The International Meccanoman by Philip Webb

ISSN 1740-973X

THE INTERNATIONAL

The Journal of the International Society of Meccanomen L’Association Internationale des Amateurs de Meccano

The end of an era?

Not for us! Space and SF Feature Featuring some out-of-this-world models from around the world, news and views from clubs and exhibitions, including a special report on Meccanuity from Ironbridge, UK.

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Rotterdam Cranes Model-Building Technology Meccanuity It’s not just for old men!

5 7 14 26

Summer 2011

The International Meccanoman Number 63

THE INTERNATIONAL The Journal of the International Society of Meccanomen - founded 1988 Chairman - Philip Webb ISM 50

entering their models for the Prize by the need to enter copious documentation as part of the submission. In s announced in IM62, the closing date for receipt of particular, Provision 5 on page 9 of the 2010 Yearbook might entries for the Michael Adler Founderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prize has have deterred modellers from wanting to make an entry. That Provision was designed originally to guard against the been extended to 31 December 2011. possibility that a model could be entered that had never Details of the Prize may be found on page 9 of the 2010 been seen by any other Meccanoman. Yearbook, or the details may be obtained, together with an entry form, from Adrian Williams at: corvus@tinyworld.co.uk It has since become clear that any model of distinction that might be entered for the Prize will have been seen by other or by writing to: Meccanoman. Therefore, pending revision of the published Bell House, 72A Old High Street Provisions, entrants need do no more than declare where Headington their models have been exhibited at Meccano exhibitions, Oxford OX3 9HW either private or public. England

The Michael Adler Founderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prize

Enquiries among model-builders have suggested that, in recent years, Meccanomen have been deterred from

So get your entries in, before 31 December 2011.

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The International Meccanoman Number 63

Subscriptions

In this Issue:

These remain at £20.00 per year. They are due as of this September for 20112012 and should be sent to The Treasurer, Floradora Cottge, Maldon Road, Stanway, Colchester, Essex C03 5SI, UK. Our editions have been delayed this year because of the illness and passing of our previous editor, but we do intend to publish three editions this year, and next, as usual. Thank you again for your patience and understanding! We will hope to get you your third and final edition for this year before Christmas.

Guest Editorial

Meccano Magazines on line 24

Rotterdam Cranes

Letters

Model Building Technology 7 The end of an era?

Meccano - it’s not just for 26 old men! Accounts 27

Meccanuity report

To print or not to print

Skegex 2011 report

Snippets

Around the Clubs

Great Moments # 14

The Golden Spanner Award 23

Thank you

Thanks

We are very grateful to all who have contributed to this edition, and especially to the photographers without whom it would be very dull! Particular thanks go to Bernard Garriques of CAMM for shots of Calais’ supermodel displays inluding our cover, and to Greg Webb for his pictures of the Skegness show.

All trademarks cited within are expressly acknowledged. Contributors and Copyright are normally acknowledged in the text and we apologise if any have been missed inadvertently. The unique contribution of the “Spanner” Internet discussion group is especially appreciated.

Exchange copies and submissions

Membership We were very sorry to learn of the death of Bruce Neilson (previously ISM 411). Tributes are paid to him on our letters page. We are delighted to welcome as #ISM 1060, Douglas Laing of South Africa.

Birthdays Since the last birthday recorded in IM 62 we have sent greetings to another set of members who have had “significant” birthdays. Congratulations to you all! 11 June 638 12 July 86 4 August 1019 5 August 242 31 August 660

0638 0086 1019 0242 0660

Louis ZEUG Peter GODDARD Dave THOM Rene DE VYLDER Jack BRYCE

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One of the ways in which Clubs keep in touch with each other around the world is by exchanging copies of their newsletters and magazines. These have in the past gone to our late editor, Paul Joachim. We would be grateful if you could now send these directly to the Chairman at Chairman ISM, 52 South Avenue, Chellaston, Derby DE73 6RS UK The Chairman has contributed a significant amount of material to the magazine over the years and looks forward to writing more in time to come, but he is not looking to take over the editorial chair on a long term basis! He would be delighted to hear from any skilled editors who might consider this particular calling in the future. Contact him at the address above, or via Chairman@internationalmeccanoman.org.uk

We have been following a policy of asking Chairmen of Clubs from all over the world to write a guest editorial, and this time we are glad to welcome an article from Chris Shute, chairman of the Telford and Ironbridge Society in the UK

The Telford and Ironbridge Meccano Society was founded almost 25 years ago by John and Mary Linder, with some customers of their Eccentric shop and mail-order business. We may not be the oldest Meccano society in existence, but we have honourable credentials. Our regular meeting place and exhibition venue is the Enginuity Museum in Coalbrookdale. In this location, in 1709, Abraham Darby (the First) pioneered the smelting of iron ore using coke, derived from cheap coal, instead of costly charcoal. Iron soon became cheap enough for this man’s grandson, Abraham Darby III to create the world’s first cast-iron bridge over the nearby river Severn. Assembled from many identical components, the Iron Bridge is arguably a precursor of Meccano itself! Traditionally, Coalbrookdale has been described as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, and clever things still happen here. Enginuity is a lively, hands-on science and technology discovery centre with a mission to inform and inspire future inventors. Museum visitors can also enjoy our Meccano creations when TIMS has the use of the cavernous exhibition halls. We welcome questions from the curious, especially those who ask more than the dreaded “How many parts?” Our exhibitors are offered a selection of notices to adorn their models, ranging from “Please stop and ask”, through “Interactive model, feel free to have a go”; to the familiar “Please do not touch”. TIMS members seem as diverse in their skills and interests as those in any Meccano group. We’re quite proud that four out of the five Skegex 2011 winners happened to be TIMS members. Over the years, our membership has increased to almost 100, of whom about two-thirds live within the UK Midlands, well served by the motorway network. Others are happy to travel greater distances. The Ironbridge Gorge is well-supplied with good-value accommodation, and there are nine other museums to enjoy around the World Heritage Site. More modellers seem to be building, travelling and exhibiting as couples than ever before, and some bring their grandchildren too. This reminds others that our hobby is not just for oldies. I think more of us should entrust the operation of our models to a Meccano-literate youngster sometimes. Just consider the benefits: we get to enjoy the other models or go for refreshments, while they acquire some confidence speaking to the rest of the world. More Meccano needs to be in the hands of young people. They will probably promote it amongst each other better than we can.

Each May, we hold the TIMS Meccanuity exhibition, a three day event filling the exhibition halls of the Enginuity Museum. We get plenty of good publicity, and the museum gets plenty of fresh feet through their doors. In addition to the vast range of models, we have Wendy Miller’s familiar tables of Meccano parts for beginners to have a go at producing their own models. For those still obsessed by the number of parts in models, we hold a competition: the nearest guess on a selected model wins a Meccano set! In the nearby lecture theatre, we present the Meccanuity Challenge, a mad trial of rival machinery. Previous challenges have included square-wheeled vehicles, a tug-of-war, and Dalek racing. This year’s Ping-Pong Firing Range was won in spectacular style by Rob Mitchell’s FLAPPEr (Fast Loading Automatic Ping Pong Ejector) with up to four balls airborne at once! The public loved it, and Rob shared some of the chocolates filling the handsome ‘gold’ trophy built from reclaimed Meccano parts. Next year’s challenge is to devise a self-propelled vehicle to travel around an obstacle and stop nearest to a target. More details can be found on the TIMS website (www.tims.org.uk). International and/or proxy entries are most welcome, or perhaps you might persuade another Meccanoman to build and run your own design, if you can’t be with us in person. Each year a particular themed project is chosen for one area of the Meccanuity exhibition. This year, a number of us produced models of fairground attractions. Some were of noble pedigree, like John Nuttall’s SML 33A Twin Flying Boats, but with an ingenious intermittent drive (in period parts) to enable loading and unloading of passengers. Ralph and Sue Laughton have perfected a range of smaller scale fairground models, inspired by modern kits and parts. Other models were rather wackier, like Mystic Mec the Fortune Teller, now with heaving bosom. Our theme for Meccanuity 2012 is Static Steam Engines. Although some modellers might wish to avoid duplication, it is always interesting to see and hear how everyone finds their own solution to similar challenges. If you’d like to come and exhibit, you’ll be most welcome. Just let us know you’re coming, and we’ll keep a space for you. Chris Shute

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Photo http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/shropshire

