The “Empress of Britain” Ship
Built by Adrian Ashford in June 2008
The Canadian Pacific liner, the “Empress of Britain”, was launched on 11th June 1930, having been built by the famous Clyde-bank shipbuilding firm of John Brown & Co. Ltd.
It was designed to be used as a transatlantic liner in the summer and as a cruise ship in the winter.
This Meccano model has been built with reference to a very small scale pre-war Dinky Toy model and an article in the July 1931 issue of Meccano Magazine. It was found impossible to model it really accurately, so a general overall resemblance has been aimed for.
The model is in two sections, for ease of transport — it divides behind the second funnel, the two sections being held together by five bolts screwed into Couplings and Threaded Cranks.
The model has been built as far as possible using white-finished parts to replicate the overall white lines of the real ship. However, due to the limited range of white parts, resort has had to be made to some zinc-plated parts.
Yellow plates have been used for the funnels, to replicate the buff colour of the original.
The latest changes to the model, shown in the last two photos, include the deepening of the hull by ½” by means of flat girders, which, being green, are the correct colour for this ship, just above the water line.
The superstructure has been made slightly higher, and the stern decking has been tidied up, improving the overall appearance and proportions.