Introduction: Miniature Bottle Sculptures

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About: I've always liked pulling things apart - it's the putting back together again that I have some issues with!

Hello again,

So I decided to make some miniature bottle sculptures by sticking tiny train figurines into them (and onto them).  I had this idea some time ago of creating  little melancholy scenes inside glass bottles.  The following ible' is what I came up with.  I 'm going  to make a whole bunch of different ones, but these are the first 2 that i came up with.


These aren't too hard to make but can be fiddly at times.  My next mission is to find some more train miniatures which have better refined features and actions.

Enjoy


Step 1: Things to Gather

Material
1. Miniature train figurines – eBay
2. Miniature bottles – eBay
3. Matches
4. Music wire
5. Plastic bb bullets - eBay


Tools
1. Super glue
2. Needle nose pliers
3. Stanley knife
4. Wire cutters
5. Lighter

Step 2: Balloon Man - Getting Started

1. The first thing is to decide which figurine you are going to use.  Tip those little people out and pick the best one for the job.

2. Next decide what colour balloons you want him to hold.  I used BB bullets for this.

3. Cut a small piece of music wire (I used .55mm gauge wire) and bend.  This will be the string for your balloons.  Each length of wire should be aprox 10mm long

4. Have the super glue and bottle ready

Step 3: Balloon Man - Putting It Together

Steps

1. Heat-up one of the ends of the wire for the string and once red, stick it into one of the BB bullets.

2. Next heat-up the other end and do the same with another bullet.

3. Lastly add a drop of super glue to a bullet and attach it to the other 2 on the wire.

4. Prop-up the balloons on a match and position the man so his hand is in the “V” of the wire. 

5. Super glue into place.  Leave to dry for 20 minutes

Step 4: Balloon Man - Final Steps

Once completely dry, the next thing to do is to stick him inside the glass jar.  This can be a little tricky but I managed to do it 3 times and each time worked.  If I can do it – anyone can.

Steps

1. Add a couple of drops of glue to a piece of wood and let dry for a few minutes.  This will get the super glue sticky and will mean it will dry faster when you are trying to stick your man down.

2. Dip the feet of your man into the glue a couple of times and then with the needle nose pliers, gently lower him into the jar. 

3. Hold him in place until the glue starts to take effect.  Twice my little men fell and didn’t stick straight away, I used a match to hold him in place whilst the glue stuck hard.

4. Leave to dry and 10 minutes/

5. Stick the cork into the top.

6. Done!

Step 5: Ladder, Man and Woman - Assembling the Ladder

Next one is the Ladder one.

Steps:
1. First get a match.  I used the extra-long ones but you can use whatever you have.

2. Split it in 2 using a Stanley knife or exacto knife then get one of the pieces that you have split and do it again.  These will make the ladder supports

3. The other half of the match you also need to split into 2 and cut into little rungs.

4. Once done super glue the pieces together.

Step 6: Ladder, Man and Woman - Final Steps

Steps:

1. Place the ladder into the glass jar.  If it doesn't fit then you may have to trim off the ends a little.

2. Next pick a couple from the miniature train figurines.  Superglue these onto the cork lid.

3. Done!

Step 7: Finished


I’m going to make some different ones as they come to me and will include these in the ible’.  They are really fun and easy to make and would make a great “little” gift for someone.

I wonder if I can get little Christmas figurines….