"Aster" - the French inland passenger barge

"Aster" - the last inland wooden barge, built in France. Launched in 1951 at the La-Chapelle-Mondinard shipyard in the Cher department. At first it was intended to be pulled by horses or a tractor, which moved along a road built on the shore, but soon a stationary engine was installed in it. For over 20 years it carried a wide variety of cargo on the inland waterways around Paris and the Nieverne Canal, which connects the Loire with the Yonne River. The main cargo was coal, gypsum and cement. In 1972 the barge was bought by the general government of the department of Niever and rebuilt into a tourist passenger ship. Sleeping places and a galley were installed in the cargo compartment, which allowed the ship to be used for the organization of several days of summer camps and school trips. For more than 15 years, "Aster" has transported young people and introduced them to the great environment of central France. The barge was rebuilt again in 1987, then the beds were removed from the ship, and a restaurant was installed in the remaining space. The nature of trips has also changed - now only one-day trips are conducted. The profile of passengers also changed - now it was mainly retired people, who missed nature. "Aster" ended its service in 2002, when it no longer met the safety requirements for picnics. It is moored at the quay of the Loire, where it has fallen into disrepair and would have completely disintegrated, if volunteers from the "Aqua" organization, who restored the barge in 2014-2019, were not interested in it. Now the ship is parked in the port of Saint-Jean-de-Losne, where is an exhibit of the local maritime museum - the flagship.

The model reproduces the appearance of the barge in 2019. Two models can be made from the publication: a simpler 1:120 scale (without the underwater part) and a more complex 1:72 scale (full hull). They also differ in the level of detail, but both can be perfectly assembled even by a novice modeler, working under the supervision of a more experienced colleague. There is no stock of colors, graphic instructions are detailed.