The Gilbert Meccano outfits varied over the years. Gilbert seemed to experiment with various variations. The Gilbert-Meccano outfits from 1930-31, including the Ship Building sets, are documented in Greenberg's Guide to Gilbert Erector Sets Vol. 1, by William Bean and Al Sternagle. There were many other uses of the Meccano name: Blocks, Brik [sic], Morecraft, foundry sets, greenhouses, microscopes, and more. One of the construction toy variants was the so called "wide-beam" outfits. These parts seem to have replaced Meccano parts in the smaller outfits (1, 3 and 5), but the old 110 outfit became a Number 10 and emerged as a mix of the old "standard" Meccano parts and the new wide beam parts.

The wide beam parts are similar to the British Meccano "X" outfits, which were introduced in 1932. These were in answer to competition from Trix. These beams were wide enough to have three rows of holes, although the sizes and patterns were different.