Metal Earth Wright Brothers Airplane 3D Metal Model Kit Fascinations

I simply do NOT understand the negative reviews. Let me address the two most common complaints: Common complaint 1: "These are not for kids" response: No, no they are not. nowhere does the product imply it is for young children, and giving the product a bad review because your kids cant put it together is simply daft. In-fact the product description clearly states it is ideal for "tweens" and older. That's a bare minimum age of 10. And that's no guarantee that it's appropriate for your kid. Maybe your 6 year old has extremely developed motor skills and patience and this model is perfect for them, and maybe you are 40 and don't have the level of motor skills and patience necessary for these models, it all depends on the user, so don't give a perfectly good product a bad review due to user error. Common complaint 2: "these are made of flimsy, low quality metal" response: yes, they are flimsy. no, the metal is not low quality. it's a thin sheet of steel, the product explicitly says that it is thin, ergo the end result is delicate. it is a model, NOT A TOY. if the metal were any thicker, the end results wouldn't look good at all. they are supposed to be thin. You cannot be clumsy with these models. you have to use the proper tools, have steady hands and pay attention. That is the challenge, and that is why finishing the model is so rewarding. I'm usually not so combative with other reviewers, but after having such a good evening with a couple of these models, it irritated me that people wrote negative reviews on them simply because they had personal problems with them. They are well engineered, and there is nothing wrong with them. They look great on a shelf when you finish them and they are a challenge to build, especially with this particularly delicate one!

This is a beautiful model and is difficult to do. There are a couple of tricks to make it work. The most important is to twist the tabs after they are fitted into the slots. This helps prevent bending the parts that are being joined. The engine needs to be assembled so the longer belt side is positioned to the right when viewed from the front. I did mine wrong and it prevents me from attaching the braces for the propellers to the engine pulleys. Because the tabs are delicate, I can't disassemble the plane to fix this. I also assembled one of the wing brace boxes incorrectly and broke a tab when I disassembled the box. I was able to use some clear tape to hold it together after I mounted it to the wings. Not perfect but it works. The braces that the propellers mount to require that the parts where the tabs are (Not the tabs themselves) be bent to form a "C" to allow the propeller to be mounted. I'm 58 so lots and lots of light were needed for me to see what I was doing. A must have is a pair of needle nose pliers. I cut the end off of a tooth pick so I could use the flat end to push parts around but it may not be necessary for those more talented than me. In spite of the error I made that prevents me from attaching the braces to the engine pulleys, I have built a very fine model. It was very challenging but I was thrilled with the result and will be purchasing another model of a different kind soon.

Love my Metal Earth models, they are very fairly priced and take anywhere from 30 minutes to multiple hours to build. I highly recommend them to those who are looking for an affordable hobby. I bought the Metal Earth Tool Kit as well as another third party one from amazon and I mainly just use the Metal Earth Tool Kit. I have a stack of models to build and love spending the evening working on them, just practice some beginner level models as you will only get frustrated on anything above Moderate. I'm still working up to the "Challenging" difficulty level and often it's more fun to just build a bunch of easy-moderate level then to get stuck on a hard one and get frustrated. You will have broken and bent pieces when you first start but be patient and have fun! In regard to THIS Model: This particular model has some very thin airplane strut pieces so will bend easily but was a fun one to build. I have built a nice collection that makes for great little artwork in the house.

I give this five stars because it is an excellent beginner build for these 3D metal sets. It has few parts (comes on just one sheet) and only one tough bend is required. I didn't think my 10yr old could build one of these with me because of the fine motor skills and patience required, but lo an behold my boy loved it. He built about 90 percent of it with me doing a couple of the tougher connections. He has ADD, but the focus required for this model had him dialed in tight. The model came out perfect. The people putting out bad reviews stating that these models are poorly built couldn't be more wrong. They are very small and delicate, but deliberately so. They are not beginner models, they are challenging on purpose. The reward for your patience is the huge sense of accomplishment and a gorgeous little model that will impress anyone you show it to.

These products look amazing and highly detailed! But they can be extremely hard to assemble as the bend tabs are extremely small and can be hard to reach later in the process. Your fingers will be very mad at you by the time you're done. Pliers are your friend through this time but they won't always reach and they can scratch up the finish. The other thing that really irritated me was that they are very small once finished. I was hoping they would be at least 6-8 inches across, but they are more like 2-4 inches across. I used this as a part of a present for my friend, and it did the trick, but think before you buy. I love a good time putting something together, but this was pushing my boundaries of fun.

Excelente producto

I make many of the metal earth planes so I thought I would build the plane that started it all.

This was super fun to make and it is durable. Some of the metal models I do have pieces that break so easily and yet are super essential and this was not one of them. It is simple, easy and has a really great end result. I'm also just so happy that none of the pieces broke on me. It's like finishing a puzzle with one piece missing. I mean that's exactly what it is. Oop sorry got into a tangent rant. Anyway, I'm super pleased and I would totally recommend this to everyone especially first time model builders. This is the one for you. It's a great way for you to feel it out and see how it's done.