OGALLALA by molasses - FINISHED - 1/96 scale - BOTTLE - Prairie Schooner

[captainbob]

Love the figures.  Yes, please tell us how.

 

Bob

Edited October 2, 2014 by Cap'n'Bob

[molasses]

Okay, Omega and Bob. Rather than describe the entire process over again, I'll refer you back to post #60 on page 4 for the basic process and material. I posted lots of photos as I went through the first one and progress on subsequent pages. I used artist's proportion drawings to get the proportions right.

 

   

I printed these out and kept them handy for reference, mostly the one on the right.

Notice that the proportions are all based on the measuring unit of a 'head'.

 

Reduce two copies of the right hand proportion image into your drawing program for maximum (tall man) and minimum (stocky man) heights to the scale required. These will give you a variety of heights and builds like in real life. Make armatures out of soft brass or copper wire (I used 28 gauge - use finer for smaller figures than the ones shown at 1/96).

 

A simple armature used for the last four figures.

 

Use ca to secure the arms wire wrapped around the neck and deliberately leave the arms and legs long. Make soles for the shoes (about 1 head long) and attach them where required.

 

Use the reduced proportion drawings to locate the shoulder, elbow, knee and hip pivot points. Notice that the bones are shown at the hip joint and make sure your bend point is there. Remember that the armature needs to duplicate the skeleton and will be built up. Bend the arms to match the proportion drawing and trim to length. Now bend the armature to your desired pose. This is the critical point; if the armature isn't right the figure won't look right. Try to use active poses rather than static and take your time. I used myself as a model to work out the poses in a mirror taking note of where the pivot points and the center of balance are and duplicated those locations in my armatures. Remember that sailors work on a moving platform and that they usually stand with their feet wider apart than we do on land and with one or both knees partially bent. Don't forget you have pivot points at the ankles and wrists if you need them. If the figure will be on deck verify that the soles of the shoes are on the same plane. Leave the wires below the feet for handling and trim off as the last step with one or two to glue into a hole or holes in the deck.

 

Now to apply the gesso, just paint it on in as many coats as needed. It will span across gaps like the two wires that form the torso. You might want to glue a piece of paper in this area (but not lower than those important hip pivots) to speed the build-up.

 

The gesso will tend to fill in V's like the crotch, under the arms and at deeply bent elbows and knees; when it does use the back side of the point of a hobby knife to restore the V, it's easier to add later than take it off. The gesso sets up enough for additional coats in 30 - 45 minutes. I found it useful to work on several in rotation.

 

When built up enough some details (like overlapping coat fronts, lapels, rolled up shirt sleeves, cuffs on shirts, coats and pants, even some of the natural folds and wrinkles of the clothing) can be added with the gesso and a finer brush. See how I did the coat tail on the helmsman with paper wrapped around his hips for a realistic detail and for how I did a hat. I did add suspenders to the black man and the red head made from very narrow strips of paper pre-painted and glued in place. I will give the red head a cowboy hat made from paper for the brim and build up the crown with gesso.

 

The gesso dries kind of soft and rubbery and can be shaved with a sharp hobby knife to trim some excess but I don't recommend that you try to sculpt it. It doesn't work well with fine details like facial features smaller than chins and a suggestion of a nose. My impression is that this technique will work very well in small scales up to about 1/100 but may require a different material (like Sculpey) for heads and their necessary detail at larger scales.

 

Remember, these are my first figures, ever, and I have a very limited base of experience, but I am very pleased with the material and technique at this scale.

 

 

[Omega1234]

Hi Dave

 

Many thAnks fir the explanation. For your 'first' attempts at figures, they are truly life like. Mine always look like something that came out of the latest horror flick. The good thing is that you've given me inspiration bto keep trying to achieve your level of skill.

 

All the best and many thanks, once again.

[Piet]

Fantastic looking figures Dave and a good walk-through of your method.  I have to use Sculpy for my 1:50 scale submarine.

 

Cheers,

[Chasseur]

Dave,

The figures are outstanding. Well done my friend.

Jeff

[molasses]

These figures attracted a lot of attention here and elsewhere so I put together a pdf for handy reference.

