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Meccano Blue/Gold Outfits

In 1934, there was a change in colour scheme. Meccano was almost entirely enamelled in a dark red/green from 1927 onwards, and this had been extremely successful. The depression in the 30's led to a substantial drop in sales, and the colour change was perhaps an attempt to reinvigorate the brand. The colour change was introduced for the Christmas 1934 season.

Not surprisingly, outfits from this era (1934-1937) are not common, so to start with here's a copy of the Meccano pages from the catalogue for 1937 (printed June 1936) showing the full range. Click on any thumbnail to see the full page:

Introduction Click on this image to see a larger version.	Outfits A & B Click on this image to see a larger version.	Outfits C, D, E Click on this image to see a larger version.	Outfits F, G, H Click on this image to see a larger version.	Outfits K & L Click on this image to see a larger version.	Outfits 000 & 00, Accessory outfits Click on this image to see a larger version.	X-series outfits Click on this image to see a larger version.
Clockwork motors Click on this image to see a larger version.	Electric motors Click on this image to see a larger version.	Meccano parts, page 1 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Meccano parts, page 2 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Meccano parts, page 3 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Meccano parts, page 4 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Aeroplane constructor outfits 00, 0, and 1 Click on this image to see a larger version.
Aeroplane constructor outfit 2 and motors Click on this image to see a larger version.	Aeroplane constructor special outfits 1 and 2 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Aeroplane constructor parts, page 1 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Aeroplane constructor parts, page 2 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Motor car constructor outfit 1 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Motor car constructor outfit 2 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Motor car constructor parts, page 1 Click on this image to see a larger version.
Motor car constructor parts, page 2 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Dinky builder outfit 0 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Dinky builder outfits 1 and 2 Click on this image to see a larger version.	Dinky builder outfits 3 and A, and parts Click on this image to see a larger version.	Kemex outfits Click on this image to see a larger version.	Elektron outfits Click on this image to see a larger version.

Chronological variations

A brief summary of the many changes and new releases during this period is as follows:

1934	New colour scheme of gold strips with blue flat and flanged plates introduced late in the year. New outfits released ranging from A to L (missing out I and J). 'Conversion' outfits available to convert existing numeric outfits to new lettered series, e.g. a 5K outfit would convert a 5 to a K. Wheels and small brackets are in medium red, blue flat and new fibre plates have a gold cross-hatched pattern over one side. Fibre plates are introduced, made from cardboard. Meccano Lighting Set introduced December 1934. Red/green outfits 000 to 7 still available.
1935
1936	Outfit 0 launched to fit below outfit A. Outfit 0a converts it into an outfit A. Red/green outfits now officially 'discontinued', but still available for export, particularly 000 and 00. Fibre plates replaced by square-cornered flexible plates in thin steel.
1937	Letter-sequences outfits dropped, replaced by new outfits 0 to 10, still in blue/gold.

Pictures wanted!

If you have any pictures of missing outfits below, or another picture of an outfit that is better or not quite the same as one that's already here, please help us by sending a copy of it! It would be very much appreciated. You can email it straight to us, or upload it to the Rust Bucket forum...

Meccano "Letter Series" Outfits

Outfit A

Outfit B

Outfit C

Outfit D

This outfit D has been restrung, but is in exceptionally good condition for the age.  Note that the pulleys are brass rather than the later red.  The two small parts boxes have a wrap-around paper label rather than one stuck on as in previous red/green outfits.  Axles and cord are stored under the large flanged plate.  Only three parts are now held on by split pins – the ½'' and 1'' loose pulleys.

Outfit E

Outfit F

Outfit G

Outfit H

Outfit K

Outfit L

Meccano "Letter Series" Accessory Outfits

Outfit Ba

Outfit Ga

Meccano "Number Series" Outfits

Outfit 1

A nice original outfit 1 from 1937. This has been restrung, but there are two pairs of unused holes in the original stringing card. Is this right? Do we have any other evidence of alternative layouts for this outfit?

