HEYZLASS Mini Strandbeest Model Kit (Wind Power DIY-Beast), Interesting and Creative Gift for Birthday Holiday

The parts are well molded and of very good quality. I'm very impressed by the product and it works great once finished. The instruction booklet has a both English and Chinese, but it's not the random gibberish google-translate trash. It's actually well written with decent diagrams that are very helpful. It is not comparable to Lego bricks, but it's still very impressive for the price. The only improvement I can suggest is that the plastic molding could be a bit less brittle, but it's only a small issue. I would highly recommend this as a gift for someone (even without experience building kits). I think most people over the age of 13 would be able to build it, especially with some guidance. I enjoyed the project and would buy this again as a gift. 5/5, would recommend. Difficulty age 13+

This kit is extraordinary in execution and quality. It's as complex as the full size models, but very well thought out. The attention to detail is everywhere to make it workable and make it a joy to build. Pay attention and it goes together easy. The instructions are clear enough. No glue required. Everything is a solid push-fit. Molded parts are precise and fit together exactly as intended. I tested it with a small table fan sitting on my hardwood floor. The little rubber feet had plenty of traction. It skittered over the floor with ease. It had no problem with my tile floor either. This is NOT a toy for toddlers. A bright 10 year old could put it together with a little help. But it's not going to tolerate any abuse. If you haven't seen any of the dozen youtube videos on the inventor and the real strandbeests, go there now. You'll come back and buy the kit.

This model has excellent engineering. The fan turns easily, and the gearing actually drives the mechanism. I expected the overall friction of the mechanics to overwhelm the ability of the fan. As for the construction, the pieces were easy to remove from the sprues, though I would recommend having a hobby knife on hand. Some have said that the instructions weren't clear, but I would argue that the instructions were quite clear and accurate IF you take the time to read them, look at the illustrations, AND use your brain. If you only put together Lego sets, this might be too hard for you. If you put together Gundam models, you'll have no problem. Last, but not least, this model includes some extra parts. Some of these are duplicates of parts you actually use, and some of the parts are never mentioned in the instructions at all.

Assembly is a bit tedious because of small parts and a few diagrams that are difficult to decipher - the manual is all black & white and in a few instances it's difficult to see what goes where ... but it's not terrible. The model would be much cooler and likely much easier to assemble if the various parts were made of different colors and the manual reflected this. The model works well and is very efficient. One can actually make it walk just by blowing on the fan (but takes serious lung power to keep it going) ... it will actually walk just from vigorous fanning with a fly swatter. Assembly is completely press or snap together, and many parts necessarily fit loosely so it can move without much wind. As a result, it's not sturdy enough to handle a lot of abuse, but should last quite a while if handled appropriately. If you're looking for a benchmark, don't expect it to stand up to rambunctious play. You just power it with wind, and watch.

Really impressed with the quality of this model! After you get the articulated legs assembled the whole thing goes together fast. I assembled the whole thing in two hours.

This is a very cool bio-physics teaching machine. The manufacturing and materials are high quality. However it is very complex, like life itself, and the instruction manual is needed. The instruction manual is well written in multiple languages with helpful illustrations, but was missing Pages 4-7 and there is no Online Instruction Manual. We ordered a second kit hoping for a misprint, but the second kit was also missing pages 4-7.

this thing is fun!

I've been mesmerized by videos of Theo Jansen's Strandbeests "walking" gracefully down beaches for years. How are the linkages put together? Now I can inspect my own. Took an hour to build from opening the box to powering it with a hair dryer (on cool). Great design - needs only a diagonal cutter (pliers) or a wire cutter or just a hobby knife to pull the pieces apart. No glue, just snaps together or press fits together. Instructions were very clear for this kind of thing. Assembly advice for those who are daunted by negative review here: There are 12 legs to assemble - all the same. They then get slotted into a frame-with-crankshaft - 6 pairs, all the same. In each case the _first_ one can be tricky - take your time, really _study_ the instruction diagrams, make sure each piece is oriented correctly _especially which side is "up"_. Then do the rest the same way. After putting the first "leg" on the first "frame" try rotating the crankshaft carefully - it should work. Then put the second "leg" on the first "frame" and again rotate the crankshaft carefully - it should work very nicely - though it is delicate at this point. In each case once you've got the first one (or first pair) done _all the rest are done the same and you've got a physical example to look at_. Surprisingly low friction for a bunch of plastic parts rubbing against each other: The thing really walks nicely. As I said above: power it with a hair dryer on cool. I was able to do it easily even with my big fat thumbs. I'm going to get a second. I think with a couple of supplementary steel wires I can easily make it double length...

Un excelente rompecabezas, interesante y una vez armado es impresionante el movimiento. Muy recomendable.

Not hard to build and works amazing!

Very cool!

Easy to assemble and a really nice result

I ordered three of these but one of them was defective the molds must not of filled properly but I notified Amazon and they refunded me immediately. The kits are great and fun to put together and look really cool when you let them loose