A Ship in a Bottle that Isn't

Yes, it is the ship in a bottle that isn't. Here's the story...ABC Magazine, which is published in Czechoslovakia, for young adults always has a least two paper models in every issue. This model was in a issue from several years back. It was to be assembled and inserted into a bottle. The magazine is written in the Czech language and although there are illustrations it is often not clear how some items are intended to work. Such is the case of this little ship.

The instructions do tell you how to make the funnel and the mast on a hinge and where to place the tread so that once inside the bottle, a pull on the thread will allow the mast and funnel to seat in place. What I did not know and still do not know is what goes inside to hold the ship in place and how to tie off the ends so that it appears to be complete inside the bottle. This part of the assembly may have been a little easier then the normal for a ship in a bottle; as this model is larger then most. Measuring about 4 inches in length and about an inch. or so wide, it would not fit into a normal small mouth opening bottle thus requiring a bottle with a larger mouth. Hard to find a glass bottle that size in this plastic world we live in.

As a result, I chose to make this little tug as a stand along static model, glueing the mast and funnel into place nice and solid. A little iota of cotton for smoke and we have a cute little ship model for our curio cabinet.