This was one of our informal quarterly meetings where our members showed off their latest Meccano creations.

This charming model from the 1962–64 manual for sets 0 and 1 shows what can be built with a limited range of parts. The manual shows a clockwork Magic Motor plonked on top of the model, as if as an afterthought, but I’ve left it out as I found it didn’t…

Powered by a 3V motor.

This Meccano model of a steam engine is based on an engraving reproduced in Chambers Information for the People (a part-work encyclopaedia published in the early 1840s.) This type of engine, also known as a ‘Beam Engine’, was designed and built by James…

Powered by a Magic clockwork motor, the sails turn and the model rotates.

The model is about 8’ tall when one of the blades is at ‘12 o’clock’. The model is of an offshore wind turbine — this is why the lower part of the tower is yellow, and a series of blue circular parts at the base is to represent the sea. The motion of the…

Gearbox in nickel/gold parts from SM1A, built by Roger Marriot.

A model designed by Nigel Pope.

2026 started and on the very first day I set about creating my new model of a rotating fairground ride that had to feel different from the many ones I have built since 1999. I started by using a large circular plate made with 24 flanged sectors (part №…

A reversing gearbox in red/green parts, used to automatically drive an elevated railway end-to-end. Designed by Roger Marriot.

Designed by Roger Marriot.

Railway signals (distant & home) made from cardboard postcard, attached to display pole using two octagonal couplings.

Helicopter in yellow/army green parts, motorised with crane motor.

A gold trophy cup.

A small tractor built with cardboard parts.

A non-Meccano model from the Imperial War Museum.

A modified non-Meccano model.

Based on instructions for two models shown in the 00–1 1931 manual, and built with parts from that time.

From the TV show Doctor Who.

L is the Roman numeral for ‘50’.

Is this the first eponymous Challenge model? Despite appearances, it is not an attempt at font design. If it were, it’s more awful than Arial, more boring than Bodoni, more hellish than Helvetica, and definitely not as funny as Comic Sans. There is…

I keep finding these mini-models in my collection. I can’t even remember where or when I bought this one. I built it in about an hour on a lap-tray while sitting on the sofa half-watching the TV. I suppose that’s the attraction of these models. The forks…

Tackling one of our restricted-parts Challenges reminds me how inventive and creative Hubert Lansley was in designing the models for the Meccano manuals and the Magazine. In most cases, he had only a small number of each of the simplest parts in the…

This is Meccano Maker System model 15305, dating from about 2015. I saw this set on eBay just before my birthday and persuaded my wife to use her considerable bidding skills to win it for me. It looked as if the previous owner had given up on the model…

Similar to the crane seen in The Phantom of the Open, a 2022 film about a dock worker who gatecrashes the British golf Open.

Work in progress. Features will include: All-wheel steering with three different modes. Working outriggers with motorised jacks. Five section telescopic jib. When complete the model with have 16 motors, creating quite a wiring challenge.

A gauge 1 live steam locomotive using a baby Mamod steam engine.

A gauge 1 model of a 4–2–0 Crampton locomotive.

My first Meccano model.

From the Space Centre set.

From the 0507 Special Edition set.

1970s manual model 6.10. I did not use the PDU on it but a MFA motor.

Our interactive display of models built with Meccano and free hands-on Make It With Meccano workshop came to the Museum of Croydon over the autumn 2025 half-term.

Our interactive display of models built with Meccano and free hands-on Make It With Meccano workshop came to the Museum of Croydon over the October 2025 half-term.

In our club’s 50th year we take a look back at some old photos from our first two decades from the club archive.

The original Medusa model was built in 2024 and was displayed back in January at the SELMEC meeting and then later in February at the Midhurst Modellers Exhibition. It was a fairground model that had four passenger cars rotating at high speed, but that I…

‘Plinocchio’ — The story of a boy who wanted to be a model. We have all grown up with the story of the wooden puppet Pinocchio who wanted to be a real boy, but perhaps you haven’t heard this version! In the original story, Geppetto was the wood carpenter…

The original version of this fairground model was built in August 2025 and was displayed several clubs over the following months, but in November I decided to give the model a facelift. Firstly I removed the heavy rotating arm with both cars and the ball…