Hello again. After I published the original instructable, I wished I had posted better instructions on how to carve the hull out of the blank block of wood.



So I am adding this “Mini-instructable“. I broke down the entire process into the individual steps that I use to shape the hull. Since this is just a demonstration model I did not worry about getting the dimensions exactly right. (Or this would be a really short and fat little boat. This is also a larger scale than you would use if you were putting it in the bottle.) I just wanted to focus on illustrating the technique.



NOTE! Although I used a belt/disc sander for this illustration, I used to do the entire process with just the sanding drum on a Dremel tool. In fact, if you are carving a smaller hull to use in a standard sized bottle, the Dremel type tool is a better choice.



#1. Draw the basic side profile and top outline of the hull onto the block of wood.



#2 & #3. Sand away the front of the block to form the profile of the bow.



#4 & #5. Sand away a little from the bottom of the stern. You have now completed the profile.



#6 , #7, #8 & #9. Form the top outline of the front of the hull. You are just making flat shapes, keeping the block level with the sanding disc.



#10 & #11. Rock the bottom of the hull on the sanding belt. This is your first curve. You are just trying to round the bottom of the hull, so that it looks like the letter “U” when viewed from the front or back.



#12 & #13. Remove the sharp edges on the front of the hull that were created by the earlier sandings. Just blend everything together.



#14, #15, #16 & #17. Using the sanding drum on a Dremel tool. Shape the area where the rear of the hull narrows down to the area of the rudder.



#18 & #19. Using sandpaper smooth everything out. Notice that I had the sandpaper flat for the soft curves of the bow, and I folded the sandpaper over to create a shape that matched the area of the stern that needed sanded.



#20 Finished!



I hope this helps answer any questions that you may have had about shaping the hull. Just take your time, break the process down into simple steps, and you can make this happen!