 

Modeling Scale Figures for Ships in Bottles.pdf

Edited October 7, 2014 by DFellingham

[Cap'n Rat Fink]

Very nicely done Dave,

    Just read through your build log here. Really some slick moves on how you scratch build some of your items. Looks great as everything comes together.

    Haven't been by Joshua Tree in a long while. Usually when I head the back ways to Arizona for car shows.

 

Take care,

 

Mario

[molasses]

 

After I finished and placed my figures on Ogallala's deck I got to experimenting with my photography by taking it off "auto" and using aperture priority to improve my depth of field. Here's the best shot with my smallest aperture (f36) and a .60 second exposure using a time delayed shutter so I wouldn't move the camera when i pressed the shutter button.

 

I gave the black man and the red head their suspenders, the red head a cowboy hat

and the black man a rope to pull on. You may notice the name on the bow as well.

 

 

Dave

[themadchemist]

just FANTASTIC Dave.

[molasses]

 

More experimental photography trying to get all of my little piece of prairie in focus. Can you find the Oglala scout?

 

 

 

 

Dave

[captainbob]

"Can you find the Oglala scout?"  Beautifully done but with that tall grass will your scout be able to see the Oglala?

 

Bob

[themadchemist]

No Cap'n'Bob he won't. Maybe the rig, but not the wagon...

 

My first job was in a packing house and behind it was a huge field grown up in Tall grass. I'm six foot and it was at least 2 feet over my head. Anyway, one day a BULL got out and he was not a happy camper.  A new guy didn't latch the gate (and no it wasn't me thankfully).

He ran for that grassed field. We followed with the 22 rifle (remember I was 16 and stupid). Needless to say luckily he couldn't see us either and we got out of there FAST, after he charged by us, we got the tractor. There's nothing like a Raging Angry Bull to get you killed, when there is no grass blocking the way. Thank goodness for the density of its cover.

 

Seeing that scout reminds me of that day LONG ago and YES its that thick and that tall. Crossing it in a wagon had to be a nightmare. I think we tend to imagine what we have seen in the movies, but the first settlers struggled many miles of the journey, even on flat ground, for precisely this reason.

 

Some one get a bush-hog and clear that path      

Edited October 10, 2014 by themadchemist

[molasses]

. . . with that tall grass will your scout be able to see the Oglala?

 

Bob

No Cap'n'Bob he won't. Maybe the rig, but not the wagon...

 

 

 

One more step and he will be out of the taller grasses. I considered putting the scout on a horse but decided against it - I didn't want to make a horse.

[Chasseur]

Hey Dave,

It all looks wonderful. I really appreciated the PDF on the figures.

The aforementioned is a great pice of literature for the scale modeller. Way to go Mate!

Jeff

[molasses]

 

I am working on a display base, nearly complete, and have had the mast folded down and back up again, twice, as dry runs to identify and adjust for problems with the lines before putting the ship into the bottle. On one of those dry runs I passed the ship through a ring slightly smaller than my bottle's neck to verify that it will fit - a must do to prevent the disaster of getting the ship stuck in the neck.

 

I've just about given up on making and installing coils of rope on the pinrails and cleats. I made a fixture for making some coils - which turned out okay - but I found them very difficult to install in many places. I should have made and installed them as I tied off each line instead of as a separate step. I may try again starting with the easy ones to get to instead of the hardest ones.

 

I received the Micro-Mark Pro-Etch Kit and set out on the learning curve - which is rather steep to successfully make usable photo-etch parts on the first try. It took me three.

 

After ordering I set about drawing in my drawing program the etched letters I wanted on two brass discs - one as a seal for the bottle and one on the display base. Keeping it simple, I planned to remove lettering on one side of the discs that I would later fill with paint, black letters on the brass discs. When the kit arrived I read the instruction book multiple times and identified all the tools and materials in the kit.

 

Following the instructions, I made the masks for both sides of a disc and printed them on the backside of the mask transparency film. Follow the instructions carefully. The black areas of the mask are the areas that need to be removed from the metal and this mask will be printed backwards (flipped horizontally) so that the print is on the backside of the film. After the ink is dry the two masks are perfectly aligned, print side to print side and taped together.

