Who needs Evolution?

Following on from my post on Saturday, regarding the alternative model from the Evolution crane set HERE, Auckland Meccano guild's Les Megget contacted me to let me know he had build a real model of the box art crane, using non-Evolution series parts, similar to the VirtualMec model I published by Edmundo Veiga. Les writes " I made this from the Meccano website instructions before my evolution set arrived (early October).  Note that my version luffs to about twice the angle of Meccano's [Evolution] version."

Les Megget's clever non-Evolution crane truck

The crane truck built from the Evolution set does have a few problems, mainly with the instructions, but there are some building issues too that have been well documented here and generally around the Meccano on-line community. Now we have the Evolution set, maybe a fusion model using both traditional and Evolution parts would be an interesting proposition.

Copycat!

New Multimodel10 set dumper

We amused ourselves recently when Meccano announced the impending release of the new Multimodel 10 model set. We showed a model of a dumper truck. A nice looking model that we felt was a vast improvement over some of its predecessors.
Tony James wrote to us amused to see that he had produced a model of that dumper truck from the iconic original No.10 set and produced a model plan of the same. We made light of this and tongue-in-cheek suggested that Meccano had been looking at the Model Plan publications as inspiration, HERE.

looks familiar...

Once might be amusing but twice? Time to get the our people to talk to the your people, Mr. Meccano!

Yesterday, Tony contacted us again to point out that the alternative model from the Evolution Crane set has a strong resemblance to his Model Plan MP 159! Of course we immediately dismissed that as pure speculation as we only had his word for these allegations. Our reluctance to conceded that Meccano were indeed copying his work was squashed on receipt of the photographic evidence he sent to us.  The multiple image, supplied as evidence by Tony, can be seen to the left. You can click on the image to enlarge it.

As you can see, Tony was making models of  recovery trucks long before the evolution models were even a twinkling in the eye of the designers at Meccano. We are now wondering when Meccano will be making the yellow version of Postman Pat's van to go with their model. In his e-mail to us here at Laughton Towers, Tony says "I won't mention the telescopic jib crane etc."  So we won't either!

If you would like to see what Meccano will be producing over the coming years a full range of Tony's plans are available from MW Mail Order

Note to 'Your people'...

We are only joking... aren't we?

Ralph 

Building the Yellow Submarine

 

The finished submarine complete with stickers and Rabbid!

Yesterday His Nibs made a post talking about how useful this little set is (See HERE). I said nothing. My first hands on dealings with these sets was back in August, last year, when I found a few sets going cheap on Amazon. A few clicks later and I had my first Rabbids. You can see the story HERE and it continues HERE. I was surprised at how much traditional Meccano is included in these sets. Prior to that I had my suspicions these could be useful but did not get a chance to go any further. Last year (2013) at the London Toy Fair I noticed a new Rabbid Submarine but did not get to look at it because His Nibs had dismissed it as kid's stuff he was not in the slightest bit interested. I must admit, the Evolutions sets were taking my attention as well and I did not go back to look at the Rabbids at the time.

From the other side before the sticker patrol visited

Recently all the 'boys', including Ralph, have been going mad buying up the Evolution helicopter sets that were listed at a ridiculously low price by Pixmania. While looking at the offers Ralph noticed the Rabbid Yellow Submarine going cheap and ordered a couple that duly arrived  a few days later. I decided to build one of these sets. The box was in its French livery Set No 7253 The Lapins Cretins, Le sous-marin. On opening the box and looking at the contents, I noticed several new parts two nicely curved yellow parts (C951) used as parts of the subs main body, these I could immediately see other uses for as a long loco cab roof or the roof of a showman's engine or even a pay kiosk roof on fairground model. Shame it isn't red. It comes with two yellow plastic 'missile' launches (C945) and plastic ammo (C943). I suppose these are meant to be torpedos, thinking about it??  I had not noticed until Ralph mentioned it, some new small curved yellow metal strips (C667). The set contains a powerful pull back motor and various other building parts, in metal and plastic, that look to have potential.

Simple construction makes this set fun to build

The Rabbid socket!

For a change, the instruction manual for this set is refreshingly easy to follow with no glaringly obvious mistakes! There were no problems encountered in the build and all the parts were there. I still think the paint is a little too thick but I have seen worse. This is a good set, plenty of play value and a good kit for builders parts.

For the youngsters collecting Rabbids, there is another addition dressed in yellow bib & brace trousers with blue head gear printed with an anchor. All in all a very nice kit. To stop him rattling around and falling out, Meccano have included the must-have part for 2014 - the Rabbid socket. Now don't all rush at once!

