H.M.S. Royal Sovereign Battleship
Built by Frank Paine in June 2010
A waterline model of battleship ‘Royal Sovereign’ (built in 1918 and broken up in 1949), adapted from the ‘Revenge Class’ model in a late 1920s Meccano Instruction book. (In fact the ‘Revenge’ was just one of the ships in the ‘Royal Sovereign’ class, so the Instruction book got it wrong). The ship itself was laid down near the end of WW1, so was too late to see service in that war, but did sterling work as a convoy escort in WW2. It was known affectionately by its crew as the ‘Tiddly Quid’, as ‘Tiddly’ is navy slang for ‘just right’ (it sailed very smoothly through rough seas), and ‘Quid’ for the ‘Sovereign’ in its name.
The model is mostly in nickel plated Meccano and features eight main armament guns, casemate guns, conning tower and crane. It weighs about 15lbs and is about 5’ long.
The model design was used apparently for dealer’s display models in the 1920s.