Machine Works Build Your Own Visible Model Engine Toys - Replica Model Building Kit 100+ Pieces- Features Working Sounds and Illuminiation, Internal Combustion Mechanics, Physics, STEM (4-Cylinder)

Keep the kids busy for hours.

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.

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.

Bought this two years ago. It has been been pulled apart and put back together countless numbers of times by my 3 year old (who is now 5.) He initially needed help almost every step of the way, but his fine motor skills (dexterity) quickly improved and now he just needs help assembling the pistons, the cams and the rockers. The pistons initially required a little work so that they would move smoothly within the cylinder. The sound producing circuit failed within a week, to where I had to rewire it into a simple on/off switch. Aside from these initial hiccups, it has stood up surprising well. The wiring on the motor pulled off about a year and a half in, but was easily soldered back in place. We have lost a number of screws, but this kit comes with a decent number of spares. The instructions seemed clear enough that even the Nanny could figure out most of it.

I think I remember seeing some good and bad comments on this, but just wanted to say that we got this for our 9 year old son for Christmas, and we had a blast putting it together. He has shown some interest in cars and so we thought he'd like it - he did. He has now taken pictures and videos of it, and wants to take it to school to show his class. A few things: I saw different versions of this, Haynes, Smithsonian. Didn't know the difference, but we went with the Haynes and it worked well. The instructions and book do a great job of explaining how a motor works. I saw a few comments that they put this together and it didn't work, so two words of advice. First, use a real screw driver, not the tiny one that comes with the set. Also, the pistons have to move freely in the block, but we're talking about plastic molded parts here. One of our pistons didn't want to move too well, so I put a TINY bit of superglue to hold it together, and it worked better. Also, there is a brief mention of using some vegetable oil in the block to lubricate the pistons, we didn't do that because we didn't read it until after the block was assembled. Ours is working fine, but don't miss that part at the very beginning. We had to use a bit of superglue to hold down the two piece top part of the block as well, because one piece of plastic was bowed enough that it would not stay quite in place to allow the the spring loaded firing pins move freely at the one end - a touch of superglue removed the bowing of the plastic and allowed that pin to work with the rocker, and it was fine. This took us about 3 hours, but wasn't difficult, and we really had fun putting it together.

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!

The engine is awesome. Tons of moving and intricate parts to assemble. Probably the most detailed model engine that I have seen. The issue is in both the quality of plastic a well as the instructions. Some of the steps were missing. I have lots of experience building engines so it was a breeze for me but I bought this for my son to assemble and would have rather had him be able to do it all on his own. The steps for the ignition timing say to mount the distributor with the wires facing up after you reach top dead center at the #4 cylinder. The object is to base your ignition spark to hit just a split second before top dead center as in a real engine. The problem is, when assembled like that, there is no way to adjust to do it. No matter how far left or right you turn the distributor, it only fires near bottom dead center. I had to remove the distributor and flip it over to where the wires faced down. After a slight adjustment, the timing was perfect. Initially having timing off that much in a real engine would cause the engine to backfire through the intake. Not a good lesson to teach. I also have a stuck valve because the plastic mounting plate is warped. Even more crazy is this company makes some of the best auto repair manuals in the world so I expected top-notch instructions. The plastic that they use is pretty cheap and warped. The manifolds fall off easily. I would still buy it again but just be aware of some of those things.

This was a pretty fun kit to put together. It also looks allot better than the older generation of this kit which used to be in orange and purple colors (yuk) the new up to date version has parts in more professional looking chrome, black and silver parts with clear parts for the main engine block. It's also cheaper and easier to assemble then the visible V8. What I enjoy about this kit is it doesn't need glue, most of the parts are put together with screws and it uses an electric motor to turn the moving parts and has light up spark plugs which the visible V8 doesn't have. I do wish there was an on/off switch on the battery pack so you don't have to unplug it from the engine when your done using it. I might just build an on/off switch myself. This kit is basic when compared to the V8 but it still looks cool on my desk. I am having some trouble getting it to rotate continuously because it keeps seizing up and it makes a loud clicking noise. It could be something's not properly lined up with the gears so it should be an easy fix. The spark plugs light up properly with no signs of malfunction. (Be sure to test the motor the other electronics before assembling)

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