The Little World

Walter, last time we talked I told you about the Minibrix building set and suggested that there are modern equivalents – like LEGO – that will let you erect great buildings. Here are some of them at the Western Australian Model Railway Exhibition.

Pretty cool, and also pretty complex and expensive. I admire the thinking that goes into making a basic building block into whatever the maker can think of, but I realise the limitations. The LEGO block used as as an architectural element is fine – as long as the builder and the viewers are prepared to make the same sort to allowances that they do when they look at impressionist paintings. It’s always just a little wrong, but nevertheless it’s a lot right…

Ask your Mum or Dad what I mean. I’m not sure myself some days…

Okay, what do you do when you want to build Walter’s Little World…but it includes dockyard cranes, railway loaders, motor car chassis, and anything that is mechanical but not made of bricks? You look at the Mechanical Construction Set. You move away from the brick to the girder. And life becomes ever so  much more interesting.

Note to Walter’s Mum and Dad: I am going to make you spend money on Walter. I am not ashamed of this as you obviously love him dearly, and he is going to be a dynamo of the future – if you give him half a chance. I was fortunate – my parents made sure I had enough tools to do the job and I have arrived at being 71 and I am having a ball…

Okay, Walter…what you need to do mechanical construction, as opposed to architecture, is mechanical parts. You need a Meccano set, an Erector Set, a Dux set,  a Fischer Technik set, or any of the modern equivalents of these. There is bound to be something on your island to get you started in mechanical exploration. You need a set with nuts, bolts, and girders. Also wheel, tyres, and axles. If you get a clamshell digger bucket it will be a bonus.

a. Meccano sets.

British, and the traditional thing for Commonwealth countries. Straight girders, flat plates, many brass parts, and flexible sheets that can be curved to represent engine housings, etc. Overpriced, but then so is everything these days, and generally suppled in basic primary colours.

b. A.C. Gilbert Erector Sets

The American version of Meccano. Rarer to encounter, but better structural members. Equally useful for industrial construction. Silver components.

c. Fischer Technic Sets

Plastic and metal sets that are surprisingly precise – as the Germans would make them – and adaptable to actual construction as well as play. In my dangerous period I made a film processor out of Fischer Technic that I had bought for my daughter, Victoria. It worked well.

d. Dux sets.

Dux turned out to be an East German toy maker in the 1960’s that was trying to get export dollars for the DDR. I got a Dux set in Canada in ’59  when the big retailer chain Eatons went for the quick Christmas sales bucks. You would never have seen the set in the US.

The Dux structural members were far better made than the Meccano ones and the girders all incorporated a stiffening lip at one edge. Thus, when I made a car chassis, it worked and when I made a dockyard coal loader the wheels actually ran along the framework as they should. I still want that Dux set back…

So there are a few hints. When you have tired of making buildings, you can make mechanical structures.  And when you look at Walter’s little world, you can have both.

One time I’ll tell you about Skyline…