“Back in 1957, the port of Amsterdam was a pretty active one. As a boy of 7 years I saw the ships coming in and going out. I was impressed and I made my decision “I wanted to be a sailor.” After graduating high school I joined the navy in 1968. Over the next six years I served on 3 different submarines as a radio operator. In 1974 I left the service and started to work at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport where I am still employed.
As a birthday present a friend of mine gave me a ship in a bottle. The sea was made of window putty but unfortunately he didn’t give it enough time to dry. So after a short while, the model began disappearing in a cloud of green/grey mold. That was the start of my own career as SIB-builder. In 1986, I bottled my first ship a tiny “Botter” (Dutch fishing boat). Today, there is always a ship on the slipway and to date I have built 58 as of this writing.”
Henny Fransen, September 28, 2006 Henny, pictured here, is a ship in bottle builder and active member and participant in the Dutch Association of Ships in Bottles Association. In the Association, he serves as Editor of "WELKOM AAN BOORD," the official publication of the Dutch Association. Henny receives and edits articles from around the world to include in this periodical. The map on the right shows Henny’s homeland, and an area talked about in the description of the Botter, a Dutch Fishing Ship.
Plans and Tips by Henny Fransen
- Tips and Techniques - Making Blocks
- Scaled Plans for a 1800's Brig
- Scaled Plans for the 1606 Duyfken
- Scaled Plans for the Ezgi II
- Making a Ship's Cannon
- Scaled Plans for a 1880 Turfijker
- Building a Statenjacht
Bottles by Henny Fransen
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Other examples of this Artist's work - Click on a picture to enlarge
