James May: New Lego & Meccano Engineering Series

I enjoyed this episode, dare I say, far more than the previous two. As someone often accused of possessing OCD myself, this episode was more truthful to the idea of what anyone could do if they had a huge amount of Meccano, Lego or whatever. The Airfix episode, engaging as it was, was a fibreglass model inspired by Airfix, and not made from it. The plasticine idea was closer to this ?truth?, but for me, and my straightened airvents and tidy spanner drawer, Meccano really captured the essence of a child of any age, sitting down with actual Meccano and look what you could end up with.

The presence of Edwina Currie initially filled our household with dread, but either because she didn?t get to say a lot, or she had nothing to promote herself, she was unusually (for her) tolerable. No Major blows to the Job anyway...


P.S. Fridge colour = mustard.
 
johncartlidge said:
I enjoyed this episode, dare I say, far more than the previous two. As someone often accused of possessing OCD myself, this episode was more truthful to the idea of what anyone could do if they had a huge amount of Meccano, Lego or whatever. The Airfix episode, engaging as it was, was a fibreglass model inspired by Airfix, and not made from it. The plasticine idea was closer to this ?truth?, but for me, and my straightened airvents and tidy spanner drawer, Meccano really captured the essence of a child of any age, sitting down with actual Meccano and look what you could end up with.
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Quite, though the main problem I had with my meccano was getting the damn screws - which I note are hex-head now not slotted as I dad insists they were or philips-head which is what I remember - to stay done up. Whatever I made, especially if it had a motor, would fall apart pretty quickly. I do remember trying to make a replica of one of those big building-site cranes, and having the upright disintegrate while I was putting the arm on. It was still better than the bloody flower fairies some auntie insisted on buying me.

The presence of Edwina Currie initially filled our household with dread, but either because she didn?t get to say a lot, or she had nothing to promote herself, she was unusually (for her) tolerable. No Major blows to the Job anyway...
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BRAIN BLEACH!
 
Alright...I need help..

How can I download this?

I'm a bit PC stupid...but I'm just plain lost...

I do have E-Mule and Vuze....
 
I believe there's instructions on TechZ's FTP thread. You can get a free FTP client from download.com
 
Several relatives had avocado when I was growing up and bunches of people had coppertone (ie brown)

I have all stainless steel, bf has white. I prefer mine.
 
skylock said:
Have you got it figured out?
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Nope.

The 1st episode downloaded no problem.

Now Im getting Tracker Status Error. Error, Invalid account.

This is a private tracker, caesers palace, so I joined their group...but no go.

At 4am, and having to be back at work in 7 hours for my new "24x7" shifts....I just want to get a magic button that will do what I want it to do!!

:cry:
 
That American Girl said:
Nope.

The 1st episode downloaded no problem.

Now Im getting Tracker Status Error. Error, Invalid account.

This is a private tracker, caesers palace, so I joined their group...but no go.

At 4am, and having to be back at work in 7 hours for my new "24x7" shifts....I just want to get a magic button that will do what I want it to do!!

:cry:
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OK, I can help you figure it out if you want. What are you using to download and where are you trying to download if from?

You do know this is the third one right?
 
If you go look at TechZ's FTP thread, that should tell you how to connect to that - you'll need to download a client as I said - and I believe it's available from there. If not, I know where it's lurking on Megaupload if you give me a PM.
 
just watched the third (meccano) episode and really enjoyed it. this one was definately a lot more complex than the previous two and was really more involved in the actual engineering and building of the thing.
i really felt for those students when part of the bridge collapsed. to have put so much time, work and effort into its construction and nearly have it ruined must have been heartbreaking. they really did a great job in putting the thing together and making it work. Congratz to munkyboy and his fellow workers. you lot did some great work.
loved the moments of James at his rave (gave me flashbacks to when James had his car stereo modified by Jeremy and Hammond in Top Gear), along with testing the meccano on his porsche and when he was talking about eiffel facts, especially that last eiffel fact.
on a side note, the student girl who featured in the episode fairly regulary was definately a eye pleaser. Even better was the mixture of damn good brains and damn good looks. now thats a killer combo.
still a great series and definately want to see next weeks one.
 
I would have loved to be involved on that one, probably more so than on the lego, simply because it was such a lovely piece of engineering.
 
I dont really want to correct this :D but I dont do windswept hair, even though Neil does, I'm the dodgy looking one with orange/black hair.
Charlie loves meccano now, she joined the Northwest Meccano guild heh.. We were all put out when the crane operators decided to ignore advice and sling the bridge in such a way, that when lifted the extra weight of the counterbalance sent the bascule into the deck.. The team worked till midnight, and again from 5am the next morning to make sure it was ready for the big day..
The bolts were all Meccano originals.. They are a rolled Whitworth thread, so have a larger tolerance than a cut thread.. Thats why they tend to shake loose.. We had that problem on the bridge, but there were approximatly 90,000 bolts.. We were buying nuts in bags of a 1000, and the production company almost exhausted the entire UK stock of them lol..
 
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munkyboy1980 said:
By the way here is a photobucket slideshow of some of the pics I took during testing and construction..
http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d42/munkyboy1980/Meccano%20Bridge/?albumview=slideshow
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thanks for posting those pics. great to see more of the work going on behind the scenes. i also find the idea of the crane that lifts the bridge in and out and the crane being on a higher floor to be incredibly cool. wish they had something like that when i was at college.
 
Just watched last nights episode on iplayer and loved it! Great work by all the students! I laughed every time James did his scouse accent and his love for rave music is becoming more and more apparent!

My favourite episode of the series so far!
 
Munkyboy if you wouldn't mind giving me that attractive girls number... I'd appreciate it. :p
This one was great and it gave me the feeling that James really got more into it. I was kind of annoyed with the french lady who told James that Meccano is nothing like the Eiffel Tower because the Eiffel Tower is a National monument where as Meccano is a toy because it isn't really a toy. I've played with it's American counterpart before and understand how much of an engineering mind it takes to build something great with it.
 
Topgearfanatic said:
Munkyboy if you wouldn't mind giving me that attractive girls number... I'd appreciate it. :p
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Dude, she's a girl in an engineering course... I'm sure she already has more than enough people chasing after her. :lol:
 
James and Meccano go back a long way. From the Toy Stories book: James in 1999. :mrgreen:


James1999.jpg
 
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