DSiemens

Thanks Popeye and Bob.  
 
Well the ships complete!  I took a plethora of photos for your enjoyment.  
 

 

 

 
  
 

 

 

All of the sudden she's planked.  Nice work.  I agree with the aged look.  Something about Caravels and Junks they just look better with age.  

This completes the  abbreviated build log of US Frigate Essex Dick
 

Sails are going on.  The Main sail and the one above it are just set in place until I have the last two spars on. 
 

Sails are going on.  The Main sail and the one above it are just set in place until I have the last two spars on. 
 

Work continues.  I finally found what I was looking for in a broken cell phone charger.  The lower section of the masts will be wire with wood on top.  This allows the masts to bend and go in the bottle while being able to pull them back into place with the rigging.  Now that I'm starting over I may just add the cross trees as David suggested.  Part of me thought of putting her in and saying it's an admiralty style model.   She'll be much more impressive fully rigged. 
 

Sails are going on.  The Main sail and the one above it are just set in place until I have the last two spars on. 
 

Work continues.  I finally found what I was looking for in a broken cell phone charger.  The lower section of the masts will be wire with wood on top.  This allows the masts to bend and go in the bottle while being able to pull them back into place with the rigging.  Now that I'm starting over I may just add the cross trees as David suggested.  Part of me thought of putting her in and saying it's an admiralty style model.   She'll be much more impressive fully rigged. 
 

Sails are going on.  The Main sail and the one above it are just set in place until I have the last two spars on. 
 

Work continues.  I finally found what I was looking for in a broken cell phone charger.  The lower section of the masts will be wire with wood on top.  This allows the masts to bend and go in the bottle while being able to pull them back into place with the rigging.  Now that I'm starting over I may just add the cross trees as David suggested.  Part of me thought of putting her in and saying it's an admiralty style model.   She'll be much more impressive fully rigged. 
 

Thank you Marc. 
 
I thought of another material.  Paper.  
 
I use paper for the tiny details I can't other wise do but there's another use.  At out ship club some one demonstrated making boats out of paper.  I had done this before on a much smaller scale and I was surprised to see it on a large scale.  
 
Here's the long boat I did for my Mercury build.  even the benches are paper stained with wood stain.
 

 
Here's the process I use.  First carve a wood plug in the shape of your boat.  
 

 
I then plank on the paper.  For the larger scale this isn't needed.  use cigarette paper and paint on big strips with water.  You may need to make some cuts around the curves so the paper doesn't crinkle.  After it's on paint it with glue and add another layer.  They used five or six layers on the bigger models.  Once dried details and paint can be added.  
 

 
I trimmed off the edges and got a very small ship.  
 

 
This could be great for dories and whale boats.  Making each ship doesn't take as much time as carving or planking.  

Thank you Marc. 
 
I thought of another material.  Paper.  
 
I use paper for the tiny details I can't other wise do but there's another use.  At out ship club some one demonstrated making boats out of paper.  I had done this before on a much smaller scale and I was surprised to see it on a large scale.  
 
Here's the long boat I did for my Mercury build.  even the benches are paper stained with wood stain.
 

 
Here's the process I use.  First carve a wood plug in the shape of your boat.  
 

 
I then plank on the paper.  For the larger scale this isn't needed.  use cigarette paper and paint on big strips with water.  You may need to make some cuts around the curves so the paper doesn't crinkle.  After it's on paint it with glue and add another layer.  They used five or six layers on the bigger models.  Once dried details and paint can be added.  
 

 
I trimmed off the edges and got a very small ship.  
 

 
This could be great for dories and whale boats.  Making each ship doesn't take as much time as carving or planking.  

@ Daniel Siemens.
Your ships in a bottle are so intense.  The details on such a small scale is amazing.  The shrouds and the sails......... amazing.
I love looking at your finished builds.
Excellent wo9rk.
Marc

BROOM BRISTLES FOR TREENAILS
 
I got  a broom with plastic black bristles and thought about this for my ships.
 
I used this in my Endeavour.
 
 

Jewelry
 
Jewelry was already mentioned but here's a fun spin on it.  I made this for one of my early ship in bottle builds.  The ships to ugly to show and this was just rattling around in the bottle so I pulled it out and got a couple shots.  
 
A treasure chest.
 

 

 
This was some of my earlier work and it's a bit sloppy.  A better modeler could make the gold chain look more like coins.  

Popeye I think that's called sleep drunk.     

Popeye I think that's called sleep drunk.     

I could not say it better!