Pull back motor - who wants a race?

Just as I was getting a soft spot for these daft sets it looks as if they will disappear. There were none to be seen at the Toy Fair I assume that will be the end of them. Oh well, we will see what happens over the coming months. Now all I have to do is get Ralph to build the other one and we can stage submarine races!

Sue

The Alternative Evolution - Part 4

Lots of 'play' value although a little flimsy

Roll-on roll-off recovery truck

It pains me to say it, but after waiting months for this set I was disappointed with the build experience and the Instructions. There, I've said it. I will point out the specifics as I go. To add balance, I must say, the problem is with the instructions not the parts. I have heard several complaints regarding badly finished off and missing parts. This was not the case for me.

For me, the major interest is the availability of a whole range of new parts that can be incorporated into our building stock. However, that is not the point. If Meccano are going to keep new customers, these models must be build-able straight out of the box. Anything less and the moment has gone, Meccano will not be on the shopping list again. I hate to think how many frustrated and disappointed kids there were around on Christmas day.

There is light at the end of this tunnel. The new owners of Meccano, who inherited all this from the previous owners, have told us they are going to look at this carefully and rectify these mistakes, in the existing manuals, as soon as possible. I would think that will probably be at the next available reprint. They are also going to look at improving the the resolution of the printing, so the black parts do not merge into a mass of black.

That's enough of that here is the build 

The first job is to download the alternative model instructions from the Meccano website. The same applies here, as with the other models we have built in this series, the download is easy and straightforward. The plans can be printed out, but it is far easier to follow them on the screen as they can be enlarged where necessary.

The bracket for the steering wheel is fitted upside down

The cab is built exactly the same as it is for the Crane Lorry and it is here where the problems occur. The position of bolts in the strapping have to be moved to enable them to be fitted.  Reference to the box-art shows the bolts in the correct position.  Building progresses until it is time to fit the seats. The steering wheel is in the way. Several solutions to this have been proffered on the various internet forums but in the end I simply turned the bracket upside down to get the wheel out of the way it is now tipped away from the driver position but I just want to get on with the build. I may well come back to this whole cab and see if I can figure out a better way of building it altogether. For now That will do for the steering wheel. All the fixings are straining the hole/bolt tolerance to the absolute limit. The, shall we say generous application of paint here does not help. There is a danger here of being a little too picky. After all, the paint has bee thick for a long time. It just seems thicker because the parts are smaller.

It is at this point the instructions go off into the realms of the impossible. Now Meccano are passing rods through solid metal, or so the instructions would have you believe. The rod that operates the steering via the lobed knob on the cab roof appears to pass through the edge of a standard width strip as can be seen is the section of instruction sheet reproduced here. At this point it seems logical for the rod to pass into the lower narrow strip. it is not until further down the assembly that it becomes evident that the rod is not long enough to do this and support the lobed knob and its fixing ring. In fact the rod is supposed to rest on the edge of the strip it appears to pass through and this is just an error in the drawing. It took me a while to work out what was going on, and that was after discussion with other builders through internet forums and lists.  I am sure this would have confused many a child of father trying to help.

It all works although it is a bit flimsy

Once I got past the cab the rest of the build was plain sailing. The instructions were reasonably clear from that point on, even though some of the order in which the build was progressed was a bit odd.   I know it doesn't seem like it, and although the build experience was not as good as it could be, I do like this set. For me it provides the start of a collection of new parts that I am sure are going to prove useful. The new ¼ inch geometry needs some working with to see the advantages. The use of standard nuts can be a problem in places and maybe hexagonal nuts might fit better, I will have to try that.

The scale of the model is pleasing.

This new concept of smaller models does work and I like the scale, but you don't have to use small parts to build small models as Edmundo Veiga proved with his VirtualMec rendition of a similar model based on the box art Evolution Crane.

Edmundo's version

Edmundo's version uses none of the Evolution parts as they were not available in the VirtualMEC library when he produced it, or at the time of this posting. I wonder is a combination of parts from the Evolution range and some of Edmundo's work-arounds, would make a more robust model...

CLICK! to go to part 5 >>>

Previous parts of this story:

Part 3 of Alternative Evolution can be found HERE

Part 2 of Alternative Evolution can be found HERE

Part 1 of Alternative Evolution can be found HERE

Ralph.

The Rabbids Yellow Submarine - Lots of good parts here...

All together now:    

      "In the town where I was born,
        Lived a man who sailed to sea,
        And he told us of his life,
        In the land of submarines...

Might look mad but lots of good parts here...

       ...We all live in a Rabbid submarine,
        a Rabbid submarine,
        a Rabbid submarine...."

