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CMC Meeting, December 08
The next meeting of the Christchurch Meccano Club is the 6th February 2009.
November's happenings
As this was the Christmas break-up meeting, there was no challenge last month. I say that, and yet this was a very busy month for the club with plenty of challenges!
To start with, we were invited to attend the open day of the Christchurch Society of Model and Experimental Engineers (CSMEE). This was held at their base in Halswell Domain, Christchurch, on Show Day 14th November 2008. We set up the tent and a small display, and spent an entertaining day chatting to all and sundry about Meccano.
More and bigger pictures can be seen here.
Ballantyne's window
The next job was to set up the Christmas display in the window of Ballantyne's, the main department store in Christchurch. Last year's display went down so well they wanted us back again, and this time they have lots of Meccano in stock! A much smoother setup second time around, everyone knew what was to be done and pretty much everything was ready for us.
The photos below are not perfect, but represent the only opportunity we had to take a photo between the last person leaving and the next person just about to walk into shot! This window display is already very popular.
In-store demonstrations
On top of the window display, the club are also doing hands-on Meccano demonstrations in the toy department during two weekends leading up to Christmas. We split the weekends into four shifts (10am-1pm and 1pm-4pm), and arranged for two club members to do each shift. Three hours is pretty much enough not to eat into the weekend too much for everyone.
We grabbed outfits from the shelves and started building, but most of the time there are people talking and playing with the sets so not much building got done! After trying a couple of models from the Vintage Construction Set, we broke up three or four outfits to see what we could make – the transporter bridge you can see Neil working on is a work-in-progress...
Again, this was one of the few times that a photo could be snatched without lots of customers in view. They seemed to be selling plenty of Meccano, so I'm sure Ballantyne's are happy with us. A surprising number of potential club members here too – one lady of eighty-two living about an hour away in Akaroa bought herself a large outfit and was determined to make all the models herself.
The day of the meeting
As if that wasn't enough, we had a club meeting as well. But not an ordinary one – the church hall where we meet has a Men's Group, and they were recruiting new members (the majority of the congregation being women). They offered to lay on a barbeque for us instead of our normal Christmas bring-a-plate arrangement, and in return we had a mini-exhibition in the hall. The plan was that the Meccano and the barbeque together might attract some of the missing husbands to the church.
Many of our best models were already on display in Ballantyne's window, so it was interesting to see what we could lay on simultaneously – we haven't done two displays at once before!
More and bigger pictures can be seen here.
Club shirts
You might have noticed in the last three photos that we now have Christchurch Meccano Club polo shirts, beautifully embroidered with the new club logo. These are now available in M/L/XL/XXL at $40 each – we're still negotiating the final price the club pays to the supplier but you can be certain that this amount includes a useful donation to club funds. Email us by clicking on "Contact us" above to order yours!
Starting with the Ballantyne's instore display, and also for the Exhibition next year, the club uniform consists of these shirts with black trousers and black shoes. It's remarkable how much more organised things look at the instore displays, and how much more readily people come up to talk to us now it's so easy to identify the club members.
The CMC Challenge – Inflation
The Challenge
The Challenge is to build a model that gets bigger by magic. Powered only by a Meccano Magic Motor, you must build a model that can sit on the table and be measured, then (on switching on the motor) extends itself in at least one direction. The winner is the one that can extend itself the most, in proportion to its original size.
The model must be entirely self-contained (i.e. cannot be in two separate parts at any stage), and must use the Magic Motor as the sole provider of power to extend itself. No parts such as springs or rubber bands may store energy at the beginning of the operation that is then used to perform the extension.
In addition (and this is an important one), the model must not measure more than 13" in either of the other two directions (width or height) before you set it off.
The Competition
At the CMC meeting in February, models will be exhibited and measured. The measurements will only be made in one direction, and you can decide what that direction is – subject to the 13" limit on the other two 'directions' as described above.
For example, a model that is 12" long overall to start with and 24" long when finished has got 100% longer (whether or not it's got wider or narrower during the process). The winner will be the one with the largest percentage increase.
Definition of 'Meccano model'
As usual, you can use any Meccano part ever made and sold as Meccano, or any reproduction part that is structurally identical to a Meccano part. Parts may not be cut or deformed such that they cannot be used for their intended function again. You can cut a 2 down into a 2a (it becomes a reproduction part), but not down to a 5" long strip (which has no Meccano equivalent).
Cord, driving bands, and springs may be of any type. No motorisation is allowed, other than one Meccano Magic Motor. Non-Meccano washers may be used in your model solely to protect the paintwork (these don't count as a part).
The Februrary meeting
The next meeting is 7:30pm on Friday 6th February, 2009, at St Johns Church, Ferry Road, Woolston. Bring a friend! And, as usual, bring whatever Meccano model or curiosity you're currently working on, whether it's finished or not!