January 2013 Newsletter
January 2013 Newsletter
Issue 145
This was one of our informal quarterly meetings where our members showed off their latest Meccano creations.
At around 2:00pm we had a short committee meeting, followed by the Model Tour in which members were invited to give a short talk about their models — in particular their entries for the Secretary’s Challenge!
Report written by Chris Warrell
Our Meccano Show on 13th October was, arguably, the best one ever! It’s always a good sign when you’re told that there’s a queue waiting to come in at least ten minutes before we were due to open: some pensioners had been waiting so long they were allowed to come into the entrance lobby and sit down.
Helped no doubt by our various promotions throughout the year — displays in Thamesmead, Chatham and Woolwich, as well as the Eltham Centre — we had 478 visitors; more than double the previous year and only bettered by our 1984 exhibition when we managed 523! I think we can confidently say that the visitor to our 2012 Show got far more to look at than the one 28 years earlier: models in three halls/rooms rather than one, and the MeccanOlympics events. The numbers were made up by 200 adults, 122 seniors, 14 unaccompanied children and 142 accompanied children. There may well have been more accompanied children than we gave out tickets for, so the overall total could well be over 500. There was a real buzz all day with visitors still arriving quite late into the afternoon.
Ivor Perrett demonstrates his loom
Brian Leach’s automatic gantry crane towers above the other models
Once again I produced a floor plan which, apart from a bit of tweaking here and there, worked pretty well in organising the troops. Most of the exhibitors were located in the Sherard Hall with three in the Penford Room and the refreshments and another four in the Dobell Room with the MeccanOlympics.
Reports from exhibitors were that the whole day was very enjoyable and there was quite an atmosphere in the three rooms. The only complaint was that it was so busy that many of them had no time to look around!
Despite the huge crowds, there were no new members joining on the day, although plenty of forms were taken.
A 13 year old girl, who came with her granddad, seemed quite interested in joining! We’ll have to wait and see whether she turns up at a meeting.
2012 was, of course, the year of the MeccanOlympics — four events spread throughout the day. I was hoping that we’d get some entries from outside the club: there’d been a few enquiries from some well known Meccanomen and other individuals and a local school who were going to enter a team, but, in the end, all the entries came from within the club. It still proved to be very popular with the public with spectators three or four deep on each side of the barrier (marking out the area of play) during each race. Staging the event in the Dobell Room worked well: for a start, it got people in the end room which, last year, looked a bit empty at times.
Walking Race
First up was the Walking Race which attracted only three entries. The winning model came from Brian Elvidge and was the only one to make it all the way across the floor, albeit with the help of some stabilising wheels. Second and third places were taken by Chris Warrell and Brian Leach.
The Walking Race
Walking Race winners Chris Warrell (S), Brian Elvidge (G) and Brian Leach (B)
Watch our video of the Walking Race
Push-of-War
The Push-of-War had six models doing battle in a series of head-to-head heats. All had elected to use the № 1 clockwork motor as the power source, suitably geared down, although electric motors were permitted. Each model played against each other in five bouts, so that there were 15 in total. Points were allocated with 3 for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for the loser. Alan Wenbourne was the clear winner, beating every other model gaining a total of 15 points. Chris Fry was second with 12 and Ralph Laughton third with 9 points. Alan’s model was very heavy and had two plastic men apparently pusing the edifice along. Other entries were from Chris Warrell (4th place), Brian Leach and Les Chatfield (joint 5th). Les provided much amusement by sending his machine backwards by mistake during one race.
Brian Leach’s model tries to do battle with Alan Wenbourne’s Goliath like monster in the Push-of-War
Push-of-War winners Chris Fry (S), Alan Wenbourne (G) and Ralph Laughton (B)
Watch our video of the Push-of-War
The Ping Pong Put
In the Ping Pong Put there were only three entries. The rules were a bit vague in that the targets would be positioned between 10 and 16 feet from the start but without giving any specific details about target size etc. That may explain the low turnout. On the day no one had given this much thought but a hastily procured plastic bowl was pressed into use.
First to go was Chris Fry who scored a direct hit with his first ball! The other five just missed. Chris Warrell was next and got one ball in the bowl but it bounced out. Brian Leach managed to get two on the rim of the bowl. Chris Fry was the winner with second and third places decided by popular vote which went in favour of Brian.
