IgorSky

Nice work Igor.  I really like this display stand.
 
Gwyl

The small joke was done during last weekend ))
 

The small joke was done during last weekend ))
 

Glued sails on & doing the rigging. Since viewing is going to be limited to 2 sides from this bottle I am not getting as detailed as I could with the rigging. Maybe on the next build I can do better detail on everything.

The small joke was done during last weekend ))
 

I finally got my miniature lathe set up and running last night. The lathe consists of a Jacob's Chuck coupled to an old heater motor out of a Nissan King Cab that I got for $5 quit a while ago. Power comes from a dimmer switch to a 12 volt D.C. rectifier to power the 12 volt motor. The beauty of this rig is I can control R.P.M. by adjusting the dimmer switch which intern controls the amount of amperage to the motor. Ideal for turning masts, spars, what have you ... 
 

 
Above is the motor mounted to my work bench at a height that is comfortable to turn things down while sitting.
Next we have my old timer rectifier that used to power a model railroad set up many moon's ago!
 

 
Last is my dimmer switch set up. You can see by all of the paint splatter it has seen numerous hours of service. Still going strong!
 

 
Total cost was under $50 
Jeff

Glued thread on sails for a little extra detail

Thanks for the input everyone!
 
Brushed out bottle to make sure it is all clean. Painted the whitecaps on the waves. Pressed a strip of wood in the putty because I wasn't sure how well the glue would hold the ship own to the putty when pulled on to raise everything up. Cut out the sails. Stained them with coffie. Did a few baking soda washes to neutralize the acids.



 

This is what I use to take masts and yards to size after drilling.
 
The Mast or Spar is placed in the ‘V’, the pressure piece is located and, using very gentle pressure (any more than this and you will not move it) move the Mast or Spar in and out, rotating at the same time as shown. Change ends regularly, and taper can be avoided. Blow the dust out frequently. If you see smoke, tell Ray Mears. Check the diameter regularly, especially as it thins, it thins quicker the thinner it is, if you see what I mean.
 

 
Alan

That's excellent, Alan. Match it with a V block and make quick work of drilling holes in spars.
 

 
The V block will also come in handy to give support to a thin spar while sanding it.
 
Dave

Hi,
 
I've been following this with interest.
 
I use the following guide to help drill masts and spars. I also drill them before thinning them down to size, It just means a bit more care when sanding, but the hole stays central. A bit of CA glue hardens up the hole after shaping. The one I made is from a bit of brass angle. File a flat as shown on top of the V and then drill through with the drill size required. Try to keep square so the hole is aligned with the inside of the V. Drill out one of the holes slightly from the inside using an oversize drill to form a slight dome. The 'straight' hole is used to guide the drill bit when drilling through the mast/spar, and the 'domed' hole when drilling into the end. Hope this helps.
 
Alan
 

 

You could make good use out of a few bucks in bamboo skewers. Dave's right drilling then can be difficult. I've been ring mine on with a larks head knot. Put the knot around the spar than tie the ends around the mast and add a dab of glue. Your of to a great start. You'll pick this side of the hobby up real fast.

Yes, toothpicks & mini wood dowels a little smaller than toothpicks. They split so bad. I am disabled from chronic lyme disease & I am on a very limited income so I have to use whatever I am able to get which is scraps a lot of times. I have built a lot of ships just not SIB's. I am having to scale down now because I don't have room for more large builds like the Syren I'm building now. Figured bottles were the way to go!

Keep that first one the way it is. I wish I had kept my first, even with all of its flaws, just to see how far I've come.
 
You're about where I guesstimated, experience-wise, and I put out that tip for future use by you and others who are still working on basics. Tapering the spars is one of the easiest ways to improve the scale look without a lot of extra effort. I certainly wasn't suggesting that you re-do the work you've done - that's entirely up to you - the information was for future reference. You've already shown you're not intimidated by tiny fiddly bits, like in the cannons, so I figured you were ready to make use of this tip.
 
What wood are you using for spars? Toothpicks or other similar found wood? Many builders like bamboo skewers from the grocer but I find it difficult to drill holes precisely where I start them because of bamboo's structure. I've been using basswood, available from most hobby shops, for most of my spars and bamboo for some masts when I don't have to drill holes in them except at the hinge. I'm looking for something better, perhaps pear, holly or boxwood.
 
Dave

Yes, that is a Syren in the background. I have a build log for her going over on Model Ship World.
 