 

The print side of the mask transparency. The face side of the disc with reversed

lettering and the back side with interruptions in the circle so that the disc will stay

partially attached to the square of base metal. The black is what will be removed,

half-way through from both sides with most of the edge all the way through.

 

With directions in hand I cut two 2.5 inch / 64 mm squares of .005 inch /0.13 mm thick brass sheet. Before I opened the package of photo-resist film I set up a darkened work area lit by a single yellow "bug" bulb, then opened it, removed the resist and cut two squares, put them in an envelope lined with black paper, and returned the photo-resist film to its package and sealed it shut. This film hardens in UV light. I prepared a brass square by wet sanding each side of the square with a provided 3200 grit sanding pad until very shiny and so that the water sheeted across the square. I pulled one piece of the resist from the envelope, peeled off the inside cover film and, like applying a decal, attempted to lay the resist film on the wetted square, get it aligned to the edges of the square and adhered to the square without bubbles of air or water between the film and the brass. This turned out to be rather difficult and I had problems with it. On my second through fourth tries I submerged the brass square in just enough water to cover and applied the resist film through the water. (An old school decal application trick.) I did the same to the back side.

 

While doing this I had the Pro-Etch laminater plugged in and warmed up. I cut two squares of carrier sheet (card stock with one side treated so that it is glossy and smooth) slightly larger than the brass squares. I made a sandwich of the photo-resist covered brass square with the two squares of carrier, glossy side to the photo-resist and ran it through the laminater twice, flipped over and turned 90 degrees for the second pass and let it cool in a black envelope.

 

Next the cooled, laminated brass square (carrier sheets set aside) is slipped between the two masks and centered, then placed in the center of one of the Plexiglas squares provided, the other Plexiglas square placed on top and clamps applied at the four sides. All of this has been done with minimal exposure to UV light, just the yellow "bug" bulb - a suggestion in the directions.

 

Again per the instructions I exposed each side of this sandwich to full sun at local noon for 20 seconds. The UV light hardened and turned the photo-resist in the areas not masked a deep blue from its original light blue. I disassembled the sandwich and returned the brass square to a black envelope while I set up for the next step and put away what I wouldn't need right away.

 

I prepared a solution of sodium hydroxide and water per the instructions, removed the outer protective layer of the photo-resist film from both sides and submerged the brass square in this solution. This chemical reacts with the masked and un-hardened photo-resist film, softening it so that it will brush away. This is the most important part of the process, if the film is not completely removed from the areas to be chemically etched it won't etch properly. This is where I messed up in my first two tries; for the third and fourth tries I used my 2.75X Opti-Visor and inspected and brushed with the solution and inspected and rinsed and brushed some more until I was certain that every bit of resist was removed from the areas that needed to be etched. I made use of a hand held magnifying glass with the Opti-Visor to make sure every bit of un-exposed resist film was gone. 

 

The second brass disc with blue photo-resist and bright brass showing through the

areas that will be etched. I thought this was good enough but it was not. Many areas

did not etch properly, especially from the backside, due to my lack of diligence.

 

Paying close attention to the instructions, I set up the equipment for the actual photo-etching. I had to supply a rinse bucket and a smaller rinse bowl, both filled with water. I warmed the bottle of ferric chloride in hot water running from the tap before filling the etching tank. I plugged in the aerator (to circulate the etching solution) and submerged the brass square. I set a 5 minute timer.

 

Etching in process. There's a clamp on the hose to prevent the etching solution from

flowing back into the pump plus the pump is placed on two pieces of foam packaging

to raise it above the solution level.

 

After five minutes, I removed the brass square from the etching tank (turned off the aerator and pinched shut the hose clamp - the fumes must be assumed to be nasty) rinsed and re-rinsed to inspect the progress. Most of the double side etching at the edge of the disc was cut through, so I turned the brass square 180 degrees in the clamp, returned it to the solution (turned on the aerator and released the clamp) and waited three minutes. Upon inspection, it was done and I rinsed it in hot tap water before setting it aside and cleaning up.

 

Now, to see the results. I poured out just enough of the sodium hydroxide (undiluted this time) into one of the trays provided to cover the brass square. Full strength this chemical removes the photo-resist from the brass with a little help with a brush. When cleaned of the resist the brass was rinsed in hot water from the tap and set aside.

