SY Aurora by Glen McGuire - FINISHED - 1/500 - BOTTLE

[Glen McGuire]

I’m kinda getting hooked on these ship-in-bottle projects.  Maybe because I’m impatient and can finish them in 2-3 months rather than a year (or years) like the full-size ship models.  I’ve thought about borrowing @mtaylor's signature line and changing it to “The wood is patient but this shipwright is not!”  So I think I’m going to do a few more SIBs before I pull my AL Constellation kit out of the closet.

The best thing about completing my first scratch build SIB is that now the next project is not limited to what kits are available.  But maybe that’s a problem too – figuring out what ship to do next!

So after a lengthy debate, I have decided on the SY Aurora as a SIB.  Most people know the Aurora as the “other” ship involved in the ill-fated Ernest Shackleton/Endurance attempt at a Trans-Antarctic expedition.  However, I first came across the Aurora in books I’ve read about Douglas Mawson.  He is a lesser-known Antarctic explorer, mainly because his goal was mapping and scientific exploration rather than trying to achieve a “first”, as in first to the South Pole or first to do a trans-continent trek, etc.  If you have an interest in Antarctic exploration and have never read about his story of survival on the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, I highly recommend a couple of books, Home of the Blizzard by Mawson himself and Mawson’s Will by Lennard Bickel.  Even the short Wikipedia writeup will leave you in awe of what a man can endure.  

The Aurora was a steam and sail barquentine with 1 funnel and 3 masts, with square sails only on the fore mast.  It was originally launched in 1876 and later purchased by Mawson for his expedition in 1910.  Hopefully I can do it justice with this build.  
 

[Glen McGuire]

One of the things I really like about SIB projects is the chance to get creative with the displays.  To me, they are almost important as the ship itself.  The small size, various bottle shapes, and even the history of the ship offer the opportunity to do lots of different things.  For the Aurora, I’m going to mount the finished bottle on a replica of one of the sledges that Mawson and his expedition team used to haul their gear over the ice.  I’ve found some fantastic museum pictures of one of his original sledges at https://collection.maas.museum/object/250732.  Now I just need someone to finish off this cheap bottle of whiskey so I can get started!

[mtaylor]

If you need help finishing off the bottle, post a notice.  I'm sure there will be volunteers.   LOL

 

I like the idea of the sled for the base to hold the bottle.  

[gjdale]

I’d be happy to help with emptying the whiskey bottle Glen! This sounds like a very interesting build and I love your idea for display. I’m taking a front row seat for this one. 😊

[Roger Pellett]

If you’re anxious to get started on your model, you could pour it down the drain! 🤣

 

Roger

[Glen McGuire]

Grant - Thanks for the generous offer.  You have to let me know when you start on your Amati Hannah build.  I looked in on your capstan project.  Your woodworking skills are quite impressive!  Wow.

 

Roger - I would hate to waste good whiskey like that!  But wait a minute, I paid less than $10 for that whole bottle so maybe the drain is the best place for it!  

[Glen McGuire]

The bottle opening is only 11/16”. which is smaller than my two previous SIBs.  There’s a lot going on with the smokestack, vent pipes, railing, and ship's boats, so this will definitely challenge my limited skills.  Here’s the basic concept I’ve got in mind.

[gjdale]

Glen, I might be pointing out the obvious here, but.......

 

Your bottle neck opening is 11/16".

 

Your scale model breadth is 3/4" (ie 12/16")

 

Do we have a problem?

 

 

[Glen McGuire]

Good catch, Grant.  Yes, the breadth should be 5/8".  Thank you!

[gjdale]

Ah - that's good then - a whole 1/16" to spare. What could possibly go wrong? 😁

 

I'm still a couple of weeks away from starting my Amati Hannah - gotta get this Capstan Project finished first (thanks for looking in).

[Landlubber Mike]

Hey Glen, I'm in on this one - what a cool project!  I love your ideas, how creative!  Looking forward to following along!

 

At less than $10, I'll probably pass on helping you empty the bottle.   Sounds like you have enough volunteers though 

[Glen McGuire]

Well, while I work on trying to empty the bottle of rotgut, I’ve decided to do this project in reverse order and build the display first.  Here we go!

 

I know the name of this forum is Model Ship World and not Model Sledge World but I figured I log some of the work building the sledge.  

The sledge build appears pretty straightforward except for the leading edge which requires a sharp u-turn (first pic).  The 2nd pic shows the shaping of the runners and the leading edge.  The runners are basswood strips and the leading edge is a bamboo skewer.  The bamboo seems to bend a little easier that a regular dowel rod.  
 

