More Meccano models.

wonwinglo

wonwinglo

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ian lanc

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Do you know i loved Meccano when i was a kid but when i grew up i threw it all away and i had some four old leather brief cases full of the stuff i now wished i had saved it all, what a numpty i am.

ian.
 
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Sulzer

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I accidently threw away all of my meccano too :poster_oops:It isn't that good now anyway since the French bought it... there's not as much stuff you can build.
 
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Boldman

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Omg you threw away your Meccano :sad: Do you have any idea how much its worth now? The old stuff sells for a pretty penny on eBay now. Since I got back into Meccano a couple of years ago I think I've thrown down a couple of grand in getting my stock!

That is a nice plane - my main problem with Meccano is no matter what you build it always looks like Meccano! However, I look upon Meccano as a way to build something that DOES something and the plastic modelling is a way of producing something that you can look at for a long time.

In the last couple of years I've built some fun Meccano things such as a large Burrell Showman's Engine:

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Trebuchet:

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4-speed Gearbox:

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Fairground Carousel:

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YouTube link to see it in action:

and finally the project I've been working on on and off for about a year, a 1/5th scale Land Rover Series II:

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which includes 4 wheel drive and steering on front axle and rear axle differential.

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Bunkerbarge

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It just goes to show how people really do go back through all the archives we have here and add to a thread that was started seven years ago!

Great Meccano models though Andrew. I never had that much of the stuff but did have a small set. I also had a house building set called Bayco, ever heard of that one?
 
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Boldman

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Yes I've seen that around at Meccano shows. In fact at last years big Skegness show (its the big annual show in the Meccano calendar) there was a model of Tower Bridge built using Meccano as the framework and Bayco bricks as the cladding - just like Tower Bridge was actually built. This model was HUGE, you can see some photos here:

Meccano and Minibrix model of Tower Bridge by Tony Homden | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
 
wonwinglo

wonwinglo

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What a lovely surprise to see interest in this original thread,when one considers that true Meccano has not been sold in the shops for many years the good name lives on and enthusiasts continue to restore and add to their collections to build some huge models,I say true Meccano because today there are many excellent replica parts available to bring the type of parts that wear out alive again,some are even made in places like India and we have the modern plasticised Meccano made in France.

The Rapide got dismantled in an house move,it was huge and very heavy and had to be dismantled to store it,sometimes I regret taking it apart but thats life we cannot keep everything,I may just make another smaller model one day of this lovely aircraft.

Thank you all of these excellent Meccano projects and good to see that Frank Hornbys creation is alive and kicking.

Wonwinglo.
 
stona

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Really good to see this stuff. I actually gave a load of Meccano away after I cleared my mum's house. I don't feel too bad as it went to charity. I had no idea the original stuff,which this was,had any real value. My lttle brother and I used to play with Meccano until our fingers were too sore to do another nut.

Those are fantastic models,amazing that something as fine as the De Havilland Rapide can be so well represented with the stuff. It was all I could do to build a crane that didn't collapse!

As Wowinglo said,it's good to see that it is still going strong. A good product will stand the test of time.

Cheers

Steve
 
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wonwinglo

wonwinglo

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I have just purchased a set called 'Eazybuilt' from my local charity shop,it looks exactly like Meccano but is built in Australia,it is all in a beautifully made tin box with a picture of a Meccano galleon on the lid,I may just copy this old galleon for fun.

Wonwinglo.
 
wonwinglo

wonwinglo

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Yes Andrew next time over at the workshop I will take some,I know that Frank Hornby had factories in Spain,France and Argentina but never heard of an Australian one before ?

Wonwinglo.
 
wonwinglo

wonwinglo

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Those models are magnificent,Meccano is really alive and kicking.

Wonwinglo
 
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Boldman

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Thanks. There were all manner of "Meccano knock-offs" over the years and if they were made using the half-inch spacing, they are all largely compatible with Meccano. That is one of its amazing strenghts - pices from the very earliest 1901 will still be pretty much compatible with modern Meccano. In my Fairground Carousel pictured over on the previous page there are some blue plates which are from the 1920s!!!
 
wonwinglo

wonwinglo

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Yes I have lots of non Meccano as well,it all gets used,I have some of those blue/gold plates,they are screen printed,back then Frank Hornby would patrol the assembly lines looking over the girls shoulders,every nut was screwed to the bolt before placing into the sets.

I was once in the SAMC with the late Bert Love,a wonderful man who did so much for the hobby ( Society of advanced Meccno Constructors )

Wonwinglo
 
wonwinglo

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Australian Meccano set No.8

Here it is,I could not believe my eyes when I saw it sitting in the window of a charity shop recently,a genuine Australian Ezibilt set marked No.8,the parts are identical in every way except the clockwork motor which is like nothing I have seen before ? built to last in a large tin with a folding lid.

Has anyone else got one of these sets ? were they marketed in the UK or has this somehow migrated here as a present from Aus ?

Wonwinglo

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Boldman

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Good lord that looks like its a rebadged Meccano set. That clockwork motor looks like a Meccano magic motor with a couple of extra beams attached. I'll pass these photos onto the Meccano collectors I know and see what they say. Someone there will know about this :smiling3:
 
wonwinglo

wonwinglo

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Yes Adrew I knew that it would create interest and in all the years of collecting never seen another like this one ? even the manual is a crib of Meccano pictures,I reckon on 1950's period at a guess ? interesting observation on the motor.

Where do you meet up these days ? we used to meet at Hall Green,Birmingham and before that at Stratford on Avon many years ago.

Nuts are larger than Meccano standard but hole spacing is as per Meccano.

Wonwinglo.
 
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