A model of the HMS Endeavour was inaugurated on Wednesday morning at Mini-Europe, the miniature monument park in Brussels.
Explorer James Cook's famous three-masted ship has been recreated by retired Ivan Liénard, who began working on the project in 2021 and who has spent more than 1,000 hours assembling the scale model, almost all the parts of which have been 3D printed.
The miniature measures more than 1.70 m in length and 1.70 m in height. The thousands of 3D-printed parts have been carefully assembled based on the drawings and plans of HMS Endeavour. The ship's hull alone required over 140 hours of continuous printing. In total, the scale model took over a year and a half to build.
Thierry Meeùs, Mini-Europe Director, was delighted with Liénard's donation. "We are proud to now be able to present this ship to our visitors. It is certainly one of the finest miniature reproductions in our park," he said.
"The Endeavour represents an important episode in European history: during his voyages, James Cook mapped New Zealand and Australia, providing Europe with a wealth of knowledge about these countries, but also paving the way for their colonisation. The impact of these voyages is still felt today."
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In 1769, HMS Endeavour set sail from the port of Plymouth on the English coast on her maiden voyage. The ship carrying 94 crew called at Madeira and Rio de Janeiro before rounding Cape Horn to disembark in Tahiti. The ship then sailed to French Polynesia, New Zealand and Australia before returning to England in 1771.
HMS Endeavour was also briefly deployed during the American Revolution, to transport English troops to the New World. The ship was scuttled for the blockade of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, in 1778.
"James Cook's ship says a lot about colonialism." explained Meeùs. "The English colonisation of Australia and New Zealand only took place after Cook mapped the continent on his voyages aboard HMS Endeavour."
