The Battleship, Destroyers, etc.—The battleship shown in [Plate XV] is made from a narrow elliptical fish can. A deck is soldered on and a cabin made of a small rectangular box such as beef cubes usually are packed in.
The turrets are made of pill or salve boxes of small round tin design. The lid of the box is soldered to the deck and when the box is set in the lid the turret may be turned about.
The guns are made of short pieces of wire soldered to the turrets and cabin.
The mast is made of a tin oil can spout or a piece of tin rolled into a cone shape. A screw cap of a tooth paste tube is soldered to it for a fighting top.
Some sort of a keel will have to be soldered to the battleship to keep it upright in the water. Three pieces of heavy galvanized wire may be soldered to the bottom, one in the center and one at each side, or a strip of sheet lead may be soldered to the bottom.
A destroyer may be built up in the same manner as the battleship; in fact, almost any type of boat may be built by changing the superstructure.
The Ferry-boat.—A ferry-boat may be built with paddle wheels that will revolve when the boat is pulled along in the water or anchored in a running stream.
The hull is made from a kippered herring can with a deck soldered on. Four strips of tin are cut for the sides of the cabins. Two of these are soldered to the sides of the hull next to the rolled rim and following the outline of the can or hull. The two inside walls of the cabins are soldered about ¾ of an inch inside the outer walls which leaves a gangway through the center of the boat.
An upper deck is soldered to these four walls; the inner walls need only be soldered to the upper deck at each end.