 

Here's my first try with some practice with black enamel to fill in the letters. There are

several places where the photo-resist did not adhere and laminate properly as a result

of my difficulty with getting the resist in place as directed and etching solution got into

them from an edge exposed to etching solution. I had no more problem with this using

the submerged technique of applying the photo-resist film. Many places in the lettering

have incomplete depth because I didn't get all the masked film removed the way I should

have. Micro-Mark was right when they said this was the most important step.

 

Third and fourth tries, both appear perfect. The lettering has not been filled with enamel

yet, just the result of better photographic technique learned since the photo of the first

disc. I didn't even bother stripping the second attempt since I could see that I had not

removed all the masked and un-hardened photo-resist film. The discs are 1.73 inch / 44

mm in diameter.

 

I am very pleased with the Micro-Mark Pro-Etch Kit. It has everything needed except for a yellow "bug" bulb and the two rinse buckets I provided. I bought a better pair of rubber gloves than the single use, throw away gloves supplied in the kit for my second session when I made the last two discs. I also added a small in-line on/off switch to the aerator electric cord so I would not have to crawl under my work bench to unplug it when I needed to turn it off.

 

The process does have a steep learning curve, a mistake made anywhere in the process will affect the results. READ AND STUDY THE INSTRUCTIONS and MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND EACH STEP.

 

I hope my experience helps others learn from my mistakes.

 

As you can see from my name plates I've set myself a dead line of the 29th of this month - one year from my first post for Ogallala. A year is long enough and I'm getting tired of looking at it. 

 

 

Dave

Edited October 13, 2014 by DFellingham

[Chasseur]

Wow Dave very impressive. I am amazed as you picked up the process so easily. Some people take years to learn and do this process properly.

Good on you Dave, very well done indeed! BTW October 4th is my birthday so I will never forget this post.

Jeff

[molasses]

Thanks Jeff, but the Micro-Mark Pro-Etch directions are very good and complete even though the process is somewhat involved.

[molasses]

 

I have gone over all the components, touching up paint and completing final touches, and there's nothing for it but to stuff this thing in its bottle.

 

One last photo of the eight components to be assembled inside the sphere while still outside.

From lower left across:  four prairie segments and the front and rear wheel assemblies. The

wheels each have a thread leading through holes in the prairie segments to help locate them

in their places. The lower hull is near center held with a clamping tool I made for this project -

more on that when in use. The upper hull with rigging is at the upper left. At upper right is the

sphere on its stone display base. I had it made by a local stone counter-top installer from a

remnant from one of his jobs. It is mostly light tan with streaks of red and black through it

picking up and complimenting Ogallala's colors. The base has the finished medallion

permanently attached and an X-Acto knife for size reference. Click the image.

 

I finished the medallions with a chemical blackening agent, sanded them until only the lettering remained black then sprayed them with clear lacquer. I'll post more on the base later.

 

I cleared off my work area for the group photo and made sure (again!) that everything is ready. No excuses left. 

 

 

Dave

[mtaylor]

Go for it, Dave.  We're collectively holding our breaths.... ok.. maybe just me.  We'll have to wait for the others.

[augie]

This is worth waiting for!

[molasses]

 

Don't hold your breathe you'll just pass out.   I do enough holding my breathe for everyone just to help keep my hands steady. When working with the very small I can sometimes see my pulse transferred to the tip of a tool.

 

I started by making and inserting a cone of waxed paper to protect the glass from smudges from painted surfaces, to protect those painted surfaces and to provide a catch for debris from the prairie segments. Using the clamping tool - I call it a trombone because of its resemblance to one - I assembled the prairie segments. This went so quickly and easily, relatively, that I almost forgot to take a photo.

 

Three segments of prairie assembled with the wheeled assembles stationed for use a bit later.

The trombone holds the segments together as the fourth is inserted, positioned and slid onto

the three brass rods. The clamp is released from the three segments, opened to hold all four

and then clamps them together.

