Ship in a Bottle

[dsmith]

Do any of you guys know where to find high-end ship-in-a-bottle kits? I have a friend that is interested in building one, and she wants a very detailed, larger kit than what you typically find on say, at Micromark?

Cheers,

-Doug

[The Loggie]

Doug, I've never seen a 'high-end' ship-in-a-bottle kit. May I suggest that you learn how to build one, then modify a plastic model kit to make it 'bottleable'. The key is to know that the masts are NOT embedded in the deck. They are connected to the deck by SOFT copper wires that are FIRMLY embedded in the base of the mast/s - the one I did had a pair on the left & right sides of the masts. The lower ends of the wires must be DEEPLY embedded in the hull. Do this hull bit by filling the hull below the mast with a column of balsa wood (NOTE - grain of the wood is NOT vertical).

Build the hull (trapping the balsa wood glued inside), then the mast/s complete flags etc (BUT NO PLASTIC SAILS or YARDARMS - I'm assuming that they are too big for the mouth of your bottle), all as separate sub-assemblies. Plunge the wires of the mast into the balsa wood, then FIRMLY connect each mast with the one behind it with a NON-STRETCH cable - one that will not go fizzy.

Mount the yardarms on a SINGLE soft copper wire so that they are parallel to the mast (propeller-style).

OPTIONS - FOR EXPERTS. IF you want to be a smarty, you could rig the model with elastic EZ-Line. don't try to put-on every single line - just enough to look like a smarty. And/or (and I have NO experience here) attach sails of rolled paper to the yardarms.

Now, tie a long piece of cable around the front mast at about a third of the way up. If you want to, loop long pieces of line (of a different colour) round the other masts, so that both ends come way forward beyond the bow. Knot them together.

This is when you have to lie the masts over the hull by pushing them backwards towards the stern.

You are ready to push your ship into its bottle. You have one, right? You do have a simulated sea attached to it's floor, right? Did I mention that it is a good idea to have a spike or two in the keel, angled down & forward? It'll help the hull bite down into its 'sea'.

Now, push the ship onto the bottle and bed it down into its 'sea'. Allow it to dry BUT - keep all of the lines clear of the 'sea'.

Much later, pull on the long piece of cable (and, if necessary, the other coloured cables) to pull the masts to their correct vertical positions. Use a long tool to turn the (now vertical yardarms) to their correct horizontal positions. With a bit of luck, the rigging will stretch back into position. Being elastic EZ-Line, they'll remain tight.

Remove the coloured lines, tie the long piece around the tip of the bow-sprit, secure it with glue, then trim-off the excess. Cork the bottle, and you're done.

I've only ever done one. Do not expect excellent results on your first go.

Another way is to build a ship, and (I've heard that it is possible) have a glass-blower fashion a bottle (from a large glass tube) around it. He'd do the neck & mouth first, allow it to cool and later you'll position the sea & ship, then the glass blower places an end on the back-end of the glass tube, thus turning it into a bottle.

Remember - building a boat in a bottle is an entire hobby in itself. It 'aint easy - if it was easy, more people would do it. Good luck with whatever you do.

George, out...........