Chris Fry’s winning shot in the Ping Pong Put
Ping Pong Put winners Brian Leach (S), Chris Fry (G) and Chris Warrell (B)
Watch our video of the Ping Pong Put
Magic Motor Race
The final race of the day was the Magic Motor Race. This was certainly the most popular with 11 entrants. It was, arguably, the most exciting for the spectators. The large number of models necessitated the running of four heats with the winners going into the semi-finals. The contestants were Brian Elvidge, John Gay, Brian Leach, Adrian Ashford, Chris Fry, Chris Warrell, Les Chatfield, Ralph Laughton, Alan Wenbourne, Stuart Jones and Douglas Windibank. The winners of the four heats were John Gay, Adrian Ashford, Alan Wenbourne and Douglas Windibank. In all of the races at least one of the vehicles either spun off the track, drifted off line or was aimed in the wrong direction and hit one of the many children’s legs protruding onto the course. Taking gold was Alan Wenbourne with John Gay gaining silver and Douglas Windibank picking up the bronze.
Adrian Ashford, Chris Fry and Chris Warrell take part in the Magic Motor Race
Magic Motor Race winners John Gay (S), Alan Wenbourne (G) and Douglas Windibank (B)
Watch our video of the Magic Motor Race
Standings
Thus, the medal table looked like this at the end of the day:
| |
Name |
Gold |
Silver |
Bronze |
Total |
| 1 |
Alan Wenbourne |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 2 |
Chris Fry |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
| 3 |
Brian Elvidge |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 4 |
Brian Leach |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| 4 |
Chris Warrell |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| 6 |
John Gay |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| 7 |
Ralph Laughton |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| 7 |
Douglas Windibank |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
The medals were presented after each event by Frank Paine, although Chris Warrell deputised in one event — one in which he didn’t win a medal himself, luckily! The medals were a 57-tooth Gearwheel (gold), a zinc 6-hole Wheel Disc (silver) and a brass 8-hole Wheel Disc (bronze), each attached to a purple ribbon printed with the MeccanOlympics logo.
Publicity
We had a whole page article/plug promoting the show in the local free SEnine magazine and a nearly half page report afterwards. Their editor came to take some photos during the day.
The report of our Show as featured in November 2012’s SEnine magazine
Thanks
Thanks, of course, to the members who helped out on the day, or in advance of the event. Special thanks must go to Peter Clay for organising the rotas and making sure that the front of house was fully staffed. Thanks to Frank Paine for preparing a lot of the food and looking after the raffle. Thanks also to Tim Surtell for arranging the Eltham Centre Display and handing out stacks of flyers at various events.
Extra special thanks to Cathy Warrell and Cath Claydon who managed to sell every single sandwich, cake, biscuit, crisp and cup of tea during the six hours we were open. The last item was sold just as we closed at 4:30!
Cathy Warrell invites offers for the very last cake!
Models on Display
Sherard Hall
Peter Clay — ‘Ultrasupervariograph’ Meccano-graph; Weight lifting figure; Roadster; Tricycle delivery cart; Dad’s Army van; Arrow with Meccano pennant.
John Cowdery — Overtype stationary boiler (№ 10 set); Windmill (№ 9 set); Rowers (№ 7 set); Man on exercise bike; Red Arrows aircraft; Harrier jet; Bugatti sports car.
George Foard — Two balancing novelties — one horizontal, the other vertical; Pendulum machine (unpredictable!); 26 motor cycles and combinations.
Douglas Windibank — Apollo space rocket; Red Arrows jet plane; Everglades hovercraft; Garden swing from spanners; Glider; Tin Tin seaplane; Renault F1 racing car; Robot (from tin); Friction drive dragster; Steel Tec Harley Davidson electro glide; Racing cars from Turbo sets; Roadster (Vintage set); Fork lift (7550 set); 6-wheel troop carrier (own design); Tank; Field gun and limber; Coster barrow.
John Atherall — Railway wagons; Field gun.
Eric Smith — Mobile crane, lorry and trailer all in 1978 blue/yellow Meccano.
