Glen McGuire

Since finishing the Aurora a few weeks ago, I found myself stressing out about all the yardwork and home fix-up things needing attention.  I figured the only way out of that trap was to get started on another ship project.    

So I took a trip to Total Wine looking for cheap alcohol in unique bottles.  You get some interesting reactions from store clerks when they see you grabbing bottles off the shelf, turning them sideways, and just staring at them.  

   
After an hour of perusing the aisles, a bottle of Cruzan rum with a longer neck caught my eye (1st pic below).  When I turned it sideways, it sort of looked like a cannon barrel to me.  Or maybe I had too many of the numerous free samples they were giving out around the store.

   
Regardless, I got this idea about a display with a warship in the bottle and the bottle sitting in a cannon carriage.  Hmmmmm.  So I bought the $20 bottle of Cruzan.  That’s over my usual budget for this stuff, but I do like rum drinks so it won’t go to waste like the rotgut I bought for the Aurora.  

I did some searching to see if I could find where someone else had done a similar SIB.  I found several cannon carriage wine bottle holders for sale but nothing with a ship in the bottle.  So maybe I’ve got something that’s a bit unique here, which would be pretty cool.

Next was deciding what warship to build.  I went thru Chapelle’s book on US naval history as well as the Naval History and Heritage Command website and decided on the USS Independence - the 1814 version and not the later Razee (new term I learned in my research).  I liked the name of the ship, its history, and the fact that it was the first US Navy ship-of-the-line.  Plus, a ship armed with 90 cannons would be a new challenge for me compared to my previous builds of commercial ships (Morgan and Aurora).  The 2nd pic shows the basic concept I’ve got in mind.
 

Superb work and amazing perseverance - especially on the paddle wheels.  Wow.  But I gotta ask, who is this little dude that keeps photo-bombing your pics?

Keith - gluing is also how I attach ratlines to my shrouds for SIBs.  No way for me to tie a knot that small and I had not thought of threading through the shrouds like you describe (interesting idea).  Aleen's fabric glue has worked well for me.  It's clear and has good strength and a bit of flexibility after drying, which is crucial for me since my shrouds and ratlines get folded over and twisted numerous times before reaching their final resting spot.    

Rob - that was an eye-opener to see that you glue ratlines at the larger scale (larger meaning compared to SIBs).  I thought that everyone always tied them.  Assuming that's what you did on your Glory of the Seas, they look really good.  Thanks for giving away one of your trade secrets!

1 hour ago, Keith Black said:

Glen, can you use this somehow in your SIBs? I'm seriously thinking using it for Zip Seizing.  

That is interesting, Keith.  I had no idea they made it so thin.  I will definitely keep that in mind when I kick off the next project.  Thanks for the heads-up.  

Whatever the repairs were, looks like you did a great job fixing them!  Your excellent work continues.

Olha, beautiful work with your first ship-in-bottle build!

@Joe100 Thank you, Joe.  Please let me know if you decide to do another version of the Endurance.  I'd love to see what you would do differently from the first go (which I think is amazing).

@curtbroo Thank you for checking in and commenting.  As with Malas above, I apologize for the late response to your post.  Congratulations on trying this kit for your first wooden model ship.  I hope you enjoy the effort as much as I did.  

If you have not done so already, I would highly recommend posting a build log for your work in progress.  The support of this community is absolutely fantastic.  There are so many incredible people with amazing modeling talents that are willing to offer comments, advice, guidance, tips, trick, etc.  I wish I'd discovered this forum before I finished (or started) my Alabama. 

On the other hand, if you have started a build log, please let me know.  I'd love to follow along.

On 12/19/2021 at 11:54 AM, Malas@1 said:

Now I can proceed with planking I see you started from the water line up and down and it looks like you planked to almost the top of the frames is that correct? My question is does the deck get glued to the top of the frames its thin material are there any support pieces that go  across the frames and if so what is the Bulwarks made of I dont see any material in the kit for it in fact I'm not even sure I have enough for the planking what I have is only a bundle of 3/16 wide planking ?

@Malas@1 Hey Malas, I apologize for the late response to your post.  I have not visited this log in a while and just noticed your comment.  I hope it's not too late to help.  

Yes, I planked to the top of the frames, all the way up to the top of the "goalposts".  Then I went back and broke off/sanded down the goal posts.  Then I carved out the gun ports afterwards.  Thus, the bulwarks are really planking strips.  I do not know if that was how I was supposed to do it, but that's the only way I could figure out how to do it at the time.  I was worried about how sturdy it would be, and it is a bit flimsy, but it came out ok. 

As for the quantity of planking strips, I had plenty of the 1/4" strips but the 3/16" quantity was tight.  Do not waste any!

Yes, the deck gets glued to the top of the frames, kind of like a bed with box springs sitting on slats.

Again, I apologize for just now seeing this and getting back to you.  Are you posting a build log?