Sorry, ignore me. I couldn't help myself... Hiding behind the silly exterior the Rabbids (or The Lapins Cretins if like us you have the French Packing) range of models actually contain a good quantity of what some might describe as real Meccano.

Look - Meccano!

This set is no exception, it has a couple of curved sections that are formed in heavy gauge metal (not flexible). There is also a 'new' dome that has plenty of fixing holes that I think will find plenty of uses elsewhere. New parts guru, Oscar Felgueiras, reminds me that this part was included in the Erector Landmark set depicting the US Capitol building. As this set was not sold outside the USA (as far as I know!), and I have only seen one example, I think it is reasonable to say it is new to the Meccano range! Apart from new parts there are several useful bits of more familiar Meccano including a hinge. In this particular set the yellow is not that far away from the Binns Road medium yellow of the 1960s and 70s. The set also includes the pull-back motor.

The new dome has plenty of fixing holes

Sue has built one of these - complete with a Rabid socket! (you will have to either buy one or wait for Sue's review to find out what that is!) Sue will post her review of the set soon. As there was no sign of the Rabbids at the Toy Fair, I suspect they may be short lived.  If you are interested in the Rabbids grab them while you can. I know there are some of you who have not even looked at these sets but this one is worth considering especially as there are some good deals around at the moment if you search the usual web sellers.

I haven't mentioned the missile launchers but if you do decide to build one you can have hours of fun with it while whistling that classic song...

Ralph.

North East London Meccano Club hit the big time!

 

There I was sitting at a South East London Meccano Club meeting and my co-committee member, Greg Clarke, of North East London Meccano Club wanders up to me and asks "Do you know anyone who can take a photograph of my model for me?" "...I might do" Greg goes on to explain that he is writing an article about his Kangaroo Crane. I offered my services and Greg hesitated for a bit and then pointed out that the photographs had to be good... A short exchange took place and Greg, rather reluctantly agreed to give me a try...

Greg brought the model over to us and we took a few shots. Not only will the article and pictures appear in CQ 104 but we made the front cover! The cover date is June 2014 and it will be on sale in April Copies available from Constructor Quarterly HQ That makes it a double whammy for NELMC - Model building and Photography make the front cover of CQ!

If you want to know more about NELMC you can visit our website HERE!

Ralph.

New for the Autumn - A Forest engine...

Lots more of the new Evolution parts here

The last of the new Evolution sets to be announced at the Toy Fair this year is the Forest engine. A modern piece of equipment used to handle logs. The model looks good in red and black and feels fairly robust in its finished form. The most noticeable features of this model are the new wheels and tyres. Packed with all sorts of working features this model model will provide hours of fun once it has been built.

New deep-flange wheels look good

For the Meccano nut this model will provide further stocks of the new parts. More of the mini-strips with the geared ends an a couple of angle girders, in black this time. I am looking forward to this, and the Rubber Duck, both are scheduled for release in the autumn. In the meantime the smaller Evolution sets we knew about before the Toy Fair (The Chopper Bike and the Mini Digger) should be available soon...

Ralph.

New Evolution models for autumn 2014

Rubber Duck!

Drive down any motorway and you are bound to see some sort of work going on. If it involves any amount of earthworks the chances are there will be wheeled excavators loading or moving spoil or aggregate around. These versatile machine have come to be known as 'Rubber Ducks'.

the 'Rubber Duck'

Producing sets that build models of the stuff we see around us today is exactly what we need to encourage the younger modeller. After all, that is what the old Meccano manuals did at the time they were first published. As with all the Evolution models, I think Meccano have missed a trick here. The manuals go straight into building the star attraction, there are no smaller models to cut your teeth on. It is all or nothing. The official line from the guys on the Meccano stand is that the idea is to work your way up from the smaller sets to the larger ones. Personally I truly believe this is a mistake. It is true that it is unlikely a novice will be presented with a £90 helicopter, but not impossible. However the middle of the range models are very likely to be given as gifts to kids with no experience whatsoever. Dad is also unlikely to have any experience with Meccano and as time goes on, even Grandad could have been out of the loop. The result is the model never gets built and moreover, Meccano is off the shopping list. I really do think that Meccano should look at including at least one, if not a small selection of, starter model instructions in each set.

From the front, shown here in the travelling mode with the scraper blade raised

I digress. Getting back to the Duck, it follows the colour scheme used for the Crane Truck which is a good thing - no point in using too many colours. Yellow and black parts are perfectly usable elsewhere. The model is fully featured giving lots of play value when built. From a parts point of view there is plenty here including two 'hydraulic' rams and lots more of the new parts that are so common in this range.

