up tommorow at the start of the business day, and will know for sure.
Short of spending an additional $550 with DHL, there is NO OTHER OPTION for shipping. Trust me, ive looked far and wide.
If any of the above is not ok, now is the time to let me know so I can move on to the next person in line. That is for anyone who is in line to get the boats.
On another note, I had a very good meeting with Peter yesterday when we picked the boats up. He is very motivated now to get these boats done as soon as possible. He understands how many people are interested in getting them, and realizes the need for quicker building time. At this point, I will be picking up three more boats in 4 weeks, or hopefully sooner. I have been granted exclusivity with all Ossi Modellbau boats/products being sold to the US, and any orders, questions, or concerns should go through me at Oval Express Racing.
I also want to be honest here, the Euro to Dollar exchange rate, and cost of gasoline in Europe to go get the boats (750 mile round trip) is getting rediculous very quickly. The prices on the next round of boats (after the first pre-ordered 9 are shipped) will most likely go up slightly to make up for the increasing cost of doing this. When compared to the amount of money being saved going through Oval Express Racing instead of direct purchase w/shipping, the amount will be miniscule. Like I said, these first 9 boats that have been spoken for will go for the advertised cost of $590.00 shipped.
Now for the fun stuff, these boats are baddass. Peter also sells a fiberglass engine cowl. It is slightly too small for a zen 260 at the moment, but I am working with him to make it a little larger. They will be ready shortly. These boats look extremely trick with a cowling on the back. He also sells a stainless steel piece of trim that goes around the canopy/windshield area for $25.00. They already have many holes drilled in them and look very nice when mouted to the boat. I will probably construct a clear windshield and incorporate this trim piece on my personal boat when I finally put my self in line for one. They really do look awesome in scale trim. He also has a scaled down version of this boat in a 3.5cc size. I will be testing one shortly, and will consider offering them for sale as well. The price of them would be around $280.00, plus shipping. Lastly, he offers nicely printed T-shirts, embroidered polo shirts, windbreakers, and a very cool padded "sheath" that goes over the boat to protect it when being transported. Let me know if there is any interest of this stuff...
Carlos, Bruce and Walt, I will be adding this boat on the website under the "hulls" page, and you can pay securely through the site using paypal, and all Credit Cards. If you want to contact me with your Credt Card info, I can also run it manually here. If you want to pay with a check or money order, send me a PM.
If you dont want to hassle with going through the site, you can just send paypal direct to me:
[email protected]
Thanks for your patience guys, they will be on the way to you sooner rather than later!
~James