I know the masts are out of scale. This is only the 2nd SIB I've ever done. (there is a 3rd one that was never completed) The 1st one was way back when I was 19 & it was awful. Been thinking about tearing it out & re-doing it sometime.
 
I have a lot to learn. I have made small ships at this scale before but not any that had to fold to go in a bottle. I always broke the mast if I made them thinner & drilled holes. They always break at the hole. Decided to proceed with what I have for this build while I learn to do better for later ones. The wood I'm using wants to slit & splinter a lot too so I need to find something better.

Do I see a Syren in the background? Very good work so far on her.
 
The hull of the pirate ship is well done with good work on the details. You've done well keeping all that work to scale.
 
The mast hinges turned out nicely, but I'm sure you'll agree that the masts and spars are out of scale in diameter. One way to fool the eye into seeing them thinner is to taper them to a tip that is half the diameter of the thickest part. 
 

 
At left is a one piece mast very similar to those on your model. To its right is a similar mast with the same base
diameter but it tapers to a tip that is half the base diameter. The yard at upper right is again similar to those on
the model. Below it is a yard the same diameter in the center but it tapers to a tip that is half the diameter of the
center. Notice that the tapered spars look much thinner even though the greater diameter remains the same.
 
With practice you can get the spars much thinner and more to scale. The limitation is the diameter of the holes drilled in them. In mid spar I rarely drill a hole larger than 1/3 the spar diameter and at the tips 1/2 the diameter. I usually rough out the spar, drill the holes then finish sand to size making sure the holes stay on center.

Hi Bernard,
Yes, I agree with Gwyl.
I'm trying to use the kinds of solid wood (pear, hornbeam). This gives me the opportunity to make smooth the edges of the hull's parts, and they tightly are connected to each other.
 
Best Regards!
Igor.

Hi Bernard,
 
With the ships that have the different pieces on the horizontal plane,  I use the white styrene plastic as the water line and that blends in real well.  If done with care, it looks like a waterline stripe.  On the hulls that have the split on the vertical plane, I place the keel one one piece and when put together it is not noticeable.  As for the deck on the vertical splits, if you  are scribing deck planks or using real planks, the split line can be hidden that way.  These techniques are not mine and I owe the concept and my schooling of this concept to John Fox III
 
Gwyl

Little progress in my model LENA

Thank you all for your kind words!  Heather Rogers kindly set me a picture of her recently completed Charles W.Morgan, also in a 5 liter bottle just like mine, and it is a remarkable model!  Same subject, same size, but very different approach and very successful.  I urge you all to see if you can track down a picture of this model and enjoy it!

Thank you for your kind words.  What follows here is, I promise, the end of this log as I prepared.  Dave raised a very good question I will answer separately below.
 
There are, of course, other methods, and I decided to use one of them for the second model.  Here she is rigged, with sails, but please note her foretop stay leads through a hole in the mast head, not the bowsprit. 
 

 
The collapse and removal from the stand are essentially the same. 
 

 
David Kolaga, a fine ship in bottler, once told me vertically mounted ships in bottles must always go in bow first.  Any rule demands an exception, but this one has always made sense to me.  Here the schooner is making her way down the neck of a 1 liter Florence boiling flask.  This is one of a bag of these given to me by the late Jim Moore, an excellent ship modeler who made fine models of the modern cargo ships he spent his life working in.  Unlike some such gestures, this one was greatly appreciated.
 

 
Settled in her new home but a long way from getting sorted out, this Eagle takes a while to get into proper shape.  At last she cooperates and rigging resumes its job keeping all in place. 
 

 
One of the great benefits of Jim’s fine lab flasks is not only the high quality of the glass, but the many views we don’t get with a traditional bottle. 
 

 
 
 
 

Hi Alex!
I am continuing to marvel to your model! It's just great!
 
Igor.

Beautiful work Alex! As usual first rate ... Jeff

Alex,  She is beautiful!  I am in awe of your craftsmanship.  Just wonderful!
 
Gwyl

These are a few shots of my recently completed Charles W. Morgan.  I'd been reluctant to post anything about this project because of serious doubts whether it would succeed.  It took far too long because I made a number of poor choices and had to go back and redo a number of things.  For example, this is the second hull and it took 16 whaleboats to get the 7 that finally went with the model down the bottle neck.  My eyes aren't quite what they used to be either and that has made rigging a much slower process.  The next project will not be as ambitious.