Meccano Show 2017
Report written by Tim Surtell for our Christmas 2017 Newsletter
Saturday 28 October 2017
Eltham United Reformed Church
Eltham
Our annual show on 28th October was another great success, with 237 adults and 127 children passing through the doors, a total of 364 visitors.
32 members were due to display their models, though sadly Thomas Greatrex and Chris Fry had to withdraw at the last minute for various reasons. We also had two guest exhibitors and a new member experiencing their first SELMEC show — Peter Goddard, Matt Goodman and Robin Schoolar — who I hope enjoyed themselves and will return next year.
Models in Sherard Hall
The day started with John the caretaker opening up the hall 20 minutes early, which was very welcome and made all the difference (to me, at least) in getting everything set up in time for opening.
In the foyer stood the results of our third Big Challenge, the London Underground map, which had been mounted on a giant board by Ralph Laughton.
The completed Tube Map, assembled on a board by Ralph Laughton
- Top row: Adrian Ashford, Viv Endecott, Les Chatfield, Brian Leach, John Cowdery
- Middle row: James Plicio, Chris Fry, Richard Marsden, Sue Laughton, John Gay
- Bottom row: Ralph Laughton, Tim Surtell, Chris Warrell, Peter Shaw, John Clifton
In the Penford room the two Cathy’s (Warrell and Claydon) were busy serving refreshments. Cathy Warrell’s cakes were very well received, judging by this e-mail I had from a visitor a few days after the show:
“I must say how we all enjoyed your exhibition as a family. It’s good to get the kids away from technology like iPads etc. My kids thoroughly enjoyed the day out and we will continue our support to keep this marvellous exhibition alive.
And I cannot stop thinking about the scrumptious cakes that day — especially the coconut and date tray bake. It’s so decadently yummy and I was wondering if you could pass me the recipe? I’ve looked all over the Internet and have tried baking similar but mine doesn’t come close.”
Cathy Warrell and her cakes
In the Dobell Room I again ran the Meccano Creative Challenge in the Make It With Meccano workshop, assisted by Brian Elvidge and Les Chatfield. This year entrants were placed into three different age-based categories to even out the number of entries per category.
The Make It With Meccano workshop
The winners, chosen by Chris Warrell and Adrian Ashford, were:
- Ages 4–7: Hayden Sanders, age 6 from Eltham, who built a lawnmower
- Ages 8–17: Luka Sominka, age 10 from Plumstead, who build a working derrick crane
- Ages 18+: Richard Biscoe, age 33 from Eltham, who built a helicopter
Hayden Sanders (right)
Luka Sominka
Richard Biscoe (left)
You can see all the Meccano Creative Challenge photos in our Facebook album.
Thanks are due to all our members for helping put on the show by setting up tables, working at the paydesk, and serving refreshments. Special thanks go to Ralph Laughton and Frank Paine who ran the raffle between them, Peter Clay who kept track of the money, Cathy Warrell and Cathy Claydon for organising refreshments, and to Ralph and Sue Laughton for transporting Chris, Peter and I — along with a ton of tables and gear — to and from the hall.
Eltham United Reformed Church has already been booked for our next Show which will take place on 27th October 2018.
Models on Display
Lobby
5’ 2½” x 3’ 1½” Meccano Tube map with 15 panels built by various members.
Sherard Hall
Adrian Ashford — Pontoon crane; Steam pumping engine; Cabin cruiser; Cement mixer.
Colin Ashford — Adrian’s dad was selling some transport postcards.
Peter Clay — Meccanograph using ‘hunting tooth’ gearing to generate designs; Spin Master Ferrari 488 Spider car; Dad’s Army butcher’s wagon; Delivery truck from outfit № 1; Army personnel carrier by Bernard Périer.
Alan Wenbourne — Pegasus rolling bridge; Heatherwick bridge; M4 tractor; Da Vinci cart; Vehicle driveline; Five gearboxes; Two gear-change mechanisms; Two differentials (spur gear from Tony Bolton and Meccano gears); Tug boat.
