zero g construction, without need for a space suit
Written: Jan 06 '04 (Updated Jan 07 '04)
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Pros: Great family fun to build, or a challenge to experienced, patient k'nex builders.
Cons: Only can build it one way. Finished model takes up a lot of space.
The Bottom Line: Great fun for experienced, patient K'nex modelers. A really fun family project, much more fun than a Jigsaw puzzle!
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| fritz_t_coyote's Full Review: K'nex International Space Station 15118 |
Concerning K’nex:
The K’nex building system is an alternative to Legos, and offers a great deal of flexibility. The pieces are a sturdy plastic, and snap together in clever ways… which can unleash creativity. If you are not sure if K’nex are appropriate for your favorite builder, they offer inexpensive general modeling starter kits, which can be used to build whatever the builder can dream up (larger dreams will require larger collections of K’nex pieces).
This kit is not for general creative building, but for building a specific model. It does a nice job of showing off the capabilities of the K’nex system.
The ISS
The ISS is a very ambitious construction project, requiring the efforts of thousands of people and billions of dollars.
The K'nex ISS Kit has several advantages over the real ISS. First, it is smaller... assembled it is merely a couple of feet long. It is also considerably less expensive. And instead of thousands of people spending years in construction, it only took 3 of us (me and two boys, ages 9 and 11) a long weekend, with time off for important things like watching Nicktoons and eating pizza.
But it did remain a dauntingly complex assembly. The step by step, modular approach helped. As did the (mostly) clear diagrams. As one of my guys is an experience K'nex builder, we were able to sort the hundreds of pieces and work our way through the process... slowly, patiently, and with occasional reference to the pictures on the box to get an idea of how it was supposed to go together.
We only had to tear down and rebuild an assembly once, when we hit a snag on a later step. My advice is to be very careful with the alignment of the rotating parts.
If you enjoy following instructions and achieving an impressive result, this is a great assembly kit. Of course the finished product takes up a large chunk of display space, but it is worth it as a souvenir of a good family experience.
It was only occasionally tricky, but rewarded attention to detail and cooperation, so it was sneakily educational. The package includes a grade-school-level book on the ISS, and includes a set of international flag stickers (which don't stick to the plastic K'nex pieces).
So we had fun building it. If you like building things with your kids, you might too. It would also be a challenge for a 12-14 year old experienced K'nex builder.
Other play value:
Replay value- I don't think I would want to tear it down and rebuild it.
Creative play- It is an assembly kit. There are no real options, it builds one model, one time. Sure, you could tear it down and dump the parts (including the nifty motor drive and gears) into your K'nex bucket if you ever get tired of a nifty space station with moving solar power arrays.
I consider it 30$ well spent. It would cost more than that to take them to a movie, and we have a tangible reminder of our fun.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 30
Type of Toy: Model Kits
Age Range of Child: 9 Years or Older
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Epinions.com ID:
fritz_t_coyote
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Member: Fritz Coyote
Location: New York, NY, USA
Reviews written: 41
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Computer tech. Gearhead. SF 'fan'.
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