Bernard Kelly

I also built this sander using an old food processor and bypassed the safety switch, it works well.

Great piece of work, will be very handy.
I build a miniature drill press using part of a Dremel Router base & the rack out of an old manual typewriter.
Here is a pic, I hope this will work, never put a pic on here before.

Looks fantastic Jeff. Just the job for masts and spars. 

While I like bottles with no distortion whatsoever I also like bottle with just a little distortion as well.  I think it adds a bit of charm and almost dream like look that adds to the adventure of the scene.  It has to be done right though and that's hard to explain.  I think ships in pinch bottles might be a good example.  I need to get some of those.
 
I have once built in a bottle just for the challenge of it.  The bottle was a Japanese Ramune bottle.  It's different in that it has a glass marble that keeps the soda sealed.  You open it by pushing the marble into the bottle.  The marble sits in a separate chamber from the rest of the bottle.      
 

 
The plastic cap is deceiving in that it looks like it comes off but it doesn't.  Most ramune bottles it's set in such a way that you would have to cut it off.  A very few of them it screws off clockwise.  The bottle I used the plastic cap didn't come off so I split the hull to get the ship in.  The clarity actually isn't bad.  The tricky part is getting the ship through the bottle neck, over the marble, then into the second chamber.  Working the tools around the marble is hard too.   
 

 

 

TJ wrote on another forum (First SIBs and Wrecks) about the frustration in trying to find good bottles in one of the most traditional places, a liquor store.  It may be an occupational hazard of the art, and I think many of us have gone through the disappointment of not finding something appropriate there.  The glass looks a lot better when it's full, and when empty to have to face how bad the distortion really is, and maybe by then you're no longer sober either. 
 
As traditional as the ship in bottle in a liquor or wine bottle may be, rarely do they live up to what we might expect and efforts to improve the accuracy and quality of detail get lost in cheap bottles.  Similarly, novelty and antique bottles can be pretty limited.  How often has someone given you a bottle thinking you'd find it interesting, but you'd have to drink a lot more than the bottle in question might hold to seriously consider trying to put a ship in it.
 
Exceptions are usually larger bottles, where the size can minimize distortion.  The smallest I ever try is a typical 1.5 liter wine bottle.  Here is a destroyer escort in one, done for a change of pace, and this bottle was one of the better ones of its kind for clarity.  I also have to say the clarity here has more to do with the quality of the photographer, John Guley, a ship in bottler from Lynnfield, MA, than the quality of the glass.
 

I finally got my miniature lathe set up and running last night. The lathe consists of a Jacob's Chuck coupled to an old heater motor out of a Nissan King Cab that I got for $5 quit a while ago. Power comes from a dimmer switch to a 12 volt D.C. rectifier to power the 12 volt motor. The beauty of this rig is I can control R.P.M. by adjusting the dimmer switch which intern controls the amount of amperage to the motor. Ideal for turning masts, spars, what have you ... 
 

 
Above is the motor mounted to my work bench at a height that is comfortable to turn things down while sitting.
Next we have my old timer rectifier that used to power a model railroad set up many moon's ago!
 

 
Last is my dimmer switch set up. You can see by all of the paint splatter it has seen numerous hours of service. Still going strong!
 

 
Total cost was under $50 
Jeff

Fine looking models Gwyl. I have thought of doing a multi piece hull myself but have never tried it. I have been asked to do a model of a small steam, mail, inter island cargo ship. My problem would be the superstructure. How would you disguise the joints after assembly in the bottle? 

These are a few shots of my recently completed Charles W. Morgan.  I'd been reluctant to post anything about this project because of serious doubts whether it would succeed.  It took far too long because I made a number of poor choices and had to go back and redo a number of things.  For example, this is the second hull and it took 16 whaleboats to get the 7 that finally went with the model down the bottle neck.  My eyes aren't quite what they used to be either and that has made rigging a much slower process.  The next project will not be as ambitious.
 

