Landlubber Mike

Thank you for your kind comments, they have certainly given my confidence a boost.  Searching for the next model which will likely be a Brixham Trawler or Baltimore Clipper.  Thanks again.
 
Sapper

I have some news on this one but not much to show just yet.  The sails came in with the signatures which is awesome.  I'm very excited to have everything I need to complete this.  However....the plans they printed were a tad smaller than mine.  Small enough  think I'll redo the hull but not so bad that it won't fill the bottle.  So I'll start over.  The funny part about all of this is I scanned the plans in pdf because I figured when they print it in the UK it would come out the same size.  What I didn't know is that Europe uses a different size paper than the US.  Turns out they use a size called A4 which is a tiny bit thinner and longer than the American 8 1/2 by 11 inch.  I should have figured with the differences in the measurement systems.  I'm mean why would Europe print anything to an even 11 inches when they don't even use inches.  So yeah not a huge set back.  I think the practice with the first one will make a second one even better and I have some new chisels I've been having fun with that will make it faster.  One of the funnest parts about ship in bottle building is that you always learn something new.  Some times it doesn't even have to do with ships.       

Hello.
Continued my building.

Moving forward with detailing and installing ribs.
 
 

Rib 27 is the aft-most of these ribs and is the last one that is directly on the keel. #28 locates on the deadwood
(the piece sitting on the keel with the upward curving top profile). #27 needed to be within .005 in./.013 mm of it's
correct location so that #28 and those behind it will locate correctly. It's .002 in./.051 mm short which is better than long.
 
 
 
Close-up of the ribs. The gaps above the lower gun ports will be filled with short segments of the ribs that will glue
to the lower gun port lintels and, at the three upper gun ports to the right, to those gun port sills. These ribs are
beginning to look much like those in the black and white photos at the top of page 2 from the 1873-77 rebuild.
 
 

This close-up shows how I use the center line thread to verify the ribs are centered.
 
 
 I'll try to report progress weekly during repetitious work, like these ribs, or when work more interesting is done.

I felt like it would be good to have the photo in this thread as well.  To see it in the gallery click here.  
 
Great build.  The bulwarks look even and clean and the lines are nice and tight.  The lines on the sails are also very evenly spaces.  I still have problems getting them that even.  Great work!  

Hello All
 
Got the first one bottled.  Photo in Gallery.  Feel free to comment.
 
Sapper

Some of you who frequent BSB know that I am a closet naval wargamer. I came across a book series on Amazon and started to see if these books would be worth purchasing. As always I try to get them from the library first to see if they are worth buying. Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail is one of these books. Bernard Ireland does a magnificent job here and the book is lavishly illustrated with pen and ink and glossies throughout each page. I highly recommend this book for anyone researching this era ... Jeff
 

 

 

 

A few small updates to the Scavenger.  I got the rails almost done.  They need some touch ups.  Got the deck furniture almost done too.  I put in the bow.  It's almost ready for masts and spars.  
 

 

 
 

Lloyd McCaffery and Donald McNarry have both been very inspirational in my work. Just seeing their work has challenged me to attempt the work I'm doing now. If they can do work I previously thought impossible, perhaps I can do something similar. So here I am, trying to come close.
 
I just passed 140 hours, not counting research and drafting, actual tools to wood. I have all the ribs built up, except for some in the transom/stern gallery, and have started cutting them out and detailing each one. I also have the keel ready for installing the ribs.
 

The keel with stem and beakhead, stern post and deadwood installed. A few of the ribs are also in place, rib
zero at left and ribs 1 through 6 going aft of it to the right. This is all held in the clamping fixture I mentioned
in an earlier post. It is two pieces of basswood each with a shallow rabbet cut along one corner to receive the
keel. It also has three through bolts and two guide rods to keep the top surface flat so I can use squares to
align parts as they are installed.
 

Close-up of stem and beakhead. The white material is holly, used to see how it works. Not great to work with,
it's prone to severe end of cut break-outs. Holly is usually chosen for its color rather than working properties.
It is often used as a substitute for ivory. It also dyes extremely well and when dyed black is also a substitute for
ebony. You may notice a dark line along the curve of the holly. That's a shallow bevel sanded along the edge
of piece of stem under it. That bevel is the bearding line, the line where the hull planks meet the stem. It will be
deepened into a Vee groove to match the planking once the ribs are all in place. That bearding line continues
the length of the keel partially visible here.
 

Sternpost and deadwood; all but the small piece with the little steps are wood from the Constitution. Much work
remains to be done here but I'm not quite sure how much of the deadwood needs to be chiseled away for the
hull planks to lie correctly. I'll know for sure when the ribs in this area are installed. You may have noticed a black
thread running from stem to stern in these photos, it's a center line used to verify the ribs are centered correctly.
 