 

Using the trombone, the disc was turned over and the segments were glued with slightly diluted pva (about 20-25% water) painted onto the seams. This went very quickly - the photo was taken just 45 minutes after starting and the glue on the disc was drying another half hour later. I had to modify a brush by cutting it off at a slight angle just behind the ferule and gluing it back together rotated 180 degrees to give me a brush with a roughly 45 degree bend.

 

Getting to this point took more work and fiddling inside the bottle. I used the trombone to hold the

lower hull as the wheel assembles were glued to it. The threads kept getting in the way and I had

to keep in mind that I had to turn this assembly over. I had to take it apart once to get the lines right.

 

I used a model railroad scenery glue - Hob-e-Tac from Woodland Scenics - to assemble these three pieces. When spread on a joining surface and allowed to dry until clear (the glue is white) it acts like a contact adhesive. This glue isn't as aggressively tacky as contact cement and gave me time to get these pieces assembled. I used long tweezers and a pair of bamboo skewers, manipulated like chop sticks through the bottle opening, to get the wheels attached to the lower hull. This assembly took another hour and a half.

 

The trombone was indispensable to both of these assemblies. It is rather simple and an improvement over one in my toolbox.

 

The trombone clamp relaxed. The rubber band is the spring that provides clamping

force and is easy to replace with shorter, longer or stronger bands when needed.

 

The clamp holding a triangle to show how it works.

 

The clamp disassembled. The small brass pin keeps the ends aligned. By making brass tube pieces to fit in the

three vertical tubes the clamp can be easily modified to hold irregular objects. The small piece of tube with one

end deformed so that it is a slight press fit in a larger tube is just an extender. The older version was essentially

half of this with just one outer tube with a stop and an inner tube like one of these but it would not hold larger,

irregular objects. Shrink tubing can be shrunk around the clamping points or the points can be wrapped with

masking tape for finish protection.

 

The next step was to glue the wheels of the lower hull to their places on the prairie. I slowly worked the wheels into the wheel tracks using the threads from the wheels and a tool to apply downward pressure from above. When the wheels were near their position I moved the waxed paper and disc until the bottle opening was on top and the paper and disc were on the bottom. I applied large blobs of pva at the wheel attachment points, allowed the waxed paper and prairie disc to slide over the opening as I slowly turned over the sphere, routed the threads from the wheels through the opening and pulled on those threads until the wheels were well embedded in the glue. Much of this latter work was done on an impromptu stand to allow access inside the sphere from below. I then attached clothes pins to the four threads to provide weight to hold the wheels in place while the pva cured.

 

The impromptu stand made from soda cans, a piece of wood with a hole in the center

and a piece of card stock all glued together. I need to make a more permanent version.

Lots of clothes pins were used to weigh down the wheels into their places.

 

Seven components assembled inside the bottle / sphere. Look familiar? This part took about two

hours. I left the weights in place over night and all the next day before moving on to the ship itself.

 

It took about five hours total, all in one day, to get these components assembled not counting breaks for photos, food, glue setting and my nicotine addiction. The clamp allowed the work to progress rapidly - combined with sufficient assembly practice outside the bottle to find and eliminate potential problems.

 

Now for the last component.

 

 

Dave 

Edited October 20, 2014 by DFellingham

[themadchemist]

Such Ingenuity, Dave.

 

from the trombone, to the 6 pack, clothes pin clamping rack. Just amazing.

 

And the finished base looks Spectacular, VERY realistic.

[Omega1234]

Well done Dave! A triumph in ingenuity and know-how. Great job.

[molasses]

 

Thank you Keith and Omega and to all the 'likers', you're very kind. 

 

I started by wiping down the entire inside surface of the sphere to remove any debris from the base assembly. The rigging on many lines on the ship were slacked off, masts hinged down to the deck and the two big sails extended part way away from the ship and rolled to go in the bottle. The mainsail was rolled and started into the opening followed by the main masthead, fore masthead and then the transom of the hull. This was the tightest spot, then I had to adjust the fore topsail yard and crossjack as they slipped through.

 

Part way in and looking good, no problems yet, even though the rigging looks like a rats nest again but

it's more like organized chaos and will restore most of itself as the masts hinge back up.

 

When I got the ship a little further in I started raising the masts and pulled the fore mast into its position, tied off the forestay at the bowsprit and glued it, then did the same with the jibstay. I turned the ship over, tensioned the mainstay and glued it where it comes through the bottom of the hull.