The International Meccanoman Number 63

By Colin Davies, ISM 748, Chartered Civil and Structural Engineer

or very many years, long before the magic of GPS, I enjoyed the challenge of navigating our sailing ketch Civil Dawn across the perils of the North Sea from the east coast of England, direct to Amsterdam. With a speed over the ground of 5 knots or so, the passage frequently encompassed a day and two nights, avoiding shallows and offshore platforms on the way. On the return passage I usually plotted a course for the busy east coast container port of Felixtowe, as the tall “giraffe” ship-to-shore container cranes became visible over the horizon long before other features of the low East Anglian coastline. The Felixtowe “giraffe” cranes were similar to the ones we left behind at Rotterdam, which I used as a back-sight to confirm the accuracy of the start of our westerly course back to England. I was reminded of the container cranes at the European Container Terminal at Rotterdam a few months ago when I saw an interesting BBC 2 documentary on container handing at the port. As well as the tall ship-to-shore “giraffe” type cranes , the programme also showed brief shots of a somewhat unusual gantry crane used for on-shore sorting and stacking the containers in the marshalling yards at the ECT When I first saw the gantry cranes in action on television I thought that they looked a bit Heath Robinson and that the design might have been conceived on Arpil 1st ~ but in spite of their somewhat cumbersome appearance, they seemed to work very effectively. The four outstretched arms of the crane act like the pair of fore-limb claws of a crab or

lobster to make contact with the containers. It occurred to me that the unusual mechanism of the on-shore gantry cranes at Rotterdam would make an interesting Meccano model. From an internet search I found a general view of the ECT marshalling yard with the gantry cranes clearly shown (Figure 1). An email to the port of Rotterdam produced useful leads: the cranes were originally manufactured by Nelcon (now Kalmar) and that when originally being developed, the designer checked the feasibility of the mechanism using his box of Meccano! I eventually gathered enough information to build a realistic working model of the container gantry crane. One of the first problems, as always, was to determine the best scale for the model bearing in mind standard Meccano parts. The approximate overall dimensions of the prototype, particularly height and the four outstretched main arms, were relatively easy to obtain from the standard lengths (20ft and 40ft) of the containers alongside the crane in the general view. This led me to a suitable model scale of 1:20 which would give an overall model size convenient for handling and car transportation. Having decided upon the overall scale, there was then the problem of confirming the exact relative proportions of the of the arms of the linkage to give the containers a straightline vertical lift. This required a bit of experimentation using Meccano Strips of various lengths to establish a smooth and accurate motion of the linkage without jamming (Figure 2). Basically the four main arms, mechanically linked across

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The International Meccanoman Number 63

the top, provide a pantograph-type mechanism with the bottom pinned joint tracing a vertical line. As the gantry crane moved around the marshalling yard during the sorting and stacking operations, the pantograph arms provide stability against the containers swinging, thus facilitating the placing of the containers. The power for lifting the weight of the container was provided by cables connected to the four corners of the container. Photos of the finished model are shown in Figure 3 and 4. The model contains two small 12v nonMeccano motors ~ one to lift the container and operate the pantograph, and the other to move the arms, and therefore the container, along the gantry from side to side. The model containers are card printed cut-outs folded to fit 2 ½” x 5 ½” flanged plate, originally obtained from MW Models many years ago. It would be interesting to know of any other container ports using similar unusual gantry cranes.

Colin Davies November 2010

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Items marked * have been posted on the “Spanner” Internet discussion group.

T 723: Small differential.

721: Insulated Terminals. Also from Chris Shute comes this neat idea - a way of connecting a power supply to a mod. He had acquired lots of these plastic narrow strips (part 260c), which are a cheap alternative to the obsolete Elektrikit insulated parts. By using 5mm spacers above and below, all five holes can be utilised, and their bolts remain electrically isolated. Coloured spacers can be used to identify positive and negative sides. As an alternative to the top nuts, you can use Collars by their threaded holes, which are more easily tightened by fingers. Chris often puts crimped automotive connectors on the cable ends to prevent stray whiskers and keep things tidy.

T 722: Horizontal Roller Bearing. A passing mention on Spanner raised the question of a lift-off bearing for a large structure like a Ferris (Big) Wheel. It is not always convenient to transport these to shows in one piece, but equally it is not easy to assemble them on site, having to push axles through various bearings under load. A simpler idea is to use a lift-off bearing like this. A pair of Bush wheels are freely mounted on axles 1.5” apart to form the bearing, and the main axle for the rotating superstructure, carrying a Small Flanged Wheel fixed to it, rests on the valley between them. The result is a very smooth, secure and quickly assembled bearing which is laterally secure. (The Bushwheels are given a larger surface by bolting Wheel Discs to their faces, and they would ideally each be mounted between a pair of supports rather than cantilevered as shown.)

You can never go for too many issues without somebody coming up with another idea for a differential! This time it was Ivor Ellard. The half-shafts are tri-flat, as are the pinions (unseen) running on them, but those serving as idlers are drilled out to round bores, (though such pinions are now available in brass from some after-market suppliers.) They are mounted on long Bolts which hold the cage sides together. One face of this is the 50-tooth crown wheel which has had extra holes drilled in it to match the pcd of those in the 1” Bush Wheel. In a separate posting to Spanner, George Roy (who had designed a similar mechanism) pointed out that there are two types of nylon collar – thick and thin – and only the latter can be used to prevent fouling the gears. Unorthodox, but very neat.

T 724: GBSC Corrections: Looking again prior to our last edition at the WLMS newsletter which carried that excellent bio-pic of Paul Joachim by Adrian Williams brought to light this concise and beautifully illustrated comment by retired engineer Colin Davies. He reckoned that Meccano got the design of the gusset joins for the GBSC hopelessly wrong. He redesigned them so that the gusset plates are in the same plane as the web of the channel booms of the main structural girders. His drawing shows the alteration, and it looks much more convincing.

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The International Meccanoman Number 63 of Large Washers.

T725: Drivers’ Seats. T712 in ourr last edition inspired Stefan Tok arski to produce his own version, a n d another which was to a slightly larger scale for those drivers of more ample proportions! Along with these for comparison I have included a picture of a pair of seats designed for his Kenworth Truck by the late Dr Keith Cameron. T 726: Linear Actuator. This idea comes from the Dutch Guild smooth, effi cient and fun to fiddle with! A pair of 9.5” Strips are spaced f r o m each other by two of of washers mounted on a Long Bolt which also carries on each face a long Rack Strip spaced from the inner Strip by two more Washers. A pair of Flat Trunnions, also separated by a Washer at each corner, carry a pair of Rods at the bottom on each of which is mounted a pair of half inch Brass Pulleys, only one of which is fixed to the Rod. The apex Rod has a pair of 19 tooth Pinions fixed to it, each being spaced from the nearest Trunnion by a pair of Washers. T 727: Industrial Bracing: This idea came from the “what I can I do with this part” box. A surplus of Elektrikit Magnet Holders prompted this design for neat mountings of pillars in industrial constructions. A Pack of six 11-hole Strips has a Magnet Holder tapped onto each end to produce a neat finish and fixing point to slim but solid pillars. Cross bracing is made from four 5-hole Narrow Strips bolted with Set Screws to 2x1-hole Obtuse Narrow Brackets. Their central ends are clamped together by a 1/2” Bolt passing through a pair

T 728: Louvre panels: this has long been a problem - how can one represent a louvre panel with properly sloping slats? Typically modellers have used stacks of rods or strips, but it doesn’t look qute right. So try this: Two pairs of plastic rack strips (from steering units) are bolted together across a Short Coupling or Long Boss, the teeth on the Racks facing inwards. The pairs are also joined to each other in the front face by Narrow Strips (your choice of length) as shown. A set of standard Strips can then be inserted between alternate rows of teeth at an angle to give the desired spacing. They are retained by Narrow Strips bolted in place by Set Screws in the tapped holes of the Bosses. T 729 A small eccentric from Colin Davies “A small eccentric can easily be builtup using standard Meccano parts. Start by slightly enlarging the three swaged holes in a 1” pulley (# 22a) to take a rod or bolt. Pass a rod (which will become the main axle) through the boss of a six-hole bush wheel (# 24b) and then through one of the enlarged holes of the 1” pulley. The two remaining enlarged holes in the pulley will match-up to two holes in the six-hole bush wheel and should be used to bolt the two together using washers to provide a gap of about 1/8”. Next make a daisy-chain out of eight 2-hole narrow strips, and connect the ends together to make a regular octagon, and fit into the V of the 1” pulley. With a bit of grease in the V, the octagon should rotate freely around the pulley. Replace one of the 2-hole narrow strips of the octagon with a standard coupling (#63) on the side away from the bush wheel. Then fit a rod in the centre hole of the coupling, pointing away from the main axle. Rotate the main axle (with the bush-wheel firmly fixed to it) and the rod from the coupling will

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provide an eccentric motion. Works a treat! I’ve just used six in a model of a triple expansion engine.” T730: Batteries: The Meccano Society of Scotland produce an excellent newsletter - #86 reports that “recently nonrechargeable Lithium Chloride batteries have become available in standard “C” and “D” cell sizes. These cells have a remarkable capacity and shelf life, say MSS. They picture a set of four held in a Maplin-style plastic holder which have a capacity of 19Ah (at C100), an output voltage of 12V and a shelf life of at least 25 years. A single cell and a “Gear Motor” (1.5v - 12v, 50ma - 100ma) would run a model eight hours a day, every day, for nearly seven weeks! This certainly makes a cost-effective alternative to the standard Zinc-Carbon batteries and represents a true fit-and-forget battery for a regularly display model.” T 731: Missing Holes: opinions differ sharply over altering parts - to some this is an obvious move forwards - to others it is desecration! But one might wonder why some holes were not included in some parts. Take these two as an example: the large Triangular Plate #223 fits neatly over a 3.5” Girder as shown, making an ideal infill for some models but there is no way to bolt it in place! The two slots on the hypotenuse might be lengthened, but much simpler is a central hole punched as shown. On the left of the same picture you can see two Double Brackets - #11a and #102 (Double Bracket and Narrow Double Bracket) both have two holes on each long face, but the old Double Bent Strip (#44) only has one! It is often used in older models as a decorative hanger for leaf springs, not least on models of railway rolling stock. How much better it would be if it had an extra hole - as shown here, leaving the two holes at the outer ends of the lugs free for a bearing rod. T 732: More Motor mountings: Freark Dijk wrote in from the Netherlands following up T 720 in our last edition. He says, “I have also made efforts to support motors in constructions. I use TOOL CLIPS from the garden-store in which one can hang tools such as hammers or spades. The well formed spring-

like clips are in different shapes with a hole into which one can fit a 5/32” or M4 bolt. Because the bottom of the clamp is dished, tightening of the bolt makes the clamp fix more securely around the motor casing. With string or a little clamp one can even completely fix the motor so It won’t rotate in action.” (Freark is also among many who have enjoyed watching the episode of James May’s “Toy Stories” in which he oversaw the building of a giant Meccano Bridge over a Liverpool canal.) T 733: Economical Rubber Tyres. The Sheffield Meccano Guild Journal goes from strength to strength: among much excellent material Issue 111 mentions the increasing use by many modellers of “dog Tyres” for models. As they say, with the steady decline in smoking as a socially acceptable leisure activity finding “ashtray” tyres at an affordable price has become very difficult. However, your local pet store may be able to help! Toy latex tyres designed as “Dog Chews” come cheap. SMG mentions a range produced by Ancol Pet products (www.ancol.co. uk/index.php). Google for alternatives. S o m e manufactures offer them as hollow tyres, others make them solid. Sizes are typically 10, 15, 20cm diameter, and prices vary from under £3.00 to around £8.00 each. We have even seen a 10” version listed! Some come with a doggy “bone” pattern on the outside like these forming a tread, but the “Pup Treads” brand come with a chunky moulded tread and short spiky “stubble”. Needless to say, they fit easily onto Meccano hubs!