[Glen McGuire]

The bend on the runners came out nice and uniform.  It was a bit different than plank bending since there was no hull to shape it against and the bend needed to be the same on each end.  But the simple fact that there are only 2 instead of 50 means it was waaaaaay easier than the usual planking stage for a ship!  

For the framework, the challenge was trying to figure out how to clamp everything while the glue dried without deforming the bend in the runners.  Thank goodness for a garage full of miscellaneous junk!  In the end, I’m happy with how the basic frame turned out.
 

[Glen McGuire]

Dang!  When I took the bamboo skewers out of the bending jig, the ends flared out a bit which put too much outward force on the runners.  Every time I tried to compensate by over-bending the skewers, they broke.  

 

Plan B.  I realized that since the whole curved part will be wrapped with cordage, it doesn’t matter what it’s made of.  And 12-gauge copper wire with insulation is the same diameter as my bamboo skewers.  So, I bent a piece of the copper wire into the curve and snipped off a bit of the insulation on each end.  Then I cut a couple of short, straight pieces of the skewers and drilled a shallow hole into each end where I could insert the uninsulated tip of the wire ends.  After gluing the 2 pieces together it’s a good fit.  And after wrapping, I think it worked out ok.

[Glen McGuire]

I’ve decided that in my vocabulary, “artistic license” is just a fancy term for overcoming a screwup.  And the next step required some artistic license.  There’s lashing that holds the 2 long side rails to the cross slats and support posts.  I realized I should have drilled the lashing holes in the support posts before assembling the frame.  Unfortunately, I now had no room to drill the holes where they should be – facing front and back (see 1st pic).  So, the only thing I could do was drill holes from the side and come up with my own lashing loops.  Artistic license, right?     

[Landlubber Mike]

Love it Glen!  Nice job finding solutions to the two issues 👍

[gjdale]

Good solutions Glen!

[Glen McGuire]

Continuing with the finer details of the sledge…The original looks like it has leather or rawhide wraps around each joint.  I cut up the palm of an old leather glove for my joint wraps.  The original has angled metal braces that support each cross slat as well as small metal pins that secure each support post to the runners.  I used the thinnest piano wire I’ve got for those.  The original also has 2 thin metal straps around each cross slat.  I used leftover photo-etched sprues and painted them a steel gray.  

Edited December 22, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

And here's the finished sledge with the exception of the pull ropes on each end.  I've got to order some 1.5mm cordage for that.  Everything in my small stockpile of leftovers is either too fat or too thin for what I need.  

 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

@mtaylor Thanks for following along, Mark.  How are you doing?

[Keith Black]

 Glen, just getting to your SIB and sips party, sorry for being late. I'll pull up a chair over here in the corner and follow along. Please consider all previous post a 'thumbs up'. 

[Glen McGuire]

Thanks, Keith.  I know you've got a ton of experience with these steam and sail ships so if you see me screwing something up, be sure and let me know!

[Keith Black]

 Glen, I've got years of experience researching and working on one ship, the Tennessee. I've somewhat educated myself to model ship building by going through as many MSW build logs as possible during my time as a MSW member. 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Keith Black

[mtaylor]

16 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

@mtaylor Thanks for following along, Mark.  How are you doing?

Doing well, Glen.  I find your idea of the sled as part of the base to be ingenious.

[Jim Lad]

You've made a beautiful job of that sledge, Glen.

 

John

[Glen McGuire]

Merry Christmas and best wishes to everyone for a wonderful holiday season!  It's been a real blessing to have discovered this forum and be able to learn so much from so many amazing people!  

[Keith Black]

Glen, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours. 

[Glen McGuire]

Back to work after a nice Christmas break.  For the base, I did not want the sledge to just sit on a block of wood, I wanted it resting on snow/ice.  One of the difficulties the explorers encountered in Antarctica was that the terrain was not smooth.  It was mostly sastrugi, which is hard, wind-blown ridges of snow and ice.  See 1st pic below.  

 

So I did my best to give the base a flavor of sastrugi.  I used acrylic paint (consistency of cake icing), smoothed it on the base with a spatula, drew ridges in it with a spoon, then sprinkled white sand on top to give it a rougher looking surface texture.  

OK.  The display is complete and it’s finally time to start building the ship!    
 

[Landlubber Mike]

Merry Christmas Glen!  Love the base for your Aurora.  Nicely done!

[Keith Black]

Glen, it looks very real, nicely done.