36506 Sherwood Livonia, Michigan 48154
The 7th annual North American Model Engineering Exposition was
conducted April 27 and 28, 1996 at Yack Arena in Wyandotte,
Michigan. Once again this unique Model Engineering Exposition set
new standards in some very important areas. This year, for the
first time, a free educational day was conducted on Friday before
the opening of the Exposition to the general public. Hundreds of
middle school, high school, college students and scouts were
exposed to learning demonstrations and hands-on experiences in hot
air, steam and gasoline engines. The day’s activities proved
very rewarding for the young people and those who conducted the
session. In addition to explaining the general operation of the
different engines, plans for construction of a simple hot air and
steam engine were made available to the young people to increase
their interest in model engineering.
During the two-day Exposition, four very informative model
engineering seminars were conducted with many people attending. The
seminars were: Thermodynamics of Model Engine Building; Metal
Working on the Internet; Hot Air Engine Operation and Construction;
Building a Scale Model of the Ford Model ‘T.’ Several model
related demonstrations were held on the floor, and were aimed at
the general public to inform them and answer any questions they had
concerning the model engineering craft.
There were 220 exhibitors who displayed more than 1,000 models,
many of museum quality. The variety of models included hot air,
steam and gasoline engines running and operating scale model
machinery, vehicles and other equipment. The engines were in the
form of antique farm, industrial, automotive, marine, aircraft,
tractors, railway and military. About 1,000 feet of compressed air
manifold was used to operate the wide array of steam engines. In
addition, scale model construction equipment, machine tools
including lathes and milling machines, and clocks were displayed
and enjoyed by more than 3,700 spectators who attended the two-day
Exposition.
The interaction of the general public and the model builders
allowed the modeler to explain his model and his craft, and for the
general public to obtain valuable knowledge and a much better
understanding and appreciation of model building.
Model aircraft were also well represented, with more than 25
models on display. These included antique, commercial, private and
military aircraft. The craftsmanship and detail of these models
would put many in the ‘museum quality’ class. Many single
and multi-cylinder aircraft engines of radial and in-line design
were enjoyed by the general public. Many of the aircraft engines
were able to run in a special area set aside for them.
More than 15 model boats were on display. These included tugs,
pleasure, river and military boats. The attention to detail by the
builders made these scale models one of the highlights of the
Exposition.
About 56 model engineering vendors displayed a full range of
quality merchandise, including casting kits, model plans, machine
tools, hand tools, lathes and milling machines, magazines and other
literature and a wide range of modeling supplies.
The North American Model Engineering Society would like to thank
everyone involved with the 1996 Exposition for making it an
outstanding event. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again
next year at our 8th Exposition on April 26 and 27, 1997, at Yack
Arena in Wyandotte, Michigan.
