Landlubber Mike

This is my first scratch SIB build.  I built the Hannah SIB from the Amati kit last year, and since then have acquired and read a number of the SIB books that are out there.  The Amati kit was a good introduction, but I felt there were too many limitations with the heavy use of photo-etched parts.  So, rather than do another kit, I thought I would take the plunge and scratch my next build, especially after getting inspired by people like Daniel and Igor and the many other great modelers on here.
 
I've been working on the Challenge off and on for the past month or so, working on it in between two larger ship models (the Amati Pegasus kit and the Model Shipways Charles Morgan whaler).  I originally picked the generic Cutter and Gaff Schooner from the Joop van Schouten book as first builds (using other books, especially the Hille & Young book, to improve it), but then decided to find an actual ship to model.  Eventually I came across the Challenge in Chapelle's "The History of American Sailing Ships" and Laszlo and Woodman's "The Story of Sail," which had great plans and detail pictures.  Since it was very close to the generic Gaff Schooner in van Schouten, I thought it would make a good first build:
 

 

 

 
 
I also found some pictures on the internet to help with color scheme, etc., including someone's build of an AJ Fisher kit:
 

 

 

 

 
 
So, with all those resources, I figured the only thing holding me back was my (lack of) skill

Really good work! Bravo!

Looking forward to your endeavour Mike!

Initial Hull Construction
 
The hull is made from basswood, with the bulkheads made from 0.4mm plywood that I feathered into the hull.  I have never been very good at painting, so I decided to split the hull along the waterline.  I also added a cutwater and rudder.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Initial Hull Construction
 
The hull is made from basswood, with the bulkheads made from 0.4mm plywood that I feathered into the hull.  I have never been very good at painting, so I decided to split the hull along the waterline.  I also added a cutwater and rudder.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For quit some while I have wanted to acquire The History of the American Sailing Navy written by Howard I. Chapelle. Every now and then I would go on-line to see about buying it used only to see a high price and then add in the exchange rate to finally say forget it!
 
However last week I was thinking why not see about an inter-library loan and... low and behold our local University had the book.
 
What I really wanted was complete information on the Gunboat Navy for my Lone Warriors article and Away Boarders naval board game. To my surprise Chapelle devotes 63 pages to the aforementioned topic with lots of illustrations and line drawings of vessels. The gun boat vessels in the US Navy are very unique and there was some cutting edge designs put forward to combat the British dominance of the sea ports along the eastern sea cost and in particular the War of 1812-1816.
 
The book I received is 558 pages in length which includes; Illustrations, Plans, Text Figures, and nice introduction with acknowledgements. Chapters include;
The Colonial Period The Continental Navy, 1775-1785 The Federal Navy, 1785-1801 The Gun Boat Navy, 1801-1812 The War Navy, 1812-1816 The Post War Navy, 1816-1830 The Bureaucratic Navy, 1830-1840 The Last years of Sail, 1840-1855 which focuses on Barks and Brigs My copy is a 1949 version and is dedicated in memory to the late Mr. George C. Wales Marine Artist.
 
At the beginning of the book there is a nice colored print by Mr. Wales showing the President and Endymion exchanging broadsides (January 15, 1815) courtesy of the Marine Historical Association, Mystic, Connecticut.
 
Mr. Chapelle went to great pain to ensure the reader is informed of how the American Navy came to be and what the issues where in its infancy to its consummation. Lots of drawings and prints for the ship bottler to ponder. For me it was a history lesson on the development of the gun boats and they are an interesting breed of vessels on to their own. The appendix alone is worth the purchase if you are an naval enthusiast or historian.
 
Jeff
 
 
 
 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all of my Irish friends and to the rest of the globe as well .... Jeff
 

I just came across this a few minutes ago:
http://www.miniatureshipbuilder.com/a-b-o-u-t-t-h-e-m-o-d-e-l-s/4588535241
He wanted to build models like mine, and obtained one of my downloads concerning the building of the motor tramp Glenmoor.       This is what he produced as a "first attempt!"      It is practically indistinguishable from my prototype of the Glenmoor, and it was only after looking closely at it, that I realised it was his, and not mine!    It is very satifying to know that I have passed some skills on to someone else!
Bob

Some work on the transom.

Please find further photos

Hello my name is Artur 52 years, I live in Poland. After 4 years of construction sailing Santisima Trinidad decided to build something smaller. I chose the model tylnokołowca Western River in the bottle. This will be my second model built in the bottle. I made it 30 years ago. I'm sorry but I do not know the English language, so I use an online translator.
  Artur


 

my new item: Port of Gdansk ( Poland ) 4.5 liter bottle

The steel-hulled British  barque East African, completed by Robert Duncan, Port Glasgow in 1895.    With a gross tonnage of 1,731, the East African had a length of 252.5 feet, and a beam of 39 feet.     When completed, she was decorated with painted ports, but in later years, the hull was painted grey for economical reasons.  In 1911, the ship was sold, and renamed Risor, later Skomedal.    She was converted to a hulk in 1918.   The model will show the vessel as new, with painted ports.   It will be a full hulled type with furled sails.     I started construction a few days ago.      The basic hull has been assembled using the bread-and butter method.
It will be in a dispaly case rather than a bottle!     Bottled models are rather too difficult for me!

Hey Michael, I'm pretty new to this two, only having completed two scratch builds so far--working on my third now. It's cool to see new people trying out the hobby and you're right--the work showcased on this site can be a heck of an inspiration for guys like us.

