Remarkable model navy fleet made from over a million matchsticks looking for new home

An incredible fleet of model navy ships constructed out of more than one million matchsticks is looking for a new home.

Master model maker Philip Warren, 92, has spent 75 years building the Matchstick Maritime Fleet which is made up of more than 500 vessels, including every class of Royal Navy ship since 1945.

And now Mr Warren is on the hunt for a museum or other institution that could give his lifetime's work a new home as he puts his fleet on display for the final time at Nothe Fort in Weymouth, Dorset.

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"I am saying this is going to be the last show simply because the effort of putting them up and carting them around the country is getting a bit too much for me.

"And although I enjoy every minute, I get home and I am absolutely shattered.

"I'd love them [the models] to be in a museum or heritage area or something like that because quite by accident I have created a history of warships."

The collection includes famous ships such as Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Vanguard. 

Aircraft past and present are also part of the huge collection, as well as American vessels like the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz.

The most recent addition to the fleet was HMS Peacock, which was completed just two weeks ago.

"Obviously, I enjoy building them and the process of building them is such a combination of things," Mr Warren said.

"It keeps the brain going because one has to be able to research and work out its size and all this sort of thing.

"Physically one has to use the fingers and obviously the painting is extremely delicate, and tiny, and so hopefully that keeps my eyes and my brain and everything else working."