Spitfire Mk Dinky engine problem

[Ayahuasca]

I had this Dinky Spitfire as a kid, and my other half bought one for me as an adult!

The motor I remember from childhood started with a roar at the slightest flick of the propeller. This one, er, doesn’t. It occasionally works, but more often than not it doesn’t.

Any idea for how to repair / restore the motor? I believe the original motor is no longer available to buy.

[mac96]

That is an interesting die-cast- never seen a motorised one.

If you haven't seen this it might be useful/interesting.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLgmRGZ1Lxw

[Yertis]

https://ebay.us/V1XqBa

[blueg33]

Wow I had the ME109 equivalent.

Its probably the bushes in the motor and lubricants gone sticky. You can possible service the motor or replace it

[eharding]

mac96 said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLgmRGZ1Lxw

"Frying Tonight!"

[Ayahuasca]

mac96 said:

That is an interesting die-cast- never seen a motorised one.

If you haven't seen this it might be useful/interesting.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLgmRGZ1Lxw

Not seen that, cheers. Suggested that the issue was likely to be the connections, rather than the motor itself. Tweaked those and now she is purring along like a well-oiled Merlin.




Thanks!

[Ayahuasca]

blueg33 said:

Wow I had the ME109 equivalent.

I will look out for that. I had the Spit, the Stuka (with cap bomb) and the Harrier. I now have a Harrier, and a working Spit, yay!

[cuprabob]

Ayahuasca said:

blueg33 said:

Wow I had the ME109 equivalent.

I will look out for that. I had the Spit, the Stuka (with cap bomb) and the Harrier. I now have a Harrier, and a working Spit, yay!

I had the Stuka too

[dr_gn]

I’ve still got my Dinky Phantom, Harrier, Stuka, Spitfire, Zero, and Apollo Sea King. The latter two motorised. Also got the Jaguar with working ejector seat, which was a Dinky kit.

I tried to find replacement motors for the zero and Sea King, but the single magnet ones are I think unavailable now. IIRC the Sea King needed a flick of the rotors to start, but the Zero has a switch. Not sure if the Zero started with the switch, or whether it was also a flick start. There was something unique about the motors; I never got them restored.

[Simpo Two]

That might be the same motor that came with the Airfix 1/24 Spitfire - unusual in that you flicked the prop and off it went. I have one in the loft somewhere.

Have the Harrier too!

[dr_gn]

Simpo Two said:

That might be the same motor that came with the Airfix 1/24 Spitfire - unusual in that you flicked the prop and off it went. I have one in the loft somewhere.

Have the Harrier too!

I think they're called "single pole" motors, and seem rare, or at least quite expensive when they come up for sale.

A quick Google appears to confirm that they were used in the 1:24 Airfix kits. I thought I'd seen them for sale in shops or model shows, in a bubble pack, but can't find any for sale online.

Quite clever because it eliminates the need for a switch. I wonder why the Zero had a switch? Maybe it was a normal motor in that; IIRC some had offset output shafts, some were central.

[MinionBob]

Wow.
Memory lane or what?
I'd forgotten about those and never knew there were versions with working engines.
I had the Stuka (with the cap bomb), Harrier, Jag and the one branded as MRCA (complete with swinging wings) from before it became Tornado. I think they might be in a box in the loft, might have a look later.

[dontlookdown]

Forgotten all about these! I had 3 - Spit, 109 and Stuka. The motors only had two poles so they were not self starting, you had to give them a flick.

All three died fiery deaths in the end, like the Airfix kits I spent my pocket money on. These diecasts lasted a bit longer though - they must have been birthday or Xmas presents so a decent interval would have had to pass before I could get away with destroying them;)

[mac96]

Ayahuasca said:

mac96 said:

That is an interesting die-cast- never seen a motorised one.

If you haven't seen this it might be useful/interesting.




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLgmRGZ1Lxw

Not seen that, cheers. Suggested that the issue was likely to be the connections, rather than the motor itself. Tweaked those and now she is purring along like a well-oiled Merlin.




Thanks!

[GliderRider]

The single pole motors that require the prop to be flicked to start them are often described as 'Spin-A-Prop' motors.
In addition to the Dinky application, they were also sold for installation in Airfix and Frog plastic kits. They can be easily identified as the axis of the motor shaft is offset from the centre of the motor can.

Frog Spin-A Prop

[blueg33]

Ayahuasca said:

I will look out for that. I had the Spit, the Stuka (with cap bomb) and the Harrier. I now have a Harrier, and a working Spit, yay!

Go me looking in the attic now, I also had a Navy Phantom and a Jaguar

[Yertis]

Between us my brother and I had:
Spitfire (electric prop)
Phantom F4K (launches 'stand-off missile' / centre-line fuel tank)
Stuka (drops bomb with a cap in it)
Hurricane IIb ('machine gun noise')
MRCA (wheels retract as wings sweep – very neat)
Jaguar (pilot ejects)
Me109 (can't remember what feature this had, desert camo)
SeaKing (winch, electric rotor blade)
Harrier (undercarriage retracts , nozzles rotate)
US Navy Phantom (launches 'stand-off missile' / centre-line fuel tank)

All still up in the loft, somewhat play worn.