Hi
 
I am completely new to this. I have ordered Ship Models in Glass on the advice I have received from poster on this site. Thanks for the pointer. I look forward to the book coming when I can learn how to start building. I will be a frequent visitor to this site in the future I am sure. The work on all the models I have seen here is amazing! You people are so talented and patient! Bye for now.
 
Michael

Here are some more images of it, all self-explanatory.
Bob
 

I find this simple device that I designed several years ago, very useful for scoring decks.     When the handle is rotated towards me, it pushes the scoring guide to the left.    The depth guage attached to the sliding guide gives a direct width reading.   I can score fine decks to a very high degree of accuracy using this device.    Using it is very simple, and requires no skill whatsoever.    Score line with scalpel, turn handle required distance, and then score the next one.     A few minutes will give you a perfect sheet of planking!

Bob

Fram Expedition, Roald Amundsen 1910- 1912 zum Nordpol
[

HMS Erebus, abandoned in the ice, Franklin Expedition.     Something like this would probabaly be quite easy to put in a bottle.
Bob
 

A lot has happened with this ship. I did a rest fit and found that the ship didn't fit the bottle. I mismeared and built ito to high. So I ended up building a second one. I found a bottle for the first one but it doesn't have the clarity I wanted for the person. I'm building it for. Doing it again has helped clear up a lot of mistakes I had in the first one.

I had a chance this morning to get into the Man Cave and work on the forecastle area where there are 5 portholes. In behind this area there are crew quarters on the original ship. This piece will be glued onto the upper hull piece after all of the detail work is completed. On top of this piece goes some decking, hand railing, anchors, bollards etc.
 
I had to make a special little tool to hold the small pieces of brass tubing to file up and install. It worked well and I achieved a fairly accurate scale look.
 
First picture shows a template loosely glued on so I could prick pinch the locations on where to drill. Pretty fussy work at this scale and caffeine intake has to be watched during this process.
 

 
Second picture shows ten pieces cut from the tubing with my handy dandy tubing cutter!
 

 
Third and fourth pictures show my little tool I made and a piece of brass tubing being filed and ready to install.
 

 

 
Fifth and sixth pictures show the port holes installed and finished with one coat of flat black for starters. The #11 scalpel blade shows the scale dimension I am working at ... Jeff
 

 

 

All the rigging you want from the masts continues through the hull and out of its bottom then onto a 'control board'. The control board easily lets you see which rigging lines to pull to tighten. The rigging lines have to be plenty long so that when the masts are separated from the hull there is ample length to mount the masts on a temporary jig while the hull goes in the bottle. It is a good idea to run a line through the end of the mast where it steps into the hull. Make the mast stepping line pass through the mast so that it is a two line affair. This lets you know if the mast rotates about it axis inadvertently. When you pull the masts from the hull for the bottling of the hull wrap each mast loosely with tissue paper and wrap its rigging lines between the hull and mast with tissue paper. It's a little fiddly but helps keeps all the lines from tangling. Once the hull is set you start dragging the masts in one at a time. Once the ship and masts are in place I go into the bottle line by line, loosening each line, adding a touch of PVA glue using a long stick 'glue applicator' tool then pulling the line back into its hole with the PVA glue to set. After glue dries make a tiny razor tool on a stick to cut the lines and bury there loose ends in the clay. It's actually fun doing it this way. You can get a larger ship in your bottle that way. My 'Mozart' was such a tight fit I had to press it deeper into the 'water' because the main mast was interfering with the top of the bottle!  

Last November I was approached to be guest artist for a Locally Crafted documentary short film.  This series, sponsored by Windstream Communications, focuses on artists & crafts people throughout the US.  The crew was making a December tour of North Carolina where they were filming about 5  people. 
 
Their filming process was quite different from my previous production experiences where the filming is done in one shot with 2-3 people.  This group came to my house with a ten person crew & a 20 ft. truck fully loaded .   Am talking home invasion here.  Had cleaned up the shop & house, yet they rearranged everything.   I'm still looking for a lost bag of kitty litter.  Tanning bed intensity lights were everywhere.    Part of the filming occurred at an Art Show hosted by Olde Mecklenburg Brewery in Charlotte. 
 
As with previous filming experiences, much footage was not used.  With the voice/interview, some items that I was stressing were left out...mainly:  Every artist has their own unique style & methods, and one really should not be compared to another.   We grow with each piece and learn from each other.  Also, SIB organizations were omitted...again, as were museums that have sib's in their collections.   Pardon for my dry voice...again the humor was left out.
 
The Locally Crafted series is pretty good, and they do interview unique artists.  The one on making carousel horses is very interesting.
They are 4-5 minutes long and can be found on You Tube.
 
 
 
http://locallycrafted.tumblr.com/post/139913412050/preserving-art-and-wonder-in-charlotte-north

Since I have trouble painting I have been trying to use a variety of woods to avoid it.  For this yawl I used aspen, a kind of white poplar, for the hull topsides and cabin roof and redwood for the lower hull.  Boxwood makes up the boot topping, bowsprit, blocks and prop.  The deck planking is pine and the cabin sides and cap rail are also pine, from a piece sitting around long enough to weather into that deep warm red.  That wood also makes up the skylights, hand rails, etc.  The masts and spars are bamboo.  The stand is oak, which has a nice contrasting grain.  This is all a little smaller than 1/8" = 1', with a hull about 6" overall. 
 

3 Flaschenschiffe neu gebaut