I have never used the Meccano ball. However it is possible to make a small ball race with them. So there are two wheel flanges and the balls are held to the outer edge by 2” pulleys and wheel discs at the centre. Based on model 4.2 in the 1970s manual.…

This is the model I took to my first ever SELMEC meeting, in January 2011. Well, it is, and it isn’t. I took it to the exhibition that autumn then put it on top of a wardrobe and dusted it once in a while. It was one of my first attempts at a realistic…

In 1958, at the age of 9, I bought two rod connectors, 3-way with boss, part 213b. They looked interesting, even though I wasn’t quite sure what I would use them for. In the event, they never did get used; they were quite expensive and looked too easily…

A quick build and an attempt to model what was seen as quite an innovative car when it came out in May 1959. Dinky Toys released their model of it on the same day as the real car. The model had windows and spring suspension, only the second Dinky to have…

It’s based on Ralph Laughton’s Nano Roundabout from a few years ago but using the 6” Pulley at the top. I’m calling it a Mini Carousel (mini roundabout sounds daft!). I’ve built some rather crude horses instead of Ralph’s nano models. I think the 6”…

With all these Zoom meetings in lockdown during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic (I’m currently having 3 or 4 a week) and no working webcam for the computer, I’m using my mobile instead. When placed on the dining room table, this tripod sets the phone at…

For this model I have used mainly red and green parts and also some yellow and zinc parts. I have also included some lights in the main tower. There is no lift as the main tower contains the battery box and all the wiring for the lights. The height of…

This clock is all my own design, from the escapement to the clock face. A one metre pendulum takes two seconds for a complete swing. An escape wheel with six spokes is reduced with a 5:1 gear ratio for the second hand. This is reduced with the gear…

This model makes use of two Meccano parts that I have never used before — the Fan and the 5¼” Hub Disc. The unicyclist circles around the Hub Disc, propelled by a couple of pulleys and a small motor in the base.

During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic Sainsbury’s supermarkets were only allowing people to shop alone, so I developed this little gadget to help me. It clamps onto a shopping trolley handle, and has a holder that perfectly fits my smartphone, thereby…

I guess since being stuck at home like so many during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, I’ve had a little more time to concentrate on my Meccano hobby, and more so on what I want to do about some of my other models that have sat to one side kind of…

With so many models all competing for limited storage space in my garage, there is only so long I can store many models before I have to consider which one is going to be the next one to make way for something new. Over the years when I’m particularly…

This model was built to utilise two caterpillar tracks for an unsuccessful Ransomes MG1 model tractor. They took so long to assemble I didn’t have the heart to take them apart so they rattled around for years until I built this model specifically to use…

This is my Secretary’s Challenge model in that it uses a part I have hardly used — until now. It is the brass cone pulley. A beautiful part but lacking a model to go in. Now I have two new models using these pulleys. The chuck came from goodness knows…

This is one of my most recent ‘mono colour’ models. It came out far larger than I first thought but it does work well and features a real lathe tool mounted in the ‘tool post’. The long green ram moves to and fro with a slow forward cutting stroke and a…

Another new model inspired by the little kit crane from my model railway. Made by Peco it has all the details of the full sized crane so I thought it would make a good model. This is the first model I have built using sprockets as gearwheels. They do…

A motorbike for the Geoff Carter Cup. It is loosely based on a model in the February 1970 issue of Meccano Magazine.

Alan Wenbourne describes a spur gear train using metal Meccano factory gears that will produce an output of 3.14 turns for an input of one revolution to two decimal places.

This mid-1930s Steam Winch is powered in my model by a pre-war E20B motor, and has extra gearing as shown in the pictures. The model is simple to build and works well.

This 1990s Survivor Car from the Master Connection series of sets, built in red instead of metallic blue. The lighting, supplied with the set, was omitted due its unreliability. It has a full suspension system, steering via the small wheel at the rear,…

This my lock-down model, built during the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic — a simple to build beam engine with a parallelogram linkage between the piston rod and the end of the beam. This ensures that the piston rod rises and falls in a straight line. In the…

I must admit this not wholly my idea — Guy Loveridge had a very similar model at a recent meeting. This my take on this subject. The whole model is about six foot high, and it splits into sections for transport. There is a lower section up to the lowest…

In this simple Grasshopper beam engine design the beam is pivoted at the end, and the attachment for the connecting rod is part way along the beam. For those interested, this is a lever of the second order, whereas the conventional type is of the first…