Queen Anne's Revenge with Greek Fire by Glen McGuire - 1/400 - BOTTLE

[Knocklouder]

Gobsmacked my friend,  great work on the fire ball, you nailed it,  a Roar of approval from the Penguins on the Astrolabe, this is the fun part . I am moving a lot closer to the edge of my seat. With you all they way, Good luck.

Knocklouder 

[Keith Black]

   She looks perfect, Glen. I'm all clinched up, let the fireball insertion commence!

 

 

 

[Canute]

My gosh, a fire breathing penguin. St Elmo, protect this poor navigator!

[BANYAN]

I have assumed the appropriate level of 'pucker factor' and eagerly awaiting the outcome of your intrepid operation Glen.  perhaps a good dose of the naval rum (medicinal of course) would help steady the hands?

cheers

Pat

 

[SaltyScot]

Well I just sat here and read through the most recent updates. I must confess to the tension mounting too as I saw all the fine work you had put into getting the ship to its current status. That fireball you came up with is incredible, it is going to look great in the bottle. I am sending you moral support for the next "bit" mate 🫡

[Glen McGuire]

Thank you @Paul Le Wol for the good luck wishes, @Knocklouder for hanging on the edge of your seat, @Keith Black for clinching, @BANYAN for puckering, @SaltyScot for the moral support, and @Canute for the St Elmo reference!  

 

It was a long and frustrating day on Saturday, trying to get that dang ship in the bottle (while watching college football games out of the corner of my eye).  Here's the Revenge on the playing field with her back to the opponent, right before kickoff,

  

 

 

Things began ok.  I had to wad things up VERY tight just to get the end of the ship barely in the bottle.  Of course the wires sticking out the base of the ship did not help, but fortunately, they kind of fit in the bottom curvature of the bottle's neck.  I started pushing the ship in, but hit a snag snag right off the bat.  So I pulled her out, mashed her a little tighter, and tried again.  I'd push her in some, pull her out, mash some more, then push her in a little further, pull her out, mash again...  Rinse and repeat.  I kept thinking something had to break, but I didn't hear any cracks or snaps, so I kept working her in.  Finally, after about 45 minutes, the Revenge dropped in.  

 

 

It's always hard to tell at first, if anything got damaged or if lines are tangled beyond hope.  But at least the fireball looked like it survived.  

 

The next major obstacle was securing the ship to the water.  Normally, that's a piece of cake.  But the LED wires presented a problem trying to get the bottom of the ship to lie flat against the surface of the water.  The good news was that the wires allowed me to push the ship upwards and hold it so I could easily get some epoxy in place.  

  

 

 

 

To get the ship to lie flat against the water, I took the whole thing to my table saw and used the gap for the side extensions to run the wires straight down.  Then I attached a large clamp that was just weighty enough to pull the ship flat, but not pull the wires out.  

 

 

 

Once the epoxy set and the ship was secure against the water, it was time to untangle the lines and raise the masts.  That was an hours-long and nerve/patience testing process  After that, I added the stern structure behind and the double-balcony piece in front of the mizzen mast.  That took a couple of hours.  Despite the custom tools I made for the process, I still kept dropping the pieces and having to retrieve them from the bottle and start over.  It was quite a relief to finally get them in place and glued down. 

 

Next was gluing the mizzen channels to the stern structure.  After that, I added the sprit mast and its tiny rigging.  That was pretty easy.  The final part of the ordeal was tightening all the lines and cutting them off.  Here's how she looks resting comfortably inside the bottle.  And the fireball lighting still works!  Whew!

  

 

 

I like how the fireball light reflects off the water.  It will look different after I add waves, but hopefully I will still get a cool reflection.  

 

There's still a ton of work left, but at least the scary part is over!

Edited 17 hours ago by Glen McGuire

[Knocklouder]

Fantastic  . Knew you could do it. 

Bob   M.

Edited 16 hours ago by Knocklouder
Guessing typos lol

[JacquesCousteau]

Very nicely done!

[KennyH78]

Wow, I can now let out a breath of relief for you!  She looks great in the bottle. I just showed the admiral the last picture of her in the bottle and she asked “ How’d he get that in there?”  Honestly, I’m still trying to figure that out myself, even after your detailed explanation. 

[GrandpaPhil]

Absolutely incredible work!

[Coyote_6]

That has got to be the coolest thing!!

 

Well done Glen!!!

[Ian_Grant]

Glen, you keep raising the bar with each build!! This is truly amazing, and I really like the wavy flow of the bottle itself, too.

Very, very well done!

[Keith Black]

 Congratulations on getting the Revenge into the bottle, Glen. She's a real corker that one, fantastic execution. 👍 

[Paul Le Wol]

Glen, it is one thing to achieve this feat, it’s another to document it so well. Congratulations!

[Snug Harbor Johnny]

  'Don't know how anyone can top this cool project ... you've raised the bar for the rest of us mortals.  Kudos !