Build Your Own Visible Model Engine Tpys - Replica Model Building Kit - Features Working Sounds and Illuminiation, Internal Combustion Physics, STEM (4-Cylinder)

I read a TON of the reviews and decided to buy this one as a gift for my husband and my brother (ages 41 and 51). I bought extra stuff like screws and lubes and a file because several reviewers said the parts that it came with weren't top notch and needed a little tweaking to fit correctly. I wanted my husband and brother to enjoy the experience so I went to all that trouble (but didn't need to) and got extra screws and stuff. The reviews said this would take a several days to complete, but (ha ha) my husband and brother completed it in about 2.5 hours! My brother is a professional mechanic, so he has a huge aptitude for this kind of thing. I felt let down that the experience wasn't longer lasting for them, but they assured me they had a blast doing it. AND... I could tell they really enjoyed working on it together. They were laughing and having a great time figuring everything out. My sister-in-law and I just sat in the other room drinking wine and enjoying watching them have so much fun. It's like Lego's for adult men. So, in summary, I would definitely recommend this product "as is" and I don't think you need to go out and buy anything extra to make it work. Everything they needed was in our kit and we are very pleased. I just wish I could find a more complex model to "up" the challenge next time! Thanks so much for a great product and experience!

Edit: I decided to come back and add some information to my review with regard to issues with the instructions. Hopefully this will help others who purchase this kit. Our kit instructions and parts list indicate that the timing belt idler pulley is a chrome part number 30. Our kit did not contain a part number 30 but it did have a part number 41 (not on the parts list at all) that looked a lot like an idler pulley. Looking at photos of the kit it seems clear that the manufacturer is substituting this new non-chromed part 41 for the old part number 30. An addendum in the instructions would be nice but, if you get this kit and find part 30 missing -- just use part 41 in its place and all will be good. The other mistake we found was that the part numbers for the crankshaft and camshaft pulleys are reversed but the only-fits-one-way construction on that step made sure we didn't mess up. I built the Renwal V8 with my dad (the motorized version with the "working" plugs) when I was a kid and loved the experience. Since Revell no longer makes the motorized V8 I thought that I would try this kit with my son (he's 13). We had a great time working on this together. I loved that the whole kit goes together with pressure-fit parts and screws. No glue necessary. I would have gone five stars except the engine has a tendency to seize every once in a while -- but I think I remember the old V8 doing that too. One tip: lubricate everything liberally. The tolerances on most parts are good but, as with a real engine, there are lots of "moving parts" and that means opportunities for things to catch or friction to get the better of the small electric motor that turns the crank shaft. With a couple exceptions, the instructions were clear. When we found ourselves puzzling over a step it was almost always a matter of us getting in a hurry and not taking the time to thoroughly read the written instructions as well as looking at the pictures.

I picked this item up to build with my son once he went over (and was fascinated by) the basic four stroke internal combustion engine in his elementary school science course. The kit went together smoothly with nothing but the screwdriver included in the kit, a pair of hobby tin snips, ant a hobby file. It took about four hours to put together (much was which was spent discussing the details with the boy; if you're building by yourself, it should go faster). Once completed, it operated quite smoothly. Pros: - Decent price (most model engines seem to cost quite a bit more). - Ease of assembly (part fit) - Type of assembly (all press fit or screws) - Cycle animation is first rate (I particularly like that it uses an encoder as a distributor and "fires" its "spark plugs" at each power stroke) Cons: - There are a few locations where the sprue flashing on the plastic parts must be carefully removed of it will interfere with the motion of the model. (It's nothing you won't do anyway if you've built a few models like this before.) - There's a bit of slop in the camshaft assembly. It's not really enough to be a significant problem with timing, but it's there. - The idler pulley for the timing belt is not on the part sprue shown in the assembly manual (at least for the generation of kit I received). It is still in the kit, just on a different sprue. I suspect they changed two of the injection tools they use to make the parts, moved which parts tree it's on, and missed updating the instruction book. It's not a big issue, just be aware. Overall, it's a fantastic kit. I really love that it uses grain of wheat light bulbs as "spark plugs" to show when the spark plugs would fire in the cycle. Normally, I'd knock it down to four stars for the instruction booklet error, but it simply runs so well it rates all five.

12 year old girl built this engine in 3 hours. Took concentration. But works brilliantly. Fantastic educational tool.

good for teenage

自分自身の勉強用に購入しました。 動きがわかりやすくて勉強になりました。

Good response from seller to queries and the product reached well on time considering it is an international shipment. The item was great, though there were issues with alignment and I had to do a bit of jugaad to get it done. It is nonetheless a very nice way if explaining engines. Assembly has to done by someone who knows a bit about engines. You just have to follow the instructions to the letter!

Good for children