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vamosAzul

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Hey Guys, 

Nice to see a community like this one so supportive and organized. I was wondering if I could get some help concerning a gift. You see, my girlfriend's birthday is coming up in about 2 weeks (gift-giving will occur on the 1st of August). I would love to give her a ship in a bottle I craft myself to a maximum (that is, somewhere between pre-bought already in-bottle, and having to find a tree to chop down for material).

 

I consider myself to have good eyesight, hand-eye coordination, and whatnot but have not built one of these in my life. I would love to be able to label the ship somehow with a custom name (in whichever way it is customary to do so). I would rather go for small and sweet than an enormous vessel. Preferably black hull with sails (not modern).

 

I am living in Chicago, Il and would be willing to spend up to 250 total, but obviously don't have to go that high if there is something nice for cheaper. I work 5 days a week so I would probably be able to dedicate 1-2 hours per day until then. I am willing to go to a store if it has late-ish hours in the middle of the week or weekend or buy a kit online as well. Is any of this reasonable? I have looked online but am having a hard time finding something if I don't know where to look.

 

I really like the style and size of igorSky's recent bottle to be found here

 

Many Thanks in advance, 

vamosAzul

Edited by vamosAzul
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vamosAzul

 

Welcome to bottled shipbuilder.com  I like your eye for small craft.  The image you linked to from Igor is an outstanding model.  He sure does some fine miniature work.

 

Gwyl

 

--------------------------------

 

John Oszajca, likewise, welcome to bottled shipbuilder.com

 

There are a few posts on the site referring to the kit Hannah In A Bottle.  It too is a nice looking model.

 

Gwyl

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http://www.ebay.com/sch/Boats-Ships-/152928/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=ship+bottle+kit

 

The link above will show you some of the kits available.  Igor's lovely model is not a kit nor are there kits in that size, most are normal bottle size.  The degree of complexity varies with these kits and to be honest your time line is short.  I would suggest the WoodKrafter ship America along with a Ship in a bottle book that you could get in the library or on line on ebay or amazon.  I recommend the book because the kit is oversimplified and the book would show you how to upgrade the build.  

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Hey everyone. Thanks for the help. I ended up getting the Hannah off of Amazon with expedited shipping. I figure ill go to a hobby shop nearby for the glue, paint, and tools, and will be burning that midnight oil getting it finished in time. Ill be sure to post a picture if people are curious to see what the result was. 

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The Hannah was my entry into the SIB world.  I put a build log on Modelshipworld in case you are interested where you can see the various modifications that I made to the model:

 

http://modelshipworld.com/index.php/topic/9970-hannah-ship-in-a-bottle-by-landlubber-mike-amati-kit-bash-scale-1300/

 

 

For me, the brass photo etching was really nice and in a lot of respects made things easier, but the masts and especially the bowsprit were very prone to bending and snapping (they also had a very flat, two-dimensional look which obviously is not accurate as well).  

 

All in all though, I thought it was a nice kit to build to get an idea of the SIB principles.  Also, the people from Amati were incredibly gracious in replacing one of the photo-etched sleeves that I had somehow lost.   My next builds will be made from scratch though - more control over accuracy and design, and frankly, I don't think building these from scratch is all that much more difficult than building from a kit with photo-etched parts.

Edited by Landlubber Mike
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