Windstorm Dragon

I can agree with other reviews, the sheets do delaminate and chip easily in this kit. However, since I had plans for this kit, it worked in my favor. Aside from that annoying issue, this kit went together well. This kit took about five weeks to build. Not because it's overly challenging, but because I decided this dragon needed a little something extra. Almost every external piece recieved some attention, including fine dremel work for every single scale. I think it worked out well. UGears is my go-to for kits. I have built several other brands and enjoy them all. UGears focus on movement and practical kits keeps me coming back for more.

This is probably one of the easier puzzles. Looks great anywhere and functions well. I like the size of the drawer. Perfect for hiding my safe key!!! Who would even think to look there. Especially if they don’t know about the hidden compartment Now I have to relocate the key 😂

Spending about six hours constructing this, I am left with a pleasant, though not overly striking, model. The parts come in five sheets of seemingly laser-cut wood, barely held in place by a few tiny connectors. This makes popping the pieces out rather easy, and with the exception of the outer wing bones, everything feels very sturdy despite being light wood. I generally fear breakage with wooden models like these, but in this case, all but two parts felt solid, making the construction of it quite relaxing. The instructions are mostly clear, with only a few steps needing a close inspection. However, some parts of the instructions seemed slightly misprinted, giving them a blurry look that is inconvenient. When the mechanism moves (more on that later), it is set up to make a rapid clicking noise as one part of the mechanism flicks back and forth, which gives it a pleasing, chunky mechanical style, though the key to wind it up is placed on the dragon's chest. This makes winding it a little annoying for someone with larger hands, like myself. I also pinched myself between the rotating key and the dragon's neck on multiple occasions well testing, so beware of that . This model isn't flawless though. The feathers are disappointingly made from thin, matte paper, unlike the preview images which show them with a glossy paper or card stock, making one of the most striking parts, that was advertised front and center) an outright fabrication. As well, the instructions ask you to test the mechanism multiple times through the construction process, and it worked flawlessly until the final test, just after stringing up the dragon's neck so it actuates. After winding the full, recommended twelve times, the mechanism works until the wings reach their lowest point, only to lock up. After half an hour of troubleshooting, the conclusion I came to is too much stress on the mechanism. As you know, wood flexes slightly, and the tolerances on the parts, while tight, are just loose enough to combine with the natural flex. This results in the gears consistently binding up, even with every point of contact being buffed and waxed. Due to this happening at the very end of the process, I am unable to disassemble the model without fear of breakage, and the nature of the material leaves me doubtful it would even fix the issue. Overall, while a fun model to construct, and rather pretty, I feel misled by the pictures shown on Amazon (where I am writing this review, in case it gets copied) and on the UGEARS website. The mechanism's poor function greatly tempts me to rate this product at a 3/5, but it is still a pleasing static model made of decent quality materials. If this product interests you, you will likely be pleased, but temper your expectations

This is my second time putting together an UGEARS puzzle. Much harder than the last one, but once adapted to reading instructions and all the sanding and waxing steps it became easier and faster. The wooden pieces are overall sturdy, but could crack during assembling if the force was not put in the right spots and angle. The thick elastic bands did take a big force to be dragged into place(and it's not very easy to see the step in the instructions, but you could use my photo to double check), but my wooden tool didn't break, just need to be slow and careful. The several movement checking steps during the whole process are very important. They ensure the gears and parts move more smoothly. Especially the checking step right after installing the start/stop button and dangling piece (page 13 in the photo). Somehow the dangling piece could not move very smoothly in the beginning. But manually turning the small gear(pointed in the photo) helped the mechanism to go past the stucspots on. So I took some patience and kept on running the mechanism for a while until it became very smooth. For winding up the dragon, I have tried 10*180 degree and seemed to be OK. But maybe try fewer turns in the beginning to be safe. Hope this could be of help! It's really rewarding to see the dragon fly in the end!

I gave this to my son in law for his birthday. He really liked it and enjoyed putting it together.

This is a rather cool looking dragon. The build is moderately difficult, sometimes a third hand would help, but patience is called for. It goes together nicely, and looks good. The problem is (moving it to a three star review) is how careful you MUST be in order to make the clockwork parts work. One loose part, and you need to disassemble to get it tight. I had a loose part number 4 (a small part used to hold the gear works in place on the frame) and the mechanism jammed immediately on the first test. Lesson learned is to ensure all parts fit snugly (if they are supposed to) and if not, use one of the spare part #4s (or 18s, or 7s, etc... they all serve the same purpose.) Final note, after two or three uses, it stopped for... well, I do not know. Worked through the instructions backward to disassemble and one of the internal parts broke. Snapped in two. I now have a nice dragon decoration, not a clockwork moving piece of art. This does not appear to be a common occurrence, but it happened to me.

Leuk om te doen

Regalé el UGEARS Dragón de la Tempestad por Reyes y fue todo un acierto. Lo disfrutamos muchísimo montándolo juntos. Cada pieza encajaba perfectamente y ver cómo el dragón cobraba vida fue una experiencia genial. Las instrucciones estaban bien explicadas y el resultado final quedó espectacular. Me encantó ver la ilusión con la que lo montaba. Sin duda, un regalo diferente y muy especial.

Ten puzzle 3D jest po prostu niesamowity! Składanie było fascynujące i sprawiało ogromną przyjemność. Jakość drewnianych płyt jest dobra, elementy są starannie wycięte, a praca z nimi to czysta przyjemność. Smok wygląda imponująco i jest bardzo szczegółowy, a czerwony kamień dodaje modelowi wyjątkowego uroku. Ostatecznie powstała piękna i oryginalna konstrukcja, która będzie doskonałą ozdobą wnętrza. Polecam każdemu, kto lubi ciekawe i kreatywne wyzwania!

Very nice

It took me three and a half hours to make this. The instructions are clear and the kit clearly labelled and laid out in good order. I managed to damage three pieces through my own clumsiness, but the end result looks fantastic and I had fun assembling it.