Adventure Galley by Glen McGuire – FINISHED – 1/400 - BOTTLE

[Glen McGuire]

With the treasure chest done, it's time to start building the ship.  However, It’s taken me a while to figure out how to build this ship the way I want it to look and get it inside the bottle.  There are 2 main challenges.  First are the oars.  They add considerable width to the overall profile so there’s no way to fit a solid piece hull with extended oars thru the bottle opening.  So that's going to necessitate a split hull.  I did my first split hull with the Zheng He treasure ship on my last build and that went ok.  Hopefully I’ll have the same luck here.

The second challenge is the height of the rear portion of the ship.  The quarter deck and poop deck are very tall.  At the scale I’m using, the height from waterline (the bottom of my hull) to the top rail is 1”.  My bottle opening is 13/16” so that’s a problem.  I could shorten the poop deck and make the whole stern area much shorter so it fits.  But to me, a tall poop deck is an iconic look for an old pirate ship.  So I need to make it work.

Here’s the plan I came up with which involves 2 things I have not tried before.  WOOHOO!  First, I’m going to build the hull and quarter/poop deck as 2 separate pieces - actually 3 since the hull will be split.  Second, I’m going to cut out a large portion of the deck that contains the mast holes.  The deck cutout will be inserted at the end.  So all in all I will have 4 pieces for assembly inside the bottle.

The assembly inside the bottle will have 3 main steps:  Insert the split hull pieces into the bottle and glue them together (step 1).  Insert and attach the quarter/poop deck piece (step 2).  Insert and attach the deck cutout containing the deck fittings, folded masts, and sails (step 3).

Below is my pencil sketch of the idea.  Simple, right?  What could possibly go wrong?  
 

[BANYAN]

Looks like a good plan Glen, good luck.

 

cheers

 

Pat

[mtaylor]

A darn good plan, IMO and very innovative.   Pity that there's not some way for a bottle to have a removable bottom and after the ship is in, put the bottom back on without having look like it was removed.

[Glen McGuire]

1 hour ago, mtaylor said:

Pity that there's not some way for a bottle to have a removable bottom and after the ship is in, put the bottom back on without having look like it was removed.

Oh wouldn't that be nice, Mark!  But I reckon that would be cheating too.   It'd be like planking a regular ship model with a can of spray-on planking!

[Ian_Grant]

Glen, you're a glutton for punishment, but as always this will be memorable to watch I'm sure.

[gjdale]

This build is very aptly named - it will be a real “adventure” implementing your cunning plan Glen! Or to quote Blackadder, a plan so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a fox!

 

Can’t wait to see this come together.

[Glen McGuire]

2 hours ago, gjdale said:

Or to quote Blackadder, a plan so cunning you could pin a tail on it and call it a fox!

I love the quote!  But you got me again on "Blackadder".  Had to google that one.  Now I just hope I don't end up looking like Prince Regent on this project, who apparently was a "fop and idiot" from what I just read.  😃

[Ian_Grant]

Oh Glen, if you've never seen Blackadder, especially the Regency and WW I series, you have missed out. Look them up on Youtube!  You'll never forget Lord Byron, the mad king, the coffee house, Dr. Johnson's Dictionary, the actors and "Macbeth", Blackadder's Jacobite Scottish relative (a particular highlight for me given my family name), then life expectancy in the RFC, meeting von Richtofen, Captain Darling, Lord Flashheart, .......... now I need to watch some episodes over again.

Edited November 2, 2022 by Ian_Grant

[Benjamin sullivan]

great job, very creative methods i will be following along.

[gjdale]

6 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

Oh Glen, if you've never seen Blackadder, especially the Regency and WW I series,

 

The WWI series was my favourite. You really should check it out Glen.

[Glen McGuire]

7 hours ago, Benjamin sullivan said:

great job, very creative methods i will be following along.

Thank you, Benjamin!  Glad to have you aboard for this!

 

@gjdale @Ian_Grant OK, I will definitely check out Blackadder and report back!

[Glen McGuire]

If I was a design engineer, the manufacturing floor would string me up.  Nothing I draw on paper ever works when I try to build it.  But hey, design changes and revised cost estimates are the lifeblood of defense contractors, right?

