IgorSky

These are steel busch burs from American Rotary Tool Company (ARTCO), i got them from a friend who worked as an engraver. I run them in a Foredom flexible shaft, they work best when the cutting speed can be changed smoothly.
 

 
TJ

Greetings Gwyl,
 
Saw your divided hull photos, and looked around a bit to find two examples I've done similarly. The first was a commissioned model of a yacht, by the owner's employees as a surprise gift. The Romanza model's hull was divided into four parts, the lower hull was just a thin piece as it was a waterline type model. The lower hull had two vertical pins upwards, the middle hull was two separate pieces, split down the middle, with horizontal pegs to align them together, and holes for the pegs from the lower hull. Each middle hull side had a hole to accept pins from the cabin roof/sides piece, with had two pegs on the underside. The bottom and top hull pieces locked the two lower pieces together.
 

 

 
The second model was of the USCG Eagle, done is 1993. It has a vertical and horizontally split hull, horizontal split at the waterline, and vertical split just off center. The slightly off center vertical split allowed me to fasten the masts to the center of the upper hull, I used Hinkley style hidden hinges on all the masts.
 

 

 
I use the technique when necessary, but it does make for a lot more work and design differences.
 
Anchor's A Weigh!
John Fox III
Ladysmith, WI

Thanks Igor, Gwyl,
 
This is detail of the deck.  The planking, cabin and rail are all pine, just the latter two are more seasoned.  The cabin roof is also aspen, same as the topsides. I got started on vertical models by editing an article on it by Paul Stanton of Port Dufferin, NS.  Haven't heard of him for years.  Does anyone else out there remember him?
 
Alex
 

This is a project just back in the shop for a visit after an exhibit and back to her owner, who graciously loaned her for the exhibit.  She is the yawl Sandrala, an Alden designed "Off Soundings" cruiser, built in 1940 at East Boothbay, Maine.  Still afloat today, she has been lovingly restored by her current owners.  I was aboard in 2012 and was inspired to look up her lines and create this model in a 5 liter bottle.  The scale is slightly smaller than 1/8" = 1', which allowed working blocks in her rigging.  Rather than represent her as she appears today, this model shows her as she looked when first launched.  To avoid painting, I built her up of natural woods, using aspen for her pale topsides, redwood for her lower hull, boxwood for the boot topping and a variety of pines for her planking, cabin and rail.  The stand in the bottle is oak and the standing rigging is a fly tying line called "French tinsel".  It was a satisfying project that took 137 hours (including one abandoned hull) which I look forward to repeating when another suitable design turns up.

Alex,
 
I am anxious to see the rest of this build log.  This looks to be a great project.  I have a couple of questions about the hull planking.    I see you bend the planks around a form.(Great Idea)   What is your process to get the planks bent?  Do you soak them in water or other softening agent?  Also, what kind of wood are you using for the planking?
 
I can also see where those clamps would come in handy, and like you said, probably usable in almost any project you could think of too.
 
Gwyl

Schooner Eagle
 

 
Schooner Eagle and her sister Arrowsic were built on the Arrowsic River in Maine in 1847 by master builder Samuel Pattee.  Eagle went into the “packet” service between Bath and New York while Arrowsic entered the coastal lumber trade.   Both were considered good sailors with fast passages to their credit.  Arrowsic capsized off Block Island in 1860 from carrying too much sail in a gale.
 
These schooners were examples of the kind of humble working vessels that kept the pulse of the American maritime economy going for most of the 19th century and well into the 20th.  Before the expansion of rails and roads, coasting schooners like these were the primary means of transportation and communication between many coastal and Down East communities.  Once a very familiar sight all along the seaboard, these coastal schooners were overshadowed by the glamorous clippers, adventurous privateers and racing fisherman and they could slip out of memory altogether.
 
Fortunately, the half hull used for the design of both schooners was donated to the Smithsonian by William Pattee and Howard I Chapelle took off her lines and published them in The National Watercraft Collection.  Sometime in the 1970s Model Shipways created a kit reconstructing her rig and adding many details.  Tom Matterfis of Clearwater, Florida, kindly sent me a set of these plans along with others, and that got me started.  It was clearly a good vessel for the one liter bottles I was using for classes and it was an excellent project for an intermediate ship in bottler looking for a little more challenge in a second model.  This little ship has good features with a square sail and the variety of deck details adding interest, while neither rig or hull work is overwhelming.  I have used it twice for classes with students who have successfully finished a ship in bottle and hope those reading this now may find something of value in the project.
 

