Onni

Looking good. I like your bottled ships wall display in the background. Very nice.

Nice work José. Welcome..Onni.

She's bottled.Well done. Onni.

Great job.Well done.

Congratulations Igor. Beautiful work as always.

Igor,Did you make the name plate yourself or did you outsource the job(laser printing?) to your own specifications? Is it a wood or plastic name plate;just wondered.

Well done Igor. Looks very nice.

Lovely looking ships Garry. Well done and welcome.

A fine looking Brigatine. I'm impressed by the sea as well;very realistic.

That's some beautiful looking sails you have made John. The time and effort you have put into them has all been worthwhile.

Thanks Igor. Glad to see that your back!

Thanks very much Mike!

Very nice James. Like the simplicity of the wooden stand too. Onni. ?

Thanks James.?

After working on HMS Gannet for months felt a need to build something quick and a bit easier. Plumped on Sir Francis Chichester's, 'Gypsy Moth IV' something that I remember from my younger days! Never done a model in an upright bottle before so this was something new for me. (Thanks to Ioan for the idea) From start to finish about 27 days to complete. Split hull design. Carved a new internal stand to allow for the natural curve in the bottle base.

Personally speaking I find a bottle with a bit of distortion has a certain charm to it but if the glass is too thick or makes the ship inside the bottle appear to be a bit blurred then it's not really acceptable. I have heard that some people get their bottles from a pharmacy because those bottles have much clearer glass and of course are usually larger.

Nice one Frankie. I think a lot of British people would find it difficult to remember the actual date of Trafalgar.

Nice work James. Black lines are difficult. I usually use loads of masking tape and black spray paint but it can be a bit hit and miss affair.Some people just use black cotton glued to the hull which is probably a possible solution on a small model.

Thanks Bernard. Its nice that people are interested in the build logs in general and appreciate the work and effort that go in to them.

Many thanks James. Yeah its my favourite shot too!

Having discarded my original bowsprit, made a new smaller version with thin metal spar and dolphin striker.As previously; made three cotton loops ready in the bowsprit to pull through the forestay,jib stay etc..glued the stays with ordinary wood glue and allowed to dry before cutting them off underneath with a small bit of razor blade cemented to a thin wire.Always a bit shaky doing that as one false move can cut one of the bobstays by mistake which would be a bit of a disaster,however everything went well and I am quite pleased with the finished item.I had already made a larger turks head so it was just a question of fitting it to the bottle neck. Last two pictures show a late Victorian gunboat/sloop 'HMS Gannet 'at anchor in the evening setting sun.......

Starboard piece of the forecastle deck is joined to the port side.Try as I might I just could not get the completed deck to stay down tight against the bulwarks so had to resort to using a tiny amount of instant glue (super glue) to stop it popping up. Seems to have done the trick.Added Nordenfelt machine guns ,fully glazed hatches and navigation lights(the white objects which look like R2-D2?) Lightly glued in place the bowsprit but stepping back and looking at it objectively it just looked wrong ( too large) so still having time before the glue set I took it away and am in the process of building a smaller bowsprit which I hope will be more in keeping with the scale.

Many thanks Gwyl.

Foremast in place and glued. In the first picture note the white loops at the top of the mast used to pull through the boom and jib ropes. (Not sure if those are the correct terms.) Picture two, here I am trying to evenly tighten the back stays together. Capstan fixed in place and also the Arab Dhowl sailing on the starboard side.Port side forecastle in but not glued yet because have to wait until both sides are in before I can fix them together.

Progressed to the funnel area complete with air ventilators and boiler vents. Deck cannons in the mid gun ports.On the original ship these ran on rails making them easy to move and position for arc of fire. Only one muzzle loading gun at the front of the ship which used the same rail system so could be moved quickly from starboard to port gun position.Muzzle loaders had to be used in the early 1880's because of problems with the new armstrong breech loaders( a step backwards to the days of Nelson) Wiggled the foremast in;next step is to glue that in place....