Here's my current project.  I think I'll send it with a friend to Manitowoc to be in a competition out there.  We'll see if I can get it done in time.  I did a build log for a similar ship that one I gave to a charity auction and I ended up missing it so I'm building another one.  I did a couple different things with this one.  Maily I used cherry darkened with ammonia fuming.  I really like the color deck that gave me.  
 

 

 

Gwyl your five piece split has me intrigued. I've done a split hull with two pieces but not more than that. Will you set up a build log for that ship? I'm interested in how that will work out. Particularity with how the rigging will be done.

Here is the larger of the three Scottish Maid models I am working  on.  I put the glasses in so you can get a sense of size. The first photo shows the smaller version that has the hull in 5 pieces and the larger one.  
 

 
The second photo shows the bulwarks.  They are around .75 MM thick.  I will run them thru my thickness sander to get them down to about .25 MM before I install them.
 

 
 The third image shows the masts, boom, and bow sprit.  Still some work to do on the masts.
 

Here are the files that Alex mentioned.  One is a jpeg for viewing and then a pdf if you would like to print it.
Alex,  Thanks for sending these to me. 
Gwyl
 

 
Friendship Sloop.pdf

No, the Svaerdstad build is not featured in the book at all.   It is an e-book download devoted to the history of the Svaerdstad, plus comprehensive plans and building details.      In the early 1950s, my grandfather gave me some old books called The Wide World Magazine, and the story of the wreck of the Svaerdstad was in one of them.      I thought it a fine yarn where the writer of the article, an able seaman, saved the life of Miss Christenson, the captain's daughter during the wreck of the Svaerdstad.     Many years later, I chanced upon the plans of the ship, and produced the document.     Initially, it was sold on a CD disk and posted, but later changed into an automatic download, details of which may be found on my website.     It has proved very popular over the years.
Bob
 

I put this on U Tube some time agao, and forgot all about it.   Came across it again today.    It is the building sequence of a miniature of the Norwegian barque Svaerdstad.
Bob
https://youtu.be/eNgATFUqBLA

Looks great Bob.  You sure do have a talent with these ships! 
 
Gwyl

I am now working on the cargo liner Arabia, of 1947.    The ship belonged to the Cunard Steamship Co.     Scratcbuilt at 32 feet to 1 inch.     I have been working on it for 21 days, with a total time spent so far of 32 hours.    
Hull length 16 inches.     
Bob
 

Thanks Gwyl. This sloop is right out of Chappelle's "American Sailing Craft". I've made at least 15 models from the same plan at various sizes, and it's always been a satisfying project, and always a vertical project. Here is another, smaller version in a glass ornament. I tried to upload the plan as well but got a message I couldn't load that kind of file. It's the 1900 sloop on page 39. Perhaps some one with better computer skills can load it here for everyone.

I edited an article on vertical models by Paul Stanton, of Nova Scotia, for Bottle Shipwright, and this taught me much of what I've learned about this option. It's a great alternative for presenting handsome vessels that happen to be taller than they are long, such as sloops, yawls and some schooners. I have been trying to combine the simple, natural wood presentation of a half model with a rigged ship in bottle. Here is one attempt, with the ever lovely Friendship Sloop in a liter bottle. The sloop is a small enough boat so that at this scale, 12' = 1", it allows for some working rigging. The topsides and cuddy are holly, there's an ebony wafer at the waterline and the hull below is pear. Deck planking is box and the cockpit siding is seasoned pine. The stand is oak, and it might not have been a great idea to carve this long a name into it. As David says, this lady did go in bow first.

Hello Capn Steve. 
Here is a link to a man who does restoration.
 
 
  http://www.densmodelships.zoomshare.com/8.html
 
Hope this help.
Bernard. 

Hello Capn Steve. 
Here is a link to a man who does restoration.
 
 
  http://www.densmodelships.zoomshare.com/8.html
 
Hope this help.
Bernard. 