 
This is the Model Shipways plan, appearing here courtesy of Model Expo. The sketch accompanying the plan was drawn by marine artist John Leavitt, who wrote and illustrated Wake of the Coasters.  The plan was reduced for a model about 4 3/8”  overall and 3 1/8” high, about 29’ = 1”.  
 
 
I made my first model of her in 1990, not long after Tom sent me her plans.  I was still using plumber’s putty at the time, so now the sails are thoroughly “oiled”.  While they were changing color it wasn’t very pleasant, but now I do have to admit the soft translucence is nice to look at.  I made one or two more over the years but took her up again for a class in 2012.
 
Please bear in mind what follows was not pictures and notes accumulated for this kind of format, so there are gaps.  If anything is not clear, I will be glad to try to better explain.
 

 
The hulls are made up from rough blanks cut out in halves and glued together along the centerline.  Rob Napier’s half models inspired this.  This way the sheer can be cut a little more accurately on my extremely capricious Dremel jig saw and you never lose the centerline.  Starting out with 10 hulls, 5 went to the guys in the class and another was a replacement for one of the guys who wanted to make a fresh start.   I wound up working on 4, primarily to show the various stages in the progress for each model.  In this picture the hull furthest from the camera is the most basic, still a rough hull blank with only the quarterdeck bulkhead and main deck center planks glued in.  Next to it is the one with the deck planked and some general hull shaping begun.  The next has the general hull outline, plan view, done and the waterways and first “plank” of the main deck bulwark are in.  The closest shows main deck bulwarks complete with timberheads and cavils attached.  The cap rails become the waterway for the quarter deck.
 

 
The next shot is much the same stage but some waterways are started on the second hull, first bulwark plank for the third hull’s main deck are done and the last hull has a short rail around the quarter deck, a splash rail on the bow rails and the outline of the stem and head are attached.  In the background is a form used for bending bulwark “planks” and a couple of bent “planks” waiting to be glued in.
 

 
Here the hull is getting wales attached, made up of two strips of thin stock, each about 0.020” thick and 1/32” wide.  All of the hulls, the initial blanks, decking, bulwarks, rails, timberheads, etc, are pine, probably most cut from the same piece of wood.  The clips used to hold stock in place are from the advice of Ralph Preston.  He bought a package of these, from Radio Shack I think, and we added the extra extensions on the handles from flattened brass tubing.  This makes them a little easier to handle, adds a little more weight when one is used to keep tension on a line, but they were mostly added on so Ralph could give me a lesson on using epoxy.  These were made up almost 30 years ago and I doubt any project since hasn’t made some use out of these little clips.  Here they hold the wales to the stem and a section of the rail over the transom.  The little notch is the splash rail is for the cat head.
 

 
Another shot of the clamps at work.
 

 
Here the second hull has timberheads in place and is getting the upper “plank” of her bulwarks.  A clip is holding a section of the rail alongside the billet on the stem.  Another shot of the same step shows the trail boards of the bow rails and a jig on the left for bending the thin stock to make the tight curve necessary for this detail.  A similar shot shows getting the bulwark “plank” curve around the form.
 

 

Gwil, I have used the flexible shaft and the mini drill Proxxon. I will add the photo today evening.
 
Best Regards!
Igor.

Hi Gwyl,
I have some of them
 

 
Но я использовал их только один раз для гравировки надписей
 

That is nice work John.  What a great idea to use the layering method to create a figure.
 
Gwyl

Greetings Gwyl,
 
I guess there is not much real comparison to those artists, however, they are working at considerably larger scales than most of us normally use for our modeling efforts. Don't get me wrong, there carvings are things of beauty in themselves, let alone to adorn a model ship. Over the years I've found it difficult, at best, to carve decent figure heads out of wood at small scales.
 
What i have turned to is sort of half carving, and half layering. The photos below show the making of one of the figureheads for my BonHomme Richard models.

This first photo show all the tiny parts I cut out of sheet styrene to form the base of the figure head. I made templates out of prints glued to styrene, then used a fine pin to trace many copies onto another sheet, and carefully cut and sanded them to the flat shapes shown. To get the exact shapes I am afraid to mention I used my CAD software to draw what I wanted in basic outline from the plan's more detailed drawings. I then basically sliced through my drawing to form the shapes shown as cut.
 

