Description
- ใ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐งใ The Routemaster is made of sturdy 4mm thickness birch plywood by laser cutting technology, precise and clean. The wood is eco-friendly, safe, recyclable, manufactured from natural materials and no glue required to assemble them.
- ใMechanism modelใ The ingenious design allows you to get a close-up view of the gear systems and drive.ย Featuring mechanical parts, the model has the power and energy to travel up to 20 feet when itโs given one full winding.ย
- ใEasy Self-Assemblyใ The instructions are in English with pictures to aid in the construction, everything in the kit is clearly marked and labeled so that assembly is as enjoyable as possible.
- ใGreat Brain Teaserใ Building the train model will stimulate your childโs ability to plan and build their own model like a true engineer. Brain teasers for adults and kids have never been so entertaining. Enjoy the fun to build a 3D puzzle piece by piece.
- ใKeepsake Gift Ideaใ The wood London bus model already comes in an attractive package that will be awesome to give as a gift for Christmas, New Year’s Eve or Birthday! Our 3D wooden puzzles will always be a welcome gift and a worthy addition to any collection.
Create Your Free Price Drop Alert!
Andrew J. Beauto –
Wooden building kits have been one of my favorite things to do since I was a kid. This one definitely does not disappoint! It absolutely requires your attention to put this one together. This kit was extremely fun to build!
Bob Lob (Law) –
The wood punch out pieces were surprisingly strong; there were not issues with jagged edges or splinters like I thought there might be from it being wood as they laser cut everything. The directions are fairly easy to follow. The box states this puzzle is for age 14 and up but I think most 11-12 year old’s would also be able to independently follow the directions to build this. Adults could easily enjoy putting this together, I know I did. Might be a little overpriced for what it is, but makes up for it in uniqueness.
Rob Arnold –
I have several 3D wooden puzzles and this Uguter 3D Wooden Puzzles Double-Decker Bus is just as high quality as all of the others I have. Precisely cut and labeled pieces which fit together perfectly. Instructions are never completely foolproof – mostly illustrations, but a little common sense and/or previous 3D wooden puzzle experience will get you through. Plus, part of what I like about these type of puzzles is the challenge. This “runs” via springs, not batteries. Once completed, it is something to be proud of. Friends and family will be impressed.
Andrew J. Beauto –
Nicely made wooden kit – good project for a rainy day. Spring powered so there are no batteries or rubber bands needed. Instructions are clear, not in a book, but 2 large sheets of paper with illustrated diagrams . When itโs done, Iโll post pictures of the completed Double Decker Bus
Bob Lob (Law) –
I built a lot of plastic model kits when I was a kid and it’s great to see that not only are such kits still on the market but today we have many wooden and metal model kits. This Uguter LG818 double-decker bus by KoolShare is my second wooden model kit so let’s take a look at it.
The slim box contains all the pieces you’ll need to build your dragster, including a small wax stick, small piece of sandpaper, and assembly instructions. There are no tools included and no glue is required.
The assembly instructions are printed in color on both sides of 2 sheets of A3 paper. The assembly steps are arranged in small subassemblies that you eventually add to make larger assemblies. To build the subassemblies you snap the pieces off of the wooden frames (“sprues” in the plastic model universe). Once removed, you snap the pieces together as shown in the assembly instruction by pushing wooden tabs into slots. The fit is always tight and once together the pieces are very hard to remove without damage.
For the bus the first part you build is the gear mechanism which provides power to its wheels by means of a spring steel coil. Of course I put the spring on its axle backwards which meant I had to disassemble it to turn it around. During disassembly I broke the axle and had to go to the garage to glue it back together.
Let me offer some observations from a novice wooden model kit builder. The manual makes no mention of tools needed except for a hobby knife and those that are provided (wax stick and sandpaper), but there is NO WAY I could assemble this model without my tools. My poor fingers are not nearly strong enough to jam the wooden pegs into the tight holes. I’m making a lot of use of my Channellock 526 slip joint pliers, Channellock 326 needle nose pliers, and my Lothar folding pocket knife. I have to be careful with these powerful tools otherwise I can crush the parts (pliers) or trim more than needed (knife). The sandpaper is a tiny piece of 3M wet/dry (probably 400 grit) included for smoothing the little nibs left on the part after removing it from the frame, but I find the knife to be easier and quicker.
The parts snap off pretty cleanly and even though I have damaged some parts during removal they are all still usable. Some steps have you installing several parts all at once. Wow, is this challenging! To help ensure success you will have to start them in sequence. It’s doable, but you’ll need some patience and a game plan to get them assembled. At least once I was wishing I had also grabbed my Channellock 430 tongue and groove pliers to reach both sides of the model at the same time.
I’m nearly halfway through this build and have completed all the locomotion pieces. I don’t see any way this thing is going to self-propel given that the gears have so much back and forth play. They don’t stay reliably lined up (see the pictures accompanying this review). I guess we’ll see once I get the whole thing built whether it will actually go. Even if it doesn’t, it’s still a fun build and looks good.
The first wooden kit I built is the dragster from UGEARS. As compared to that model, the wood on the bus has more plys (5 vs. 3) and is thicker overall. The dragster included a wooden poker on one frame that is designed to help extract pieces off of the frames. Of course, I’m using it to make the bus even though the bus didn’t come with it. The 240-grit UGEARS sandpaper is twice the size of the Uguter piece, and made by Klingspor.
If you have the patience or inclination you could definitely paint the individual pieces of this model for a custom look. I think that would be really cool, but it’s not part of the kit and something you would have to add yourself.
The bus is rated 4 out of 5 stars in difficulty (challenging) by the manufacturer. There’s no question I can finish the kit, but going with a simpler kit, even after building the dragster, would have been a wise decision to get more feel for the parts and build process. The age suggestion on the box is 14+ and I’d take this to be accurate unless you have a child with a lot of patience (ignore Amazon’s listing error stating it’s for 1 1/2 to 3-year olds). You need to be able to concentrate and not become frustrated when chips start flying off the pieces or when it’s super hard to get two pieces to fit together (or you break something because you’re clumsy).
Overall, this is a good model. The parts are precision-cut, the instructions are mostly clear, and this particular model is a London bus, so what’s not to like? I would suggest Uguter at least recommends additional tools, like slip-joint pliers, to aid in assembly, unless you have the fingers of a professional rock climber. I don’t.
This model is made in China as shown on the box and the Amazon listing.