Detail shot of the ribs. Spacers are card stock with a strip of household tape for a thickness of .0115 in./.292 mm,
1:240 scale of the space between ribs as designed. I have to check the length of the installed ribs along the keel,
I'm currently about .0005 less than they should be but will be easy to correct by not clamping the next 2 or 3 as tight
as I've been, then check that length. I must watch out for accumulated errors so the last rib is where it needs to be.
I have gun port lintel and sill pieces (made from craft stick wood as test pieces) in place. That port is .180 in./4.55 mm
horizontal and .146 in./3.70 mm true vertical. Along the curve of the tumble home it's more and looks it. I noticed
that the sill isn't quite in the groove cut in the rib the way it should be. You may also notice there are two gun deck
beams made from the darker pear wood visible among the spacers.
 
 
I've stolen another of Bob's ideas -- the use of a stop watch to time and record my hours worked on this project. I've averaged 6 hours per day, 5 days per week since first putting tools to wood. It's a hard habit to get used to but I can't pick up my OptiVisor without seeing the stop watch to remind myself. I've always been curious about my time on a project and have had to guesstimate up until now. On this project I'll know for sure.
 
It's starting to get interesting now that some of the pieces are coming together.
 
Dave
 
 
 

Beautiful, neat, clean work, Bob
 
Its always a pleasure to watch the build steps, but still a pleasant surprise when the final result is so crisp and authentic.
 
I may have missed the process, but how do you make the ships boats so small and clean?
 
andrew
 
PS - thank you for airing your gallery from Picasa.  I specially liked the open boats and whaleboat.

I would like to keep a current list of associations and other links of interest.  If you have a site you would like to add,  please post it below.  We will periodically edit this thread and put all the links in the top post.
 
Update 6/3/2016
 
Organizations  
 
Ships In Bottles Association of America  
 
Ships in Bottles DVD
This DVD includes all issues of the quarterly magazine of the Ships In Bottles Association from the beginning in 1983 to the end 2016.
The pictures and articles depict not only ships in bottles but other objects in bottles and light bulbs. Objects range from ships, airplanes, buildings to many other objects realistic and comical. If a reader wants to find out how to produce an object and install it, just look it up in the Index for complete instruction. The Index tells you which issue and page for all most any project, for a master modeler or a beginner.
Over the years there have been articles ships, sails, oceans, tools and the list goes on and on.
There are 2 main folders 1983 to 2002 then 2003 to 2016 and each has an index.    
 
This  DVD from the Ships In Bottles Association Of America containing all the journal archives of past editions of The Bottle Shipwright are available from Robert Little.  Cost is $25.00.  Please contact Robert if the shipping is outside the USA as additional postage may be required.
 
His email is:  
littlesails@hotmail.com
 
His address is:
Robert Little
474 Harbor Lights Lane
Port Hueneme, CA  93041               Updated 5/3/2016
 
 
 
The European Association of Ships In Bottles
http://www.shipinabottle.talktalk.net
 
The French Ships-In-Bottles Association 
http://www.abb-rosedesvents.com
 
The Italian Ships-In-Bottles Association
http://www.navinbottiglia.net/
 
The Japanese Ships-In-Bottles Association 
http://park19.wakwak.com/~itimsinz/index1.html
 
The German Ships-In-Bottles Association 
http://www.deutsche-buddelschiffer-gilde.de/
 
 
 
Links of Interest
 
FolkArtInBottles.com                  
http://www.folkartinbottles.com           
 
Ships In Bottles by Heather Rodgers     
http://www.shipinbottles.com              
 
Miniature Merchant Ships by Robert (Bob) Wilson   
www.miniatureships.blogspot.com
 
Siemens Bottling Co.   
http://www.siemensbottlingco.blogspot.com
 
Carolina Ships In Bottles by Jim Goodwin    
http://www.carolinasib.com
 
 
Maine Ships In Bottles by Dana Perkins   Added 4/28/2016
http://www.MaineShipsInBottles.com
 
Ship Model Plans by Bernd Jocham                    Added 5/20/2016
http://www.jocham-schiffe.de/html/start.html
 
 
Tools
 
Modeling Tools by Jim Byrnes          
http://www.byrnesmodelmachines.com/index5.html
 
Other Model Ship Sites
 
Model Ship Builder
http://www.modelshipbuilder.com      Added 6/3/2016
 
 
 
 
I will be adding links to other SIB sites of interest.  This includes personal sites as we find them.
 
Gwyl

I completed the East African a few minutes ago.       The total building time, timed on a stopwatch, was 64 hours.   That was spread over  36 days that I actually worked on it.   I began the model on the 10th February this year, and did nothing on it sometimes for days on end!
Bob
 

Topsail schooner.
Bob
 

Just letting everyone know that I have a new web site up and running for my custom Ships In Bottles work!

