Model Boat Mayhem

Mess Deck: General Section => Other Hobbies and Interests => Topic started by: dominicm on February 17, 2018, 08:25:19 am

Title: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: dominicm on February 17, 2018, 08:25:19 am
I still think it is! Here Greg gives us a demonstration of his awesome set of meccano devices that move gravel around a system at the Model Tractor, Plant and Construction Show. It had many of the parents and children attending the show enthralled.

Click here > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf8FP1v6BeI (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf8FP1v6BeI)

Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: grendel on February 17, 2018, 08:43:50 am
still have literally half a ton of meccano myself, planning to do a boat at some stage. (static model - not floating)
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: Martin (Admin) on February 17, 2018, 08:59:47 am
 
Yep, kept all mine too!
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: warspite on February 17, 2018, 09:55:16 am
I still have the plastic version, not sure where in the loft though  {:-{
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: Colin Bishop on February 17, 2018, 10:23:20 am
There was a stand by the Runnymede Meccano Guild at the Midhurst Show last week which featured a pre war Meccano model of the battleship Royal Sovereign about 6 feet long. The model itseslf is believed to be between 70 & 80 years old. Can't post a photo as it is in my report for Model Boats which is likely to appear in the May issue.

Colin
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: furball on February 17, 2018, 10:48:04 am
I’ve still got my father’s No. 2 Aeroplane set from the early 30’s, All there except the white rubber tyres, which have completely perished.


Lance
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: mrlownotes on February 17, 2018, 11:16:11 am
Sixty years ago Meccano did not impress me. Why did they make the little square nuts with such sharp edges ? and those silly little bent spanners that were a pain to hold in place. !
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: raflaunches on February 17, 2018, 12:07:09 pm
What do you mean was?
It still is cool in the right hands! :-))  I remember at the Model Ex show at Raunds a chap made a centurion tank and tank transporter entirely from Meccano. It was amazing.
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: Martin (Admin) on February 17, 2018, 12:14:36 pm
 
Greatest 'toy' my mum ever bought me!   O0

.... square nuts, crappy spanners  'n all!
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: robbob on February 17, 2018, 04:41:08 pm
What do you mean was?
It still is cool in the right hands! :-))  I remember at the Model Ex show at Raunds a chap made a centurion tank and tank transporter entirely from Meccano. It was amazing.


Definitely still cool in the right hands  :-))
Check out some of the models on this site: https://southwestmeccano.org.uk/
And here's a superb example of Meccano shipbuilding by a member of that club: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtw1LRL5RK8


Robbob.
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: SteamboatPhil on February 17, 2018, 06:15:38 pm
Brought my 5 year granddaughter a set for her birthday just before xmas, the a motor set for xmas and then gave her all my old Meccano, have since pinched borrowed some to work out my steam throttle links.....tis great stuff still  :-))
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: Tombsy on February 17, 2018, 06:47:03 pm
I still have my old stuff as well and a steam engine, but I gave my nephew a new set and I see they have gone to hex head screws instead of the old standard head. They make it too easy on these kids nowadays.  {-) {-)
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: Buccaneer on February 17, 2018, 09:18:41 pm
Brilliant Toy. My twin brother and I built up a massive amount from about 7 years old to 18. It taught me a lot about basic engineering that I was not going to pick up anywhere else. My brother went off to university and I went into the RN so about 50 years ago it all went off to a local children's home, along with 2 steam engines and several electric motors. I wish I still had it, unlike model boats you can take it apart and make something else!

John
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: dougal99 on February 17, 2018, 09:55:29 pm
Who didn't want a set number 10? You could have built a space rocket with that. Happy days. Anyone remember Bako and Brickplayer?
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: david48 on February 18, 2018, 12:08:42 am

Yes still have them both, my dad was a joiner and he made me do  the roof on the house built with brick player just like the real thing but without the slates ,hips ridges  , valley gutters joists ,raffters ,prulings ,the lot all guided by my Dad . When we ran out of that white flaky powder called cement that dissolved in water we used flour and water paste ,did the same job .
As Bob Hope said ,Thanks for the Memories .
David
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: roycv on March 06, 2018, 08:51:29 am
Hi all, still got all my Meccano and also belong to the West London Meccano Society.  If you want to see a lot of large and small Meccano models we have 2 rooms of them at the St. Albans model show.  All set again for this year on 29th, 30th September.
Meccano now belongs to a Canadian company and is trying to re launch it all.  Not an easy task with the world having moved on a bit in the last 100 years.  James May on TV tried to get a classroom full of children interested but they simply did not have the brights to follow construction of a model or even manipulate the parts, great shame.
We must have lost a lot of potential engineers with the demise of Meccano.  Lego has had a brilliant promotional man in place and now is a worldwide concern.  But it is an assembly system and not engineering, that is my opinion anyway.  It seems to have spawned a lot of architects though!
regards Roy
Title: Re: Remember when Meccano was cool?
Post by: grendel on March 06, 2018, 12:11:43 pm
yes, I am a member of Holy trinity meccano club at Hildenborough, much like this forums members though, there is not a lot of young blood coming into the hobby, and the members are growing older.