New 3 and 10 model sets...

New Multimodel sets for spring are here!

The new Multimodel sets are a refreshing move back to the more traditional parts. Meccano are constantly upgrading the Multimodel range and these two new sets will (should) appeal to the traditionalist and modern enthusiast alike. The sets contain far fewer plastic parts and lots more recognisable metal bits! There are also some newer parts, nothing we haven't seen before, but this time they are supplied in what I would call more traditional colours. Gone are the bright oranges and purples and in with red and yellow all complimented with zinc plates strips and brackets - Great stuff, parts I can use in our larger models!

3-model set light aircraft

The 3- model set is a little gem. The 'star' model is a well proportioned light aircraft reminiscent of the aircraft that line the out-field of the small private airports scattered around the countryside here in the UK. There are no awkward fiddly parts that require supreme levels of dexterity to fit. Nor are there lots of parts that need bending or straining to fit. The model makes up quickly and easily into something that is instantly recognisable.

Although the set does not include any new parts there are a couple of the small triangular girder frames, finished in a red paint. These have only been supplied in Matt black up until now. The red Multi-Purpose gear (P/N A827) has no boss and is bored with a standard size round hole. I did suspect this was a new part for a while, but as my mate George (Roy) reminded me it was also included in a Future-Master set some fifteen years ago and has not been seen since. The model can be seen in THIS post from January last year where I used other components from the set to build powered, tracked vehicles.

Ready for work!

 The new10-model set appears to have replaced the old black set that I reviewed four years ago when it first appeared, see HERE. Then it was the first of the new generation sets to hit the UK market. New sets, made in France and featuring new parts that have subsequently been introduced to several of the new Multimodel sets.

The new tyres are a vast improvement on the old low-profile offerings

Tipping and articulated - great fun!

 The latest 10 model set is, in my opinion the best yet! the plastic content has been reduced to a few useful parts, the chosen colour (yellow) is good and it is full of traditional looking Meccano parts. The box-art model of a dumper truck makes up well and has a traditional Meccano look to it. This will (Should?) appeal to the traditionalist and the newcomer alike.

More than 10 models inside

Digging a little further into the set, I thought it would be fun to have a go at building a few minimal models flavour of those old pre-war manuals. Unlike today's sets. Meccano in those days contained instructions to build small models using few parts and then progress to bigger models using more and more of the sets contents. The models tended to be of diverse subjects, some of them stranger then others! With this in mind I have extracted three small models from the set.

Landmark simplicity model...

The first could be described as a simplicity model and will solve the nut and bolt 'problem' that Meccano have tried to 'solve' a couple of times by trying to make the construction simpler...

Message to Meccano: Please don't, we like nut and bolts!  

Yes it's the landmark model Meccano never built. What do you mean you don't know what it is! It's... well I am sure you know, but I will tell you anyway... The leaning Tower of Pisa. 

Girl and dog

Next up is a homage to all the old set instructions that always contained some people of one kind or another. I can't think of any modern Meccano 'people' yet all the old manuals have families and often animals. To rectify this I have found a little girl with her sausage-dog hiding away in the parts of the 10 set.

Street go-kart

Finally, this one is harping back to my childhood. We lived on the side of a hill and the road behind us came down and around the end of our garden, past the front of the house. This was the perfect place to race our home made go-karts. Usually built from the wheels off an old perambulator and some old wood that we had acquired from somewhere, we would sit in the box and steer with our legs on the front axle. It was fantastic fun in the 1960s there were not the cars about or parked in the road like they are today. The wheels are a bit thicker than we had as kids but the model has the feel of what we used to build.

I am sure there are plenty of other models to be found in that box and many of the other sets that Meccano make today. Have a look at what I found in one of the new Evolution sets HERE.

Ralph.