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The International Meccanoman Number 63

ASA's space shuttle fleet began setting records with its first launch on April 12, 1981 and continued to set high marks of achievement and endurance through 30 years of missions. Starting with Columbia and continuing with Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, the spacecraft has carried people into orbit repeatedly, launched, recovered and repaired satellites, conducted cutting-edge research and built the largest structure in space, the International Space Station. The final space shuttle mission, STS-135, ended July 21, 2011 when Atlantis rolled to a stop at its home port, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Not for us! should turn to the Shuttle (“Columbia” in this case) for a subject. The magnificent model shown on our front cover was built by M Duquenoy. We’ve come a long way from the time when a similar model appeared in the old Meccano

As humanity's first reusable spacecraft, the space shuttle pushed the bounds of discovery ever farther, requiring not only advanced technologies but the tremendous effort of a vast workforce. Thousands of civil servants and contractors throughout NASA's field centers and across the nation have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to mission success and the greater goal of space exploration. (www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle) Well, it may be the end of an era for NASA, but not more many Meccano modellers. While some have their eyes firmly fixed on the steam-punk world of our forefathers, others still have their eyes fixed on the stars! Jim Millett, professional model-maker, wrote in Volume 22 of “Sc-fi and Fantasy Modeller” (ISBN: 978-0-9564306-9-4, July, 2011. UK: £14.95), “As a child growing up in the sixties, I was brought up on a steady diet of Thunderbirds, Lost in Space and Dr Who. Man was on his way to the moon and nothing seemed impossible. This was the catalyst for my first attempt at scratch building …. quite a short-lived attempt as trying to fashion the engines from tin cans proved most unsatisfactory. Luckily Airfix kits and Meccano were available so I stuck with these for the next few years until my father introduced me to illustration board. His job illustrating Meccano brochures meant he had a wonderful supply of nice white cardboard….” Well, it’s good to know that Meccano played a part in his life, but what a shame that his Meccano-working father “led him astray”! But for many modellers Meccano and the joy of building solid models rather than just drawing pictures of them remains throughout their lives - and not least those whose imagination turns towards the stars. When the model-makers of Calais wanted an impressive model to show off their product it was natural that they

Magazine of January 1978 and was described by the editor as a “Delta winged cargo plane”! Much better informed is Chris Warrell of the South East London Meccano Society. Like a number of others he is drawn towards some of fiction’s famous spaceships. He writes: “The Liberator was the spaceship featured in the first three series of Blake's 7, the sci-fi series created by Terry Nation (it ran from 1978-81). My model was built for a SELMEC Secretary's Challenge in 2007 (we have one every meeting) where the theme was Film and TV. I was a big fan of the TV show (I've got all the episodes - all 52 of them - on video!) I couldn't find any decent photos of the ship (nothing that I could easily scale off) but I managed to buy the Corgi model on eBay. The model is entirely Meccano (it should be all white) with the exception of the ball, which I think is supposed to be its method of propulsion since it pulsed when in flight. In my model an LED light flashes - the light was recovered from an old bicycle front light. The ball is the dosing ball from washing

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recognisable in small scale like the first version by Rick Vine (Christmas Challenge, 2010) to much larger versions such as this medium sized version by William Irwin or the The "Enterprise" featured in the original Star Trek series, large yellow and silver model built in 1991 by the late Brian created by Gene Roddenberry, from the start in 1966 (1969 Buchanan, a member of the NZFMM , also of NZFMM. in the UK) to 1969 when the series was cancelled. (It was a few years before the films and spin-off series came along.) My model was built a year after, and as a companion to, the Liberator model. Both models are mounted on individual stands made from dark blue Meccano. machine liquid, painted green on the inside.

The only picture I had to hand when building the model was of the Dinky model of it, so the proportions may be wrong. You rarely get an idea of the scale of these spaceships when watching the TV shows (possibly more with the Enterprise, since I think you could see windows around the main circular deck area), so I've no idea whether the models are to anything like the same scale or what the actual scale is - there's Steel-Tec, the short-lived Meccano clone, also issued a version probably someone out there who knows!” of one of the later Enterprise models and another featuring from “Star Wars”. (Be sure of it - the truth is out there! Ed.) the Millenium Falcon

The Starship Enterprise is probably the most popular of SF craft, having been modelled in all sorts of scales still instantly

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G e o r g e Illingworth (Midlands, UK) needed no “foreign” parts to produce his instantly recognisable

The International Meccanoman Number 63

version of the Star Wars “XWing Fighter” (below) for a Henley Show many years ago. The great “Eagle Transporter” from the TV Series “Space 1 9 9 9 ” memorably featured on the cover of the January 1978 Meccano magazine. This has

the European launch vehicle “Ariane” and one more is of the Lunar Landing Module from America’s Apollo missions. (Compare this with Philip Webb’s smaller version on t the next page, seen at the ISM sponsored Exhibition at the UK’s National Space Centre in 2009.)

been remodelled by various people, including Laurent Chaté of France (an earlier version of his is shown here) who is currently working on a new and detailed version. We hope to show this in a future edition.

Meccano France have certainly kept their eyes on the heavens. I’m indebted to CAM for some great pictures of the permanent exhibition at Calais HQ. Among the giant models there from the Calais model shop is a great diorama consisting of an Apollo Lunar Rover of the sort that the American astronauts used to get around the lunar surface, and next to it is a “solar powered” planetary Since Meccano cylinders explorer, both on a suitably extraterrestr are easy to make, you ial base. might think rockets would be common - but So where could you “boldly go” next? streamlined fairings are You could try to built some of the not so easy. All credit remarkable orreries of the kind then to the builder of this popularised by Pat Briggs and magnificent model (left) Michael Whiting to of “Thunderbird 5” from track the motions of the popular TV puppet the planets, or you show, (seen at Skegex could try to build last year) and also to some of the Meccano France again for creatures who this recent model of Tin might inhabit Tin’s striking retro-style this strange space ship (right) . universe, like Of course, it is not only the AT-AT fictional space vehicles Walker (Star than can be built in Wars again) Meccano - another of the built by Rob Calais display models is of Mitchell of

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Sheffield, UK, seen here with its little friend, the Scout Walker built by your editor. NASAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s astronauts may be grounded for now, but as always, with Meccano to hand your imagination is your only limit.

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TELFORD AND IRONBRIDGE MECCANO SOCIETY

2011

By John Evans. Additional photos by Bob Thompson

Meccanuity

has established itself as one of the very special events in the UK calendar. Housed in the Ironbridge Industrial Museum and including displays, traders, talks and themed competitions, it makes for a great outing over a Bank Holiday weekend. It is of course TIMS who have provided us with a guest editorial this time, so it seems especially appropriate for us to focus on this special event. We are very grateful to TIMS who arrange the Meccanuity show for sending us their report from which this account is taken. Among those exhibiting, Dick Watson showed a Kangaroo Grabbing Crane, a Hand-powered Mono-rail, “John the Navvy”, a Bizarre Building, a modified Taylor’s T echnikit and various models for children to turn. Michael Fallows showed some of his extensive range of Meccanographs while John Evans had a shop window Open/Closed sign, a Wave Machine with boatman, a Nano kit fairground and a Beam Engine. Ralph and Sue Laughton brought a race game modified to run 3 Quad Bikes – lots of fun! They also had a Nano Roundabout featuring 6 of them on a hub disc. Continuing the Fairground theme, Sue showed a miniature Ferris Wheel which makes a good companion to the Nano Roundabout. She also showed a Replica Dealer’s Display Ferris Wheel.

o Thanks t

s John Evanor f and TIMS l this specia report on e l this notabow h annual s

with a model of the Royal Victoria Dock Bridge. Looking slightly like a sailing ship (above) it takes the form of an inverted Fink Truss with 6 masts. Chris also showed 3 ships built in Blue and Gold, a model of a painting by Van Gogh, a drum kit, Art Deco T able & Chairs, Dragster and 3 wheeled sports car. David Lacy brought 2 buses – a 1951 Leyland Tiger/Warrington Dorsal fin body and a 1959 Midland Red D9 Double Decker. Both looked great but David says he still has work to do! Robin Schoolar went to Holland for his prototype – the Delftshavense Schie Bascule Rail Bridge. The bridge has a skew alignment using an innovative

Chris Warrell visited from SELMEC

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asymmetric design. He also showed several smaller set models and the ever intriguing “bent rods machine”. Matt Goodman gave us another chance to see the 1938 Sentinel DG8 Steam lorry which was featured in the Shropshire Star in May 2010. He had a table full of other models including a roundabout, a dumper truck, lorry mounted crane and Plastic Meccano crane. Matt also shared some happy memories of WLMS and ISM member Paul Joachim, who passed away in March this year. Dennis Remnant “flew” his awesome model of the Dornier DO-X Flying Boat, an experiment in 1930.

