Having enjoyed building the flat-bed version I had to build one of the others, the tanker number 504. My stocks of part 187 road wheels and part 215 formed slotted strips are now much depleted.

Based on Dinky toy № 562.

From the Crane Construction Set, with a 3V motor for raising and lowering the hook. The jib is hand-operated.

Based on Dinky toy № 514.

A small ‘Watt’ type beam engine with parallel motion designed by Brian Rowe.

From the 1930–1934 № 4 set manual.

Based on Dinky toy № 25f. Built from pre-war blue/gold parts and complete with wooden play bricks in four colours to simulate market produce. Bought from a jumble sale for £1!

From a № 7 set manual.

The Foden trucks became the must-have post-war Dinky Toys, probably because they were the first to be branded ‘Supertoys’. They must have been popular; all five versions were later reissued with the smiley-face grille replacing the sad-faced one. An…

Model 5.25 from a № 5 set manual.

A dairy van, because the milkman delivered cream, butter and cheese — and much else — as well as milk. Am I the only member of the club to have built two milk floats? This one is based on Dinky toy № 30V. I sold my Dinky version in about 1960 for…

Based on Dinky toy № 563. I must have been given this Dinky model at a very early age. I can remember it only when the tracks had disappeared (perhaps my parents thought I might try to eat them), the chimney was broken off, most of the paint had gone and…

Based on Dinky toy № 320. Yet another model I used to own, but no longer. I wish I could go back and tell my younger self to take care of my Dinky Toys, to keep them in their boxes and not to take them out in the garden when my friends came to play. And…

A 1950s style sports car designed by Bernard Périer and featured in his Serial Constructor book.

This model is from the 1940s № set 4 instructions, with a few embellishments, such as the twin exhaust, as a nod to my Talbot Lago Dinky toy. The model has neither power nor steering.

This model is from the 1970s № set 5 instructions, with a few extra parts. It has been scaled up from my H W M racing car Dinky Toy. The model has neither power nor steering.

Based on Dinky toy № 521.

From the 1970 № 1 set manual.

As the year 2024 was winding down to a finish and with too much spare time on my hands, I thought about creating a model based on a radical idea I had had for a long time. Having suddenly committed myself to the idea, I started constructing in the…

Based on Dinky toy № 781. Filling up is Cathy Claydon’s model of Dinky toy № 181, the Volkswagen Beetle car.

A № 4 set model from the February 1956 issue of Meccano Magazine.

From the 1954–1960 № 5 manual. The Meccano model is based on an early 1950s Dinky Toys AEC Tanker № 991, itself based on an AEC Monarch cab/chassis with a Thompson tank. The Dinky Toy was produced 1952–1958.

This is a model of a 5 ton Bedford Pallet-Jekta delivery van from 1960–1964. The prototype was operated by Meccano limited probably in the late nineteen fifties and early sixties. The Dinky Supertoys model of the vehicle was first advertised in the…

Based on Dinky toy № 27g with working tipper and steering.

A working lathe powerful enough to turn small pieces of plastic, soft metal or wood.

An air-launched torpedo on its loading trolley, built for my Fairey Swordfish aeroplane model.

Model 6.38 from a № 6 set.

1930s Super Model № 28 with a redesigned gearbox, added geared plate, and middle hoist on moveable trolley.

A khaki jeep from the Army Set, with additional debris-clearing front bumper.

Based on Dinky toy № 14a. My model incorporates a Magic Motor drive.

I am modelling the US military Oshkosh M1070 HETS tractor and semi-trailer (M1000). The trailer features 40 wheels on 10 bogies each of which allow wheel rotation, steering, oscillation, suspension and jacking to allow lowering of the deck for ease of…

A gauge 1 Meccano version of a Lion 0–4–2 locomotive, as featured in the 1953 Ealing comedy The Titfield Thunderbolt. It has cast resin wheels.

Having recently seen a video of a thrill ride based not in an amusement park but on the top of a skyscraper in the USA, I was inspired to create a model to replicate the ride’s main mechanical function. The original Insanity ride at the Strat (formerly…

Our 45th annual show included the participation of exhibitors with hobbies other than Meccano, such as model railways and electronics, plus our usual Make It With Meccano workshop and Meccano Creative Challenge.

This model is from a set with 446 parts and a battery-operated motor. The car has two opening doors and the motor has a switch to both move the car forward and backwards. A rather pretty model which works beautifully well.

In terms of size, this model is medium-sized at best when compared to some of my other models and maybe not too elaborated either, but the main concept is an exhilarating experience of being spun at extreme levels. It consists mainly of eight freely…

This model is a dome-shaped structure with just four arms. Using several curved strips in yellow and red, they are connected to the four freely-connected cars that swing with the increase in speed. The ride’s tower is firmly attached to a base built from…

This model is based on model 5.8 from the № 5 set of the 1962 series of manuals. It had a turntable ladder on a revolving base, and was hand-operated, with a simple extending ladder. There was no steering on this model.

A build of Super Model 18, from the late Geoff Wright’s book, built as per the instructions and working well. It has a simple bevel reversing drive to luff the jib via a screwed rod and hoist with a spring brake. A favourite of the builder.

This model is featured in Constructor Quarterly issue 135, and is by the French modeller Bernard Périer. My version is very similar, but has changes to the traction unit twin rear axles, now in a bogie. The semi-trailer has changes as well — the twin…

This uses the cab unit from the articulated tipper lorry in the № 7/8 sets. The vehicle is modelled on a 1960s Ford Thames Trader chassis, modified to a short wheel-based tipper. The vehicle has a steering mechanism as in the № 7/8 model, and the cab is…

After displaying my latest model of a Ferris Wheel at the SELMEC Meccano Show on 2nd November 2024, I soon decided to give the model a new look, changing it’s name to ‘Evil Eye Mk II’. The complete diameter of the wheel made with 16 strips (part № 1)…

Based on Dinky toy № 411. A rebuild of my Bedford Prime Mover which was itself a rebuild of the Bedford Refuse Truck. Third time lucky? I built this model for the Dinky Toys Secretary’s Challenge at our January 2025 meeting, but completed it in time to…