Frank Paine — ‘Schools’ class locomotive and tender, in 1950s red/green Meccano, based on the № 10 Outfit Special Model Leaflet; Traction engine in 1920s red/green Meccano, based on the Supermodel leaflet; two Meccano outfits — a 1950s red/green № 4A in unused condition and a 1913 № 1 outfit in nickel finish; A display of some of the other toys made by Meccano Ltd. over the years — a post-war clockwork O gauge train set, a pre-war Hornby speedboat and a 1932 Meccano Aero Constructor biplane, together with various examples of Meccano Ltd. advertising literature.
Tim Surtell — The Lightning Leap buzz wire game.
Santiago Plicio — Wave Rider fairground ride.
Adrian Ashford — Fell locomotive; Motorcycle and sidecar; Diesel road roller; Westland Lysander aircraft.
Ralph and Sue Laughton — Stiff leg derrick; Looms; MeccanOlympics models.
Bob Palmer — Motorcycle and sidecar (SML3); 0–4–0 shunting locomotive; Stephenson’s Rocket (1930s № 4 set); 4–2–2 Midland locomotive and tender; Motorcycle and sidecar (new model); Diesel shunting locomotive (1960s № 6 set); Norton motorcycle, designed by Andreas Konkoly as bike and sidecar.
Jim Arthur — Ferris wheel.
Dave Taylor — The usual array of Meccano sets, spares and literature from our resident dealer.
Keith Patey — Recovery vehicle from set 8540 motion system.
Ivor Ellard — Total energy plant.
David Tracy (visitor from Runnymede Meccano Guild) — Mill engine; Army wagon; Car ferry.
Ivor Perrett (visitor from Runnymede Meccano Guild) — Power weaving loom; Bluebird land speed record car; Meccano people.
Les Chatfield — Bristol Bulldog fighter plane; ‘Matchbox’ traction engine; 0–4–0 saddle tank locomotive; Beam engine; Magic motor race and push-of-war entries; Goods yard crane.
Stuart Jones — Two aircraft — Fokker III and Voisin biplane; Three models using replica card parts; Two mini lorries.
Brian Leach — Two № 10 set models — 10.6 lifting shovel and 10.10 automatic gantry crane; Walking race, push-of-war, ping pong put and Magic motor race models.
Penford Room
Cathy Claydon — Austin K2/Y 2-ton army ambulance from WWII, in Army green (some Multikit parts).
John Gay — Hornby Dublo OO gauge layout; Dinky Toys; Bayko; Hornby O gauge clockwork trains; Meccano Magazines from 1950s; Meccano big wheel; Road sweeping lorry from the May 1952 issue of Meccano Magazine in red/green.
Alan Wenbourne — Armstrong-Saurer twin axle bogie chassis.
Chris Warrell — HR1 London tramcar; Snowplough; Bugatti; 3-wheel car; MeccanOlympics models; Olympic torch.
Dobell Room
Dick Watson (visitor from North West Meccano Guild) — Meccanograph from 1970s Plastic Meccano set 400; “Hang on a minute lads, I’ve got a great idea…” rocking coach from The Italian Job film; Merkur models — tractor, stamping machine, selection of gears; demonstration of right and left hand pawls; John the Navvy (Bernard Périer design).
Chris Fry — Centre lathe from early model plan; Lorry, Triumph TR3A; Nickel sector plate racing car and MG sports car, all to Bernard Périer designs in Constructor Quarterly; MIG 21 by Frank Weber in Constructor Quarterly; Trike from M&S kit; Motorcycle from recent kit; Double star and exoplanet orrery from Michael Whiting plan; Double ratchet mechanism; Small road drill/digger from M&S outfit; MeccanOlympics models — The Hulk (Push-of-War), Bob the Lob (ping pong put) and Super Shrew (Magic motor race).
Brian Elvidge — Fire appliance; Pull-back cars; Skyrider fairground ride; MeccanOlympics entries — walking tractor powered by a № 1 clockwork motor (designed by Bert Halliday) and Magic motor racer.
Andrew Couzens — Double deck bus with rear entrance; American open top car based on № 9 set model; American tractor unit; 4–6–0 steam loco and tender; Small sports car in red/green.
Report written by Tim Surtell
The Eltham Centre is a relatively new building situated just off Eltham High Street. Among its many facilities are a library, leisure centre, café, and Greenwich Council’s offices, so it is well patronised.
