UGEARS Hexapod Explorer 3D Puzzle Mechanical Spider Robot Model Kits for Adults with Powerful Spring Motor - 3D Wooden Puzzles for Adults - Wooden Robot Kit (Runs up to 10 feet)

I am writing this from the perspective of a gentleman of 'mature' years (76) with a small cataract in the left eye; more of this later. I have done one of these kits before and regard myself as a good DIY'er with a high level of mechanical skill (I have home-built two light aircraft.)The kit is of very high quality. The laser cutting of the pieces is excellent. I did not break a single one when extracting them from the board. If you do break or lose a small piece there are some spares on the boards.The instructions are also impeccable, I might have found one small error about the position of the springs on one page but only after looking very hard. The kit is not easy. It requires patience and dexterity. You must look at each instruction (pictorial) carefully and check and re-check that you have not missed anything. The assembly cannot be rushed. Even with maximum care I found I made one mistake that required a partial disassembly to correct. I found that using one of those magnifying glasses with an integral light was a considerable help. A little bit of 'fettling with small wood files was useful particularly when getting the escapement mechanism to work correctly. A couple of drops of glue were also needed as once wound up and let lose the insect could start to shake the more vulnerable bits apart.I bought this as an Xmas present for myself to assemble on wet afternoons in the winter. I probably spent 30 hours on it. Excellent value for money. Harmless entertainment that keeps you away from the rest of the family but NOT easy to get it all working correctly. I did eventually. It might be a challenge for a 14+ year old but that depends on how big the '+' is. I shall certainly buy another kit from the manufacturer for my next Xmas present. Highly recommended but don't expect it to be easy.

This is the second U Gears kit I have built. I love mechanisms and this one is pure genius... producing a realistic 6 legged variable speed walking motion takes some doing with everything made from thin plywood but the designers at U Gears have done a great job with this kit.As with other kits like this, careful and patient assembly is essential. It's really important to test the freedom of motion at every stage and correct even minor points of sticky motion or 'snags' before moving on - or else it won't work! There are a lot of gears and cams packed into a small space and it is very easy for parts to interfere with each other unless you are careful.A few of the parts were a bit loose fitting and needed a tiny dab of super glue to make them secure - especially some of the leg pivots which merrily dismantled themselves whe0n the device scuttled across the floor at high speed! That said, on a full wind of the spring the thing will easily walk 7 or 8 meters.The result is worth the effort put in...

Can be difficult to build first part of it and did get a few broken parts to repair. I get back to the rest of build sometime after redecorating work to my room.

This is great fun to make, and mine worked just as it should, without any problems. Make no mistake about it, though, this is a tricky one, and not for anyone to tackle without practice on easier models. As always (and I have made a dozen of this company's models by now) the quality is excellent, and provided you are careful to sand off the any roughness where each element was attached to its framework, and use plenty of the (supplied) candlewax, because the mechanism is complex and ingenious, it works well on completion.

Overall a good item and fun to build but unfortunately it does not crawl across the floor , it won't move until lifted off the floor

I have built a lot of ugears models and I am very aware that it is a must to ensure that all necessary parts are really well waxed in order to get the desired working product. All of the rubber band driven models have failed to work properly. The Aero clock model not needing a drive rubber works perfectly and is a great example of the high quality of Ugears products. The Hexapod is an exception as this is driven by a steel spring and I expected this to work well. Alas, it works but poorly. Do not be put off with this review however. I buy these models for the sheer enjoyment of building them.

Better than I thought

The media could not be loaded.  Guarantee you purchase one kit then move onto another. I’m on my 6th kit.So we’ll made and you genuinely do not need anything other than what’s in the box and some patience.