 

Upside down, held in place so I can trim the two ends of the mainstay. Next step is to turn

the ship back over and glue it to the lower hull.

 

Upper hull turned over and glued to the lower hull. The crossed poles are bamboo skewers cut

off about 1/8 inch / 3 mm out the opening with a lead weight on the ends while the pva cures.

The three stays are the only lines that I've touched so far; more to go but the worst is over.

 

From here all that's left is several tedious hours of adjusting about twenty more lines, then securing and trimming them. One thing about working inside a sphere I like a lot is that I can turn the model so the part of the ship I need to work on is near the opening - something I can't do inside the usual, cylindrical bottle.

 

 

Dave

[mtaylor]

Looking great, Dave.  I guess there's a certain pucker factor that starts when you begin to bottle it until you're done.  Marvelous work and planning.

[molasses]

I guess there's a certain pucker factor that starts when you begin to bottle it until you're done.

 

You're right about that and it doesn't get better when in front of an audience. I compare bottling a ship model to launching a real ship - all the mechanical parts have to work right and together. And unlike conventional static models it can't be worked on again after the bottle is sealed. 

[Bedford]

This is amazing to see, the way it all comes together. There has been so much planning behind this hasn't there?

[Omega1234]

Hi Dave. I'm really enjoying this. I can't help but think that you may have converted a few of us to SIB's along the way!

 

Well done.

[themadchemist]

For me the SIB's seem to require so much more forethought and planning then a normal build. Many may think that the smallness is the worst factor, but it would seem to me that the final entry and raising of the masts, while all the rigging is hanging would be maddening.

 

Excellent job and thanks for stopping mid-insertion for a photo op. For me it is amazing to see that wadded up mess, bloom into the Ogallala.

 

6 more days until the cap goes on. 

[molasses]

This is amazing to see, the way it all comes together. There has been so much planning behind this hasn't there?

A lot of planning. Everything is planned towards the insertion in the bottle. 

 

For me the SIB's seem to require so much more forethought and planning then a normal build. Many may think that the smallness is the worst factor, but it would seem to me that the final entry and raising of the masts, while all the rigging is hanging would be maddening.

 

Excellent job and thanks for stopping mid-insertion for a photo op. For me it is amazing to see that wadded up mess, bloom into the Ogallala.

 

6 more days until the cap goes on. 

I rarely mentioned the planning and various trial fits and the practice except in passing (because they're boring) but they were instrumental in the success and seeming ease of the assembly inside the bottle. The practice outside the bottle reduces the "pucker factor" during the insertion.

 

I have noticed that few ship bottlers stop for a photo op during the insertion and I vowed to get a good photo at that point and others to show more of the process during this key phase. That "wadded up mess" was carefully laid down when I lowered the masts to make sure that the lines didn't tangle around items on deck like the four figures. It amazes me too when the erection of the masts goes as easy as this one did; it doesn't always work out that way.

 

Hi Dave. I'm really enjoying this. I can't help but think that you may have converted a few of us to SIB's along the way!

 

Well done.

I hope so, at least enough to give a SiB a try. SiBs present different challenges than a conventional static model, but they also have several advantages. It occurred to me that I could build the entire US Navy of the War of 1812 in bottles and display them all in the same space that a larger scale Constitution would take. SiBs are entirely self-contained and transportable unlike a large Constitution in a display case. The miniature scales required present challenges as do the functionality of the model as it transforms during the insertion in the bottle and re-erection of the masts, but the personal gratification is higher than in a conventional static model, similar to building an R/C sailing ship. Some will enjoy the extra challenges and embrace them while others won't.

 

I also hope to raise the perception of SiBs from "folk art" (with all the inaccuracies and disproportions implied by the name) to a respected method of building and displaying high quality miniature ship models. Even though Ogallala is pure fantasy, above the deck she is a very accurate model of a typical topsail schooner.

 

If nothing else, I'm pleased that everyone who is following this project enjoys this voyage into the obscure art of bottling ship models.

 

Unless something goes wrong, I anticipate one more progress report on this build log followed by lots of photos of the finished Ogallala.

 

Dave