wymberley Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 "....want for Christmas", they said. Nothing I wanted but I do like to fiddle and heard myself saying, "Meccano". Well, Meccano I got so I fiddled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrclark Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Meccano and Lego are definitely at the top of the tree when it comes to 'toys'. Some of the model designs are brilliant, but the real value comes from the almost limitless possibilities of a good imagination. Good work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyflier Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Mine asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I replied "a Chipmunk" I was abruptly told that I couldn't have one "as the dogs would kill it" I said "they won't, they might get chopped up in the propeller though" Apparently, I couldn't have one of those Chipmunks either Nice models, happy fiddling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmydean Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Now thats impressive and only March ! I had an old green set with the small brass nuts - never seemed to make anything worthwhile, thats probably why I became a Civil Engineer ! Great pastime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
la bala Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Impressive stuff I dont like anything smaller than M10 bolts myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex C Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Hate the stuff. Spent 5 hrs putting my sons set togther in January. Swore i would never touch it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Never had any, but had a variation made from wood. Have no idea what it was called but was excellent. It bolted together with plastic nuts and bolts, complete with washers and though I didn't realise it at the time each piece was structurally designed. Maybe that's why I find SIPS -Tradis so easy. Nice models. Next christmas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les*1066 Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 That takes me back a decade or 6 !! I absolutely loved my Meccano, and I think it definitely helped to kickstart my engineering career. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted March 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Nice models. Next christmas? Thank you. The chopper was straight-forward but one rod was too small, fell from its retraint and caused a plastic joint to break. Had to wait six weeks for replacements - they arrived direct from China. Finished it by robbing bits from the mobile crane. This (crane) was a tester; there was no way it was going to go to drawing. Although the steering device is the knob on top of the cab and the steering wheel in the cab is also LHD, the shaft from the knob interfered with the wheel and seat arrangement. Had to convert it to RHD - which seemed appropriate. The static crane was an out and out **********. Think the tech' author must have been Chinese. Next Christmas? Got the bug now. Was forced into a well known toy shop to put my hand in my pocket to pay for the imminently due next grand child's push-chair thingy. Have you seen some of the Leggo you can get now.........? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ack-ack Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Nice work. I always wanted a meccano set but the closest i got was a whack plastic version woth reuseable plastic rivets. Everything i made looked cack. The rivets were the same calibre as a gatt gun. Within an hour of this discovery it was impossible to make anything owing to lack of rivets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fern01 Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 If you like this thread you might like the Brickplayer construction toy from the fifties enough to look at my website www.brickplayer .co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 Thank you. The chopper was straight-forward but one rod was too small, fell from its retraint and caused a plastic joint to break. Had to wait six weeks for replacements - they arrived direct from China. Finished it by robbing bits from the mobile crane. Art imitating life...says it all really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grrclark Posted March 25, 2015 Report Share Posted March 25, 2015 If you like this thread you might like the Brickplayer construction toy from the fifties enough to look at my website www.brickplayer .co.uk I had no idea such kits existed, quite a bit before my time I guess. They are absolutely brilliant things, although technology and the possibilities it can offer is incredible it can never replace the learning experience that toys or hobby kits such as these bring when it comes to manual hand skills. Really interesting, thanks for sharing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbiep Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 The rivets were the same calibre as a gatt gun. Within an hour of this discovery it was impossible to make anything owing to lack of rivets. Yeah. Been there too ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainBeaky Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 Never had any, but had a variation made from wood. Have no idea what it was called but was excellent. It bolted together with plastic nuts and bolts, complete with washers and though I didn't realise it at the time each piece was structurally designed. Maybe that's why I find SIPS -Tradis so easy. Nice models. Next christmas? That was Betta-Bilda! Blue plastic bolts and red plastic nuts? Also had cogs, bevel gears and a worm gear. Happy days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scully Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 That was Betta-Bilda! Blue plastic bolts and red plastic nuts? Also had cogs, bevel gears and a worm gear. Happy days Ha! Had no idea what it was called, but that's the one! There were also exploded diagrams of each project you could make dependant on how many pieces you had. Happy days indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88b Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 Nice work, always liked Meccano Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted March 27, 2015 Report Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) https://youtu.be/R7qf2BDzbkk. Changing the subject slightly, I got one of these this week to introduce my grandson to steam. The video isn't mine - I couldn't get my pictures to load Edited March 28, 2015 by amateur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilR Posted March 28, 2015 Report Share Posted March 28, 2015 If you like this thread you might like the Brickplayer construction toy from the fifties enough to look at my website www.brickplayer.co.uk Thanks for sharing the link. I had one of these kits during the late 50s and early 60s and spent many happy hours playing with it, designing and building houses. For the life of me I couldn't remember the name of it, and no one else has known what I meant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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