A Challenging, Rewarding Series of Models - Tips for Successful CompletionI am truly impressed with this kit. Its designers are highly skilled wizards. Parts are smoothly cut by laser, and for wood parts, tolerances are tightly held. If you are a value seeker, this is an excellent value. If you are mechanically minded, chances are you will love these wooden puzzles/projects/models.If you don’t have model building or similar experience, this is an advanced project that could be a bit much for a first puzzle. I might suggest that you find a similar, simpler model to try first if you are apprehensive about completing a more complicated UGears project like this one. It may not turn out well if you deviate from the directions, or don’t carefully follow the assembly sequence and visuals. What you need will be there, but may not be obvious at first.I found the Hexapod to be a fairly complex project, suitable for those with patience and some mechanical experience or model building skills. For a beginner, a simpler kit could be a great learning tool. This particular kit isn’t a suitable birthday gift for your average teenager - certain skills are assumed which some may not have.The wood parts come in several sheets of fairly soft 1/8” or 3mm plywood (known as lite-ply to model airplane aficionados). They are very accurately cut with a computer-controlled laser cutter. Some extra parts that could be easily broken or lost during assembly are included. Each part is labeled with adjacent part numbers, although the parts themselves aren’t numbered. Some parts are marked with small reference marks or dots to aid in establishing the correct orientation during assembly.The manual lacks verbal instructions. The assembly diagrams are accurate, complete, but completely visual, with perhaps a few exceptions. One has to be very careful when examining the assembly pictures – a few differences are subtle, without clarification. Look quite carefully at the assembly diagrams, and use the numbers in the manual judiciously. Don’t jump ahead. If you do, you may not be happy with the problems that this might create.UGears supplies wax to lubricate the parts where they slide or rub together. It would be nice if more wax was furnished. Wood waxes can differ significantly. They say candle wax or paraffin can be used. The supplied wax seems to be softer than paraffin. It seems slightly slipperier than several other waxes I tried. It is softer and a bit “stickier” when rubbed on the wood. It seems a bit better than harder paraffin wax, or a few other commercially available wood lubricants I tried.A few square inches of 220 grit paper are supplied to smooth out parts in contact (which is too coarse in my opinion) to reduce wood-on-wood friction, and over-sanding with coarse paper may change tolerances. I used 400 grit then 1000 grit paper, which results in a smoother surface and less friction.Parts preparation is the key to end up with a smoothly operating model, so I spent a lot of time here. Do not over-sand, because it may change tolerances on bearings and other moving parts, which is to be avoided.Suggestions:Try a simpler kit to start with, as a learning experience for a more difficult kit. A simpler kit as a learning experience may help some to become a fan of these products, who would otherwise would become frustrated with more complex first-time project.Friction is the enemy of a properly working, powered wood model. Moving parts that have been waxed may need to be rubbed or worked in, or burnished. Where they say to use wax, you should wax adjacent moving or sliding surfaces, like the sides of gears. Thickly applied wax does not result in decreased friction. It may help if the wax is “worked in” by working the moving surfaces together, or burnishing, then perhaps reapplying wax.I did some homework regarding lubrication for wood-on-wood sliding surfaces. Experimenting some, I tried several commercially available wood lubricants without significant results. I found that graphite and/or molybdenum disulfide powder allied to waxed surfaces (or added to melted wax) did decrease wood-on-wood friction after waxing. But it created problems, too. Graphite is messy and dark, so if you are looking for a wood model for a display case, forget that. I wanted the Hexapod to operate smoothly and look like something prehistoric so I stained the parts dark, with water-diluted acrylic paint, which covered up the use of graphite.Others have had issues with broken parts. Use the included “tool” to punch the parts out of the plywood sheets. If a part is tight, work around the part gently and slowly rather than punching it out with one push. I put a thick towel on my work surface. This provides a soft pliable surface to punch out the parts from the plywood surround. Lots of light on your workspace is helpful.Be gentle and carefully align mating parts when assembling. Try to keep parts at right angles to one another when snapping parts together. If you have to force something, or a part doesn’t snap together like the rest, chances are you may have chosen the wrong parts to assemble. Broken parts can be repaired easily with just a dab of superglue.Don’t separate the parts from the plywood before you use them, to avoid difficulties later on. If some smaller parts come loose prematurely, scotch tape them back in place until called for, to maintain their identity. This kit has hundreds of parts, some of which look identical but aren’t, or can be identical with different part numbers (mirror image parts).Leave the tie-wrap or nylon tie on the metal spring before installing it. I lightly oiled my spring with sewing machine oil, then wiped off the excess from the edges.Assembling, dis-assembling, and reassembling parts loosens the fit between parts. The more it’s done, the looser the fit. Avoid using superglue to keep parts together and in place if you can – chances are you will have to backtrack somewhere during the assembly procedure. Follow the assembly guide exactly, step by step, page by page.Sanding and waxing is critical if your Hexapod is to operate as advertised. I over-sanded a few of the moving surfaces, specifically the round bearing surfaces. Consequently, it changed tolerances enough and added some “slop” that affected the motion of the Hexapod. One leg wouldn’t move far enough because of over-sanding and enlarged tolerances, so it fell over instead of crawling.Some parts looked and felt like they were tightly and properly snapped together, but on reinspection, they weren’t. If your Hexapod or other mechanical model doesn’t operate as expected, this could be the cause.It is easy to confuse look-alike parts. Review the manual carefully before starting the construction, to learn the syntax of the directions, which can be confusing and not particularly intuitive.The plywood can be successfully stained with lightly applied, water-diluted acrylic paint, and probably, with water color or spray paint as well (but I haven’t tried these). Leaving a paint build-up on the surfaces may change tolerances and increase friction. Perhaps spray on the paint lightly, then immediately wipe excess paint from just-painted surfaces?

The media could not be loaded.  Trevlig att sätta ihop

Ich war skeptisch, doch alles lief wie am Schnürchen. Die Teile sind passgenau, die Nummerierung ist klar und, besonders überraschend, weil das oft der schwächste Teil ist: die Anleitung ist gut durchdacht, sie läßt einen nie im Stich. Natürlich muss man Schwierigkeiten überwinden, aber das macht ja den Spaß an der Sache aus. Mein Hexapod krabbelt energisch über das Parket - zum Erstaunen der Kinder, die glaubten, dass es ohne Elektronik nicht geht.

El diseño está muy bien pensado. Una de mis mejores compras en Amazon. Muy entretenido de montar. Las instrucciones son muy buenas. Es importante que lo sean porque tiene cierta dificultad, lo que lo hace mas interesante.

Arrivato nei tempi previsti, completo e senza difetti.Non semplice nel montaggio ma il risultato è ottimo, il meccanismo a molla funziona ed è di facile istallazione.Buon divertimento a tutti !!