Chebec of the French Royal Navy in 1750.

A chebec was a three-masted mediterranean ship rigged with triangular latin sails supported by huge yards ( here near upon 40m long for the tallest). Typical ship of the 18th century barbary fleets, the Louis XIV's navy had to equipe itself to beat these fast ships with their own weapons, which operated deadly raids on the Provence coasts..

Commissioned with 24 guns wearing near 200 men in crew, she was a true war ship fast and sailing. LE REQUIN has been built at Toulon by majorcan shipwrights in 1750 amid a series of four chebecs exactly typical of mediterranean maritime activity in the 18th century.

The model at the scale of 1/ 48 is built in skeleton that is to say that the whole skeleton has been realised exactly according to the rules and process of the epoch. To show this frame, the half port side of the hull and the deck are not planked in order to leave visible all the assembling frame. This is what was called at the time "a naval yard model".