 

Here’s the link:

 

www.MaineShipsInBottles.com

 

Sincerely,

—Dana Perkins

Very impressive. There's larger models that don't look as good as this one.

Hello. Continuation of the construction of my ship.
Artur





 

To explain the deck recess,
 
The hull blank was made from Ramin, a Far Eastern hardwood available in 2.2 m lengths in DIY stores at a reasonable price.  It’s a pale cream colour, cuts and sands well and holds an edge. I used 4 pieces of square section with a 1mm strip cut on a small table saw between them for the centre line, keel, etc, all pinned with cocktail sticks. I think these are beech; they are definitely hard and I use them for the masts as well.
 
I shaped the hull by taking the excess off using my Proxxon Mill/Drill unit (a present from me to me when the Euro was about 1.60 against the pound – I bought it from a German company - worked out at almost half the UK price) using a small router bit.
 
Then used a combination of a round and square fine micro plane rasps -(http://www.axminster.co.uk/microplane-small-round-rasp-with-handle-951200?gclid=CPft-vqtmswCFbEy0wodSiINNA).
 
These quickly remove wood (fingernails, skin and flesh as well) with little effort, and leave a smooth finish that requires only a little sanding.
 

 
 
Photo of Microplanes
 
 
I then marked out the bulwarks. I have a Proxxon router adapter, but the plate was too big for the curvature and for seeing the work, so I made an adapter plate out of some clear plastic so that I had a depth stop and used a smaller Proxxon drill to plunge route out the excess.
 

 
Photo of router
 
 

 
Hull with most waste removed
 
I finished off by using a combination of small carving chisels inherited from my dad, scalpel blades held in dowel as a handle and sanding as required in conjunction with a depth gauge. I also used the half finished Cap Rail as a template for the deck recess
 

 
I then shaped the Hull with the microplanes, small files and sanders.
 
Then applied the bulwark stanchions (styrene strip) and painted white with just a hint of grey in it.
 
For the deck planking, I cut strips 1mm wide from some light coloured veneer using a strip cutter I made a few years ago from a piece of aluminium right angle, nuts and bolts, and a single sided razor blade. Thickness of cut is set by using a drill bit as a gauge and a bit of trial and error. The only downside is that you need a straight edge on the veneer to start with and the cut strip is what the cutter is pressed against, but a bit of care and two or three light passes works ok.
 

 
Photo of strip cutter
 
Next was to use a black marker on one edge of the strips, cut them into 25mm lengths, blacken one end, and then lay them out temporarily on a flat surface using a glue stick; the type used for paper. I’ve found that this holds, but not permanently. The surface was sanded, this ensures a constant thickness, but also removes a lot of any ‘bleed’ from the marker pen, making the caulking look thinner. They were then stained a light oak colour, which is all I had. This is the practice model; Bessie had a teak deck according to the book ‘Whistling for a Wind’ (no drawings or photos – I was disappointed, but it’s a good read anyway) so I may get some teak stain and see how it looks. I then laid the deck in a 5 butt shift.
 
It was a working vessel so I think a bit of unevenness in the caulking is acceptable. 
 
Then I added the Caprail
 

 
All for now
 
Best to all
 
Alan

Thanks for your interest.
 
The bottle is a Balvenie Doublewood Whisky bottle (70 cl). I think its a nice shape and it was fun emptying it.
 

 
Alan.

I have now fitted all the fore-and-aft stays, and the remaining furled jibs and staysails have also been fitted and rigged.    The next step is to complete the standing rigging by the addition of the backstays.    I have also completed the base, whilst the display case is in the process of being French Polished.    I am now 55 hours into the build, spread over 32 days, and the end is now in sight!
Bob

Using the ribs in the boat plan will help keep your hull in shape.
 
A couple of sails appropriate for that size boat that may work well.
 

 

This spritsail might work well, too.
 
 
I get the impression that your plan is to place your boat directly on the sea of petals. You might want to consider attaching the boat to the bottom of the flask on risers of some sort so that it doesn't capsize with the inevitable handling then placing the petals under and around the boat. I suspect you have already considered this but just haven't mentioned it.

Thanks DSiemens (how formal!)
I had been meaning to say that since joining the forum I have discovered lots of amazing materials and sources such as Cards of Wood, and the fine threads from the fly-tying fraternity as well as amazing workmanship demonstrated daily.
 
I have built full size stitch-and glue-boats, and considered (and am still considering) sewing the strakes together, whatever they are made of
 
My Aeromodelling experience has taught me the solution to the water soaking issue - its simply not to use water to dilute the acrylic paint.  
Most/many acrylics can be diluted with either acetone or cellulose thinners or alcohol and then can be sprayed with an airbrush so that the paint reaches the surface being painted almost dry.  
It is even possible to spray light coats of colour onto foam polystyrene even with thinners as a solvent!
 

