How to Construct Ships in a Bottle

Build a basic ship in a bottle.

Ships in bottles are a popular variety of the "impossible bottle" trick. There are two main techniques for building a ship in a bottle. By one challenging technique, individual pieces of the ship are dropped into the bottle and long-handled tools are used to assemble them. A more common technique that takes only a few days to complete is to build the full ship outside the bottle, attaching pieces with flexible joints.

Things You'll Need

• Plastic 3-liter soft drink container
• Tape
• Paintbrush
• Blue paint
• Small light balsa wood model ship
• Strong knife or small saw
• Sandpaper
• Hammer
• Small finish nails
• Wire
• Shellac
• 1/8-inch dowel
• Epoxy
• White tissue paper
• Thread
• White glue
• Ruler

Instructions

Day One

1. Paint the bottom of the inside of the bottle blue. This will look like sea water. Do this by affixing the paintbrush to the wooden dowel with tape.

2. Cut down the hull of the model boat. It will be quite small, no more than 1 inch wide and 1/2 inch tall. This is how it will fit through the bottle opening. For a more authentic look, you may trim the edges of the hull now that it is cut down to size.

3. Cut down the mast of the model ship. You need it to fit inside the bottle when the ship is standing up, 3 3/4 inches will fit within a standard 3-liter bottle.

4. Sand and shellac the newly-sized hull. This will mask your alterations and give a polished look to the ship. To match the rest of the model to the hull, shellac them as well. Follow the shellac manufacturer's instructions to let all the pieces dry before proceeding.

Day Two

1. Affix the mast to the hull. The mast will need to fold in order to fit the ship inside the bottle. Gently nail holes through the mast and the hull as necessary to thread the wire through and hold them in place.

2. Glue the bowspirit to the hull. Use a strong epoxy glue. Follow the manufacturer's instructions to let the epoxy dry thoroughly, possibly overnight.

3. Cut the dowel to measure 3 inches. This will support the main sail and run perpendicular to the mast. It is called the spar.

4. Cut the white tissue paper to form the main sail. Using the mast as a guide, cut one rectangular sail to fit it, leaving a small gap between the bottom of the sail and the hull. Make this main sail 3 inches in width. Allow an extra tab of paper on the top edge. That is where you will affix the sail to the spar, which runs along the top of the main sail.

Day Three

1. Attach the main sail to the spar with white glue. Now you have all three components of your ship: the complete hull, the complete mast and the complete sail. When all the glue is dry, proceed with the assembly.

2. Bore a hole in the top of the mast and on each side of the hull, both starboard and port, in line with the mast. Pass the thread through each of these holes so that it is taut when the mast is standing up straight. Passing the thread through up to three times will ensure a sturdier mast.

3. Tie the mast to the spar and main sail. Do this by looping the thread around first the mast and then the spar, making a figure eight. If you have difficulty keeping the loop tightly in place, you may cut a notch in the main sail about 1/2 inch from the top. With the remaining thread, tie a length of six inches to the top of the main sail, just above the spar. Leave the other end of this string loose.

4. Brush epoxy into the bottom of the bottle. The epoxy should cover a surface roughly the size of the bottom of the hull.

5. Guide the ship into the bottle, bowspirit facing the mouth of the bottle. Make sure that the mast is laying flat, in the direction away from the bowspirit. As you guide the ship into the bottle, hold the loose end of the string that attaches to the mast. When the ship is completely within the bottle, pull on the string and hoist the mast into position.

Tips & Warnings

• Work slowly and gently. Both tissue paper and balsa wood are extremely delicate, and you will be working with fairly small dimensions.

• Practice, practice, practice. You can build all types of ships based on these principles. With more experience, it becomes easier to build ships with smaller dimensions.

• Do not continue building until the epoxy or glue has dried completely.

References

• Boys' Life: Build a Ship in a Bottle

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish