October was another enjoyable meeting, during which we welcomed two new members Roger and Gwyn. We had a small amount of lucky dip boxes for sale and the ladies put on a splendid lunch. Thanks to Dianne, Linda and Lyn for providing refreshments.
Mark H-S brought a Meccano Grand Prix car set with models from three decades - 1980's, 1990's and 2000's.
The Action Packs "Sprint" Grand Prix Car (1982-1986) set 6300 featured the Action Packs Sprint Motor Part 330(2), which was also included in the Texas Wheelie and Super Dragster sets.
The Grand Prix Car from the Dynamic Series Racing Car Set 1993-1995 Set 4036 was one of the most popular Dynamic Series Sets, second only to the Bikes Set. Three motorised models could be built.
The Special Edition Mechanical Workshop Set 0532 (2007-2010) had instructions for 25 models, some incorporating a working engine, including the F1 car which was also released via M&S as a smaller separate standalone set 7500.
Alan's 1930's version of the Burgh Island Sea Tractor has just returned from being displayed at the Burgh Island Hotel. This model may not be displayed many more times, as he is considering donating it to the Burgh Island Hotel.
His windmill is a smaller version of the grand one he made previously. The smaller one has never been finished and there are fewer details in it, nor is it motorised.
Eric displayed an interesting chronological progression of motive power, starting with the early clockwork motors through to the latest gearhead motors. In his opinion, the early clockwork motors were better than the later ones. He included a steam engine, plus a selection of Meccano battery boxes. The very latest motors are not Meccano, but are used by modellers in preference to Meccano motors because they are more powerful and quieter.
Roger came with a model and a display. The Power Shovel is made with the Marklin system and was bought ready assembled made from the largest set M, which included large sprockets for large scale tracks. The model is hand operated both to move the various functions and operate the function brakes.
The display boards show the complete range of Meccano from the Blue and Gold period. The box display set is the Marklin set M as used to build the power shovel. Marklin had the franchise to sell Meccano in Germany until the First World War, after which Marklin continued with their own version. Interestingly, they kept the same half inch spacing but opted for metric fixings.
The last of Roger's display was a traction engine, constructed using Meccano X series. The smallest X1 set originally cost one shilling and the X2 cost two shillings. The X1 could convert to an X2 with the X1A set. Interestingly, it was the X series which introduced the 3/4 inch washer.
Rohan has been busy building and displayed his Flying Scotsman Loco (which won the Malcolm Hanson Trophy), the completed Backhoe Digger which was his first ever Meccano build, and A Concorde which was built from a construction kit compatible with Meccano. The Flying Scotsman engine connected to the coal tender using just a flexible strip. His current build is a Meccano Red Arrow Hawk.
Richard S brought a chassis which was the Meccano Magazine model of the month for January 1957. The gearbox was not great and you had to contact Meccano for instructions to build it back then. Also, the wheels were the wrong size for the chassis. The motor chassis was designed for the 1938 Bentley Corniche Mk 5 but Richard decided not to complete the car. He has a Rolls-Royce book which shows it but forgot to bring it to the meeting.
Pete displayed his Burrel Steam Crane Tractor. These modified traction engines gave a new dimension to heavy lifting, often being employed in timber yards, engineering works and for military applications. On this working model, the crankshaft drives the two speed gears with a change over lever. The large quadrant lever lifts and lowers the valve gear via a crank. The same lever also operates an electric change over switch hidden in the coal bunker which reverses the motor to give forward and reverse drive.
The up and down motion of the hoist operates via a separate motor with a large bevel free running on the crank shaft. A long shaft then drives the winding drum through a pair of helical gears.
The rear axle is a 1/4 inch diameter to take the extra weight. The diameter is reduced at each side to take a standard wheel boss. the tractor can move backwards and forwards with two speeds.
Barry's two displays were Clock Kits numbers 1 and 2 from 1972, and 6 Robot kits from 2009. He had the Robots in mint condition still in their tins plus two of the large ones made up. The Robot kits were only around for about two years. The number 2 Clock Kit was very popular when Meccano stopped trading because it contained many sought after parts.
Clock Kit 1: In 1972, Meccano launched these quite ambitious Clock Kits. The advertisement for the first was in the Meccano Magazine of May 1972 (priced at £3.40) and the second shown as "coming later".
Clock Kit 2 was a completely different affair. It contained a fiendishly complicated striking (not chiming) mechanism, that was quite difficult to get working correctly. Neither of the clock kits were particularly successful, but the Clock Kit 2 (priced at £7.50 in 1972) contained a great selection of gears and was tremendous value for the parts - even more so when the sets were discounted to clear the old stock! Clock Kit 2 continues to command a high price second-hand because of the parts it contains.
Hugh displayed a Meccano Warehouse which is based on Meccano Super Model No. 31 and operated by a Meccano Powerdrive motor. It has automated up and down lifts, and is controlled by a Meccano 12v DC train controller (the figures are from Wallace & Gromit).
On his Drop Hammer model he has added a little man on the top who operates the cranking handle. This model was from a 1963 Meccano Magazine.
John displayed a "No Name Machine" - a simple mechanism sometimes used in clock building in place of the normal pallet wheel, crutch and pendulum. He also brought a Mantel Clock designed by the Meccano factory in the 1930's. It is a simple clock, showing very clearly how the escapement operates on almost all pendulum clocks. It runs for about two hours on a single full wind of the clockwork motor.
Chris brought his Continuous Variable Transmission "Gearbox". It demonstrates a method of automatically changing the gear ratio of a final drive using two "cones" and rubber bands. This method of changing the gear ratios whilst the transmission was still connected to the drive - without using a traditional gearbox - was used by the Dutch car maker DAF in their Variomatic cars from 1958 to 1992. David Lawrence's original model was described in a 2004 newsletter from the Meccano Society of Scotland although Chris has added an automatic reversing mechanism to change the ratio for demonstration purposes.
Rob Curling brought along a part built rear axle for his Kenworth W900 truck. Rob has commented:
"In more than 70 something years of model building I cannot recall previously attempting to build the archetypal Meccano rear axle using 2 boiler ends, 8 double angle strips and 2 face plates or bush wheels. Having constructed this one I was disappointed to find the resulting half axle tubes were not square in section but more like an I - beam. A few quick measurements showed that the 2 slots and 2 holes in each Boiler end really needed to be 4 slots in order to obtain a half inch square half axle tube".
"To achieve a square section I made some non-standard double angle strips from surplus 5 hole strips and used half inch square collars (sourced from Ian Henwood and highly recommended) to make these into half inch square axle tubes".
"Several attempts at assembling the various parts to make a complete free running axle casing failed owing to the difficulty of keeping all the bearings (2 face plates; 2 square collars; 2 boiler ends) in alignment".
"The solution was to thread all the components on a dead straight piece of 8 SWG piano wire clamped between the chuck and tailstock of my lathe (an idea from elsewhere). Assembly was then straightforward with all components held in alignment".
Martin's Forklift is basically from an No. 7 set plan, which he improved upon. His other model was a Coles mobile crane, incorporating a simple winding lift mechanism.
Philip gave his VW Camper Van another outing. Next to the van was a loco and station bridge. It was noted that the bridge was made from Nickel plated components, which he resprayed to great effect.
Steve's spiral staircase doesn't appear to have progressed but actually has been refined such that it now operates smoothly and reliably. The overload protection did trip occasionally, but as no actual problems were evident, he suspects it is just set too sensitively. He will now progress with other features of the model.
Sam brought a tractor and a Gantry Crane which could be operated using buttons - white for UP and red for DOWN. Gantry Cranes are often used in warehouses and factories where there is limited space, but they can handle heavy loads. They work quickly and do not need a great deal of skill. This particular model proved popular with children at the recent Swindon exhibition.