The International Meccanoman Number 63

Ken Senar produced another masterpiece, a 1/9th scale model of a Wessex HC.2 Helicopter. The model features fully working swashplate and tail rotor as well as working cabin controls, adjustable seats, screen wipers, detailed centre console and many others.

Peter Pearce showed a “considerably modified” Konkoly designed Meccanograph which made full use of Meccano X parts for the pen arm. Dennis Backler is improving a DMU and showed us the Driven Bogie for the model. It features a “backstop mechanism” which stops judder, as well as improvements to the suspension. Michael Threlfall has collected number of small Meccano models over the past few years. He is also now dabbling in Eitech, a German construction Kit. The main model was a very colourful Ferris wheel as well as Crane and an articulated lorry.

Tony Displaying his model at the NMMG meeting

Jim MacCulloch’s 100 ton Dockyard crane seemed to dominate the centre of the hall. A total of 7 motors drove all its actions. Jim also showed a series of small and immaculate models including a “T iny Truck”, a Mobile Crane, a smart little The inspiration for Tony Homden’s Beam engine and the Marching model is very local to the exhibition, the Marauder. Hay Inclined Plane. Boats loaded with coal descend the 15º incline and pull up Ken Wright had a variety of small Army empty boats. The model also features models including a Welbike which was Minibrix to good effect.

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a 1942/45 Paratroop folding bike. Vera Wright’s display included Meccano Wrestlers, a Butterfly and a 3 wheel Motorcycle. Continuing the Army theme came John Castledine with a range of modified Army Kit vehicles; notable was the 8 wheel Army Crane. What can we say about Ivor Ellard’s table? There was a T otal Energy Plant for when you find oil in your garden, and a Steam Museum designed to show lots of movement. He also had an Automatic Colour Meccanograph. It can draw 15 colours at once - his own design. Ann Nightingale also had a Meccanograph – a modified Konkoly machine which produced beautiful designs all through the event. Les Nightingale Snr is building a Massey Ferguson 165 and also had a “Chips” Kawasaki 1000P m/bike. Les Jnr had 3 Swing Boats for this year’s Meccanuity theme. Dave Harvey brought a Congreve Rolling Ball Clock and a Three Wheel Clock, both new to us. He also showed a Savage Steam Engine, a Sinclair Harding Clock, an Impulse Inching clock, a Scenic Elevator, a Steeple Engine and an Overtype Steam Engine. I remember Michael Walker’s fondness for Sports Cars from years ago. He showed a Maserati car of 1970s design. There was also a very nice Atlantean Double Decker Bus based on the 1962 7/8 Manual model. Tony Evanson contributed to the fairground theme with an Octopus Ride

The International Meccanoman Number 63 (MP 98) as well as a rubber band powered Dalek and a Set 4 Gantry Crane. Colin Bull tells us we had the last showing of his Marble roller. I hope he still has all the 40 marbles after 2 years of showing. Bill Gardiner had 7 models. A Twin Cylinder Steam, a Grand-father Clock and an Automatic Press were joined by a T eddy Bear Flywheel, a Bagatelle T able and a Girder Crane as play models He ran a competition for children to guess the number of parts in a model and a small Baltic Tank Loco. Geoff Brown had a mouth-watering display of Hornby O G aug e Ra ilways on an “hour glass” layout as well as Aero Constructor Planes and Hornby Speedboats. The display of working locos kept me amused for the duration. Still on the theme of trains, Rob Miller had a Meccano train running round and round as well as a Motorbike spinning through the air and a Bernard Perrier Rider in the Sky. Wendy Miller was kept busy all the time at the children’s building tables (although I did noticequite a few adults joining in). She also had a display of the 2011 Space Chaos models. Michael Sharps is building a Hunslett Side Loader 3 ton Fork lift . John and Joyce Sleaford had a Swing Boat built from the Ferris Wheel Set, an Organ Lorry, a Showman’s engine, a Beer T ent and 2 models from the Space Chaos sets. Steph Sleaford had a Merry Go -round built from the Ferris Wheel Set, Tina Sleaford a Radio Controlled Lorry and Peter Sleaford showed a Showman’s Engine on a Lorry with Low Loader Trailer and a Foden Steam Lorry.

Terry Bullingham is still developing his Steam Powered Pumping Station to 1:12 scale. John Evans’ wave machine and boatman, above. David Lacey’s Midland Red D9 1959 Double Decker Bus, right. John Palmer had 3 lorries from the Trucker Fleet. All 6 X 4 tractors with low loader trailers, one carrying a radio-controlled excavator. Terry Allen gave us another look at his magnificent steam powered lawn mower and John Armstrong made good progress building a Decimal Counter.

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The International Meccanoman Number 63 Although absent, Paul Hubbard’s Dealer’s Display Ferris wheel was on display.

Now to the Gadgetdom! Keith Way had 2 roundabouts, one of them hand cranked. There was also the Boxers from a 1930s Meccano Magazine, a Foster Showman’s engine and a Konkoly Rope Climber. Janet Way showed the ever growing collection of small set models and Stephen Way had an approx. 18” high model of WALL-E. This featured a novel track design.

Back to the Fairground theme; Tom Lewis had a funfair comprising an Old Ferris Wheel, Steam Gallopers, Twin Rotors, Rotating Swings and a Showman’s engine.

Bob Seaton had a Mid Red & Green Merry-Go-Round with 2 X 4 rise and fall mechanisms. He also had a Meccanograph based on the 1978 No. 6 Outfit model. Anne Seaton had a multi-coloured Ferris wheel Kit, a set of 4 Robots and a variety of single model kits. Hugh Nicolson had a Steam Yacht, above. with a steam engine and fairground music (from a CD). Len Ford had a Burrell Steam engine (MP 100), an Avery Traction Engine, a Handloom, a Mini Spykee, a Mini Vox and a Red/Green Set 6 from about 1933. Leslie Mitchell was seen building a small Pleasure Cruiser. Trevor and Tom Shackleton had a range of models including a Dinosaur, an Excavator, Steam Loco, Biplane and the Crazy Inventors Walking Boat.

Sid Beckett’s “Countryman” Steam engine was seen running along the floor to the delight of onlookers. He also showed 2 sets of swinging chairs. Keith Patey’s offering was the Ten Set Bottom Dump Truck which has been extensively altered and simplified in order to be more robust. Fred Light & Vanessa Davidson offered us the Harrison No 1 Clock, the first pendulum clock able to work on ships. Rob Mitchell showed the Frontage of Chatsworth House, above, his re-built Ball Roller and a lovely Kiddy Train, below. John Nuttall has built SML 33A Double Flyboats in original Dark Red and Green.

Friday 4th May 2012–(Set up) 11.00am to 4.30pm Saturday, 5th May 2012 Sunday, 6th May 2012 Monday, 7th May 2012 www.tims.org.uk

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The International Meccanoman Number 63 The late Les Gines believed in showing simple models that children could play with and under-stand. His display of 8 fairground models is being kept by Mary Linder and had been refurbished by Keith Way.

Dave Phillips’ model was a Showmans Traction e n g i n e complete with Living Van and Water Bowser. All 3 units featured a lot of detail. Tony Clapperton also showed a Showmans, this time a Burrell Road Loco (just seen left) which was set up as a Crane engine and was in generating configuration. T ony had to admit to a pile of brass dust on the table-cloth!

Roger Burton kept to the Fairground theme with a Helicopter Patrol based on a 1950s no 7 model but with a robust drive train. He also showed the Drop Stamp model from CQ no 5. Stephen Lacey had a GNR Steam Railcar of 1907. It is a loco with attached railcar and the model is driven by a Crane motor.

Terry Wilkes had a Set 9 Articulated lorry with improved hydraulics. No Meccanuity report can be complete without mentioning Chris Shute. We had another glimpse of his prize-winning Wem Treacle Mine as well as a new model, Mystic Mec who claimed to tell your fortune. I tried my hand but it hasn’t come true yet! As usual Chris’ model was complete with complex sequencing mechanisms all made from standard Meccano parts.

Max & Hilary Morris had 3 Fairground models; a Ferris wheel (MM Dec 1957), a Carousel which gave Junior Meccano figures a ride and an Octopus Ride with 8 two-seater cars spinning at the end of each arm. Pete Evans showed a fine Model of Trevithick’s Pen y Darren locomotive. Mark Bridle has modelled a Hitachi Mining Backhoe excavator. It is fully operational and Radio Controlled.

The Meccanuity Challenge 2011 Finally, the Meccanuity Challenge. Competitors were required to devise a machine capable of firing ping-pong balls at a target comprising various Meccano rings.. There were worthy challenges from ‘”uick-draw” Les Nightingale (below), T ony Evanson, Keith Way and Chris Harris. Not even Mystic Mec could have predicted a disappointing performance from Chairman Chris Shute’s medieval catapult. In the end it was Rob Mitchell’s Fast Loading Automatic Ping Pong Ejector (F.L.A.P.P.E.r) that was the convincing winner of the gold cup, leaving the volunteer ball-boys and girl exhausted and the public bewildered! So, that’s another Meccanuity exhibition successfully completed. Many members provided fuller details of their models, which can be examined in the Club’s scrap-book. There should also be pictures on the website in due course, along with details

of next year’s challenge. John Evans

Many thanks to Enginuity’s staff and to all those who helped make the weekend such a success. In particular, our catering team of Angela, Beth, Joan, Sianne and Valerie, who, together with our President, Mary, did a fantastic job, keeping us all sustained. Hope to see you all next year!

