Modeling La Belle

When one looks at the archaeological remains of a once-proud ship, it can be difficult to imagine how she looked in her prime. This is the case with La Belle, a 17th century French ship that sank off the coast of Texas on her maiden voyage while carrying colonists to the New World.  Archaeologists from the Texas Historical Commission excavated La Belle in 1996 and 1997.  The hull and the material contained in the hold are being conserved at the Conservation Research Laboratory of the Nautical Archaeology Program at Texas A&M University.  A major part of the conservation effort involves the reconstruction and conservation of the remains of the hull.

Building models of archaeological ships is one of the most interesting aspects of nautical archaeology and is equally informative to the ship specialist. Approximately one-third of the hull of La Belle exists. Using data from excavations of similar ships, archives, paintings, and other sources, a ship modeler is able to make a 'best guess' approximation of the appearance of the superstructure of the hull and the rigging.

Glenn completed three models for the La Salle Shipwreck Project, including two 1:12 scale models of the complete ship and her rigging. One such model is on display in the Anthropology Building at Texas A&M University, and the second at the Texas Maritime Museum in Rockport on the Gulf Coast.

The construction of the two models of La Belle's hull and rigging formed the basis of Glenn's master's thesis.

Links to the left will take you to photos of the models in progress, the model at the Texas Maritime Museum in Rockport, and Glenn's third Belle model, a 1:6 scale representation of one of the ship's guns, based on the archaeological-recovered material.