Bernard Kelly

Thanks
I am kept from building SIBs by the unavoidable nature of the process!    I have very little patience, and spending hours fiddling about through the neck of a bottle would not give me any pleasure at all - more like frustration.       Wire rigging cannot be made fold down and up again without looking awful, and I doubt if I  could ever get a sea into a bottle in a satisfactory manner.      Rigging a SIB by conventional  means seems to require the masts and spars to be too thick for my liking, probably as they have to have holes drilled through them, and need the added strength.       I have made two or three SIB in years gone by, but on each occasion, I cut the bottoms off the bottles, and put them back after the ship was in, disguising the join with fancy ropework.      But another annoying thing was the distortion caused by the glass (I used gin bottles).    I know you can get really perfect bottles if you pay for them, or use light bulbs, or even old radio valves.    But I just prefer the easier option of making them in display cases.     But that does not stop me appreciating what ship bottlers achieve.      For some time, I have been wondering where Dave Fellingham has gone - as his SIB was most impressive.       A major problem with me would be the apparent time required - my patience wears thin very quickly!
Bob       

Awesome work Igor!
 

Looking good Igor! Awesome detail.

Then I glued another belt of plating the bulwark from the black hornbeam.

Next, I glued the posts to the inside surface of the bulwarks. Because The bulwarks themselves gradually reduce their thickness in the process of sanding them from the outside, then their additional strengthening will be very useful. In addition, they will be very useful and to increase the area of gluing when installing gunwales.

Oh, sorry, IOAN! I understood!!!  
I use wooden rulers as a material for making the hulls. They are made of beech, cheap and have no defects.
So, I will continue
Then I glued the gunwales.

Then I finally sanded the planes connecting the upper and lower parts of the hull, cut out the plate replacing the waterline and processed the entire hull assembly.

Next, I cut through the deck in the places of the entrance tambours and lined the walls of the holes with planks. I do not know for sure whether there will be open doors in the entrance tambours, but, just in case, decided to refine these holes in the deck

OK, Bernard. 
I use small pieces from a needle for a syringe of suitable diameter.

 

Exceptional work Igor. I am particularly taken with the metal ends for the yards and gaffs. Could you please explain how you made them.
Well done. 
Bernard

I love the in bottle repair.  You have some real talent.  Great work.  She's an incredible ship in bottle.  

Beautiful pictures and story! All's well that ends well! At that rate you must showcases doing!

Nice work.
Alan

I too love the way you can see through the sea. Fantastic work Igor!
Jesse

Looking Awesome Igor!

Nicely done.  She looks great!

On a different forum someone was talking about a couple of chinese sites that have USA warehouses and sell great RC cars. So I went to the site and looked around. They sell, for a different purpose, a (roughly) 6" high light bulb for growing plants. Of course re-purposing that was the first thing on my mind...
http://www.gearbest.com/pots-planters/pp_308005.html?
It only costs $4.36 and is flat on the bottom so it can stand upright. Clever reuse of light bulb factories.  Photos are swiped from the reviews.

Always a pleasure to have a military man come aboard. The Bismark model sounds interesting.
You'll like it here as everyone is willing to help and share, a great group of people on this forum.
Jeff

Welcome aboard Sapper!

Hi Sapper,  
 
Welcome aboard.  It sounds like you do have strong maritime history in your family and in your blood.  Please ask away at any questions you have.  There are members here who are beginners, some truly skilled and talented builders,  and all kinds of builders in between.  The neat thing about this hobby is, that anyone, even the most experienced would love to help anyone have fun and improve their skills.
 
Again, welcome aboard!
Gwyl 

Absolutely stunning work!
 
Jesse

Thanks,
Plenty of info on the ship if you put "barque East African" in Google search.   Painting, photographs, newspaper reports etc.     Ship was turned into a storage hulk in 1918 and scrapped several years later.     The boats were vacuum-formed in a small home-made vacuum box.   The insides were printed on a piece of card using the computer, cut out and stuck in.    This method looks great in miniatures, but would look awful in larger models.    Most of the ship's life, she was painted grey, but originally had painted ports as in the model.
Bob

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.

Beutiful work. She looks incredible. I love the detail on the rigging. It really brings the ship to life.

Nice! What happened to the original? I see it was in use up to 1918. Thanks!