Another side view showing a bit more detail

I will post some pictures of the Evolution Forest Engine tomorrow...

Ralph.

James May's Motorbike makes an appearance at the London Toy Fair!

I have seen that before...

As I mentioned in the previous post, The James May Motorbike and sidecar was the focal point of the Spin Master stand at this year's London Toy Fair. I first saw it when it made an appearance at the Henley Gathering, on the 31st August last year, as it was returning from the Isle of Man where it had just made a circuit of the TT course, a day or so before. On the day it appeared at Henley it attracted a good crowd but standing in strong sunlight it was not easy to take good clear pictures.

Yesterday I was able to get up close without lots of people around and although only armed with a compact camera I managed to get a few more detail shots of the motor clusters.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them...

Road tax dated 28th August 2013. Just three days before we saw it at Henley!

The motor clusters, and...

...from the other side

A closer look at the motors

The chain sprockets and Meccano-made drive chain

More pictures of the bike can be seen HERE and video HERE.

Ralph.

The London Toy Fair 2014 - Wow!

The problem with going to the Toy Fair on press day is you have to avoid this lot trying to cuddle, high-five, kiss or generally chase you about! Mind you they are absolutly hillarious when trying to pass through a standard size door...

Run!

Late last year our favourite toy manufacturer was taken over by the huge Canadian toy company Spin Master. Little known to us in the UK, Spin Master is well known in the USA and Canada. With some good reason, Meccano nuts, world wide, were getting ready for bad news.

Having been assured that would not be the case, I was feeling a lot better. At last Meccano had the backing of a large multinational toy company with the time and the expertise to make it work. The question to ask from our point of view was, how? More strange, oblique, moves into such things as the Gears of war? The relentless pursuit of ‘B’ list franchise such as Tintin and Rabbids? Only time was going to tell.

This is the first thing you see when entering the Spin Mater stand

Anyone who was worried about Spin Master’s commitment to the brand can now rest easy in their beds. The stand revealed to The Press at the London Toy Fair today is fronted with huge Meccano presence. Meccano is obviously their flagship brand and they are proud of it! The stand presents its  hospitality area at the front with the James May IOM TT Motorbike in pride of place, for all to see, backed with very high quality graphics and prominent branding.

Now the good bit…

No new Gears of War, no new Rabbids. In fact no new ranges at all this year. This is hardly surprising given the time scale but there is another reason. The plan is to concentrate on the more traditional Meccano, initially expanding and reviving the Multimodels range, as the basic Meccano, and treating the Evolution range as the more advanced stuff. The two ranges being totally compatible if desired.

I said earlier there were no new Gears of War or Rabbids, but much to my delight there were no old ones either! There was a selection of Maxi Kits and the Turbo range has a new rally car. 

Looking good the 12 model set...

...and from the 15 model set

 To the left and leading you into the stand, there are two large displays the first one showing the Multimodels range with some new sets including 12 and 15  model sets. The second display presented the existing Evolution range and four new models for this year. The chopper bike and the skid-steer digger we have already seen and are scheduled for release in the spring but there is a wheeled digger (Affectionately known on-site as a Rubber Duck) and a Forest Engine, a robust looking 4x4 with log handling equipment. Both should be available in the autumn, in time for Christmas.

Forest Engine

Excavator

I will post more on these new models tomorrow once I have had a chance to study our photographs properly.  

Ralph. 

Lots of good parts here...

  All together now:    

      "In the town where I was born,
        Lived a man who sailed to sea,
        And he told us of his life,
        In the land of submarines... 

Might look mad but lots of good parts here...

        ...We all live in a Rabbid submarine,
        a Rabbid submarine,
        a Rabbid submarine...."

Sorry, ignore me. I couldn't help myself... Hiding behind the silly exterior the Rabbids (or The Lapins Cretins if like us you have the French Packing) range of models actually contain a good quantity of what some might describe as real Meccano.

Look - Meccano!

This set is no exception, it has a couple of curved sections that are formed in heavy gauge metal (not flexible). There is also a new dome that has plenty of fixing holes that I think will find plenty of uses elsewhere. Apart from new parts there are several useful bits of more familiar Meccano including a hinge. In this particular set the yellow is not that far away from the Binns Road medium yellow of the 1960s and 70s. The set also includes the pull-back motor.

Sue has built one of these - complete with a Rabid socket! (you will have to either buy one or wait for Sue's review to find out what that is!) Sue will post her review of the set soon. As there was no sign of the Rabbids at the Toy Fair, I suspect they may be short lived.  If you are interested in the Rabbids grab them while you can. I know there are some of you who have not even looked at these sets but this one is worth considering especially as there are some good deals around at the moment if you search the usual web sellers.

