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Steamboat "La Suisse"

This project is Finished!  "La Suisse" is a authentique steamboat that carries passengers on Lake Geneva in Switzerland.  She has been fully restored and is powered by the original steam engine which can be seen upon a visit on this boat. In 2010, she celebrated her 100th year.

The Pieces:

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"La Suisse" will certainly prove to be a very difficult build with its multiple pieces.  In total there will be at least four, but most likely five sections that will have to be inserted seperately into the bottle. 
In these pictures you can see the deck with paddle wheel cover held up with clothespins, the main salon with transparent windows, and the upper salon roof in the background.
The smokestack is drying in the grips of the yellow clothespin and in front of that sits two small cabins.
All the pieces had just recieved their fifth coat of paint and were drying.

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More details & fitting pieces together:

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Here she is pieced together to check that everything fits properly.  I've been slowly adding more details and there is still much more to do.
Below: ruler for scale

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From above you get a good view of the chimney, positioning of the air scoops, and the two dinghies on the roof of each paddle wheel.  An addition small dinghy will hang at the stern.
Below: Check out the light coming through the windows!  The masts are just sitting in position awaiting the rigging lines.

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Left: The decks and salons sitting on the hull.  Overall, the steamboat will be made of four pieces to be inserted one at a time and reconstructed inside the bottle.  Mast will also have to be physically stepped....how?  I don't know yet, very carefully :)

Rigging:

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With a half franc for scale (same as US dime) you have a good idea at how tiny the boat really is, though having great deal of details.

 

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The rigging is transparent sewing thread which mimics the cables nicely.  Thread would be too bulking to use.


Hand lettered Paddle Covers & Stern:

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 (To the right) At a later stage, I painted the gold leaf detail and name on the stern in the same way I painted the paddle wheels.



After struggling for some time on just how to do the very important paddle wheel cover and name, which is a defining detail of the steamboat, I decided to give it a try with my single bristled paintbrush and a magnifying glass.
1/2 Franc for scale (same as US dime)

I'm super excited at the results!
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Plan/Model Comparison:

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My inspirational post card rests in the background and "La Suisse" is temporarily sitting on the hull, which was freshly cut from it's block of wood. 

 

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Here, you can see that she is built as close to scale as possible.  Throughout her construction, I constantly referred to her plans for accuracy.


Ready for the Bottle:

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Four small wire pegs seen sticking out of the hull were used to situate and attach the deck inside the bottle. 

 

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With a total of 14 working strings, she tops the number of strings I have had to pull, glue, and cut on any boat, even a square rigger! 

Being plastic, and clear, they are certaintly a pain to deal with.  It took an hour to remove the cabin from the deck and seperate the pieces.


In the bottle, piece by piece:

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Setting the hull...okay, so this part is simple.

(Bottom Right) I worked on the dining table to have lots of space.  You can see my happy fleet resting on the table behind.

Keeping the strings organized was the hardest part.  The piececs are resting on the cigar box, so they can be easily inserted one after the other.

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Deck pieces one and two being set and glued in place.  I find a simple knitting needle, bent over, with a little tape on the end is a sufficient tool.  I used white glue to hold the deck down, but you must have patience and wait for it to dry. 
(Below) I was certainly happy to have this hard stage over.  The magnifying glass was a great tool to make sure all the clear, plastic lines were in order and clear for the cabin/salon.
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All lines are cut, the hard part is over!

She's now a happy addition to the small fleet I have in my possession right now.
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Cabin in a glued in place.  Can you see all the lines going everywhere?  It was a real task to get them all organized.  Of course, they got caught on everything possible.

Each line was pulled tight and taped off to the bottle.  It took more than an hour to organize them.
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Complete!

Ship in Bottle, Steamboat, La Suisse
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