Barque "La Savoie"

Barque du Leman: "La Savoie"

Now Complete!

Based on the French Barque "La Savoie," these boats were used to transport goods throughout the Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) area. Their heavy construction and stability allowed them to carry immense weights on there decks. Commonly, lumber and rocks (as can be seen on my model) were stacked on the decks of the boats until she sat low on the water.
Their Lateen rigs were the most impressive element with long antennas and large triangular, sail surface. When sailing downwind with a sail on each side, these boats made very picturesque and romantic silhouettes.

The Hull

Carved and with at least four to five coats of paint, the hull is beginning to resemble the real barque.
These barques had large deck surfaces to hold their cargo. Towards the forward part of the boat, the decks often rose considerably, some (as seen here) ending with bowsprits.

In my attempt to keep the boat as close to scale as possible, especially noting that width is very important in the case of this boat, it is constructed in two halves that will be re-assembled inside the bottle.

Masts, spars, and Tiller Prepared

Each Barque du Leman had their own color scheme, often brightly painted. "La Savoie's" masts, bowsprit, and tiller show the boats colors of green, white and soon to be added, red.

Rigging

The barques had very little rigging and originally few lines, leaving the deck open for their cargo. The masts, though it may be visually awkward, were set with the forward mast leaning forward and the aft mast leaning back.

Ropes and lines are lashed to the red cleats as they would be in reality.

Details

After looking in books at the old images of the barque I have decided to create a diorama of a barque at harbor unloading their heavy cargo. These wagons can be seen in numerous images.
The winch will go on deck, aft of the forward mast, as is an important piece of equipment on board all of the large Barques.

When fully loaded, the barque had little deck space left for the crew. The boards lying on each side of the boat will be attached to the sides of the barque and are the boards that the crew would stand and work from.

Adding the Cargo and Various Details

Each rock was added one at a time and glued to appear stacked as they would have been in reality.

The boards running almost the entire length on each side of the hull allowed for the workers to move about on the boat when she was fully loaded.

The Scene of Workers

The people are purchased from a model store and are to this date the only prefabricated pieces I've used on my models. But due to scale, it would have been impossible for me to create my own.

The piles of rock were super-glued together so that they are one solid piece to make inserting it into the bottle easier.

Here, I have organized my scene as it will most likely appear in the bottle.

Ready to go into the Bottle

With sails attached and furled for the unloading at harbor, my ship and its scene is ready to go into the bottle.
1/2 Franc is the same size coin as an American dime.

Putting my Scene in the Bottle

The bottle is a clear medicine bottle found at a market in Switzerland. They are rare finds especially of this size, since most medicine bottles were brown glass.
This blown bottle has a nice green tint and slight, appealing distortions.

The rocks and the blue worker on the ground are inserted first.

To the left you can see scene as it was before I put the ship in the bottle. The planks and other workers are added after the boat is in position inside the bottle.

Inserting the Ship

To be of the correct scale, I had to construct the ship in two pieces, split down the middle.
Each side was inserted and then reconstructed inside the bottle. A lengthened pair of bent over pliers was used to step the mast hinge in the holes.

Once inside five lines will have to be pulled tight and glued in place to secure the mast and rigging.

It's inside, fitted together with the masts stepped, and I am very happy!
After pulling up the mast and gluing everything in position the diorama was completed by adding the planks and two final workers between the land and boat.

Work Inside the Bottle is Complete

The ship and all of the pieces for the diorama have been successfully inserted into the bottle and all work inside is complete. All that remains, is to make a stand and seal it for display.

"La Savoie" will be on display at the castle in Morge, Switzerland for "Les Voiles Latines 2010" on August 14th.

This item is FOR SALE and can be sent out after the festival.