I am currently making a model of "Bluenose" which is for a vertical bottle. I have made about six vertical bottle models over the years. The others were all with sea in the bottom. This one will be on a stand as it is a full hulled version. The way I bottled them was to put them in stern first, raising the masts whilst holding the ship in an home made tweezer. I then settled the ship in the modelling clay. The masts were then raised to their full extent by pulling the forestays (which are through the bowsprit) through a knitting needle which had been bent into a small U shape at one end. This held the forestays down towards the sea whilst pulling the forestays upwards. John Fox 111 has a method of doing it with a thin piece of wood on which you place the half hull, raising the masts whilst the hull is still in a horizontal position with the bottle on its edge then lowering the ship onto the lower hull part.  This is the method I will be using on this one. 
One of the bottles used many years ago was a large, almost bell shaped, brandy bottle. I filled the bottle with water and sealed it then used a glass drill to drill a hole in the bottle as close to the bottom as possible.  Once the ship was set and secured I passed a cable through the hole, and out through the neck, and secured it behind the ship on the bottle wall. I then attached a light fitting and added a suitable shade. It was for a friend of mine who wanted a different type of table lamp. I haven´t seen her for years but the last time I saw her she still had the bottle and it was always a talking point for visitors. 

I am currently making a model of "Bluenose" which is for a vertical bottle. I have made about six vertical bottle models over the years. The others were all with sea in the bottom. This one will be on a stand as it is a full hulled version. The way I bottled them was to put them in stern first, raising the masts whilst holding the ship in an home made tweezer. I then settled the ship in the modelling clay. The masts were then raised to their full extent by pulling the forestays (which are through the bowsprit) through a knitting needle which had been bent into a small U shape at one end. This held the forestays down towards the sea whilst pulling the forestays upwards. John Fox 111 has a method of doing it with a thin piece of wood on which you place the half hull, raising the masts whilst the hull is still in a horizontal position with the bottle on its edge then lowering the ship onto the lower hull part.  This is the method I will be using on this one. 
One of the bottles used many years ago was a large, almost bell shaped, brandy bottle. I filled the bottle with water and sealed it then used a glass drill to drill a hole in the bottle as close to the bottom as possible.  Once the ship was set and secured I passed a cable through the hole, and out through the neck, and secured it behind the ship on the bottle wall. I then attached a light fitting and added a suitable shade. It was for a friend of mine who wanted a different type of table lamp. I haven´t seen her for years but the last time I saw her she still had the bottle and it was always a talking point for visitors. 

I am currently making a model of "Bluenose" which is for a vertical bottle. I have made about six vertical bottle models over the years. The others were all with sea in the bottom. This one will be on a stand as it is a full hulled version. The way I bottled them was to put them in stern first, raising the masts whilst holding the ship in an home made tweezer. I then settled the ship in the modelling clay. The masts were then raised to their full extent by pulling the forestays (which are through the bowsprit) through a knitting needle which had been bent into a small U shape at one end. This held the forestays down towards the sea whilst pulling the forestays upwards. John Fox 111 has a method of doing it with a thin piece of wood on which you place the half hull, raising the masts whilst the hull is still in a horizontal position with the bottle on its edge then lowering the ship onto the lower hull part.  This is the method I will be using on this one. 
One of the bottles used many years ago was a large, almost bell shaped, brandy bottle. I filled the bottle with water and sealed it then used a glass drill to drill a hole in the bottle as close to the bottom as possible.  Once the ship was set and secured I passed a cable through the hole, and out through the neck, and secured it behind the ship on the bottle wall. I then attached a light fitting and added a suitable shade. It was for a friend of mine who wanted a different type of table lamp. I haven´t seen her for years but the last time I saw her she still had the bottle and it was always a talking point for visitors. 

If this worked, this is the pilot schooner Hesper with copper wire eyebolts clear on the rail. maybe a tad too obvious, with knot blocks for the upper deadeyes.  Fly tying silk is used for lanyards.  This is in a 2 liter bottle and is about 4" from waterline to top of the mast.

Looking forward to seeing more?