Chairman

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The International Meccanoman Number 63

Reports from a variety of exhibitions around the world

eople have been trekking to Skegness in Lincolnshire for the first weekend in July for over a quarter of a century to attend what is now the UK’s biggest exhibition of Meccano models. Organised by a willing band of volunteers from the NMMG this premier event draws people from many British and foreign clubs. As always children are especially welcome and Wendy Miller devotes herself to looking after their Meccano interests.

John Ozyer-Key’s Kato Mobile Crane

This year Meccano’s latest products were on display during the exhibition, and as always there were prizes for the top 5 models, voted for by all the exhibitors, with the “Issigonis Shield” being awarded to the modeller in first place. This year once again exhibitors, traders and fans turned up from all over the UK and beyond to support this very special event. Some arrangements and layouts had changed, but not the usual great atmosphere.

in fitting in so many wonderful models It is never easy to judge between such a variety of skill and ingenuity, but at the end of the weekend, the prize results for the 2011 Issigonis Shield were: 1st: John Ozyer-Key - Kato Mobile Crane 2nd : Ken Senar - Westland Wessex Helicopter 3rd : Bob Seaton - LMS Beyer Garret Loco

Bob Seaton’s Beyer Garret Loco

4th : Chris Shute - “Mystic Mec” 5th : Dennis Remnant Dornier Flying Boat

Despite all the attractions outside the hall, crowds continued to come in throughout the weekend to see a magnificent collection of models. The stewards did their usual great job

For most of its history Skegex was driven by the enthusiasm of Mike Cotterill, but sadly it was soon after the last show that Mike was taken ill with a stroke. He has made some recovery since then, but remains in poor health. As a result others have stepped up to the crease, not least Mike’s wife Marion, to ensure that this great show continues. Geoff Brown, NMMG chairman, said after this year’s efforts: “It is for others to say what sort of a show it was. I will simply

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The International Meccanoman Number 63 remark that, despite Mike's retirement from the fray of making it happen, 'The show will go on'. In case you missed the dates, book Fri - Sun 6-8 July 2012 now. I myself am more grateful to Marion Cotterill than words can express for her work, seen and unseen. With the goodwill of our club, she and I (unless there is a rush of volunteers) will be doing our best for you again!

Dennis Remnantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dornier Flying Boat

The view from the stage

Thanks to Greg Webb for these photographs. Find more at www.nmmg.org.uk/skegex or at http://www.flickr.com/photos/gregwebbphotographer/sets/72157627101240060/with/5931444379

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The International Meccanoman Number 63

Guy Kindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s latest tractor

Just a taste of some of the fantastic models on show in Skegness this year at the annual SkegEx show

Rowan Joachim has been working on her late fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s remarkable Chinook helicopter

More militaria from MacDonald, of course!

John

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SBMC

We don’t have a “Meet the Meccanoman feature in this edition, but what we lack in depth we make up for in width here! The UK’s South Birmingham Meccano Club regularly send out not only a small newsletter but also a CD of photos taken at the previous meeting. Among those on the last edition was this group portrait of the SBMC, a distinguished band! Back row: Chris Shute, Steven Twinberrow, Keith Way, Dave Phillips, Giles Smith, Colin Goodman, Christopher Bond, John Palmer, Dennis Backler. Middle Row: Terry Bullingham, Alan Covel, Sid Beckett, Ken North, Bob Latten, Mike Hooper, John Sleaford, Mary Latten. Front row: Bob Thompson, Jim Gamble, Tony Wakefield. SBMC members certainly build to a range of sizes contrast this intricate miniature of a twin cylinder steam engine with a towering model of an aqueduct. The engine is Terry Bullingham’s design and is intended for use in a Blocksetting Crane. The only non-standard parts are the two cylinders, each produced on a lathe. The aqueduct, by Ken North, is a model of Thomas Telford’s Pontcysyllte aqueduct that was built to carry the Llangollen canal over the River Dee. Two of the eighteen cast-iron arches are modelled, at a scale of approximately 1:32. Each arch contains four layers of Flanged Sector Plates, arranged in a similar pattern to the original ironwork. We are told it even feature a slow-moving barge running along the top!

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The Golden Spanner Award 2011 The Jury of the Golden Spanner Award 2011 has the honour to announce that the Golden Spanner Award for 2011 has been conferred on Rolando Piazzoli Rolando was nominated for the Award by Gruppo Amatori Modellismo Meccanico (GAMM). The Jury selected Rolando as Golden Spanner Laureate from a number of nominations from clubs throughout the world. The Piazzoli family has its origins in the north of Italy, just a few miles from the Swiss border on Lake Como. Tradition had it that the men in the Piazzoli family became civil engineers in the building-contractor line and, to avoid crowding each other out in their line of business, some would move north to Switzerland, others would settle in and around Milan. Rolando’s father was a civil engineer too, but broke with the family tradition so far as to move to Sicily, where a recent earthquake had destroyed the town of Messina, just across the Straits that separate Sicily from the toe of Italy. Thus it was that Rolando was born in Messina, on 20 October 1925. But, with the rebuilding of Messina nearing completion, the family soon moved back to Milan, where he went to school. He recalls that the emphasis in those days was more on Latin and Greek than on the physical sciences— but his father’s construction-yards gave him the opportunity to get hands-on experience in the family’s building tradition. At the age of 5, he was given a small Trix outfit, whose sinuous perforated hook particularly attracted him — though he needed his engineer-grandfather to explain to him that a crane needs four columns to stand upright instead of the two columns of his first design. Thus he got hooked, almost literally, on metal construction sets, and his parents were only too pleased to encourage him in the Piazzoli engineering tradition by giving him a 00 set, followed naturally by the succession of sets that took him to a Meccano 5a, together with a No.1 car outfit, a Märklin Elex, a Hornby train and the collection of spares that we all love to accumulate. However, Rolando’s grand passion was none of these, but a No.1 Kemex chemistry set, which so enthralled him that, by

the age of 10, he was able to make sense of chemical equations. A family friend, Alexander Bell from London (whom Rolando remembers to this day with affection and gratitude) ran a chemical laboratory next door, and saw to it that Rolando was kept supplied with the most exotic chemicals. Thus it was that, at the age of 12, he secretly decided to break with the Piazzoli tradition and specialize in — chemistry! Not that he forgot his Meccano. He used every spare minute to build, inspired in the main by the SuperModel Leaflets — a difficult undertaking, considering that his collection was no more than a 5a outfit and miscellaneous spares. Then came University, and the serious study of Chemistry. That, and the distractions of socializing, sports, climbing, and biking, rather got in the way of Meccano. (Does this sound a familiar story?) And equally distracting was his developing interest in…development, of the photographic kind. His sure touch as a chemist enabled him to score some remarkable successes in the processing of Agfacolor and Kodachrome colour films, which was considered a difficult undertaking for an amateur in those days. He also began taking a serious interest in the breeding of tropical fish, a preoccupation that took him on a six-month scientific expedition to West Africa to study the freshwater fauna. It was time then to settle down to domestic life. This he did in Milan, marrying a brilliant New Yorker who introduced him to an international society of artists, painters, poets and architects — and also bore him a daughter. His life of teaching and research took a different direction when he received a job-offer from a large international company — one of those offers you can’t refuse — and so he found himself doing business in all the countries of Western Europe, and in many major cities of the USA. (His extensive travelling has enabled Rolando to acquire a fluency in English, French, Spanish, including a command of local argot that is as startling as it is unexpected.) Eventually he struck out on his own and, for more than 30 years, ran his own business in paper and related products. He never entirely neglected his Meccano, but it wasn’t until the late 1980s that he came across anyone else in the adult Meccano world. One year, at the Milan Toy Fair, he encountered a dozen other like-minded Meccanoman and together they decided to found a Meccano Club and publish a bulletin. This venture became the famous Gruppo Amatori Modellismo Meccanico (GAMM), whose first President was Giuseppe “Pino” Servetti. Rolando was its first Executive

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Secretary, and in due course became GAMM’s President. Rolando has always been a very active member of GAMM — in the figurative sense of organizing and leading, and in the physical sense too: your correspondent well remembers arriving at the GAMM stand at the famous Novegro Exposition near Milan to find Rolando straddled on a lighting-gantry about three metres above ground-level while making some electrical adjustments (he was about 75 at the time). The Novegro Exposition is just one of the many exhibitions of which Rolando has been an enthusiastic supporter, and he has been influential in persuading his fellow GAMM members to join him in mounting exhibitions at events such as Scienza Genova, Bergamo Scienza, and Festival Matematica in Rome at which, typically, GAMM has been able to mount a display of 26 different models of clocks built by 11 GAMM members. Rolando is also a keen participant in Meccano activities outside Italy, and has travelled to Switzerland, Catalonia and England to admire and to exhibit. Over the years he has been a member of a number of clubs: the French club CAM, the North Midlands Meccano Guild in northern England and Runnymede in the south, Club Meccano de Catalunya, the Swiss club AMS, Meccano Gilde Nederland — and of course ISM, to whose Committee he gave valuable service as a Committee member for a number of years. Characteristically, when it comes to building models, Rolando’s tendency is to choose models that will attract public attention at exhibitions — particularly the attention of younger people — in the hope of promoting awareness of Meccano and of attracting new recruits to GAMM. His popular successes have included a 1:20 Crocodile locomotive, London’s Tower Bridge, a labyrinth, a cable-making machine and several of the devices envisaged by his fellow countryman and (dare we say?) comparable genius Leonardo da Vinci. It is no wonder, then, that GAMM President Max Ferranti and his Committee proposed Rolando for the Golden Spanner Award, to be made “…to a Meccanoman in recognition of his or her outstanding contribution and activity in promoting Meccano as a hobby on a local or national or international level; encouraging the construction of Meccano models which entertain and amuse audiences of all ages…” Rolando Piazzoli is the eleventh Laureate in an outstanding series of Meccanomen who have accepted the Golden Spanner Award, and we offer him our hearty congratulations. The first part of this article appeared in the Meet the Meccanoman series in International Meccanoman 42, May 2004; it has been updated by the inclusion of information supplied by GAMM as part of the nomination of Rolando for the Award.

