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Part 109: Face Plate

109	Face Plate, 2½'' diameter	1919	-	4	11	4	N°8
109a	Face Plate, without boss	1972	1977				N°	In Clock Kits

The parts

The Face Plate first appears in the October 1919 "New Meccano Accessory Parts" list which describes it bring "used as a chuck for a lathe, centre boss for big wheel, etc.".  It was included in the Inventor's Accessory Outfit B dating from the same year, and was included in outfits 4 and larger from the major outfit revisions in 1922.  The addition of the wheel flange part 137 in that year made this part even more useful as half of a two-part large flanged wheel for locomotive models.

Usually supplied in fours, outfit L was oddly supplied with eleven(!) of these, apparently for one purpose only, the completion of the 4-2-2 Locomotive and tender model L18.  This disappointing model doesn't justify the inclusion of so many face plates, and the parts count was dropped back to four for the outfit 10 of 1937.

In 1972, a special version of this part without the boss was included in the Clock Kits (one in clock kit 1, and two in the larger clock kit 2), as shown on the right of the picture above.  This was numbered as part 109a.

Chronological variations

Very little change indeed in this part from its introduction through to the French production post-Binns Road.  Part 109a does clearly show the three-pointed boss hole that was being used at the time, presumably to help the boss grip the part and prevent slipping of the boss (a common problem for parts made by Meccano copiers).

The early nickel-plated version shown in the table below has a nickel-plated boss, common for parts from this era (1919-1921).  One would assume that a brass-bossed version is also found – does anyone have one they can date?

The only significant change happens right at the very end of Binns Road production in 1979.  It appears that some face plates were made from 2½'' gear wheel (part 27c) blanks, which are considerably thicker.  Although this makes the parts more sturdy, they may well not be able to fit in spaces that thinner ones might.  These thicker face plates are not particularly common, but there are enough around to see that they weren't a mistake or one-off.

Variations and oddities

None known

Dealer spare parts boxes

Individual part numbers

Part numbers for the parts on this page are as follows:    Unique part numbers
For identification, each variation has been given a suffix to the main Meccano part number. These suffixes consist of a two-character code for the colour, and if there are many variations, a further number and sometimes letter code to identify each variation. See the bottom of the 'Parts' page for further details.

You don't need to worry what the codes are, just click on any one for a photograph.

The button above turns on and off the display of DMS numbers (where they are known). The DMS (Development of the Meccano System, Hauton and Hindemarsh) published in 1972 and added to in 75 and 82, suggested part numbers for every variation of every Meccano part. These numbers aren't perfect, but they are recognised and also referenced in the EMP (Encyclopedia of Meccano Parts, Don Blakeborough).

Description	from	109	109a
Nickel plated steel face, nickel plated boss	19	.ni
Early red (pea-red), painted brass boss	26	.re
Dark red painted, brass boss	27	.dr
Blue painted, brass boss	33	.nb
Blue painted, blue painted boss	??	.nb1
Medium red, pre-war single Meccano stamp	34	.mr1
Medium red, post-war stamping	43	.mr
Light red	58	.lr
Black	64	.bk
Blue	70	.bl	.bl
Dark yellow	78	.dy
Dark yellow, thicker steel plate †	79	.dy1
Blue (French production)	85	.bl1
		ALL	ALL

Please send us pictures of missing parts! Hints and tips for pictures
Take a picture of the part in very good light, preferably on a plain yellow background, without a flash but with a tripod.
Ideally, trim the picture to about 150 pixels per inch of the Meccano part (unless the part is particularly big or small), save it as a reasonably good quality jpg file with a filename of exactly the part number, for example 19b.ni1.jpg, and email it to us by clicking on 'Contact us' at the top of the page. Thanks!

• A greyed-out box shows that no part exists for that colour combination.
• Part number codes with a green background have an attached picture of the part, just click once on the code to show a photograph of that part in a separate window.
• Parts marked "†" were temporary or economy parts, or existed only within specific themed outfits. The previous part continued throughout or afterwards.

Further information

Total number of messages on this page: 7.  This is page 1 of 2.   

Michael Hewitt      (at 2:53am, Sun 7th May, 23)

I have just purchased an old lot of mixed Meccano, some dating back to the 20's. It includes two royal blue faceplates with unpainted double-tapped bosses, stamped +32917 in a tight arc near the rim. No other stamping visible.

Michel Lhomme      (at 8:23am, Sat 16th Dec, 17)

The N°109 .nb1 : (Blue painted, blue painted boss) is known with a 1935 Ha outfit Liverpool export (Belgium)

Brian Maunder      (at 9:16pm, Sat 22nd Apr, 17)

You make no mention of when Face Plates changed from single tapped to double tapped, presumably it was sometime in 1927? All my nickel plated ones are single tapped.

NoirProfond      (at 6:34pm, Wed 1st Feb, 12)

It would appear that Part 109a painted gloss black was included in the Meccano Mogul mobile crane. The bolt that attaches the crane structure to the chassis passes through one of these. I've not taken one apart yet to check if it really is identical to the part included in the clock kit. The model room also knocked out a few 109a in an experimental metallic blue - one would guess c.1976/7.

John      (at 3:15pm, Tue 29th Mar, 11)

Blue 1970s faceplates with blue painted bosses

T Gant      (at 1:57am, Sun 6th Sep, 09)

...also, pt 109 also appears in DY that has been sprayed over an existing Blue 109 - so the boss is yellow too. From memory, there are a few other DB/Y parts that are reasonably often found to have been overpainted in this way. I guess this was to use up old stock of the previous colour scheme. I'm sure Richard can provide plenty of examples!

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