      
My grand build plan described above is yet another example.  I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about my model (hopefully I’m not the only one out here that does that) and realized my plan was not going to work. The shrouds and backstays would have to be attached inside the bottle.  There are probably more skilled builders that could pull that off but I did not want to try it myself.  So I came up with plan B.  My puzzle will still have 4 pieces.  The first 2 pieces are still the split hull, but will only be built up as far as the bottom of the main deck.  The third piece will be the upper and lower quarterdecks along with the poop deck.  The fourth piece will be the main deck.  Attached to it will be the masts, channels, shrouds, backstays, and the quarter/poop deck assembly.

So the assembly plan will be insert the split hull pieces and glue together.  Next, insert the main deck assembly and glue to the hull.  I’m pretty confident this will work.  
 

Now, to see if I can build this thing.  The first step is making the layers for the hull.  The ship’s profile has a prominent upsweep from the center to the bow and stern, more pronounced towards the stern.  So I’m in the process of bending my deck layers with my heavy pieces of railroad track.  Coincidentally, the curvature of the top surface of the track is very close to the upsweep I need.

 

Next is the upper and lower quarterdecks and the poop deck.  As you can see, my change in design plan caused rework on the quarterdecks where I had to fill in a cutout I'd left for the mizzen mast to slide into.  The last pic has the assembly and mizzen mast dry-fitted in place.
 

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Glen McGuire

[gjdale]

5 minutes ago, Glen McGuire said:

So I’m in the process of bending my deck layers with my heavy pieces of railroad track

 

Am I the only one here who doesn’t just happen to have heavy pieces of railroad track lying around waiting to be used to bend wood? 🤣🤣🤣

 

Love your plan Glen. Yep, revisions between paper and product are all too frequent - at least in my workshop!

[mtaylor]

8 minutes ago, gjdale said:

 

Am I the only one here who doesn’t just happen to have heavy pieces of railroad track lying around waiting to be used to bend wood? 🤣🤣🤣

 

Love your plan Glen. Yep, revisions between paper and product are all too frequent - at least in my workshop!

Nope, not all.  I don't have one either.   I used to and used it as for some blacksmith type work.  Not sure where it ended up.

[Glen McGuire]

17 hours ago, gjdale said:

Am I the only one here who doesn’t just happen to have heavy pieces of railroad track lying around waiting to be used to bend wood?

I've got 6 pieces of varying lengths in my garage.  It's amazing how many times I use them for something.  I won't call them duct tape, but they come in handy for more things than you would imagine!

[Ian_Grant]

Texas train robbery souvenirs?

[Glen McGuire]

While the layers of the hull dry under the high-tech bending jig, I began work on the oars - 14 on each side.  I tried carving out tiny oars from wood but they are just too small and fragile at the size I need.  So another plan B – brass eye pins.
   
The 2 pics below illustrate the transformation of 9/16” eye pins to oars.  I snip the eyes off, mark the pin part for the paddle length, put the pin in the vise, and squeeze.  Voila!  Instant oar.  Unfortunately I have to squeeze them one at a time since the jaws on my old vise are so pitted.

I drilled some holes in a small piece of basswood that’s the same thickness as my deck layers for a test look at the bank of oars.  Now if I could only get @Ian_Grant to start working on a micro-servo mechanism to move them in a rowing motion…        

Edited November 7, 2022 by Glen McGuire

[Glen McGuire]

I started gluing the hull layers together (1st pic).  While waiting for the glue to dry, I worked on a bunch of miscellaneous things.  No real logic to the order, just different things I knew needed to be done at some point.  So I will have a bunch of semi-finished piece parts lying around waiting for completion and their turn in the eventual assembly process.

 

 

Cut the hidden hinge (John Foxx special) on the foremast and main mast:

Carved the ship's boats and made some pieces for the wooden railing which will circle the poop deck and some other areas.  The railing pieces are made from bamboo shoots run thru the drill lathe to

< 1/32" (fragile):

 

 

Started making the 34 cannon barrels.  I'm "borrowing" livestock needles originally bought for my cows (22 gauge) and cutting them into 5mm pieces.  I like them because they are hollow giving them a bit of realism even though nobody will ever see it once the ship is in the bottle.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by Glen McGuire

[Ian_Grant]

1/32" railings!  Pass the headband magnifiers please ......