 
This is the trial insertion.
 
Clearly the length available would be fine, if only the height permitted the hull to enter.
In the interests of science I allowed the hull  to bow a bit, and here it is in place
 

 
I always regarded this boat as a trial hull, but had not thought through the restricted height issue.  
so next steps are to reduce the boat size to the length that can be entered and rotated horizontal without bending - by trial and error using a bamboo skewer
and find a more suitable material for the second hull
The boat will be fitted with mast and sail, so I will gather full-size evidence of how the mast is stepped and stayed
 
Incdentally the drawing that accompanied the original poem was drawn by the poet (who was a cartographer and surveyor)
 

 
And shows neither mast, sail or oars, and scant provisions for a 366 day voyage
 
andrew
 
 
 
 
 
 

I like the concept. Personalized sibs are very special.

Build log follows.
The circumstances and reasons for selections of material, boat type and bottle selection need to be laid out for you
 
A) We are newly married  
The marriage bed was covered with rose petals
C) The rose petals will be preserved in a jar, or as it happens, flask
 
My wife and I very fond of the Poem "The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear found here:
 
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43188
 
And I therefore want to make a "beautiful Pea-green boat" manned  animaled by an Owl and a Pussycat
 
I love the nordic boats like Drakkars as well as their smaller and more modern versions such as faerings and femborings, so the  "beautiful Pea-green boat" will be a Faering made to a length to suit length the flask (and as I have discovered) the height.
 
Plans for a paper version of the Faering are available in the public domain  - I believe they are a cleaned-up version of an historic faering found at the Gokstad site (where the Gokstad Drakkar was also found)
 
I have so far made a trial model in card approx 200 mm long, (and painted it pea-green)
Bottle boat will probably be styrene sheet (because it is easy to cleanly edge-bond the "planks") and airbrushed with acrylic
Mast and spar - bamboo
Sail - tissue or airmail paper
Crew - to be determined
 
Photos follow when I can unload them from the camera.
andrew
 
Comments and views welcomed
 
 
 
 

The European Association of Ships in Bottles has been asked by the Royal Yacht Association to support the British Olympic Sailing Team at this year’s Olympiad by providing some SIBs with team members’ signatures on the sails, for use in the auction at the ‘Sail for Gold Ball’ in July – no pressure then.
(http://www.rya.org.uk/programmes/sailforgold/ball/Pages/default.aspx).
 
I’m the archivist for EASIB, so I’m going to do my best to support this.
 
I said I’d do a build log, so here goes.
 
Timescales are tight so finding a subject to SIB was the task. I’m not particularly keen on anything modern, so I settled on a small West Country Trading Ketch, the Bessie of Barnstaple, Devon, built in Pembroke in 1900 and lost in the Mediterranean about 1947.  These vessels were the equivalent of the modern HGV lorries, but before the advent of large, hard surfaced roads. There were hundreds of them, moving all kinds of cargo around the coast.
 
I saw the following advantages:
 
·         A scale of about 1/200 – the bits are not too small
·         Plain hull shape
·         Reasonably simple deck layout
o   Wheelhouse
o   Cabin
o   Cargo hatch
o   Dolly winch
o   Fore companionway hatch
o   Windlass
·         Two masts, Main and Mizzen
·         Two booms, Main and Mizzen
·         Two gaffs, Main and Mizzen
·         Only 4 sails, Main Mizzen and 2 staysails – mainsail large enough for a signature
·         Reasonably simple rigging
 
Disadvantages:
·         Too wide for a one piece hull and the neck of the bottle , so it’s a split hull – I’ve never used this method before.
I decided to do two, one a test piece and the other the ‘real’ one, then I realised once I had all the tools and materials in one place for that particular build stage, it was as quick to do a ‘spare’ as well.
 

 
I decided to do two, one a test piece and the other the ‘real’ one, then I realised once I had all the tools and materials in one place for that particular build stage, it was as quick to do a ‘spare’ as well.
 
So, I’ve made 3 hull blanks.
 

 
Hull shaped and deck recess cut out 
 

 
Deck laid; it was a working vessel so I think a bit of unevenness in the caulking is acceptable
 
 

 
I'll update as I get more done.
 
Incidentally, I printed out the mainsail (4 copies in case of accident) and sent them off for signature. Havn't had them back yet. I following DSiemens build with interest.
 
 

Have to admit. It took a lot of effort to get it to this point. One of these days I'll figure out how to really use paints. I'm working with Testors acrylic paint then I sanded it down and polished it to give a nice glossy look. Five coats and lots of sanding later this is what I got.