Galaxy Marble Run

If you like construction, this is for you. Easy to erect, but plenty of fettling afterwards to ensure correct operation. What you do with it after you've built it.....

I rarely write reviews but this defiantly warranted the time. This is an excellent model, but not for the faint hearted. Patients is defiantly the buzz word and lots of it. Some of the pieces can be tricky to remove from the board and care is needed not to break them. Coming from an engineering background I can appreciate the work that has gone into producing this model and I must say the Laser cutting accuracy is astonishing.Top tips: dispense with the silly little piece of sandpaper supplied and 'borrow' your wife's emery board she uses for her nails, far easier to use for the fettling jobs. For parts that have multiple location pegs, file a small chamfer on all corners of the pegs to aid location. A fair bit of force is required to locate pegs so I found a pair of long nosed jewelry pliers very useful to apply pressure in the right places. If you require glue,then something is wrong.Finally, one (and only one) small quibble, is that I found that the base board between the motor unit and the large wheel to be a little too flexible thus allowing the pinion gear to come out of mesh with the large gear under load. Sorted this by gluing (sorry) a small reinforcing strip across the base (Photo).

A satisfying kit to build and run

I was very impressed by the precision with which each part had been cut. Without laser-cutting technology this would have been almost impossible. The finished product is wonderful to watch in operation. However, some parts did not fit tightly enough together (notably the rotating dome) and had to be glued (I used Araldite Rapid), so that they do not come apart during operation. The model does take quite a bit of battery power when operating and I made a modification so that the motor can be run using a 5 volt USB supply. The grand-children love it!Walter Massey 76 yrs. Walsall

The tolerances of some parts are a little too tight. Many of the "mortise and tenon" style locatins are an interefrence fit and do take some persuasion. I lightly chamfered the corners of each lug to avoid the pressure needed to locate them - that's why no glue required! the holes for the balls to drop and the side barriers on the chute assemblies are extremely close tolerances to the diameter of the balls. You must ensure adequate room for the balls to run on assembly. Study the instructions and diagrams VERY carefully, at times study pages ahead to get a more positive perspective of the locations. Overall a brilliant manufactured kit and somewhat time cosuming to do it justice, which was exactly my cup of tea. Hats off to the designer, would recommend to an accomplished builder.

The media could not be loaded. This was great fun to build. I was impressed by the accuracy of the cut of the pieces and providing you sand down the rough joints, seat each piece properly and fully and wax where advised - it fits together like a dream. I also like the fact that they provide a whole sheet of “spares”. Useful for the occasional accidental break - I had two but had spares for both of them. Highly recommended. Took me about 20 hours over the course of a week to build.

The media could not be loaded. Well, having made numerous kits in the same theme of this marble run, I have from experience learnt to ALWAYS sand ALL the edges where attached to the boards and ALWAYS put plenty of wax onto the gears and ALL the holes where there is movement.When I saw this kit, I decided this was a great challenge, and it was. The ONLY reason to give it 2 stars for " Assembly " was because it is NOT an easy kit to make.When I came to press the start button, it not only started correctly first time, but also worked completely.It is a FANTASTIC kit. Well done to all involved in producing it.Video attached. Enjoy life. Bob S

Great challenge and top product