Kees Trommel (ISM259) Holland Adrian Williams (ISM127 – Secretary to the Jury) England

nother item from the Meccano Society of Scotland: they point out that for some time every Meccano Magazine that was ever published has been available as a download from the internet. The relevant URL is htt://pdfmm.free.fr/ The downloads are in pdf format and are therefore quite easy to A typical MM cover - this one can be found at http://meccano.magazines.free.fr/img/1929/2903/2903_fc1.jpg

print off if you want to. The best way of making use of this excellent resource is to consult the index so painstakingly put together by Tim Edwards which can be accessed on www.meccanoindex.co.uk . This allows you to put in any words of interest and produces ALL the articles with those words in the title from seventy odd years of the MM. Instead of printing off the whole magazine you can then print only the pages that are of interest. A word of warning, however. What you are getting is a facsimile of the original publication. If you therefore download instructions for building a model the reproduction of the photographs is poor but generally not that much more difficult to follow than the manuals of the Meccano heyday.

The site itself says, “If you want to get all the issues here, please consider purchasing the DVD set from Meccano The members of the Golden Spanner Award Jury 2011 were: Worldwide Mail Order. Not only will this save you André Welti (ISM94 – Chairman, and Donor of the Award) downloading the entire collection, the DVDs also include very comprehensive indices and far easier navigation.” Switzerland Gilles Lebret (ISM96) Reunion Howard Somerville (ISM202) England

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e do get some odd requests! Recently one of our officers was asked by a BBC researcher if we could supply three back numbers of our magazine to the satirical news show, “Have I Got News For You!” Each week this show features an unusual magazine as guest publication, and headlines are taken from this with some words obscured which panellists are expected to guess. Recognising that even though we were likely to be lined up alongside “Snail-fanciers’ monthly” we calculated that any publicity is good, so our Registrar duly sent off some copies. We are still waiting for any mention on the show - perhaps we are not that weird after all!

have been what they wanted. But a later message tells us that they have decided to go for Meccano after all (hooray!) and asked again for possible suppliers. We provided some more suggestions, and await further news with interest!

are getting on in years and do not now enjoy the best of health: John has glaucoma and so no longer drives. Nevertheless he maintains an active interest in our activities and sends warm greetings. He also writes: “John Westwood, who originated this magazine and produced it single-handed for eleven years, writes how grateful he was when Paul Joachim offered to take over. Another successful eleven years! Their third successor will be welcome, without having to promise a third eleven years or more! “ (Amen to that - Acting Ed.)

We send greetings on behalf of us all to those members who celebrate large “three-score plus” birthdays - among these since last time was Dave Thom of Australia who wrote back to say, “I am happy to support Meccano especially in Sydney,Australia, where it is very much alive. Regards, Under the heading of “Snippets”, this Dave Thom” note was found in the ISM files from Ian Elwell-Smith (ISM 965) of Gosport, Many of us will have been sad to learn hants: “4BA Washers - Although too via Spanner of the sudden passing of small a hole at 3.9mm (compared with Bruce Neilson (ISM 411), long-time 4.3mm for a Mecano Washer) they do editor of the NZ magazine, and another make nice neat washers on Meccano remarkable figure in the world of Bolts with an overall diameter of around Meccano. He had suffered a major 7.5mm and a thickness of almost half stroke some 3 years ago but was only 73 that of a Meccano Washer. They are and will be sorely missed. Bruce was very available in steel, stainless steel or brass helpful to anyone interested in Meccano and are available from various model and his contribution as editor of the NZ engineering suppliers.” was truly fantastic. He formed a great editorial team with Bruce Geange and John Ince. Bruce was one of those who Dear Chairman, toiled tirelessly, often in the background, For ISM the loss of Paul JOACHIM is to help and further our hobby. He was enormous. You made an impressive unstinting in his help towards others, IM62 in his memory. Thanks for your and in addition to his contribution as attention and I hope a new editor will Editor to the NZFMM Magazine over come for IM Yours sincerely very many years, he also compiled his Freark DIJK. two-volume index of Meccano literature from 1913 to 1991, a work of monumental scholarship. As Chris Thank you to Freark! A motor mounting Bourne commented, “Bruce's suggstion can be found from him in our contribution to the hobby has been MBT feature. immense, his name respected far beyond the circle of his friends and We welcome letters, but colleagues in New Zealand.” reserve the right to shorten them. Of course, we do not necessarily endorse the It was good to hear from John views expressed here. Westwood, founding editor of this

Another unexpected letter came from the Nature Club of Pakistan advising us of their plans to involve young people in building Meccano models and mechanisms. They were having some problems getting Meccano and wondered if we could help. A couple of us made suggestions, but local trade difficulties meant this wasn’t going to work. A shame, really, as the next letter said, “Dear Philip Webb, I am very happy and obliged for your interest in our model building competition with Meccano sets. We will announce this competition in the 2nd week of this month and model building sessions with Meccano will start in last week of this month. After search we found that LEGO mechano sets are good for our competitions and we have written to this company to provide us 12 mechano sets. Philip, I would like to request you to award certificates of commendations/appreciations to the winners of our competitions, it will be great favour to us and it will encourage more students to join this programme.” Ow! I replied politely and with warmest good wishes on this good venture, but declined this generous offer. I doubt a Meccanoman’s judgement would really magazine. John and his wife Margaret

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The International Meccanoman Number 63 I am grateful to Bruce Ward, one of our regular contributors, for brining this to my attention.. Despite the fears of some and the appearance of some Club Meetings, young Meccano builders of real quality are still coming through! Ed.

- itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just for old men!

his day I received an email from one of my good friends, Graham Bennett, a New Zealand railway and engineering history specialist, which said, in part .."I have a DVD from the Waitara railway preservation society which shows a very large Meccano block setting crane, with a section of track extending over the job on which a trolley ran along carrying the blocks.."

engineer to build a model based on information in same, I was overcome with a deep sense of spiritual warmth through his signal recognition of the value of my writings.

Given the small outline drawing provided I find it more than considerably amazing that Roman accurately interpreted such esoteric details as the vertical boiler-water lift pump, and longitudinal drive to the travelling load "crab" (which Following this up via the internet (which, like the home last in the original was a square-shaft; unlikely in Meccano: computer, fortuitously came into being for the sole purpose I cannot detect a keyway or other means of sliding the of permitting myself alone to conduct engineering historical pick-up pinion, thus some other mechanism is at work here). research, most particularly into the steam crane, and later assist in larger and more creative publishing endeavours) I While no longer a Meccano modeller (having last touched the giant collection assembled for my son, then aged five, in found the photographs attached (copyright Gary Higgins). 1986) I well recall a feeling of boyhood pride and These were taken at the New Zealand Federation of achievement on being awarded a prize at the Vogeltown Meccano Modellers 2011 convention, held by the MWT (New Plymouth) primary-school for a Floating Crane of my Meccano Club, where First Prize in the Junior Section had own design, when aged about nine. been won by Roman Johnston, Year 11*, for his model of the I trust that Roman was similarly affected, and note (without 1867/69 Manora (Karachi) Block Setting Crane. demeaning him with "meaningless platitudes") that his This model was clearly based on one of my little "papers" interpretation is quite incredible; an outstandingly well(published by that lovable, enigmatic, universal maestro, Paul executed rendition ! Joachim, now gracing the great technical reference library in the sky) as evidenced with a page there-from displayed in He has carried the "Pinyon Blocksetter Tradition" to new and original heights, his being the only known model of the first front of the model. crane to carry the term "Titan" - the first iron-built steamOver the years I must have sent out thousands of historical powered travelling block-setter - and the first to use the communications, speculations and diatribes to industrial- "inclined bond" when placing blocks; an innovation which engineering historians, steam-crane aficionados, and world Roman also faithfully represented ! mechanical cognoscenti. Bruce Ward On no more than ten occasions have I received positive feedback, assuming that whatever I write is largely ignored, 17 July 2011, Sydney Australia or sent unread to the trash-bin ! (* that makes Roman 15-16 yrs old.) Thus finding the above "paper" had inspired a young

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his being our AGM edition, we include here our accounts for last year. You will note that we made quite a loss, and clearly we can’t keep that up. Running without colour helps the balance sheet, as would more members! We will need to consider a range of options - other than increasing subs, which we will try to avoid this year.

