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I first thought of doing a large HMS Bounty big enough to put in a one gallon bottle but the idea seemed a bit much and I went the complete opposite and decided to build an extremely small ship.  I put coins in the pictures to show the relative size. 

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My typical build process is to start with a hull that has the general shape and add to it as I research the ship through plans and photo’s .  I started with the bulwarks on the stern and then did the forecastle.  After building my British Cutter the Fly out of match stick’s I’ve found them to be very versatile and capable of carving into small parts.  The bulwarks and fore castle were both carved from match sticks. 

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I then added on the channels and chain plates.  With these I always cut big and sand small.  So while they are sticking out very far from the ship in this photo you can see that they are much smaller in the following photos. 

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For the paint I went out and found the smallest brush I could to paint the details.  In some cases it wasn’t small enough.  For this I dip a needle in paint and dab it until I get what  I’m looking for.  Sometimes I will go back and forth with two paints on one spot until I get it right. 

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I decided I didn't like how high the gun ports were so I took them out. I also used Cecil's nail polish idea on the deck. It turned out great!

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I got the bulwarks redone and I think they look a lot better. 

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I made the bow out of bamboo skewers cut to size and then sanded really thin.

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I used bamboo for the masts as well.  The platform is made of paper and will later be painted.  I tried wood but it broke as soon as I got it to the thickness I wanted.  Paper was easier to work and didn’t break.

 

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The platforms were painted black and deck furniture was added.

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There was a lot of work that went into the deck furniture.  I’ll list the different techniques I used to create each part. 

I used paper for the hatches and stained them dark brown so they stand out.  While gluing them down I stumbled across a new technique in creating the cross section of the hatch.  As I was pushing them into place with a razor blade I pushed down on the blade I noticed it left a small divot.  I then created lines of divots that gave me a pretty good looking cross sectioned hatch. 

The helm is made from half a seed bead.  It was the smallest thing I had on hand that would look the part.  I glued down lines and a wooden tiller as well. 

The Capstan was the simplest, it’s just a small piece of wood sanded to size and placed in a drilled hole.  I painted the top red so it stands out. 

The launch I created from a technique I learned from Tubjugger of the yahoo SIB forums.  It’s a bit much to explain but if you’re interested I detailed how this is done in my blog while back.   http://www.siemensbottlingco.blogspot.com/2012/09/ready-long-boats.html

The winch is made from match stick wood carved and sanded down with bamboo lying across it. 

The cannons are metal wire. 

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Last of all I added some anchors.  These are made from twisting metal wire and rounding the ends. 

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Once the deck was complete I finished stepping the masts and created the yard arms.  It was then time for the rigging.  I had recently found a technique of weaving lines back and forth through the ship to create the back stays.  I couldn’t quite get the angle I wanted so I created something new. 

I folded some wire in half and glued it in just below the chain plate making sure to leave a little bit sticking out.  The part sticking out was bent upwards to create the chain.  I then weaved the line back and forth through the wire chains to create the back stays.  When I’m done rigging I plan on painting over the lines going across the chain plate to give it the appearance of going through the chain plate. 

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Since the ship is so small I used a lot of thread blocks to control where the lines went as opposed to drilling holes in the masts.  So far it’s worked out.  The rigging did get a little tedious and I ended up creating a jig to hold the lines tight so I could work without fighting loose lines.  It’s no more than a piece of wood with a couple of holes drilled in it.  I added tooth picks under the ship that fit in the holes and keep the ship from sliding forward.  The lines are held down by push pins.   

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My rigging was a little different with this ship.  I used a shallow hole to set the masts instead of the usual hinge method.  This gave me a little more flexibility getting the ship in the bottle.  I made it so the masts still folded backwards but used a slightly different technique on the mizzen mast.  Since the forward stay ended at the base of the fore mast and I didn't want to drill a hole through my ship I had the line exit the top of the mizzen mast.  I did this specifically because of the bottle and sea method I was using would allow it.  Typically I wouldn't rig the line that way. 

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I found a couple new methods on the shrouds that worked out well.  I had recently seen a technique where the back stays are weaved back and forth through the ship. I wanted to try this technique but the size of the ship and angle I would have to drill made it all but impossible to go through the ship.  So I drilled three holes below my chain plates where the chains would have been attached to the ship.  I bent a small piece of wire a U shape with a gap just big enough to put thread through the U.  I glued the wire in the hole and bent it upwards to act as the chain.  I tried to make them so they came just below the bottom of the chain plate.  I then threaded my back stays through the U of the chains back and forth as I had seen in the threading technique.  With the ship being so small I only had to dab paint on the lines going over the chain plate to make it look like they were going through the chain plate. 

The other method I used for the shrouds above the platforms.  I really got tired of gluing tiny piece of thread to the back stays and decided to make a jig that would help me make ratlines.  I tried using pins and wood and things but they all just failed.  Then I found tape.  I used my finger nail polish bottle to wrap masking tape around so that it was sticky side up.  I then carefully measured and applied thread to the sticky side of the tape with three lines to create the stays and a row of lines to create the back stays.  Once they were all pressed firmly onto the tape I slid the bottle out leaving my rat lines in mid air attached to the tape.  I poured on the super glue and blew off the excess so I didn't have any between the lines.  Once it dried I cut out my shrouds and glued them onto my masts. 

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Once the rigging was done I used drawing paper to make my sails.  It was probably a bit thick but it holds its shape well which gives it a good full of wind effect. 

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Once the sails were complete it was time to build the sea and bottle the ship.  For the sea I used a technique from a video posted on the facebook site a while back. Here’s the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9cWoArr7O0&t  The explanation starts at the 4:40 second mark.

Using Robert Little's technique this is what I came up with.  I used cardboard instead of wood since it was more readily available.  

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Once that was done I put the ship in the bottle.  The bottle I originally planned the Bounty to go into a light bulb but it didn't clean out well so I used a Christmas ornament turned upside down.  The Bounty is a little small for it but not overly so.    

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You can see, with the sea being able to move around in the bottle, why I didn't worry about having lines coming off the front and back of the ship. 


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Here you see the ship is all set up and ready for the finishing touches on the sea.  I added a little clay to make it appear to cut through the water as well as a small wake behind her. 

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Here is the completed HMS Bounty in a bottle. I cut a hole in a block of wood and glued the top, now bottom of the ornament into it.  I then painted on the name as well as my name and year completed.  

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This one was a lot of work.  The small size and amount of detail put it made for a very long build.  At least longer then I'm used to.  In then end I'm pleased with the results.