No peeling off the bottom: how miniature ships are actually placed in bottles

  • Mar 25, 2022
No peeling off the bottom: how miniature ships are actually placed in bottles

Perhaps there is no such person who, considering a small model of a ship placed in a bottle, did not wonder how it ended up there at all. After all, it seems that this skill should be contrary to the laws of physics. In an attempt to find an answer to this question, many stop at the popular version of the creation of such gizmos: they saw off the bottom of the bottle, put a boat in it, and then glue it back. But in reality, this method has nothing to do with reality - for many centuries of existence of this classes were developed assembly technologies that do not damage the integrity of the container, and there are almost one and a half of them ten

Placing a ship in a bottle is quite an entertaining activity. Photo: shipbottle.ru
Placing a ship in a bottle is quite an entertaining activity. /Photo: shipbottle.ru
Placing a ship in a bottle is quite an entertaining activity. /Photo: shipbottle.ru

It is believed that the history of this unusual and fascinating occupation has about five hundred years. And the first masters of this business were, oddly enough, sailors. So, during the period of great geographical discoveries, they still went sailing on sailboats, which means they depended on the weather. Therefore, sailors, in an effort to fight boredom, began to make miniature models of their own or others. ships, while managing to place them in empty bottles, which were always in abundance on ships.

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The Great geographical discoveries contributed to the emergence and development of this hobby. /Photo: rgo.ru
The Great geographical discoveries contributed to the emergence and development of this hobby. /Photo: rgo.ru

However, despite the fact that this activity is more than one century old, most still have no idea how exactly miniature boat models are placed in a bottle. Therefore, among the inhabitants, versions began to spread about the features of this occupation, which are not related to reality. So, the most common version of the technology for manufacturing ships in bottles is considered to be peeling off the bottom and placing the whole model inside, and then returning the bottom to its place.

In fact, ship modellers do not work that way. /Photo: yablyk.com
In fact, ship modellers do not work that way. /Photo: yablyk.com

In reality, the manufacturing technology of a sailboat in a bottle is completely different. First, the master assembles the model, taking into account the need to further divide and partially disassemble it. Then the small boat is disassembled so that it can enter the bottle through the neck, it is placed there, and only after that the ship modeler proceeds to the final assembly using a special tool. It is the latest gadget that makes possible the final installation of a sailboat inside a glass container. Today's modifications look like a flexible shaft with a collet at the end. Other indispensable gadgets of a ship modeler are long medical needles, with which he can apply glue to the tiny details of the model without excess.

This is how the process of placing a ship in a bottle looks like. /Photo: yablyk.com
This is how the process of placing a ship in a bottle looks like. /Photo: yablyk.com

The final assembly of the model inside the bottle also has several rules. So, they start it, moving from the bottom of the bottle to the neck - this way, the installed parts will not obscure the view for others. There are also some proportions of the model relative to the bottle: for containers with a longer and narrower neck the fullness of the model will be greater and more elements will be present in the design sailboat.

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Model of a sailboat before being bottled. /Photo: livemaster.ru
Model of a sailboat before being bottled. /Photo: livemaster.ru

The same criteria demonstrate the complexity and value of the final product. If a sailboat has a lot of details, then it will be valued more both in the market and in competitions among ship modellers. But if the body of the model can pass through the neck, then such a product will be quite cheap and is not highly priced. Attention is also paid to the choice of a bottle for a sailboat. So, if abroad, craftsmen often purchase special containers with very thin and even walls to order, then domestic ship modellers experience some problems with this raw material. In our country, the manufacture of special bottles is not common, so you have to choose those that are, and they often have an insufficiently even surface and distort the details of the sailboat.

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The choice of bottle is an important component of the quality of the final product. /Photo: argumenti.ru
The choice of bottle is an important component of the quality of the final product. /Photo: argumenti.ru

In total, there are a little more than thirty professional ship modellers in Russia, who, among other things, take part in international competitions. They devote a lot of time and effort to their work, because it usually takes from a week to several months to make one sailboat in a bottle. By the way, ship modelers are engaged not only in the placement or “bubble” of sailboats. In bottles with their light hand, for example, submarines or other ships may appear. And each of them has its own assembly technology, which differs in individual elements - in total, domestic masters own at least a dozen options.

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A source:
https://novate.ru/blogs/111221/61472/