MickyK

Hi All, After the debacle of getting all the lines tangled inside the bottle, I was able to remove the mizzen mast without damage. However, by that stage, I had lines caught around anything in the bottle that could trap a piece of string, from the yards on the sprite, to the flagpole at the transom, including the cannons, gunnels, ships wheel, anything on deck! So I spent a month trying to straighten things out, I made up pokey tools, hooky tools, pushy and pully tools, all to no avail! The boat hull is still firmly glued inside the bottle! Then little bits and pieces started to break off, (yards on the sprit, Ships wheel, etc) , so ultimately, I have decided to give the whole project a miss. Maybe my ambition exceeded my talents, these are the things in life that we have to learn! It was an enjoyable 12 months, though! Moab, the sails are made from some very light-weight sail material, I think it is kevlar (mylar?) reinforced plastic (?) stuff. Stay safe, and enjoy your builds. Cheers Mick

Thank you, Moab, Enjoy your build! Cheers, Mick

Dam Dam! Plan "A" didn't go to as planned! Just have to sort out a few threads, and figure out Plan "B"!! Cheers, Mick Just a quick update, I've almost sorted them all out, and at least no damage was done, inserting or un-inserting!! Mick

Thank you Onni, She is only 75ft? long, and had quite tall masts, being a barque, they could be. Cheers Mick

She's Launched!!!! It's been a while since I've been here, but slowly bits have come together. There is a photo of the ship, rigged, (almost), sitting on the table, one of my launching tool,(launch ramp??),which is modelled after the Amarti tool I used for Hannah, and one of her in the bottle, with the air pump going to get rid of any fumes from the glue. I have the mast handling tool sorted out, it seems to work on the dummy runs, and a few suitable Swann Morton blades in the post, due very soon, which clip onto an extended handle. Now I just have to rig her! Cheers Mick

Excellent! Cheers, Mick

Stunning!

Hi All. Things are happening, progress is being made. The masts are sitting where they live, just have to now start attaching the sheets etc to the sails, and arrange them so that they can run out of the neck and stay untangled! Also photos of the quarter deck with the ships wheel, which I've made 5 or 6 of, and a hatch, one of the main deck with cannons all loaded, the ships boat actually lives between the cannons, and a shot of the anchors, which also took more than one attempt to make! So there is more to be done, just have to figure out how! Cheers, Mick

Looking good! Are you going to cut the hull horizontally, or vertically? Cheers Mick

Lovely! Well done! Mick

Well done, Rob! That's an interesting bottle you have. It seems to have a very thick base, or is that just the way the photos show it? Cheers Mick

Hi All. I hope everyone is well, and getting over this Covid thing. I've been playing with the ratlines. With no success! I tried several jigs, copied or adapted from others on this forum, but I couldn't get the ratlines to cut flat with the shrouds, using nail trimmers, knives ....., and they looked terrible. So I have decided to go without them. Sometimes, less is more! I've also changed my gluing technique. I use thin CA to initially fix things in place, a bit like tack welding, then use ZAP thick CA to hold it all permanently in place. The thick might take a while to set and go dry, but I don't want anything coming adrift at the worse possible moment! The photo shows the main mast lower shrouds, still waiting for the glue to go off, and there are also the mizzen shrouds, all glued up, and pushed out of the way for the moment. They are permanently attached to the chains(?) , and a thread goes through the caps, and eventually out the bottle neck. If I pull it tight, the shrouds come up nice and taut. Sounds like a good plan "A"!! A bit more to do. Cheers, Mick

Hi All, I'll be needing some pad-eyes for my Endeavour. Pad-Eyes on a full size boat are small(ish) loop of steel, often mounted on the deck, and strengthened under the deck with a pad of steel or wood. to give it strength. Hence the name. I made them using a standard mast loop, then twisted the two ends together, taped them separately to the mat with tape, and applied CA glue to the twisted section, and left them to dry. After it is dry, the twisted tail it cut about 5 or 6mm long. Photos will explain the system much better! The first photo is the clamp I use, with the tails of the thread taped down, and the clamp pulled gently to keep tension on the twisted thread. I found the easiest way to twist them together was to hold the threads, and turn the clamp around 8 or 10 times. The second and third are the pad-eye, one next to a ruler, and the other glued into a 0.5mm hole drilled into a bit of scrap timber, just if see if it works! Hope this might be of some use to someone out there. Cheers, and keep safe. Mick

That's amazing! Mick

Hi Lubber, The detail on your ship is incredible, I love it! And, at the end of the day, it's your ship, and if it differs from the original, just say that it went in for a re-fit when you became Captain! Cheers Mick