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Post by poulw on Apr 1, 2009 6:45:03 GMT 1
This project is becoming very interesting indeed Keep posting pictures of any progress.
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Post by Mike B on Apr 1, 2009 19:16:36 GMT 1
There are 18 sets of ratlines (3 each side of each mast) and I didn’t feel like making 18 individual sets, so I made a new jig to make multiple sets at once. This will make a complete set for each level (with a couple of spares), in one go.
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Post by Mike B on Apr 5, 2009 18:30:07 GMT 1
Here are the ratlines attached to the masts. The second and third pictures show them temporarily fitted to the hull. The sail plans from the kit were each scanned into MS PAINT and printed out at the reduced scale. They were then attached to one sheet of paper and scanned in again so that I could print out multiple copies as required. The tops of the sails were reinforced with cotton glued on with PVA. They will then be attached to the yards with CA glue (Superglue). I found that the cotton provided an excellent medium for gluing the sails to the yards with CA. I wanted to see how much rigging I could get on the boat but did not want to make any mistakes using the masts already made, therefore I decided to make a set of practice masts from toothpicks and another, spare set of yards. THIS WAS THE BEST THING THAT I COULD HAVE DONE !Using these practice masts, I learnt a lot, especially the method and sequence of assembly. I am starting to modify the main hull for the rigging lines. Below are pictures of the channel cut out underneath the hull for the rigging lines. The lines will run through “hoops” (made from cut down staples), fitted into the channels. This will stop the lines fouling the lower hull when the hull pieces are glued together inside the bottle. The rigging lines will exit the hull through the hole in the bow. This hole is sleeved with a piece of tube and will then be covered up by the “bow wave” in the plasticine, which will form the “sea”. ALL WILL BE REVEALED IN THE CONSTRUCTION PICTURES AS THE HULL IS RIGGED.
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Post by Mike B on Apr 6, 2009 19:32:26 GMT 1
Here is the practice jig with the practice rigging started. When this is complete, it will show me the order of assembly of the rigging on the proper masts. I have also hopefully found a solution to stop the masts getting tangled in the rigging when they are lying loose.
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Post by Mike B on Apr 11, 2009 16:21:33 GMT 1
PREPARING THE BOTTLE The bottle was marked with the waterline and Main mast position. It was then masked off to keep the neck clean whilst the “sea” was inserted. It appears that the two most common methods of creating the sea is using either linseed oil putty (glazing putty), or plasticine. The putty takes about 8 weeks to set hard but the drawback is that you can see it’s natural colour (grey or brown) through the sides of the bottle and the surface must be painted. Plasticine on the other hand is self-coloured but remains semi-pliable. I did an experiment mixing plasticine with 24hr epoxy and this was perfect for what I wanted. I then started laying up the shell of the “sea” with the epoxy mix. I left the centre clear as I wanted to glue in a platform upon which I would glue the lower hull. This would provide me with the rigidity to assemble the ship inside the bottle and pull the rigging lines without the hull moving. I mixed some more “epoxy plasticine” to coat the glass base and then glued some wood to the required height using pure epoxy. I then filled out the “sea” with ordinary plasticine to the level of the platform. I then cut a wood blank, slightly oversize to the lower hull dimensions and laid this “dry” on the central platform. I then filled up to the top of this all around with more plasticine. The blank was then removed, ready for the lower hull to be glued in place. I found that the best tool to use was aluminium tube. Providing you don’t flatten it, you can keep bending it to different shapes for the various areas of the bottle. The sea will be fine-tuned once the ship is in the bottle.
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Post by eric on Apr 11, 2009 17:25:11 GMT 1
Mike, it would be brilliant if you could video the moment of truth when you put her in the bottle....any chance?
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Post by nm on Apr 11, 2009 18:12:04 GMT 1
Mike, will you launch that ship by smashing the bottle on it?
nm
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Post by Mike B on Apr 11, 2009 22:40:25 GMT 1
Mike, it would be brilliant if you could video the moment of truth when you put her in the bottle....any chance? I'll see what I can set up.
