Interesting and Creative Mini Strandbeest Model Kit

Easy to assemble and a really nice result

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

Not hard to build and works amazing!

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+

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...