The International Society of Meccanomen Accounts for the year to 31st December 2010 As presented to the AGM of the ISM, September 3rd 2011 Income and Expenditure Account

2010 £

Subscriptions for the current year Subscriptions for future years Sale of badges Gross interest Royalties Total Income Less Expenditure Printing of IM & year book Office expenses and credit card charges IM dispatch Website rental expenses Miscellaneous

£ 7,017 20 70 2 531 7,640

5,288 831 2,639 130 550

2009 £

5,346 739 2,547 650 9,438 £ (1,798) ======

Excess of expenditure over income

£ 7,031 95 5 410 7,541

9,282 £ (1,741) =====

Balance Sheet as at 31st December 2010 Current Assets - Bank - Balance with MWMail Order

Represented by: Capital account - balance brought forward - Michael Adler Founders Prize - (deficit)/surplus for the year Total

7,653. 53 £7,706 ======

9,424 100 £ 9,524 =====

9,079 425 (1,798) £7,706 =====

10,820 445 (1,741) £ 9,524 =====

Note to the accounts: 1. This year I have again shown all receipts without reference to the year in which they have been received except for those paid in advance. 2. There was an expense against the Founders Prize of £20 this year.

31st March 2011

Nick Campling: Hon Treasurer

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ollowing on from our accounts, it seems appropriate that back in August a discussion erupted on “Spanner” (as these things sometimes do) about the merits and demerits of Meccano club magazines being published electronically rather than on paper. Finance is very much a part of this discussions, but predictably most contributors dropped into traditionalist v modernist camps. Personally I love the feel of paper productions when they are done well, and I have a sneaking feeling that the old tradition of communicating by means of marks printed or carved onto a 2D surface is likely to be around for a very long time to come. My own profession has its roots in documents from two thousand or more years ago, and (given fluency in the languages) they can still be read today using the same bio-technology that was in use when they were created. My reel-to-reel tapes and vinyl records on the other hand are increasingly difficult to access! But - ! We need to keep some things in perspective. I doubt the various magazines to which I have contributed will be studied avidly in 2000 years’ time – they are essentially ephemeral. And with shelves groaning under the weight of accumulated Meccano Magazines, Club Magazines and associated books, I am beginning to run out of space, not to mention the ability to remember where a particular picture, article or reference might be found. Clearly a number of you are facing the same problem! Adrian Browne (Lincs UK) has used computers at work for decades and admits to having a full set of electronic copies of all the Meccano magazines among other Meccano publications. He said, “If I had to keep them in paper format then my study/Meccano room would be overflowing far worse than it is already and there would be less room for actual Meccano parts!”

Online resources such as http://meccano.magazines.free.fr/ and http://www.meccanoindex.co.uk/ are a boon to the researcher, if not the collector, for as Dave Taylor pointed out, look at what's happened to S/H values of MMs now they are free on the internet. Of course, getting one’s reading material electronically doesn’t make it free. Everything has a cost. The only question is whether or not it is passed on to others. Charles Steadman from New Zealand commented, “I don't sit here writing the nzmeccano website counting hours and charging out time whether paid or not, and neither do most freeware authors I suspect. This is a hobby, not a business.” And that is the distinction – many of us give gladly of hour after hour of our time knowing that if some people benefit from our labour, so, often do we from the skills of others. However, Charles continued, “The difficulty for Meccano magazine publishers is that they start from the premise that the actual cost of printing a magazine is rightly offset by the subscriptions paid for it. Moving to a PDF model (whether alongside printed production or not) removes the justification for charging for it, and for some people there is a mental block about the concept of providing something without charge. But if the justification for the charge in the first place was a cost that has been removed, where's the new justification? ” Arup Dasgupta was another writer confessing to running out of physical storage space. He wrote, “Yes, yes, I know there are many who prefer print but can we not also have the electronic form for those who want it? Philip, can we make a start with the IM?” But Adrian Browne noted another factor: small print runs can lead to higher print costs, so paper-subscribers

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would see an increase in their charges – unless of course there was a (smaller) charge for the electronic version. This is the equation faced by publishers of ebooks anywhere. John Stark, (Nelson, NZ) sympathises with Arup. “If done properly, the photos in electronic versions can often be printed out at much larger size than would be the case for a printed magazine and invariably in full colour (very handy for seeing that fine detail of the inner workings of a model). I subscribe to several science journals in PDF form - not only because it is cheaper but also because hard drive capacity is much cheaper than shelf space and the resulting reference collection is easily accessed and transportable too (on my laptop hard drive). There really is no reason now that I can think of why most Meccano club (and other) publications could not be produced in PDF form (as well as printed for those that want it) and be made available more cheaply than printed versions. Once a PDF is created, it is money for jam as far as the publisher is concerned and an easy way to boost circulation and profit at negligible cost. I'd have thought it was a no-brainer. Also, it saves trees!” Dave Taylor was rightly concerned, like others, about copyright and financial issues. “Once something is available on the internet or even in electronic form it effectively becomes free to everybody,” he says. True, but that is not new. People have been photocopying and even re-selling copied Meccano leaflets and manuals for years! As Dave observes, though, “When that happens there's no chance of the author(s) or publishers gaining the remuneration / cover price that is rightfully theirs and the ultimate result is nobody can earn a living by writing anymore, so books and other material cease to be published.”

The International Meccanoman Number 63

I sympathise. I have worked hard on a number of publications published by MW(MO) over the years, some of which I have received royalties for. That small income helps to buy new Meccano which sometimes leads to new models and new model-plans. To see publications like these copied and redistributed by others (who presumably make something out of it themselves) without paying any attendant royalty is certainly demotivating. But – we are talking here about Club Magazines which are generally not sold – they come as one of the privileges of membership of that Club. The income generated by these subscriptions pays not only for the magazine but for the overall running costs of the Club such as the hire of meeting rooms, etc. So, if a club cannot get membership subscriptions from those who only join for the newsletters/journals etc, will they be able to survive? John Stark’s view is that producing magazines in PDF form need not be a financial disaster for the authors/publishers. “Most newspapers and many magazines have free internet content and yet many people still subscribe to the printed copies. Surely, the publishers wouldn't put the free content on the net if it killed subscriptions to printed copies. Electronic copies can be emailed out to subscribers or made available for download with a password specific to individual subscribers. Scientific journals do this all the time with quite sophisticated systems: all it really takes is a secure website with password access for paid-up subscribers (with a new password each time a sub is renewed). Remember that publishers of PDFs don't have the large printing and postage costs, so they don't need to charge as much. They may, in fact, make more profit - much like Toyota compared with Rolls Royce - more people may subscribe because it's cheaper.” Dave Taylor feared that editors/ authors in this hobby don’t have the time, knowledge or inclination to set up such sophisticated systems to sell electroni-

cally and that most recipients don’t have the knowledge or simply don’t like these systems and won't bother with them. But wouldn’t we have said much the same a decade ago about Club Websites? Yet most have by now found a member who freely and gladly runs a site for them, some being very sophisticated indeed. E-commerce features are no longer that difficult to include. Stan Baker wrote in to say that he gave up on one subscription to an excellent magazine when his magazine arrived wet and damaged. At ISM we regularly have people writing in to complain that their magazine has not arrived. We duly apologise and send them another one at our cost – even though sometimes we find that they have subsequently found their original version unopened in a pile of other mail! Electronic distribution would remove that wastage and the possibility of damage. Stan added “I, like John and Arup, subscribe to far more electronic copies of magazines than paper and will guarantee that I for one would immediately re-subscribe if it were available in PDF form. I would also buy PDF back numbers that I want if they were available. I know of others who have told me the same without even canvassing the idea. “My strong belief is that if you offered pdf copies as well as a paper one then your circulation would increase dramatically, your costs would come down, your profits would rise and the number of people ripping you off by sharing your PDF versions would be little different from those borrowing other subscribers’ copies. Actually I doubt that the number of people reading the magazine would change too much, but the proportion having their own copy and paying you for that would go up dramatically. Like John I would also prefer to get my ISM mag electronically.” Charles Steadman of New Zealand returned to the discussion, saying, “Consider the electronic equivalent of a magazine, such as Ralph's excellent and often-updated website, Melvyn Wright's specialist website, and (dare I

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say it) even nzmeccano. I don't see any issues that anyone has about these websites being viewed by anyone. We have to start asking whether we're doing it for the money or not, and if we're not why would we charge for anything anyway? Obviously a printed copy of a magazine costs money to produce, but a PDF or website doesn't. I don't agree at all that "if a club cannot get membership subscriptions from those who only join for the newsletters/journals etc, they will no longer be able to survive". NZmeccano survives perfectly well without subscriptions. So does the Spanner list. The Christchurch Meccano Club voted unanimously to agree that subscription costs for the members should be calculated to precisely cover the cost of the supper provided and the room hire, and nothing else. The clubs and groups exist to share information about Meccano, not to make a profit, surely? Whether or not there is a paper publication, what harm or financial loss is caused to the club or its members by publishing the newsletter electronically without charge?” Chris Bourne, WLMS Newsletter Editor, concedes that most Meccano editors probably think about this from time to time. He says, “In general, the impression I get from our WLMS members is that they prefer something that arrives in the post but if there was a strong move towards having a PDF-based newsletter I would certainly consider it. I do think it should come from the members, though, and not be foisted upon them. The obligation of club officials is always to the people who voted them in, and not to anybody else.” And so it is. So what do you think, as a subscriber to IM? John Stark said “Our own NZFMM magazine would, in my view, be improved as a PDF because I think the printing occasionally leaves a little to be desired and, again, the option of printing some photos larger would be useful.