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Post by Mike B on Apr 11, 2009 22:41:19 GMT 1
Mike, will you launch that ship by smashing the bottle on it? nm After all the trouble I went to, to fit the radio gear in it? ;D
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Post by Mike B on Apr 12, 2009 20:46:36 GMT 1
RIGGING THE SHIPI spent the better part of two days studying the rigging on the ”big” ship and drawing diagragms of the rigging that I figured was possible. I then drew up diagragms for each mast with the rigging drawn and labelled. From these notes, I then drew up an assembly sequence of each mast and its sails, once inside the bottle. I have worked out that I am able to fit 52 rigging ropes through the hull and another 17 from mast to mast, therefore I have decided to fit the sails after the masts are mounted on the hull in the bottle. The yards were made as previously described. The sails had the foot ropes drawn on them in black and the seams in light grey. They were then printed out and the seams overdrawn with brown pencil. Using a home-made light box, I drew the sail outlines and seams on the other sides. They were then cut out and attached to the yards. The only sail attached to the mast before insertion is the sail attached to the rear of the mizzen mast. The top is 1mm brass rod with the end flattened and a 0.5mm hole drilled in it. A piece of 0.4mm brass wire was threaded through it and bent in a U-shape to form a hinge and this was attached to the mast. The bottom spar of the sail had a notch cut in the end with a jeweller’s saw and another piece of 0.4mm wire bent into a U-shape and soldered into the slot. The sail will be folded up during insertion and then once the mast is glued and set, the sail will be opened out and the bottom spar engaged on the mast by means of this locating lug. The sail will then be pulled tight by means of the stay fitted at the rear end of the bottom spar (not shown). As can be seen from the above photo, the masts are rigged individually on a small jig. It is so easy to knock the masts whilst rigging them and I snapped the mizzen mast at its base where it fits into its socket. I glued the ends together and then reinforced all the masts with pieces of 0.8mm rod. This was done by drilling the ends of the masts with a 1mm drill and then using medium SG to glue the rods in place. The ends were then trimmed. THE RIGGING JIGThis is the master rigging jig made up from off-cuts of scrap wood. The threads were kept apart by using cocktail straws to hold each group of ropes. The straws were labelled, as were the ends of each rope, to coincide with the mast diagragms. As each mast was rigged, it was transferred to its position on the master jig where the ropes were fed through the deck, through the lower hull, through the straws and then the ends were clamped to stop them getting tangled. Some tangling still took place but not serious. Here is a picture of the ropes going through the tube in the lower hull (located in the centre of the jig). Below is a picture of the threads going through the guide staples in the underside of the hull. When all the rigging was done, the top and bottom hull parts were fitted together to check that the threads moved freely back and forward.
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Post by Mike B on Apr 13, 2009 18:06:21 GMT 1
GETTING READY FOR THE BIG MOMENTThe lower hull was now inserted into the bottle and the rigging lines positioned out of the way and covered to prevent any glue touching them. 24hr epoxy was applied to the mounting platform and the lower hull placed in position. A simple “T” was made from scrap wood and used to level the hull fore and aft and side to side. This was now left for a day to fully cure. The hull was now clamped and all the slack taken out of the rigging lines. The masts were then removed from the hull and all the rigging was extended out of the hull to allow enough slack to fit the hull into the bottle with the masts remaining outside. Paper was laid over the plasticine to protect the hull and finally, the hull inserted into the bottle. The hull was now clamped using a locating tool clamped to the neck of the bottle so that the threads could be straightened out and pulled tight to allow the upper hull to fit onto the lower hull.
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Post by Mark on Apr 13, 2009 19:50:47 GMT 1
This is getting exciting - better than an episode of Dallas !!!
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Post by gordon on Apr 13, 2009 19:51:58 GMT 1
Only one thing to say Mike.....
INCREDIBLE!
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Post by eric on Apr 13, 2009 21:44:08 GMT 1
Yea Gods!
What happened next.........for heavens sakes......I'm on the edge of me seat.....!!!
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Post by Mike B on Apr 13, 2009 23:56:17 GMT 1
A dab of 24hr epoxy was applied to the tops of the locating pins on the lower hull and the upper hull was placed in position over it. The threads were pulled back and forth to check that they were free. When the masts are glued in place, the glue in the bottom of the mast locating tubes will further reinforce the join between the two parts of the hull. NOW, THANKS TO ERIC, COMING TO A FORUM NEAR YOU - THE VIDEO (turn on your sound!)s219.photobucket.com/albums/cc240/MikeBer/Ship%20in%20bottle/?action=view¤t=Shipinbottle.flvEric - have a K
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