A display of ship models celebrating almost 150 years of shipbuilding on Tyneside is taking shape.

The exhibition is in one of four new galleries to be launched at Newcastle's Discovery Museum early next year.

Discovery Museum is counting down to the February launch of the final phase of its £13m redevelopment, which will include four new displays focusing on the River Tyne.

The largest of the Tyne displays, Story of The Tyne, including a large case housing 29 ship models, is now being installed.

The case - which can be viewed from the cafe above the gallery as well as at floor level - is designed to show the great variety of ships which have been built on Tyneside.

The final ship models including the largest model, SS Serenia, will be put into the case on Wednesday.

The models vary in size and detail and most were crafted by master model makers who were employed by shipyards.

They were used for decorative purposes and also to show potential clients examples of the ships the yard had built.

The earliest example is the Blenheim, which was the the largest merchant ship in Europe when it was built in 1848.

The most recent example is HMS Chatham, a Type 22 frigate which was one of the last ships to be launched from Swan Hunter's Neptune Yard, in 1988. It is still in active service.