Ketch Sail Yacht Parsifal III by Josh44 - FINISHED - Bottle - 1/750 scale

[josh44]

INTRO: I promised my mother-in-law that I would make her a ship in a bottle for her big birthday coming up.

 

She deserves a modern sail yacht, not some crusty old schooner.    The Parsifal III  - built in 2005 by Perini Navi and refitted in 2012  - ought to do the trick. 

 

Similarly, my typical vintage whiskey bottles wouldn't fully speak to her charm;  and since I cant find a proper size bottle of grey goose (!!) I will use this sleek french water bottle!

 

PART I: The Hull and Superstructures

 

 Starting with a hull blank.  I suppose this is more of an american style approach as opposed to european or japanese method using sagittal slices.

 

  Mini belt sander to grind it close.

  I do wear gloves.

Sanded down to 320 grit, then primed.

I decided   once again to drill-route a channel into which the masts will lay flat aft.

The two masts will each sit on their hinges at a different level from each other. Here the mizzen mast axle hole is drilled athwart, through the hull. 

While the main mast will hinge atop the deck.  I hope this split-level approach to the hinges will allow for an easier fold.

 

Making the cabin superstructure

Straight lines are not my strong suit.  But its beginning to take shape.

 

Next: Masts & Rigging

 

 

[josh44]

Part II: Masts and Rigging

 

Main and Mizzen masts. I used sail cloth and painted it white with acrylic.  Made it very stiff, but it think this workes to my advantage. I like cord ends atop my masts.

Super structure - the fore is painted inlieu of glass, and the aft is truly aired out.

 simple hinge for the main mast - no way I could hide it.

All three sails up. The mizzen mast is hinged a level below, athwart the hull.

I had to figure out how to get the supr structure around the masts. I decided to drill a hole, and cut the roof across, then fit then on after the masts were up (in the bottle).

 

I figured using the tiny magnets would be perfect here.

Secured with Bondic plastic welding and CA.

Here lies the Main Mast Magnet's Mate: A flat peice of metal on the underside. But this was the easy part. What about the aft part of the superstructure? This would fall apart after the cuting across.

So I used Bondic on the port side - not the display side - to keep the top and bottom together after the cutting.

Same as above.

Successful drilling and cutting. The top and bottom did stay together.

Again with the magnet, but this time I needed to secure it on the under side of the superstructure.

Its mate: a small peice of metal on the mizzen mast.  

This is the idea; let's see how it goes inside the bottle.

 

The masts and rigging are really rather simple, which is great!  Practically fool proof.

The Bottle was stripped and cleaned of its labels; then I put in about 5mm of Encapso-K silicone to create a flat base.

The ship will be attached to the silicone with Sil-poxy, and even that I expect to go smoothly. 

But, it will be the attachment of the two superstructure pieces using magnets that will be the challenge, and all though a narrow  and long bottle!

 

Next: The Launch!

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Looking great!  I like that mini-belt sander.  Can I ask what brand that is?

[josh44]

9 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Looking great!  I like that mini-belt sander.  Can I ask what brand that is?

Thanks Mike! Everything was going great until the launch - as usual.  I'll post the disaster and hopeful salvation in a few days once, the silicone dries and I clean up the mess.     

 

Re the sander, of course.  the sander was a gift from my brother Harry.  It has no names or brands or labels.  I searched for it on the web and appears to be a no-name product from Hong Kong.  If you look up 'mini belt sander' or 'mini polisher' you will see it.

[josh44]

Part III: The Launch and Repairs

 

 I thought I was smart by measuring the height of the bottle with a stick. It's always hard to tell from the outside.  I don't want too much space, but I certainly don't want the masts too tall.

 

Once I was assured, I laid down a layer of sil-poxy atop the dry silicone base inside; It dries quickly

 

 The ship folds down easily, with no snaps or pops.

 

 The superstructure attached on well with the magnets.

But, despite my stick measurement (!), the main mast is too tall (!!!). Still not sure how that happened.

 

This error led to all my problems.  

 

 By now the epoxy was curing, and I was trying desperately to move the ship back in the bottle where there was a bit more clearance for the main mast.

 

Meanwhile, the sil-poxy under the ship is strecching out all over the place as I try to maneuver the ship aftward in the bottle.  I tried getting more silicone-poxy where I needed it further back; but the more I put in, the sloppier things got.

 

I still need the ship to be fixed on the base, so that I could pull the masts into position and straighten the sails.

 

Out of desperation, I dripped in a thin second layer of clear silicone, to hopefullt set around the ship; it hardens very firm.

 

Unfortuantely, as i saw with the Caroline, when I pour the Encapso-K into a non-pristine environment, eg with a boat and epoxy tainting it, I run the risk of silicone not curing.   I was lucky that it eventually did cure, but it took several days instead of 24 hours. By then the new silicone base was covered in grit and particles, looking rather shabby. 

 

Eventually, I got her fixed in place in the back of the bottle.

 

 A 12" Hemostat clamp with a blade up top helped to cut the rigging in place.

 

 Looking much better after I cleaned the huge mess off the bottle.

 

 Cobbling together a base.

 

 Kind of oblong shaped, but totatally custom built for this SIB.

 

 Possibly my favorite decision in this entire process: Lining the bottom with dark blue felt.

 

 The blue gets pulled into the bottle,

 

 She sits nice and snug,

 

 in her cozy base.

 

 Both Mother in law and wife are very pleased! So am I!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

Edited February 3, 2021 by josh44

[Landlubber Mike]

Wow, very nice!  Congratulations!!  I was getting nervous as I started reading your post, but glad to see it worked out in the end. 😁

[josh44]

On 2/3/2021 at 5:16 PM, Landlubber Mike said:

Wow, very nice!  Congratulations!!  I was getting nervous as I started reading your post, but glad to see it worked out in the end. 😁

Thanks, Mike!  I dont know about your SIBs, but for me all the work comes down to the planning and execution of the launch.  The better that is, then the less damage control and cleanup is required.  Still havent figured it all out, but I have anew plan for the next one!

[Omega1234]

Hi Josh

 

Well done and I’m glad that your MIL liked it!  I too, was getting a bit anxious after reading your post relating to the disaster, but, as is always the case, Murphy’s Law is always just around the corner.  I’m glad that you got the problems solved.

 

I also liked the fact that you positioned the boat towards one end of the bottle, as opposed to the centre of the bottle.  It makes the viewer think that it’s got a long journey under sail ahead of it.

 

Nice job all around.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

[josh44]

On 2/4/2021 at 8:24 PM, josh44 said:

Thanks, Mike!  I dont know about your SIBs, but for me all the work comes down to the planning and execution of the launch.  The better that is, then the less damage control and cleanup is required.  Still havent figured it all out, but I have anew plan for the next one!

 

On 4/30/2021 at 3:48 AM, Omega1234 said:

Hi Josh

 

Well done and I’m glad that your MIL liked it!  I too, was getting a bit anxious after reading your post relating to the disaster, but, as is always the case, Murphy’s Law is always just around the corner.  I’m glad that you got the problems solved.

 

I also liked the fact that you positioned the boat towards one end of the bottle, as opposed to the centre of the bottle.  It makes the viewer think that it’s got a long journey under sail ahead of it.

 

Nice job all around.

 

Cheers

 

Patrick

Thanks Patrick!  I agree with your view  and I do like how it looks offset like that. 
but truth be told, due to my miscalculation of the mast heights vs the bottle height,  that position was as close to the center of the bottle as I could get her!!! 🤫🤣🤫🤣