January 2014 Newsletter
January 2014 Newsletter
Issue 149
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 35th Annual Meccano Show on 12th October was another resounding success! Once again we packed the three halls in the United Reformed Church with models, so that there was hardly a spare square inch of space left available.
The excitable crowd at our Meccano Show
Some 600 visitors streamed through the doors; up by 100 on last year’s total. The promotion of the show started at Easter with flyers being handed out at the various events that we support so that, by the time of the Show, all 5,000 of them had been handed out.
Ivor Ellard’s Hornby Harbour
Some 35 members and visiting exhibitors showed off their models to an excitable crowd. Models of note were a large harbour and pier, complete with boats and a railway, from Ivor Ellard; a waltzer fairground ride by visitor Nigel Lynn; an Armstrong-Saurer truck from Alan Wenbourne and, from James Plicio, the Megatron ride. At the other end of the scale was a collection of mini trucks neatly displayed on a vertical Meccano and wooden stand from Stuart Jones.
Nigel Lynn’s Waltzer ride
One model attracting a lot of attention was Brian Leach’s pinball machine. This was a reduced version of the arcade machine, standing on its own Meccano legs and worked just like the real thing, although you had provide your own sound effects!
Brian Leach’s pinball machine was a hit with the kids
New members (signed up on the day, along with two others) Viv Endecott and her eight year old nephew, Jack, brought a model depicting the recent recovery of the Dornier from the depths of the English Channel. The aeroplane was, appropriately, made from old rusty Meccano!
Following on from last year’s MeccanOlympics we decided to run the SELMEC Rope Races this year. The two events were a vertical climbing race in the morning with a horizontal one in the afternoon. The former proved too much of a challenge for many members, there being only two entries: a clockwork one from Alan Wenbourne and an electric one from Les Chatfield. Les’s was the winner, racing up and down the six foot length of rope (in reality thin cotton string from WH Smith) several times.
It’s Alan versus Les in the vertical rope race
The horizontal race attracted eight entries. Models were to drag themselves along a 15 foot length of string (laid along the floor), with the wheels just supporting the weight, but not providing any traction. Somehow four heats were run because of confusion as to who had entered models and one person was missed out, so the winner of the first heat also took part in the last one. It still gave us three finalists, the first, second and third places going to Brian Elvidge, Alan Wenbourne and Les Chatfield respectively. Other contestants in the race were Viv and Jack Endecott, John Gay, Brian Leach and Chris Warrell.
Watch our video of the Rope Races
Both races attracted large crowds into the small room where they were being held. There were no medals awarded this time, but the two overall winners received a small prize later in the afternoon.
Things didn’t let up all day with a large number of the public still present at the end of the show; the two Cathy’s — Warrell and Claydon — were kept busy serving food for the entire duration.
With the number of models, and the public that we attract, I don’t think that we could go back to hiring just the Sherard Hall, or the hall and one room — we need all the space we can get. I was able to borrow some extra tables from St Luke’s Church (where we used to meet). Thanks to Ralph for transporting them (and me!) to the Show.
Thanks are due to everyone who helped out in advance and during the day. Some members were on more than one rota. I can’t name you all, but I think that every member who attended helped out in some way. I’ll just add my thanks to the two Cathy’s and those members who provided food. Thanks, of course, to Peter Clay, who organised the rotas and counted the money at the end of the day. Without everyone’s help the event wouldn’t take place.
Models on Display
Sherard Hall
Chris Fry — Piper Cub aeroplane; Evolution series quad-bike; Tambourine; 2001: A Space Odyssey film scene; Flatbed truck; MG sports car; Triumph TR3A; Mig 21 fighter plane; Extrasolar orrery; Centre lathe; Red Arrows aeroplane; Mechanical digger; Rabbids shopping trolley and washing machine; F1 racing car; Nickel sports car; Double-acting ratchet mechanism; Mercedes racing car; Modern monoshock motorcycle; Starship Enterprise.
George Foard — Buggy; racing car; Mechanoid; spacecraft.
John Cowdery — Aeroplane; rising swingers fairground ride; various cars.
Bob Palmer — Ship’s triple expansion steam engine; SML3 motor cycle and side-car; Norton motorcycle (Konkoly); shunting locomotive; Midland 4–4–2 locomotive (1930s manual).
Richard Marsden — Bedford army lorry; Sentinel steam lorry; AFS fire engine; Road train, with tanker and cattle trailers; Three O gauge railway wagons — brake van, covered hopper wagon and tanker wagon.
