William Irwin (left), Alberto Richini and Oscar Fontan (right)  in Buenos Aires in 1981

"Now, the main purpose of my life is to follow Frank Hornby’s trail, with a profit, if I can, at a loss, if I must." - Alberto Richini, CQ no. 3, p. 45.

The international Meccano fraternity were saddened at the recent news from Argentina reporting the death of Alberto Richini, sole proprietor of Exacto. For a while, from 1967 to 1986, Exacto manufactured parts and sets under the Meccano label by agreement with Meccano Ltd, Liverpool. The quality of the Argentinean parts was top class and exceeded that of both Binns Road and French manufacture.

I managed to meet Alberto Richini only once. In June 1981 on a visit to Buenos Aires, Oscar Fontan (right on the picture) invited me to dinner to meet the great man. Alberto was most charming, spoke impeccable English and presented me with samples of his latest parts of the time, such as special gear wheels, all stamped with the Meccano label so I could regard them as genuine Meccano!

Alberto was more attuned to the needs of the adult modeller than any other manufacturer and constantly strove to enhance the system by introducing useful parts such as six-holed helical gears 214b, long couplings, larger flat plates and others. In recent years, since he reverted to the Exacto name, Alberto concentrated mainly on parts manufacture for the enthusiast and expanding the system with innovative additions such as his large axle subsystem.

Alberto believed in the idea and system invented by Frank Hornby so long ago, and to him it became a way of life. He truly enjoyed the challenge of expanding the Meccano system and providing us with the necessary spare parts to indulge our hobby. Truly a great Meccanoman!

William Irwin