UGEARS U-9 Grand Prix Car Wooden Model (DIY Building Kit) Hand-Crank Powered Vehicle w/Working Pistons, Wheels, Shocks | Functional, Authentic Racing Design

This is my first Ugears kit and chose this one because it appeared to be one of the more complex models and expected it to take several hours to complete. I watched a few YouTube videos and knew what to expect and when it arrived, it did not disappoint. Everything was nicely packaged and I also appreciated the spare parts on pieces more susceptible to breakage.The kit took me about 13 hours to build and this is because I took my time. I properly sanded and waxed all moving parts and also checked operation every time something new was added on. I did manage to break the cam shaft while pressing in the valves and had to disassemble the engine to replace it but the spare parts saved me from needing to order another.The model works exactly as it should. It winds up, the engine runs and forward and reverse are both operational. Now that I know it works, it’s just going on display on my desk. Anyone who thinks this is a toy is mistaken. It’s very delicate and many pieces will need replacing if you continue to goof around with it. I’m okay with that though. Anyone building a car out of thin wooden pieces shouldn’t expect it to stand up to repeated use and abuse.It’s a great kit. The laser cut pieces are absolutely perfect and everything went together just as it should. There’s a few challenging components during the build but that just added to the appeal for me.Can’t wait to build another one now!

This is the best and most challenging product I have built by UGears. If you take your time and build it well, it will run along about 15 feet on a hard surface floor. I recommend getting some 320 grit sandpaper and using it to smooth all surfaces where parts move. You don't need to sand all the gear teeth but be sure to wax them well. I use a common white candle, it works well to wear it down to rub between the gear teeth. Don't spare the wax, rub it on anything that moves, axles, bearings, sliding parts. Make sure to sand and wax the sides of the gears. Sanding and wax also helps for installing the pressed together parts, it helps prevent breaking parts. You can't use too much wax. If you so break a larger part that doesn't have a spare, a bit of wood glue can repair it. The rubber bands for the motor seem too large, but they do fit if you stretch them into the slots. Take care to make sure the band lengths are about equal, it is difficult to move them once they are in the slot. Another trick is to run each assembly as you install it, such as winding and running the engine assembly after it and the drive shaft are installed in the chassis. It take a few free runs to wear the burrs off and allow things to operate smoothly. Have patience and enjoy the build, it will work nicely and look great.

Due to social distancing during the pandemic, I was looking for some puzzles or complex Lego kit to bide my time. Eventually I stumbled upon the UGears U-9 Grand Prix car. It's much cheaper than the Lego Creators kits so I figured I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did.I will first suggest you get a few things to prepare:Wax - The wax that was supplied with the kit was dry and would crumble into big flakes as I tried to apply it. I had some old candles lying around so I cut some pieces off and used that instead.Xacto - There are some toothpicks you need to cut here and there to use as wooden dowels. I find an Xacto is perfect for this. A box knife would probably be too big.Needle Nose Pliers - This is not something that's required but it is very helpful. Sometimes those wooden dowels are hard to get into the holes. A set of needle nose pliers help substantially. They also came in handy for other things but I'll get into that.Cutting Mat - Not necessary but always good when building models.Onto the building:The first task was building the engine. Halfway through that process, I snapped what I guess would be the camshaft while trying to push toothpicks into the cams. I immediately went to the UGears website and submitted a request for a replacement (this was on a Saturday.) I was a little frustrated because I wanted to follow the steps and not have to jump ahead building bits here and there. That means having to wait until a new part came. The next day, the bored overtook me and I decided to go ahead and skip ahead and build what I could without finishing the engine. Lo and behold, there are spare "service" parts and the camshaft luckily was one of them. These guys thought of everything.My second shot at building the engine went much better. I used the needle nose pliers to individually hold each cam while pushing in the toothpicks into them. This way there was little risk of the camshaft breaking again. From there on out, I didn't break any more parts and took my time with the build. I'd say all in all, it probably took me about 8 or 9 hours. A little more than they suggest but I'm a bit OCD so sometimes I need to perfect everything.Oh, and remember that part I requested? UGears responded first thing Monday morning saying they'd ship out two of the part I requested just to be safe. I responded immediately and told them to hold off because I found the spare. I appreciated their quick response especially considering the whole pandemic going on.Once I finished the build I was excited to see this thing race across the floor. Unfortunately after cranking it up, I got nothing. I was a bit perplexed as I was careful to make sure everything was waxed and in it's place. I figured I'd try and twist the driveshaft and manually force it along. This did get things moving but it was slow. After some cranking, manually moving the drive shaft, cranking, manually moving the drive shaft, things loosened it. It would eventually trigger on it's own but, again, still slow. Some more cranking and letting it run and eventually it started running smoothly.I can't wait to start y next UGears build. I ordered the Archballista-Tower. Looks like a good fit for GOT fans or just those interested in the medieval times. There's also a Facebook group that the UGears rep put me onto. If you search for "UGears Fan Club" on FB, you should find it. There's currently just under 2.5k users. The group is filled with people posting photos of their builds, asking questions about tricky instructions, others answering those questions. The group was started by UGears, so they get involved as well.Thanks UGears for making social distancing a bit more bearable. I'm impressed with what you guys are doing and I've already added a bunch of kits to my Amazon wishlist.

This kit has a great direction booklet with high quality diagrams. I would not recommend it for kids below 14 as the directions are detail oriented with lots of small parts. It took me 13 hours to complete and it looks great as a display item. You will be lucky if it will actually run and show its parts moving as there are many wooden gears powered by rubber band with many places that could stop movement. Once assembled it is next to impossible to find any problem areas. Even with not moving, the car is a great teaching tool to understand automotive operation. Also, extra tools may be helpful. A micro tooth model saw helps cut the tooth-pics, extra 150 sandpaper, needle nose pliers, exacto knife, and even a small vice helps in the wheel assembly. I found some instant model glue helpful in several areas. The design by the engineers and execution of creating this kit is amazing.The kit has 5 sheets of plywood laser cut parts that were easy to remove. The only materials used are plywood, tooth-pics, and rubber bands.