****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
UGears are remarkable building projects. I was looking for something to build that would be more attractive and cheaper than some of the models out there such as Legos; less messy to build than a plastic model that requires glue and paint; more complex than some of the skill level 2 or 3 model car kits; with larger parts than the Metal Earth kits, but not as complex as the $1000 Japanese model locomotive kits. I had given up on finding any such thing until I came across UGears.They are low tech (rubber band powered) and are perhaps more attractive to youngsters in Eastern Europe than they will be to many modern Americans. But I totally enjoyed putting this kit together and I think that anyone who likes to build things will have a lot of fun with it. And the price is right. It's hard to find something for $40 that is this entertaining.The parts arrive as four small sheets of heavy plywood that have been laser cut to precise dimensions. You just push them out of the sheet. Some were a little tight, and I had to wiggle them back and forth a bit to get them out without damage but a bit of patience goes a long way and in the end, all my parts emerged in perfect condition and I did not need to use a blade to loosen any part. The trickiest parts had been pre-punched when the kit arrived, and several of the smaller parts and more delicate parts came with "spares" to allow you to recover from loss or damage.No glue is used. If you make a mistake you just pull the things apart and rebuild. But the finished model is surprisingly robust.The instructions are very clear. They contain a minimum of words, but those words are in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Polish, and Ukrainian. Othewise the instructions show the parts very clearly in shaded color diagrams, indicating where on the plywood sheeds you will find the part, and where it goes on the model. A little measuring tool is included with the kit and the instructions show how to use it whenever necessary.The instructions recommend using candle wax for some of the gears; I used wax from birthday candles for practically every joint and this made a huge difference when inserting Tab A into Slot B. The only problem that I encountered was due to the fact that the toothpicks supplied were 7mm long, while (according to the instructions) 6.5mm toothpicks were actually required. It wasn't until halfway through the project when I realized this was going to be an issue, at which point I started sanding the toothpicks with a bit of fine sandpaper, and got them all down to 6.5mm. With wax on the toothpicks, I did not break a single one (although they give you about 6 extras).As you build this model you marvel at the clever engineering skills these guys must have, to design such a complicated structure and encode it all in 4 or 5 laser cut plywood sheets. First you build the various gear assemblies and then at the last minute you put them all into the frame. It wasn't until I had the whole thing together that I was able to understand how it was supposed to work. This much took me about 3 evenings of 2 1/2 hours each, so about 8 hours, although I guess if I were going to make another one I could do it in half the time.It didn't work the first time. I had to watch where the mechanism was sticking, then take the gear assemblies out of the frame, adjust a few of the distances, add lots of wax, and put it back together again. Go slow and be patient. After about two such iterations (accounting for another 2 hours), I had a working model and I have to say, it is amazing.