This photo shows the two halves of the base figurehead. Each is made up by gluing the pieces together, not seen is the bottom piece on each side, which is the lion's main, just the main. The inner pieces are the inside of the head, with snout, and a rounded cut out that fit exactly over the beakhead end. Once the assembly was glued onto a model, I then did a little sanding to round things out a bit.
 

This last photo shows the figurehead as finished. I added the scroll between the lion's paws and the beakhead by using .005" styrene sheet and forming it like a scroll to fit. The little gem in the center of the fold was simply carved styrene, painted a nice shiney blue color.
 
I've done pretty much the same on several other models in the past, just don't have decent enough photos of those to share.
 
If I thought I could carve them from scratch, and from wood, I would probably do so, but this system works fairly well and is quite a bit easier once you get the hang of it.
 
Anchor's A Weigh!
John Fox III
Ladysmith, WI

I will Bob ... please be patient!
Jeff

Hi Gwyl,
One of russian builders of  shipmodels  is carving the bow figures and the parts of the decor. Here are some photos -   http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/9473-art-of-the-bow-figures/?p=291989
 
Of course, this is not a model in the bottle.

 

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time reading.  As I was reading Lloyd McCaffery's book, I was intrigued by his small carvings that he had done on many of his ships, as well as some of his stand alone carvings.  Has anyone attempted such small and intricate carvings on SIB's?  Here are some examples of his carvings. 
http://www.jrusselljinishiangallery.com/pages/mccaffrey-pages/mccafferythumbs.htm
 
Gwyl

All,
 
I found some photos of the Brigantine before I shipwrecked it. It is now  (slowly) being rebuilt, with some design changes. And one of the Langton Brig
 




 
 
Alan

Hi All,
 
I was steered to this forum by Gwyl after posting a link on MSB. I've been dabbling with SIBs for a number of years, never really getting one done to my own satisfaction, and usually taking it out again for further work or shelving (I'm very self critical. I've been a member of The European Association of Ships in Bottles for a number of years and am currently their archivist. Presently redoing a generic Brigantine because when I launched it into the bottle I let go of the home made pincers holding it, for getting they were brass and a lot heavier than the SIB - result one shipwreck with both masts and jib smashed. I'm now taking the opportunity during the build to experiment and learn as I go. Looking forward to a bit of correspondence on the forum and seeing what others do
 
Alan

CAD wouldn't make any difference to me.   So many of the plans I use are old and indistinct.     Having a fuzzy plan does not mean I will make a fuzzy model!        If the topsail yard looks blurred on the plan, it doesn't matter to me, as long as I can see its length.    From what I have seen and heard of CAD, it is quite magnificent, but takes a  long time to learn, and I have never had much patience for that sort of thing!       Building the model is (or was) my main concern and pleasure, but I haven't built any for several months now, after getting Tennis Elbow last summer.    That is completely cured now, but  I haven't summoned up much enthusiasm to start again, although I probably will eventually!    Surprising how something like that can make you lose the habit!
Bob
 

The sea is just a piece of clear acrylic.    I rubbed the underneath down with fine carborundum paper and sprayed it with Java Blue automobile spray paint.    The ice is modelling clay with pieces of sytrene sheet cut into random shapes and pushed into the surface.    It was then painted with white wood glue and covered thickly with "scenic snow!"      After it dried, I blew the excess away and fitted the ship.     The ship is the steam whaling barque Esquimaux. 
Bob

I went aboard the City of Adelaide some years ago in Scotland.     The Irvine Museum had a plan posted on their board.   I wrote asking if they could supply me with a copy, but they never replied.    Eventually, I built this model from photographs and data from Lloyds Register.    
Bob
 

Well done Daniel!
Now you have set the bar for the next level. Good luck with it next year ... Jeff

I have a friend in the local club that attends a contest every year for in Manitowoc Wisconsin.  He's bugged me about entering a model into the competition for the last couple years and this year I finally did.  The competition is based on a point system for the model so you aren't competing against other modelers your competing on how good your model is based on their grading system.  Depending on the points earned a modeler wins bronze, silver or gold awards.  
 

 
To be honest I entered in the novice level.  I didn't know how harshly they judged and since the rules are that if you win in the lower levels you can't enter in that level again I thought I'd start from the bottom and work up.  So next year when they hold the competition again I'll enter as intermediate.  I'll have to step up my game for the next competition.
 
 

One of my old hobbies - Old Russian wooden architecture

One of my old hobbies - Old Russian wooden architecture

One more of my old models

One of my first models (more 15 years ago)
 


 

One of my first models (more 15 years ago)