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Bottled Ship Builder

Hello from New Jersey


tazam0827

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Hi everyone.  On a lark I decided to build a ship in a bottle as my "winter project" this year.  I looked at a few YouTube videos and jumped in with a whiskey bottle I'd just emptied :) and some materials I had around the house.  I discovered this website after I'd already made most of my mistakes, but one of the fun parts of the project was figuring out how to do the tricky things on my own.  Part of the engineer in me I suppose.  I wonder how many people who take up this hobby are engineers by training or profession.   I had so much fun that I'm planning my second ship and hoping the take a major step forward using some of the tips I've found here and elsewhere on the web and in books!  I'll try to not wear out my welcome with inane questions, but from what I've seen you seem like a patient and generous lot. Cheers!

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Welcome!  Bring on the questions.  The more the merrier.  

The engineer training or profession is an interesting one.  I can't say I'm one of those. I'm an accountant by trade.  In my own local ship modeling club I think more than half are engineers or architects.  I do think a lot of engineers take up modeling of some sort.  I've found ship in bottle building has sort of two approaches people take.  The accurate scale side and the more folk-art side.  I fall more in between with am attention to scale accuracy with some folk-art leanings.  I'm not always patient enough for all the measurements.  Every one is welcome though.  Folk-art to very precise scale.  There's a lot to be learned from all sides of the hobby.     

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OK, so I have a basic question: the best order to rig a ship.  I used wire hinges to mount the masts, and I think I built it bass ackwards.  I installed the masts, then the fore and aft stays, then attached the spars, then the shrouds, then the sails and finally the running rigging (I hope I'm using the proper terms).  By the time I had all the standing rigging attached, it was very difficult to mount the sails.  I have a feeling I should have installed the spars and sails on the masts before mounting them on the ship.  Any insight?

Thanks,

Paul

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There's no wrong or right way.  It's what ever your most comfortable with.  I usually do fore and aft stays, then ratlines. ( I think that's what you meant by shrouds.  Getting real technical the shrouds are the stays or the vertical lines and ratlines are the horizontal ladder lines.)  Then I do the running rigging then sails.  I usually do sails last because I tie the running rigging around the spars.  If I glued the sails on before then it would be hard to glue the running rigging on.  I'm sure others have different methods.                 

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Welcome aboard. My background is I was a Philly Police Officer and I am getting ready to retire from The Courts in Delaware. My good friend Moe (God rest his soul) introduced me to this hobby back in the 90's. I am of the scale model type. My builds are predicated on actual ships. Welcome again and keep the questions coming.

 

Alan

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