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+

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...

Some of the instructions were confusingly worded and pictures were unclear, how ever it functions well after it's all put together. parts snap off their place holders fairly easily and once you see how the parts connect it's not too difficult to assemble. I did have to glue one part that holds the fan because it kept falling off. Overall this is a fun project to put together, it shouldn't take very long either. The movement is mesmerizing to observe, probably my favorite kits that mixes engineering with art.

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.

WOW! Surprised at the quality. My adult son was very impressed! We actually saw this Strandbeest on a beach in England in 2007. The model works, crawling across the surface!

I couldn’t believe the price of this toy. It’s so cheap for such an elegant, well thought design. It certainly takes some patience to assemble. Be careful and note the details in the instructions to ensure you don’t assemble it in the wrong direction. I did at first with the second half of the beast and when putting two halves together it didn’t fit. My bad. Took like 10m to disassemble one half and put everything back together. It works well. It’s made of plastic and joints so it’s not the most bulletproof in the world, hence play with it carefully (just don’t throw it around lolz). I’m sure your kids will enjoy this toy.

First, the complaint: The kit was missing the second sprue tree for part E. Instead, they sent six too many of part D. Luckily, I was able to make some replacement parts out of thick plastic shim stock (the orange bits in the photo), but I wouldn't expect many people to be all too happy about having to do that. In general, the instructions are a bit confusing and not well enough illustrated to be easily understood. It says recommended ages eight and up, but it would probably be better for someone at least teen-aged who really likes to problem solve. The good points: For the parts that ARE included, they're well made and strong enough to take being assembled and disassembled to correct mistakes from the poor instructions. Since the pieces are repeat assemblies, it gets easier as you go on with building it. Once you've got the legs and drive put together, the rest is intuitive and pretty easy. It really is well designed as far as functioning and moving goes...if you get enough parts to complete one. You'll need a stronger wind source than just blowing on it, but a strong fan works well to get it moving. For the price, maybe buy two kits and hope there are enough parts to make a complete Strandbeest or an extended one with the spare parts. Not a great gift for someone who is easily frustrated.

Evidently there are a lot of knockoffs of this model, and this is one. However, the pieces are sturdy and it works just fine. The instructions are...well...not great, but if you study the diagrams, they eventually make sense. I will point out two specific instructions that are not clear. At the bottom of Page 3 there is a diagram showing how to use a cutter to remove the plastic pieces from their injection molding spines. It clearly shows a “correct way” and an “incorrect way” and warns of cutting part F carefully. Here’s the thing: both pictures are identical... and there is no real way to cut incorrectly. So this warning is odd. When you assemble the twelve “legs” (Step 5), they will keep falling apart (where part A and C meet). You are going to be convinced you have a bad kit. Do not despair, as part F will eventually keep them together. That takes place much later in the assembly. Trust me, the kit does stay together by the end. Finally, the first step of inserting the rubber feet can be difficult. Don’t force it. Be patient. The kit is truly amazing as nothing “snaps together”, and no glue is needed. You could disassemble the beest pretty easily. If you are forcing pieces together, you are assembling it incorrectly.

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!

Very cool!

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