[Keith Black]

2 hours ago, Glen McGuire said:

The railing pieces are made from bamboo shoots run thru the drill lathe to

< 1/32" (fragile):

 Glen, did you use up all that fine screen you bought?

[Glen McGuire]

8 hours ago, Keith Black said:

did you use up all that fine screen you bought?

Gosh no!!,  I've got enough of that stuff to last for a few lifetimes of modeling!  But the weave is too small for the railing on this ship.  Actually, my first thought was using music wire (about 1/64" diameter).  I soldered a short piece as a test.  The wire is pretty good from a scale standpoint, but the pictures of the ship show an obvious wood railing.  So even though it's going to be a little thick, I decided to go with wood.  However, I do reserve the right to go back to wire if the wood rail doesn't look good when I attach it!          

[Ian_Grant]

On 11/7/2022 at 11:39 AM, Glen McGuire said:

I drilled some holes in a small piece of basswood that’s the same thickness as my deck layers for a test look at the bank of oars.  Now if I could only get @Ian_Grant to start working on a micro-servo mechanism to move them in a rowing motion…        

 

Glen, I laughed when I read that. However, .....  obviously there's no room for any drive mechanism in your hull, but if you could engage a watchmaker I'm sure he/she could come up with a tiny horizontal linkage to join the oar looms within the hull, each with a swivel joint. Then all you would need is a vertical arm to oscillate this linkage back and forth, said arm going down through a hole in the bottom of the hull, then down through a hole drilled in the bottle, to a synchronous gear motor and some sort of cam linkage hidden within your treasure chest base.

 

There, I've planted the basic idea, now all you have to do is expand on the details...... 😆

[Glen McGuire]

2 hours ago, Ian_Grant said:

oar looms within the hull, each with a swivel joint. Then all you would need is a vertical arm to oscillate this linkage back and forth

😵😵😵  Uh...uh...uh...  I think I'll stick with carving penguins.

[Keith Black]

1 hour ago, Glen McGuire said:

I think I'll stick with carving penguins.

 Oh yeah, and exactly when is that gonna happen? 

[Glen McGuire]

8 hours ago, Keith Black said:

 Oh yeah, and exactly when is that gonna happen? 

It's a very long and complicated process.  I'm still in the concept phase!  

Back to the adventure of the Adventure Galley.  The hull is taking shape, although as usual, it's 2 steps forward and 1 back.  I've got 8 layers - bottom layer, oar deck, veneer spacer, lower gun deck, spacer, upper gun deck, spacer, main deck.  The first pic shows all the layers stacked and sanded into the basic outline of the hull.  The 2nd pic shows the hull with the bottom sanded flat at the water line, the bow and stern shaped, and the quarter/poop deck assembly resting in place (unglued).  Afterwards, I sliced the whole thing right down the middle.

And then a screw up.  If I ever drew something correct the first time it would probably start snowing in Laredo.  I got the gun ports cut for the port side lower gun deck.  The 1st pic shows the technique using a thin diamond cutting wheel on my Dremel.  Then I started on the port side upper gun deck.  After 4 cuts I checked my alignment with the lower gun deck and the stagger was way off.  The upper gun ports were not squarely between the lower ones.  Ugh.   

One of the most helpful comments I've ever read was on someone's build log when I first discovered MSW.  I wish I could remember who made the comment.  The builder was distraught because they'd made a wrong cut, but the commenter said something to the effect of, "Relax, it's wood.  You can fix it."  Such great advice.  So rather than me cutting and bending and drying and shaping another gun deck layer, which would have taken forever, I plugged the holes, sanded them down, and cut new holes.  Thank you again to whoever made that comment!  In the last pic, you can see the gun ports of both decks properly aligned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2022 by Glen McGuire

[Benjamin sullivan]

great job, it will be interesting to see this ship done at such a tiny scale

[Glen McGuire]

Thanks, Benjamin!  Long ways to go on this one!

[gjdale]

Nice recovery Glen!

[Glen McGuire]

50 minutes ago, gjdale said:

Nice recovery Glen!

Thanks, Grant.  I wish that was the last one.  Unfortunately I know there are many more to come!  This hull plan is proving to be a struggle.  But the mule is out and we are gonna git r done!

[BANYAN]

Love the bread-and-butter building technique you use for these miniatures Glen; a clever way to achieve the right look.  

 

cheers

 

Pat