Just inside the entrance to the Centre, opposite the café, there is a display cabinet set into the wall, complete with lighting, power and even an internet connection. The cabinet is generally used by local artists to promote their work, or for displays relating to special events such as the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The main entrance to the Eltham Centre
The display cabinet (left)
Earlier in the year I approached the Centre to enquire if we could install a display inside the cabinet with a view to promoting the club and our Meccano Show. Trevor Taylor, the Facilities and Marketing Manager, was very enthusiastic about the idea and a date was soon set for the installation — 10th September, the Monday after our September meeting.
The call went out via email and SELMEC News for members to loan models for the display. There was an excellent response and I had more than enough models to choose from. After consideration of space and power requirements, the models eventually chosen were:
In addition to the models, there were also two posters, one introducing the club, the other plugging our Meccano Show, plus a video screen showing our Meccano Show trailer.
The display cabinet filled with Meccano goodness
The display needed to be able to run unattended and be switched off automatically when the Centre was closed. To achieve this I created a custom control system based around an Atmel microcontroller running Arduino firmware. The system can control up to six models, including motor speeds, and allows them to run for a configurable period of time, once a member of the public has set them in motion via a touch sensor placed inside the cabinet behind the glass. The power to the system and the video screen was then controlled by a mains timer programmed to switch on during the Centre’s opening hours.
The Arduino-based control system
Touch here to be amazed!
On 10th September Ralph Laughton and I arrived at the Centre to find Chris Warrell waiting for us with his models. The cabinet had been cleared earlier that day, so we set about arranging everything, then once the cabinet was locked we retired to the café to observe the public’s reaction!
Over the coming weeks Ralph, Chris, Adrian and I looked in regularly to check everything was working as expected. On Tuesday I found Les’s energetic beam engine has almost ‘walked’ itself off the glass shelf, so it was securely taped down. A week later the band driving Adrian’s carousel snapped and had to be replaced. Other than that, the models performed flawlessly.
As the display was due to be removed at the end of September, leaving two weeks to go until our Meccano Show, I had also arranged to run a stand in the Centre during that time. On Saturday 29th September, Thursday 4th October and Tuesday 9th October I displayed my Lightning Leap buzz-wire game which enticed lots of “wow”s and “cool”s from the many schoolchildren who filed past on their way to swimming lessons!
The Lightning Leap buzz-wire game in play
The staff at the Centre were very pleased with the display and would welcome another display at some point, perhaps in February or March. If you have a model you would like to display, please let me or Chris know.
Written by Michelle O’Brien
Purist, hardline Meccano hairshirtists pride themselves on building models that use only authentic Meccano parts. If it ain’t got ‘Meccano’ stamped on it it ain’t Meccano.
Most of the rest of us I suspect have a growing pile of non-Meccano bits and pieces at home, one word for which is junk. We tell ourselves we’d better not throw it out because — one day, maybe, you-never-know — it might come in handy for use in a Meccano model we’re building. It often does, but so does the pile grow.
Sewing machine motors
My ‘pile of junk’ includes two sewing machine electric motors. The sewing machines were thrown out years ago. The mains AC-powered motors remain. One or other would be great for driving something that requires a lot of oomph, for example a loom, one of my ultimate Meccano goals.
The motors are powerful, they’re compact, they’re hunky, they’re neat, they’re trim, they’re fit and feisty, they’re full of get-up-and-go and the right stuff (sounds like the ideal man). That’s them in the picture with the steel rule and 50p piece.
And they’re fast. Too blankety-blank fast. That’s the trouble. The driving axles whiz round at a hell of a speed, far far far too quickly for driving Meccano mechanisms.
Does anybody have a neat, tidy, clever, compact, sophisticated way (either mechanical or electronic) to give an output axle speed compatible with Meccano usage?
Another bit of my junk pile is the motor and drive salvaged from a paper shredder we threw out. As you can see in the picture below, I’ve converted it to Meccano usage. Excessive speed is not a problem here because of the shredder’s reduction gearing — a slim, spindly worm driving a relatively large helical gear.
Paper shredder motor and switch gear
And I salvaged the shredder’s internal forward/reverse switch gear so that the motor can run in both directions. But that said, what an ungainly, inelegant mess? (Would you ever believe it takes so many wires to reverse an AC motor?)
And, yes, I do know — the whole thing needs securely encasing because MAINS POWER KILLS.