I originally built this model in May 2021 and was ready for the SELMEC meeting on 12th June where it was displayed for the first time. It was not one of the biggest or best models that I have made, but it was fine to kill the time at home. This time…

I built a fairground model quite a while ago where four dancing men decorated the top of the model’s main entrance. It was only really an extra decorative feature and later, when the model was dismantled, I kept that part of it and adapted the dancers…

This model features three motions — slew, luffing the jib, and hoisting the load. It is driven by a Como Drills RS540 motor to gearing as shown in the photos. The jib is almost 2’ 6” long, and is made from girders, extended by 12½” strips and braced…

Frank Paine builds a 1:15 scale model of the ‘Irving-Napier Special’ racer which regained the world land speed record from the USA in March 1929 on Daytona Beach, Florida.

A recent Spinmaster model that makes a good representation of this type of plane. The set will build a second model that is equal to the first.

This model is from a recent Spinmaster set with other models available in the manual and online via download from the Meccano website. The model shown here is totally new and uses parts from this set. The model features steering, front suspension and…

From the April 1969 issue of Meccano Magazine, here is how to construct the original model: The framework is built up from two 5½” Angle Girders (1), to each of which two 3” x 1½” Flat Plates (2) are bolted, at the same time fixing a shaped 1½”. Wiper…

This model came 3rd place in the Floating Models Secretary’s Challenge.

This model came 1st place in the Floating Models Secretary’s Challenge, but only floats without the turbine attached. Water will seep in, so eventually it does sink! The design is based on a photo of a real floating wind turbine platform.

This model is just over 3’ long and 9½” wide. The scale is about 1:10, so the model is unusually large for a Meccano locomotive. The model is not based on a specific class of locomotive.

A crane built from Eitech Construction parts. It includes a motor and gearbox driving the hoist and trolley.

This model is built from the ‘Motorised Movers’ sets and I am really taken with it. It went together easily, has an ingenious, elegant and economical mechanism, and the walking action is a joy to watch. Some criticisms though: Fitting the batteries is…

These two models have a lot of features in common, but they are not at all appealing. One is four wheel drive, but has no steering. The other has steering, but only two wheel drive. Construction is unnecessarily tricky to get working well.

A model of Jack Jones’ butchers van, as seen in the BBC TV series Dad’s Army. It is powered by a 6–12V electric motor driving a 2-speed gearbox via a shaft to a live differential. The van body is in blue and white (from the Space sets), with black…

With the month of May 2021 being as wet as it has been I can’t have been the only one at my window searching the skies for signs of better weather, but I spent the rainy days making a brand-new model. I started the month reluctantly dismantling the…

This model came 2nd place in the Floating Models Secretary’s Challenge.

Built to a scale of 10.4:1.

This is a work-in-progress model of the Kingsferry Lifting Bridge which connects the Isle of Sheppey to mainland Kent in South East England. There is currently one pier on show plus a lifting section with a two-lane road and a railway track. A sequencer…

This model came 4th place in the Floating Models Secretary’s Challenge.

Read an in-depth article about this model. This model, built as a tribute to John Cowdery, is of the ‘Golden Arrow’ car which was driven by Henry Segrave when he broke the World Land Speed Record for Britain on Daytona Beach, Florida, USA in March 1929.…

The Volkswagen Kübelwagen — ‘bucket’ or ‘cube’ car because of its simple bodywork — was the closest vehicle the Wehrmacht had to the US-built Jeep during World War II.

The LOHR FL500 and FL501 was designed by Victor Bouffort and developed by the French SOFRAMAG company, later to become LOHR. It was designed to provide a lightweight, air-portable vehicle for airborne troops.

A modified and improved version of a model designed by Tony James which is described in Model Plan 159.

Alan Wenbourne presents and shares his experience and understanding of Meccano gears in this series of articles. In this part he applies gear theory and practice to the Meccano bevel gears, parts 30, 30a and 30c.

Alan Wenbourne presents and shares his experience and understanding of Meccano gears in this series of articles. In this part he applies gear theory and practice to the Meccano helical gears, parts 211a and 211b, and also discusses the design of Exacto helical gears.

Alan Wenbourne presents and shares his experience and understanding of Meccano gears in this series of articles, starting with the basics in applying gear theory and practice to the Meccano range of spur gears.

A 1:15 scale model of an Allis-Chalmers M4 HST (High Speed Tractor) double differential steered tracked vehicle built by Alan Wenbourne.

This is a model of the Indian Patiala State steam monorail train which ran for 60 years between Patiala and Sunam. The single rail was laid alongside roadways so that the wheel could run on it; however, the rail wheels take 90% of the locomotive’s weight.