Rigging is almost done.  Just one or two more little things.  I have a question actually I hope some one can help me with.  Looking at the plans she has some back stays that come from the top of the mast to the back of the ship.  Once I got them on there I noticed how they really get in the way of the boom.  I had heard once of ships that had removable back stays and wondered if that may be the case wit this one. It would make sense since with the way the back stays separate near the bottom like there's a block there.  If that is the case I"m thinking of possibly taking a stay out so that she can tack properly.  I just would like to know if that's right before I do it.  
 

 

 

 

David that helps a lot.  I did notice in other photo's there seemed to be multiple booms tied parallel to the mast when not in use.  So that makes sense.  I'm not going to go to crazy with it but I think I will put some slack in one of the aft back stays to give the sail more room.  
 
Dgbot I am a member of the Rocky Mountain Shipwrights.  Ralph is helping me with my Elsie build.  John has lent me a dozen or so books I wish I had time to read.  I've met Steve but don't know him quiet as well. I'm actually giving a ship in bottle presentation in March.  I think I'll build this ship in different stages and present it as a first build.  It is an incredibly simple ship and would be great for anyone wanting to try ship in bottles for the first time.  
 
Popeye thanks!  I decided I needed something simple to get back to basics.  Your right I should just change the name.  The color and the deck furniture are totally the Mariquita.  The plans just don't say that exactly.    

Some rigging completed.  Put in a couple back stays.  The rest is temporary just to hold everything in place for now.  
 

 

 

Masts and yards are coming together.
 

 

Seems as though I need to run into a rough patch before I hit some inspiration.  Or maybe I'm just better at the 1:300 to 500 scale.  In either case my current bottle build was giving me a lot of trouble and I hit a road block.  So while I was thinking of how to fix that I went on to another project.  I chose this one because I think I need to get back to basics again before proceeding.  Also like so many of my best work it's for some one else.  I may explain the story behind that later.  Here's the ship.  
 

 
She's simple but beautiful.  The only one in existence today is the Mariquita which I have based a lot of this model on.  Still debating if I should break down and just call her the Mariquita but we'll see.  
 

 

 
I actually tried some thing new and did some rough measuring.  The ship is a bit thin but she needs to fit in the bottle.  I'm off less then a millimeter so I think it's okay even for this scale.  This was actually pretty fascinating to see and I suggest trying it out just for fun.  I measured out the center line and then lines on the plans.  I counted twelve on the plans but the photo now shows more like 16.  It's 1:300 scale kind of hard to see.  Any ways.  I divided the ships length by twelve and drew a line for each section.  I then drew the center line.  From there I went back and forth from the plans measuring each line from the center line and marking it on both sides of the center line on the wood.  As I progressed the deck shape just appeared.  This is probably the most fun I've ever had with a set of plans.  
 

 
   
 I then carved out the hull and I apologize for not having more pictures because I tried a new technique for that as well.  I've been looking at pictures of some of my favorite ship in bottle builders for a long time.  One that has always intrigued me is Heather Rogers.  I've posted a few pictures of her work and if you would like to see more click link.
As I looked at her photo's I've found she carves ships very differently.  She also did a model of the Mariquita so being I had a reference I decided to try it her way.  What I found was incredible.  I cut out the large pieces around the hull and then went to my usual dremel work.  The proved difficult as the base got in the way.  So I looked back and found that she uses chisels.  I pulled out my chisels and started working with it.  The grove between the base and the ship created a perfect guide.  I place one end of the chisel in the groove, angled it to where I wanted to cut and slid the chisel against the hull.  It was almost to easy.  This hull is almost completely cut from a chisel and touched off with some sanding.  I noticed though that Heather uses what appears to be harder woods.  I think I may try that in the future as the bass wood is soft and dents easily.  
 
   
 

 
I then added the trim on the sides and the deck furniture.  The ships wheel is made from a piece of a watch I bought from a jeweler for the spare parts.  The deck house, hatches, skylights and dory are cut from match sticks.
 
   
 

 
What's also interesting is that I'm about four hours into this build and I'm ready for masts yards and rigging.  She's a quick fun build.  Actually if any one wants to try ship in bottle building for the first time this ship would be a good one to start on.   

Rigging is almost done.  Just one or two more little things.  I have a question actually I hope some one can help me with.  Looking at the plans she has some back stays that come from the top of the mast to the back of the ship.  Once I got them on there I noticed how they really get in the way of the boom.  I had heard once of ships that had removable back stays and wondered if that may be the case wit this one. It would make sense since with the way the back stays separate near the bottom like there's a block there.  If that is the case I"m thinking of possibly taking a stay out so that she can tack properly.  I just would like to know if that's right before I do it.  
 

 

 

 

Masts and yards are coming together.