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However, it's great value for money so there's not a lot to complain about. The other advantage of PDFs is that they can be delivered to subscribers via email within minutes of production, saving postage and packing, and time. I may have missed it, but as far as I can see, nobody who has expressed a preference (not a 'MUST HAVE') for subscribing to electronic versions of Meccano publications has suggested that printed versions should no longer be produced. I expect that printed publications will continue to be produced well beyond my lifetime, so you'll still be able to subscribe to whatever you choose for as long as you are able:-) The point is that there would likely be more subscribers if electronic versions were ALSO available. There are several club magazines that I would subscribe to if they were in PDF form - and others have said the same. Printing and postage costs make getting more than one or two publications from the other side of the world prohibitively expensive. Selling additional PDF copies is almost pure profit for the publisher. Frankly, I think clubs that do produce paper-only versions of their magazines should consider discussing at their club meetings whether they could also produce electronic versions. That's my opinion, and I'm not saying they have to. If they don't want to. The NZFMM magazine will be available in PDF form next year and I already get the JMH newsletter electronically (as well as CQ and IM in printed form). Like Arup, I too would welcome subscription forms from various other Meccano publications once they become available as PDFs. Nick Rodgers did a straw poll of his members and suggests that almost all members of the RMG are happy with the printed version of their magazine. I understand that many of them do not have computers, so they at least would not opt for getting their favourite mag in PDF form. It’s possible that many of them might not even understand the technology or the advantages it can provide. I'm just suggesting that if you ask

people if they want something and they don't really know what it is, they are bound to say no. An informed choice can often result in a different outcome. Most people as they age become more and more resistant to change. I am getting older and have more than my fair share of conservative attitudes and an unwillingness to change - but perhaps less so when it comes to technology. There are legitimate pros and cons for paper vs electronic publications. But there are also reasons given (mainly by those who prefer print) that are not based on fact - like the notion that text on electronic devices is always too small and hard to read, or that they are always too difficult to operate, or that anyone is being forced to use them. The pro-PDF camp are not advocating that printed publications should be abandoned - only that it would be wonderful if the PDF option could be provided as well. It's about alternatives and choice. If you prefer print and don't want to read a PDF that's great, but if it's possible to provide for those who'd prefer the alternative, why not?”

Keep up the good work. Meccano needs forward thinking people like you.”

Where does this leave us? In ISM we have some subscribers who are not on email, but around 2/3 are. Our costs are not based around meetings, but almost entirely around the printing and distribution of this magazine and the members’ handbook. Postal costs, especially to an international market like ours, are huge. If we include colour even on just a few pages the cost of the magazine soars by almost 30%. A colour pdf is no more expensive than black and white! With hyperlinks pictures can be made larger, and one is no longer reliant on the vagaries of a particular print run. Even video could be included! We have to recognise that ISM still needs some income like all groups to cover its running costs but take out even some of the production and postage costs we currently face and these are drastically reduced. We continue to gain new subscribers, but overall ISM membership has been decreasing as people die or do not renew. If we are to survive as a society for many more years we will have to consider some radical options Peter Bridge summed up that posi- the status quo is never an option. tion, saying, “I can't understand why so Just as a test, I have already put our many oppose the idea of electronic magazines. It would be interesting to last edition on line. Go to know how many recipients of a paper http://www.yudu.com and search for magazine would cease their member- “Meccano”. This sort of on-line storage ship of a club if a free electronic version means that one can read online without was available. How many of those actu- downloading, but printing remains an ally attend meetings anyway or contrib- option. I have made this one freely availute to the running of same in anyway? able but we could equally make it subWhat would the effect be on mem- scription access only. bership if the many unpaid contributors So what do you think? were to offer their articles to a free website? Perhaps some of these magazines should wonder whether they may Philip Webb, acting editor. be killing off the golden goose. To me the answer to the electronic magazine argument is simple. To quote 'Field of Dreams' - 'Build it and they will come'. Sometimes you have to generate a demand by providing the product. The related discussions about e-readers proves that many Spanners have embraced them enthusiastically.

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The International Meccanoman Number 63

Snippets Aside from our regular feature on Windsor Demi made a fairly good Model-Building Technology we are attempt at that typeface, but it doesn't always interested in other odd snippets do the whole thing. See this from members. These came in from Ian Elwell-Smith, ISM 965. EXCAVATORS For those interested in “STEAM SHOVELS” the little booklet of the same name by PETER MANKTELOW is well worth having. Only 32 pages but having numerous photographs along with sketches showing the workings. At under £4.00 one cannot go wrong. Published by Shire Publications no 355 ISBN 0-7478-0483-4 Snippets A NEAT LITTLE ROLLER (BENDING) I recently purchased a small roller suitable for curving flexible plates and strips. It has a 3” wide aluminium structure with anodized aluminium rollers and steel stub shafts. Not running in bearings but with steel gearing. I have modified mine by raising it on a 1 1/2” thick wooden block. (1/4” holes already drilled) I also drilled and pinned the geared stub shafts. No make was given but it is obtainable from CHRONOS LTD price around £30.00 Tel:0 1582 471900 Web-site www.chronos.ltd.uk

An old Meccano font for DTP We occasionally hear of people looking to get a “Meccano feel” to their publications. Here is a small discovery about the old Meccano typeface that still for many of us conjures up a classic period. (There is of course no such thing as an official typeface - the classic logo was custom designed, but that isn’t to say we can’t get close to it with modern commercial fonts.) We've known for a good while that

MECCANo

A better result comes by mixing in Accord Heavy SF for the "A", and either "Verdict SF" (lower case, scaled up) or Windsor Demi (again, and also lower case, scaled up) for the slanted "O".

MECCANo If your DTP package allows you to separate out the font colour from its outline, you can even come up with a very decent outline font like this. —--------------------------------------------

Remember Pythagorus? If you can still remember your elementary geometry you may recall the principle of the “3,4,5” triangle that says that any right-angled triangle will have its sides in the ratio of 3:4:5. A recent “Spanner” contributor was puzzled as to why he couldn’t make this work in Meccano. Remember when you count the number of holes in a Meccano Strip or Girder that the first hole is hole zero! Thus you can brace a true right angle with a set of 4, 5 and 6 hole Strips or multiples of these figures, i.e., (nx(3+1)): (nx(4+1): (nx(5+1). That means that for n=2 the common 11-hole Strip forms a Pythagorean Triangle with a 7 hole and a 9 hole

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Strip. CAM, the French Club, consistently produce one of the best colour glossies of any club: Current edition 115 takes this idea to the limit with an article by Sylvain Muller. He draws up a large grid which shows all sorts of possibilities using Meccano Strips, some exact like a matching of 9, 16 and 18 holes (8²+15²=17²) and others which are almost exact and within the limits of bolt-slop, such as 15, 18, 23 (14² + 17² = 485, close to 22², 484. (root 485 is 22.02)

News from Meccano Ltd. The officers of the UK’s North Midlands Guild have built up a good relationship with the Company, and in a report on thier visit to the Toy Fair earlier in the year Geoff Brown writes: Multi-Models There will be a couple of changes to current sets. The 20 model has been revamped and is a much better set for a good sized starter metal set. The models are simpler and parts can all be seen. Super models include a crane / car / plane /fork lift etc. I will be recommending this one to parents. Again the 5 and 7 model sets have been similarly revamped and the Anniversary Crane set has become the 25 model set. Meccano were looking to remodel the 40/50 sets but time was against them this year. I suggested to Michael Ingberg that he throws it open to the Clubs to come up with models using these sets but instructions would have to be included and properly drawn! Other Models Many of the old favourites remain within the range but some may gradually disappear as they are replaced with others. The Meccano UK range can be viewed at their website www.meccanouk.co.uk

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Great Moments in Meccano History 14: Napoleon's Retreat from Skegness By Chris Bourne ISM704

apoleon's first attempt to win the Issigonis shield never got further than Trafalgar, where his application for parking facilities was refused. Undeterred, the Emperor returned in 1812 at the head of a large army of French and Belgian modellers, including an enormous baggage train commanded by Marshal Perrier. All did not go to plan. A combined force of Dutch and English models successfully swept the field, while General “Bert” Love, the “Iron Trunnion”, struck a medal to commemorate the occasion, which he wore to the celebration dinner. Defeated, and refused tickets for the dinner, Napoleon's army was hungry and dispirited. The roads out of Skegness were clogged with dealer's carts, sullen wives, unsold raffle tickets and an endless queue of Meccanomen all trying to get home before the pubs closed. Under these terrible conditions, Napoleon's army melted away. Monsieur Kind signed the treaty of Utrecht, while the Emperor abandoned his blue and gold parts on the A16, just north of Spalding.

The International Meccanoman

his journal was founded by John Westwood in 1988, the ISM by Dr Michael Adler in 1989. Our founders aimed to create the successor to Frank Hornby’s Meccano Guild, promoting international fellowship for all enthusiasts. The IM is published three times per year, in January, May and September. Press dates are the 15th of November, March and July. We follow the fortunes of anything to do with the World of Meccano, its licensees, representatives and rivals, and of all the clubs and societies in the world. Your contributions are always very welcome. Membership subscriptions £20.00 to: The Treasurer, ISM 495, Floradora Cottage, Maldon Road, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 5SI, UK

Printed by J W Longshaw & Co. 1a Disraeli Road, Park Royal, London NW10 7AX T 0208 965 6391

Submissions: The IM Chairman, 52 South Avenue, Chellaston, Derby DE73 6RS. E: chairman@internationalmeccanomen.org.uk T: +44 (0) 332 705 078