Meccanuity 2017: Keith Way Trophy Theme, Windmills & Wind Turbines

By Chris Instone • Published on Wednesday 23 November 2016, 8:17am

For 2017's Meccanuity Meccano Show the theme for the Keith Way Trophy is Windmills & Wind Turbines. O.k, so what, you might say, well, perhaps you may need some inspiration, and with less than six months before TIMS's main event, perhaps it's time to get cracking on your entry for this, one of three competitions running during the 2017 show.

Now, with other Meccano model building, and, no doubt, many other things that you have to get around to doing, you may think you don't have the time to build something, but your creations need not be large, complicated, or large and complicated for that matter. They can be simple and small affairs. O.k, you may hear the term "it's not the winning, it's taking part" all the time, and I'm not necessarily in total agreement with that, but it certainly is a lot of the enjoyment that surrounds such a competition, so why not try your hand.

Of course sometimes it's quite difficult to get started on a model as there are times when that spark and inspiration just isn't there, and when you add time constraints, and, in some cases, lack of parts for that awe inspiring large, complicated and involved model, you struggle to get going on a creation, let alone finish it. These unfinished projects, of which personally I have several lying around myself, gathering dust, are perhaps something to which you're not keen on adding too. This is, to my mind, where outfit and set models come into their own, as a model in their own right, or as a basis for one of your own, the benefits being, at least with some of them, a fairly quick build and, hopefully, a pleasing one.

Did you know that from quite early on in the Meccano timeline, around 1906, when Meccano was still known by the name Mechanics Made Easy, up until 1999, there have been a total of 45 different windmill/wind turbine related outfit/set Meccano models, all of them different, perhaps only slightly in some cases, and of varying sizes and complexities and span from almost the smallest "00" outfit to almost the largest, the no. 9 outfit, many hand cranked, and some powered, either by clockwork, or electric motors.

The earliest example of a windmill is this 1906 Mechanics Made Easy model. It would be great to see some from the Mechanics Made Easy period on display at next year's Meccanuity

Not all the examples are just windmills. Here's a variation on them, a double acting windmill pump from 1914

Arguably the largest of the outfit/set examples, this is a Dutch Windmill from the 1938 no. 9 outfit

1958 no. 3 outfit windmill pump that should be well within the capabilities of all but the youngest and least experienced builders

As simple as it gets, a windmill from a 1970 Pocket Meccano set

This version is from a 1988 no. 3 set

As you can see there are some varying designs, styles and sizes, and the above are just a small selection of those that are available to you.

Go on, give it a go!