Frank Paine — Three dealers display models — Tower Bridge in 1960s yellow/zinc, with raising bascules and coloured lights, another of a simple windmill in 1990s French yellow/zinc, and a Big Wheel in 1950s red/green with coloured lights, on an illuminated base; Motor car chassis, in 1920s red/green, based on the Supermodel design of the same period; two vintage Meccano outfits — a 1913 № 1 and a 1916 № 0, together with various items of vintage Meccano publicity literature.
Alan Wenbourne — Armstrong-Saurer Dominant truck; DSG transmission; Heatherwick rolling bridge; M4 HST high speed tractor limber and field gun.
Ralph Laughton — Meccano display model (modern) motorbike; Electrikit E12 and E15 motors.
Tim Surtell — The Lightening Leap; Spanish knight; drill press.
Dick Watson (visitor from North West Meccano Guild) — Empire State Building; small beam engines; “Hang on lads, I’ve got a great idea” The Italian Job film scene with balancing coach.
Douglas Windibank — Apollo space rocket; Renault F1 racing car; radar scanner; Tin Tin seaplane; friction drive cars (blue and red); mini biplane; small sports car; old fashioned roadster.
Jim Arthur — Steam lawnmower.
Santiago Plicio — Megatron fairground ride.
Ivor Ellard — Hornby harbour and pleasure pier, which included a life boat station, an air sea rescue helicopter, ships, boats, submarine, crane, a row of harbour buildings, and rail siding. The theme was ‘everyone builds harbour block setting cranes… so where’s the harbour?’
Peter Clay — Super Universal Design Maker Meccanograph; Vintage set veteran car; O gauge railway crane; ‘Space Warrior’; Motorised safari car; Demonstration 3-shaft crank drive; Demonstration spur differential with alternative output.
Guy Loveridge — 4–6–0 steam locomotive and tender.
Nigel Lynn (visitor from Oxfordshire) — Waltzer fairground ride; Cakewalk ride.
Stuart Jones — Eight mini lorries on display stand; Tin Tin galleon; Working lathe; Space shuttle; Energy station.
Andrew Couzens — American tractor unit with tanker; American tractor unit with low loader; Tank locomotive.
Keith Patey — 1950s № 7 and № 8 set models — 7.24 exploding battleship and 8.14 lorry and trailer.
Dave Taylor — Vast collection of spares, sets and literature for sale.
Penford Room
John Gay — TT gauge model railway; 40 ton tractor based on Modelplan 99.
Cathy Claydon — G. M. C. DUKW 353 amphibious vehicle.
Brian Leach — Pinball Machine; Horizontal rope challenge model; Wall-E robot.
Greg Clarke — Marine turbine with propeller shaft and screw.
Adrian Ashford — Fell locomotive; Industrial 0–4–0 saddle tank locomotive; Roundabout; Steam tugboat; Tandem road roller; Windmill; Mechanical dance band.
Chris Warrell — Three Daleks; 1950s car and caravan; Bicycle; Child’s scooter; Tinned robot; Hunslet narrow gauge 0–6–0 locomotive and wagon on Hornby O gauge track.
Dobell Room
Ivor Perrett (visitor from Runnymede Meccano Guild) — Bluebird racing car; Tractor; Locomotive.
David Tracey (visitor from Runnymede Meccano Guild) — Spinnaker Tower; Traction engine; Car; Lightship.
Jim McCulloch — Jim’s little jeep; Mac’s mini digger; Mac’s mobile crane; Mac’s tiny helicopter.
Michelle O’Brien — Synchronous electric clock.
Viv and Jack Endecott — Dornier aircraft rescue; Horizontal Rope Race models.
John Atherall — General utility rail van; Scammel mechanical horse.
Eric Smith — Locomotive and coach; Lorry.
Brian Elvidge — Modified SML 8 fairground carousel; Tractor; Dinky trailer/manure spreader; Andreas Konkoly compact steam engine; Rope Race model.
Les Chatfield — Dick Watson’s mini Meccanograph; Beam engine.
Written by Cathy Warrell
Tim Surtell has sent me this photo of a Meccano spice rack in his kitchen:
Tim’s herb and spice rack
This is a very clever and neat use of Meccano. I’m envious because my own collection of spice jars is in a bit of a muddle. Also, I thought Tim’s Meccano extension of a shopping trolley to carry a large model to the International Meccano Model Show a couple of years ago was ingenious.