Well done, Keith!  Very impressive work!

Thank you, GrandpaPhil!  I appreciate you keeping an eye on me!

Thank you, Pat.  And thanks for following along!

Hey Keith - After seeing all the incredible, fine work you have done up to this point, I am 100% certain you can get past this rough patch.  Mule time!  

1 hour ago, gjdale said:

Can’t help but notice the absence of the penguin though….😉🤣

Hey Grant - if you drink enough of that $8 brandy, you will see more penguins than you can count!

The project is complete! 

For all of you that have been following along, I cannot thank you enough for the likes, encouragement, comments, ideas, and suggestions along the way.  I feel like each one of you had a hand in this effort and I can guarantee you it would not have come out near as well without your help.

1 hour ago, dcicero said:

I use hairspray on rope coils to make them lay like I want them and stay that way.  Works great.

 

Could I ask what kind of putty you use for the sea?  How do you keep it from off-gassing and fogging up the inside of the bottle?

Hey Dan - thanks for the idea about hairspray and rope coils.  I'm gonna keep that bottle of Paul Mitchell and hope my friend forgets she loaned it to me!

Regarding the putty and sea, I actually used "Easy Cast - Clear Casting Epoxy" for the sea.  I did not notice any fogging as it degassed.  After dripping the epoxy in the bottle, I let it sit on a table in a wide open room with a ceiling fan running so it had plenty of ventilation for drying.  Not sure if that helped keep the bottle from fogging or I just got lucky!

For the ice, @Joe100 made an earlier comment about his use of Deluxe Materials plastic putty for ice.  I did not have any putty handy, but I did have some white modeling clay.  His putty idea made me think of trying the clay.  I rolled it out thin, painted it with a mix of acrylic white and gloss gel medium (for a bit of shine), and cut it up into a bunch of random, odd shaped pieces.  

Success!!!  Only a few minor snags (so to speak) when pulling all the strings and raising everything up.  My last SIB (Charles W Morgan) had 5 pull strings.  This one had 12 so it was a very careful process.  But all went well.  The thing I struggle with most is cutting the strings at the bowsprit after I've got everything up and in place.  I need to improve my technique or tools or both there.

The finish line is in sight! 

The Aurora is in the bottle!  But I cannot say that the ship has fully launched until the masts and smokestack are successfully raised and everything in its proper place.  So the bubbly is still on ice for a little while longer. 

This time, there was no stomach-turning "pop" or other ominous noises when I did the big push.  In fact, I'm a little nervous because it went sooooo easy.  I mean it just slid right in with relatively little resistance, much smoother than the practice pushes I had done.  I think maybe I did just a bit better at getting everything to lie flat for the real push. 

We will see tomorrow when I start yanking on all the strings.  If it doesn't work out, I will be adopting the same nickname as the captain of the Aurora - John King "Gloomy" Davis.

On another note, a dear friend of mine had a brilliant last-minute idea.  I was telling her about my anxiety with the frail smoke.  She suggested using hairspray on the yarn to give it strength and keep it from fraying further.  She gave me a little spritzer bottle of Paul Mitchell Freeze and Shine Super Spray to use.  Of course I'll find out for sure tomorrow, but I believe was a great solution.  Anyone else have hairspray in their toolbox?

Hard to see it in this picture, but I also added some white in the ship's wake for some slushy, prop churn.

10 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Having worked at 1:120 for so long I can easily visualize tenths and hundredths. Better not use course ground pepper and sea salt. 

LOL!!!  And yes, the big push is coming up.  Time to steady the nerves!

OK.  Despite shaky hands from thinking about polar bears and penguins, I managed to get all of the pack ice in place.  And BTW, thanks to @Joe100 for the idea of using putty for the ice.  

I will let things sit for a day to make sure everything is set.  Then we're gonna see if this whole thing will work or not.  Moment of truth coming up!

2 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Can you imagine trying to carve anything that small

At 1/500, I think if I glue a couple pieces of salt and pepper together it will look more like a penguin than anything I could carve!

I want my mommy!  Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

9 hours ago, Keith Black said:

Glen, how long do think it will take you to carve the Polar bear? 

OMG!!!  NOOOOOO!!!

OK.  First of all, the ship is in Antarctica so thankfully there are no polar bears.  There are mainly penguins.  And second of all, uh.....crap!  🐧

Hey Roger - Thanks for the suggestion.  I will consider that after I see how things look when all the chunks of ice are in place.

Quick in-progress update.  I've begun putting the ice chunks in place...very carefully and very slowly!  So far I've only dropped 1 by accident inside the bottle.  I got lucky and it landed glue side up so was able to retrieve it for another try!  Only about 50 more pieces to go!   

Dang, Mark.  Very sorry to hear that.  I hope that you can quickly get new glasses and that they fix things for you.  I look forward to you being able to resume this cool build.