The new dome has plenty of fixing holes

I haven't mentioned the missile launchers but if you do decide to build one you can have hours of fun with it while whistling that classic song...

Ralph.

Birthday models...

Neat solutions in Meccano...

Last Saturday SELMEC (South East London Meccano Club) held their first meeting of the year. The Secretary's challenge was to build a model published in the month and year of our birth (or as near as you can get). Ideally it would be from Meccano Magazine, but other Meccano related magazines or manuals were acceptable so long as it was contemporary to the date birth. The models could be modified if we wished.

Click to enlarge!

Plan A. My first port of call was Meccano magazine February 1956. A flick though this threw up several possibilities, none of which appealed at the time so I decided to look elsewhere. There is a website where a whole parallel universe exists. Did you know, Meccano Magazine was also published in French? Not only was it written in French, the content was its own as well. In the French edition of Meccano Magazine of February 1956. there is short article detailing the building of a nice little tipper truck. The text is in French but my schoolboy French, and some help from Google Translate, soon had that sorted out. 

It was only when I started to build that I realised there were problems. As usual I had left it until the last minute. The simple little model is not so simple. Like all meccano publications The French Magazines are full of sparse information and not so clear pictures. It was the front end that got me stumped. I will have another go at some point but time was marching on and I needed to get something going or I would be without a challenge model, and we can't have that... 

Plan B. Another flick through the English Meccano magazine revealed a very appropriate article, that I had not noticed before, titled appropriately "Meccano to the Rescue!" The article describes several ways Meccano can be used to solve all sorts of problems, even when it comes to whipping egg whites to make meringue - You will have to read the article. The article continues, in that same 1950s Meccano Magazine style of writing, explaining that one of the schoolboys from the house of the meringue rescue has left his pair of compasses at school. as he needed a pair to complete his homework he immediately gathered some Meccano parts together and built his own.   

As, by this time, it was approaching midnight on Friday before the SELMEC meeting here, at Laughton Towers, Meccano was also coming to the rescue. A swift pair of compasses were built and there within a few minutes it was done. I had my Secretary's challenge model!

My Secretary's Challenge model was done...

After my lame excuse for a model Sue had decided to build the kiddie car from the No.1 set as found in the manuals of the 1950's. This was probably a ploy to avoid giving the game away and revealing her age. I am sure that is why she said she could not find anything to build from the February 1955 Meccano Magazine.

The Kiddie Car from a 1950s instruction manual

The car is built as the instructions with one minor 'improvement. The single angle brackets used to hold the running boards and mudguards to the chassis were replaced with 1 inch angle girders. This made them more ridged and unlikely to become loose with 'play'. Sue likes the little model and I think it looks very nice in our preferred colour scheme of red and zinc. 

Amusing little model looking resplendent it red and silver!

Thoughts are now on to the next challenge at SELMEC. Next time members are being asked to build a ... You will have to go to the club website to find out! All you need to know about the club can be found here: http://selmec.org.uk  Visitors and guests are very welcome, you can even have a go at the challenge and bring along your own creation!

Ralph.

What's on...

 http://londonmeccanoclub.org.uk/

Here in London we are are very well served with Meccano Clubs in and around the area. There are six clubs that we refer to as the 'Six London Clubs'. The activities and events are grouped together and we publish them under that name. You can see what is current on our active website HERE. You can also download the latest leaflet that gives all the London events for the coming year. For other events and meetings held around the UK see the list HERE.

Ralph.

New part and more advance instructions

Remember the new models I was showing you a few days ago? (SEE HERE) At the time, the Instructions for this model did not appear on the Meccano website for download - Well, guess what? They are now! You can go directly to the Evolution instructions page HERE and download your copy now!

Taken from the instructions...

Looking at the instructions confirms that this set includes a new part. This looks to be a sealed strut that is spring loaded. From the initial pictures of this model, there seemed to be a another new part that made the silencer. This is not to be. The silencer turned out to be made up from a stack of large spacer washers - Silver maybe? As with all the other Evolution sets there is  also an alternative model instruction manual for download too.

The new part - a sealed strut...

Ralph.

The James May Motorbike - Videos!

Crowds gather at Henley when the guys dropped in on their way home...

The James May Motorbike and sidecar that we saw at Henley in August last year, was on its way back from the Isle of Man where it was filmed making a lap of the Isle of Man TT motorcycle circuit for one of the BBC Toy Stories programmes. While we were at Henley, Tim also made a short video of the motorcycle. More photographs of the bike can be seen HERE.

Ralph.