Outfit 2

Outfit 3

Outfit 4

Outfit 5

This outfit 5 has been well used and restrung, but shows the layout and the guarantee slip is still intact, showing the date as December 1937. This is an early numbered outfit.

Outfit 6

Outfit 7

Outfit 8

Outfit 9

Outfit 10

Outfit 10 was supplied in a green enamelled wooden chest, with two lift-out trays. The style is similar to the previous outfit 7 box, with the longest girders across the entire width of the box along the back. The two large flanged rings fit in the main box, under the lower tray.

Only the top tray is strung to a card. Originally the parts would have been supplied packed in brown paper and placed in the box compartments. For photographs in the catalogues the parts were unwrapped and stacked in the box.

Meccano "Number Series" Accessory Outfits

Meccano "Theme" Outfits

Motor Car Constructor Outfit 1

Motor Car Constructor Outfit 2

Aeroplane Constructor Outfit 00

Aeroplane Constructor Outfit 0

Aeroplane Constructor Outfit 1

Aeroplane Constructor Outfit 2

Special Aeroplane Constructor Outfit 1

Special Aeroplane Constructor Outfit 2

Manuals for these outfits

Clicking on the following images will display a copy of the relevant manual for this era of Meccano outfit. Warning – These files are very large (the size is given next to each one). The time it will take to download each one depends mainly on your connection speed. As a rough guide, 10MB takes about 35 minutes to download on a dial-up modem, around 1-2 minutes on 'ordinary' broadband, or as little as 5-10 seconds on a very fast connection. You have been warned!

The best option is almost certainly to click on the manual images with your right mouse button, then select either "Save Target As" or "Save Link As" and save the manual to your computer for viewing later.

Outfits A-E (29MB)	Outfits F-L (56MB)
Outfit 6 (30MB)	Outfits 7-8 (26MB)	Outfits 9-10 (33MB)

Further information

Peter Cross      (at 7:34am, Thu 21st Feb, 08)

Thank you for a truly amazing site about Meccano, the best I have seen in years.

John Ozyer-key      (at 1:07am, Thu 29th May, 08)

Hi, I am in the process of stringing a No5 set from 1937. I can see from the picture on your website where most parts go except for the plates under the 12.5in angles at the top and how many 191 are under the 192s at the bottom of the set. The box for the set I have is near mint, the parts are good to very good. I could let you have a picture if you wanted. Regards John Reply: Hi John. That picture is from Nigel Collins, I'm afraid I don't have a nice pre-war outfit 5. Would love to see a picture when you're done, though! More is better, I say...

Bryce      (at 10:10pm, Sat 16th Aug, 08)

Hi there, I have just acquired a box from accessory outfit Aa, I am just trying to confirm what era it is from? It has the same picture as the Ba set you have on here. Cheers Reply: An Aa outfit is as easy as they come, they were introduced in 1934 and discontinued by 1937. If you look inside the lid, you might find a guarantee label with something like AA 9 35 which would mean September 1935.

Stephen      (at 4:14am, Sat 15th Nov, 08)

What a superb site...With regards the extra holes in the No.1 BG set above, quick reference to the Factory of Dreams book shows the missing parts to be "Flat Brackets" Reply: You might well be right. Flat brackets are of course what they used to call Fishplates, which are probably in the small parts box, but they might have been mounted there. The only other outfit I know of with the fishplates strung is the 1950s outfit 00.

Robert Back      (at 7:53am, Mon 29th Dec, 08)

Hi, my father has just given me an Motor car constuctor outfit No 2 which differs from the one shown on your site. My one has worm drive steering and a powerful clockwork motor its not fully complete and the non drive rear wheel is broken it is red with blue mudguards.He tells me it cost 17-/ 6d and bought it just after the war late forties. Could you give me ant further information on this outfit. Regards Bob Reply: I really don't know much about these outfits yet. I know that there was also a non-constructor version which is easy to confuse. The manuals for the standard constructor car 2 are in the "Photo Gallery" in the menu top left which would be a good start. They didn't make them post-war (the last advertisement for them is 1941, and all production stopped at the end of that year) but it is possible there was still stock in some shops post-war.

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