Matt Goodman — Calvin the Social Climber (climbing man sadly grounded due to the lack of a suitable beam to tie the string to).
Frank Paine — Tower Bridge; Motorcycle engine; Chairoplanes; Crane/hoist fitted to a Mamod engine; Small flatbed lorry; Two Meccano sets (1950s and 1916); Display of other Meccano Ltd. products (Aeroplane Constructor, Dinky Builder, Hornby Boat, Hornby Loco and Dinky Supertoys).
Ralph and Sue Laughton — New Spin Master sets.
Ian Sharp — Anti aircraft gun from pre-war Mechanised Army Set; Army Multikit field gun.
Brian Maunder — Sales of Meccano spare parts.
Brian Leach — Meccasaur; Random motion mechanism; Dice; Lullingstone Castle gatehouse; Mechagodzilla.
Eric Smith — 4x4 vehicle; Tractor.
Andrew Couzens — Low loader and tractor unit with tank; Robot; Car with opening bonnet and doors.
Ivor Ellard — Collection of tinplate and Meccano toys.
Viv Endecott and family — ‘Hands-on’ plastic Meccano Tower Bridge with six boats; Paddle steamer from 1928 set № 3.
Peter Goddard — Manchester Ship Canal 250 ton lock gate lifter, complete with lock gate.
Guy Loveridge — American freight train (locomotive, wagon and tanker).
Greg Clarke — Liebherr mobile harbour crane with freight train.
Robin Schoolar — Ping pong peripherator; Pairwise ping pong peripherators (winner of the Midlands Meccano Guild’s 50th anniversary 50 part competition); Enigmatic stabiliser (built by his late father Robin); Chinese chariots — Twin pointer design (based on a John Nuttal design), triple pointer design, unequal wheel design, and no-differential design.
Richard Marsden — Double-decker bus; Tank transporter and tank; Bedford QL army lorry; Connell Ferry bridge; Self portrait.
John Cowdery — Weight lifter; Over-type stationary engine; Light aircraft; Helicopter; Red Arrows aircraft; Harrier jump jet; Robot family; Bugatti car; Scooter; Small light aircraft.
George Foard — Collection of small models.
Santiago Plicio — ‘Galacticus’, a Ferris wheel with a diameter of 1.7m (5’ 7”).
Dave Taylor — Vast array of Meccano sets and spares for sale.
Penford Room
John Clifton — Derrick crane from the Spin Master tower crane set; Diamond T 4 ton breakdown truck in zinc and French yellow; Bomb disposal vehicle; Walking robot (Crazy Inventors set); Two-wheel plough; Four-wheel off road buggy from the latest Spin Master set.
John Gay — OO gauge model railway layout; sports car based on Haynes book with cutaway.
Cathy Claydon — Rolls Royce Silver Ghost armoured car carrying a 40mm Vickers Pom-Pom gun, all in army green.
Chris Warrell — Hunslet narrow gauge loco on O gauge track; Lunar lander; 3 Daleks; Spin Master Eiffel Tower; Humanoid robot; Christmas pudding stirrer; Mini block setting crane; Crash tender; BMX bicycle.
Bob Palmer — Krazy Klock (designed by Dr. Keith Cameron); Steam engine (Andreas Konkoly design); Ping pong peripherator (copy of a Robin Schoolar design); Mini ping pong peripherator (based on a Graham Jost design).
Dobell Room
Brian Elvidge — Konkoly factory steam engine; 1950s Set № 9 furnace charging machine; Spin Master lorry traction unit; Spin Master buggy.
Les Chatfield — Single deck tramcar; Seagull outboard engine; Ransomes MG2 crawler; Small battery-driven windmill; Petrol electric generator set.
Tim Surtell — The Lightening Leap; The Spanish Knight; Maraca; YouTube plaque; Make It With Meccano and Meccano Creative Challenge workshops.