My son is turning 11 soon and I'm looking for present ideas. Looked at Mamod steam engine models and the prices were any ideas on a similar theme but more locost?

Theres various hot air and steam engines on ebay that appear to be chinese made but look quite nice ,mamod engines seem to fetch a premium but not particularly special.Otherwise there are a few plastic motorised ic engine kits available.
Paul.

Can't go wrong with Meccano as far as I'm concerned - the proper metal stuff that is!

I started with Meccano and moved into Engineering via building an aged Land Rover,..

I had Mamod stationary engines too, everything that smells of hot oil is good

yeah my first thought was a steam engine, something that can be put in a boat too would be nice. How about a RC plane? Saying that 11 years old, big lego kit use to be my thing, the stuff is amazing these days.

RC car/jeep kit? put it together, run it, take it apart and upgrade it?

Condoms, oops, wrong thread

quote:

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Originally posted by steve m
Condoms, oops, wrong thread

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I was being half serious !!

However, i grew up with Scalextric, Lego and Meccano, and all three, were fantastic inspirational toys, yet kids today just want to play
on tablets, and fighting games,

Anything R/c is great fun, but is addictive, and can be very expensive
I did the cars and boats in my teens, and R/C planes when i was 42, and loved it, and spent around 10k over a couple of years

The problem with R/c planes, Helis or even drones, is the space needed, also when Dad or another responsible adult is not there
The kids will try it on their own, and it will end up in tears, and probably a hefty bill from a neighbour when a plane goes through
there beloved cars windscreen !!!

i know this for a fact, as one of our club members came home from work to find his 1/4 scale piper cub inplanted into a neighbours car
200 yards away, and incredibly NO ONE knew how it got there, as the kids were at school ???

The alibi didnt stand up, as the school confirmed that none of the kids 3 or 4 of them, had been at school that day

We were all kids , well some still are!, and what ever you decide to get your 11 yr old, have a good think, of what you would or could of
done with the item when you were 11 ??

What ever my Grandparents were thinking when they got me a chemisty set. i was about 11/12
I could go into details, but the damage in my Parents garage is still there today!

steve

How about a cheap 3D printer.
Just sure the power supply is enclosed/safe.

Then he will have to learn CAD.

Not sure you can get one cheap enough but a Stirling engine?

Technical Lego was great - seems a bit too tailored to the end vehicle for me now (but I still enjoy building the kids) although it's also expensive - but you can get cheaper copies

Buy a really cheap scrap car and take it to bits.

If you have the space that is

If you buy something useful you can use the bits you want, maybe make a gaming chair from a seat. Maybe open up an eBay account and sell on the spares. 11 year olds will start to be interested in making money. Spannering spares may be a start.

Tools,

I still have some of the 1/4” socket set my grandad gave me 35 years ago. They don’t have to be snap on and they make a great add on for birthdays and Xmas.

I'd go for a toolkit. Theres some nice kits for under £100 that would make a great beginners present to cover most hobby jobs

I'd 2nd the tools idea. I bought my sons (now 12 & 14) tools over the years for birthdays. They come to appreciate them and you get to teach them how to use them.

For me a bonus was they stopped pilfering mine and leaving them here there and every where.

Thanks all for the ideas, it's been very helpful

If you’ve got £250 to spend.........

#justsayin 🤣