Report written by Ralph Laughton
Most Meccano shows and exhibitions are visited, on the whole, by other Meccano enthusiasts. The SELMEC show is different. Thanks to Tim Surtell’s efforts at aiming his publicity outside the Meccano community, he has managed create a buzz in the local community. Our show now attracts hundreds of visitors every year. It is really good to see families attending with (or without!) children. A lot of this has to be put down to the display cabinet at the Eltham Centre that Tim has managed to secure the use of for the past two years. This year, the cabinet was reserved for our use during the whole month of September.
Working and static models were supplied by the following members:
A touch-pad situated at the bottom right-hand corner of the cabinet enabled visitors to activate the working models. These would run for a short period of time before stopping, thus adding movement without causing excessive wear to the models or their mechanisms.
The display cabinet
2013 is the 150th anniversary of Frank Hornby’s birth, and, to commemorate this, the display also featured a biography of the man who gave the world Meccano, Hornby Model Trains and Dinky Toys, along with a brief history of the Meccano company. To tie in with the Hornby theme, Chris Warrell’s locomotive and wagon were intended to chug back-and-forth automatically along a replica Hornby O Gauge track, purchased by Chris especially for the display. Getting this seemingly simple action to work reliably was quite a challenge.
Initially Tim had wired up a 3-pole relay as a latch and reversing switch. Microswitches positioned at each end of the track would be activated by the locomotive to turn the relay on and off. However, he didn’t reckon on the amount of current that a Meccano PDU inside a heavy model would consume, especially when said model is required to reverse abruptly at each end of the track. During testing at the Henley Gathering several people commented on the aroma of melting silicon in the air as the model fried one of the microchips on his Arduino-based control system!
Ralph Laughton proposed a different solution. If the centre rail is broken so as to electrically isolate the track at both ends, and diodes are wired across the gaps as shown below, then the locomotive will automatically stop when it passes over the gaps. Only when the motor is reversed will the locomotive continue in the opposite direction.
The reversing can be achieved mechanically, with a crank operating a Meccano reversing switch as shown below.
Meccano automatic reversing switch, Mk I
This leaves the control system with the simple task of switching a low-power motor on and off and has the advantage that the locomotive can be powered from a separate power supply to reduce electrical noise.
Ralph put together the reversing mechanism (based on a design by Chris Shute) and Tim supplied the diodes… problem solved! However, it soon became apparent that the Meccano reversing switch could not be trusted to work unattended — the wiper frequently shorted out against the mounting bolts and only has a tiny gap between its contacts in any case. Subsequently Ralph realised that substituting the original round-head slotted bolts with modern hex socket bolts was causing the problem with the switch — they are too big — so be warned!
Meccano automatic reversing switch, Mk II (with diodes in foreground)
Tim built his own reversing switch with large contacts well spaced apart, which could be driven by Ralph’s motor mechanism as shown above. This arrangement worked well and allowed them to finally get the locomotive moving. Litigation between these two intrepid builders, regarding the ownership of this mechanism is proceeding but reports are being received that harmony has been restored.
There were a few other issues with the display that were quickly resolved as they occurred — the driving bands in Adrian’s Performing Musicians perished and needed replacing, and his Windmill needed a quick adjustment to ensure its sails turned immediately as the display was set in motion.
Chris Warrell with our Meccano stand
The staff at the Eltham Centre have always been very enthusiastic about our displays, allowing club members to set up a stand in the foyer in addition to using the display cabinet. This year Tim and Chris Warrell manned the stand on Wednesday 25th September and Friday 4th October, demonstrating our models to the public and introducing many young people to a toy that they had never encountered before.
Report written by Chris Warrell
“We obsess about productivity; yet we tend to overlook and discard people as ‘no-longer-productive’ or useless because the skills they have — sometimes honed over a lifetime of training, use and care – are not seen as worthwhile, cost-effective, or contemporary enough anymore.”
So goes the introductory paragraph on the website for the series of demonstrations, under the umbrella title of Manual Labour: Making and Making-Do. The idea was to show that skills were still being practised and these would be shown over six days from 27th August to 1st September 2013. Someone obviously thought that Meccano model building was a skill which fitted the remit, and so I was invited to The Arch Gallery in Bethnal Green to undertake a demo.
The Arch Gallery
What was unusual was that the demos were to take place (one at a time) in, effectively, an empty shop window on a main street. Passers by could look at what you were doing, but they couldn’t ask you any questions or speak to you at all! I decided to build a manual model, since my demo was to last three hours, and chose the Saloon Car from the 1950s № 4 set. I just about completed the model before the deadline was up.
Chris in the process of building the Saloon Car