I am building the Woodkrafter “Providence” sloop ship in bottle. The instructions called for openings in the railing for the 10 cannons. I researched some pictures of this sloop online and I noticed that there are some paintings of this ship with swivel guns on the quarterdeck, not cannons like in the instructions. It seems from these same pictures that there were possibly four cannon inside the sloop behind gunports at the stern. It seems that there were gunports along the rails for the other guns, too. I have modified my model to show this. In order to show off my cannon arrangement, would it be appropriate to paint stripes accross the gunports? I am not sure how American ships were colored during the Revolution but my sloop looks a little plain right now and since it is small and will be inside a bottle, I would like more contrast. Any ideas?
I say, if you prefer it, paint it. Ships of that era were often painted and repainted to the captain’s or admiral’s preference.
I have one question. What are you making the water from? I have built many ships in many bottles and now, I am at a loss as to the material for the water since my original stuff is no longer manufactured and I want something that needs no baking and does not shrink or fog up the inside of the bottle. Please show pics of your little wonder.
That water question has been bothering me. This is my first bottle ship and I hadn’t considered the issues you describe. I had planned on using plasticine clay, but another web site mentioned using some type of glue colored with paints. I wonder if the clay contains too much moisture? Do you have any better advice? It seems like it will be tricky getting water inside the bottle but I hadn’t thought about what would continue to look good over time. I will post pictures if my ship turns out ok.
Devin