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

I haven’t built a model of any kind since I was eight years old. So, fifty years ago. But I’m mechanically minded, and have a fair idea how to put stuff together.I really enjoyed the build. I took my time, and examined the process sheet closely before I began. The instructions are really superb, especially as there are no written words. It’s all done with diagrams, which are super easy to follow. I was never once left scratching my head and wondering what the heck I was to do next. With fifty five pages of large diagrams to follow, it really is pretty well idiot-proof.The whole thing took me twenty hours to complete.The only additional tool you need is a sharp knife, to trim the excess dowels. Which brings me to my first gripe. The model either clips together, or is held together by wooden dowels. These are, in fact, toothpicks. Which is fine. However, I found four toothpicks were unusable due to flaws in them. So I was super economical during the construction. I used offcuts instead of fresh dowels where possible. Hunting thru my pile of dowel pieces like I was panning for gold. And it’s a good job I did. At the finish, I was left with THREE toothpicks spare. If I’d used a fresh pick every time, as the instructions showed, I woulda run out. I can’t help feeling that UGears could easily afford to include ten or twenty extra toothpicks. It’s not as though they’re expensive.Issue number two. The engine has 16valves. These are fiddly to insert, as they vary in size and the valve stem must go on the correct side of the cam. But once you fit the engine (very early in the build) to the chassis, every time you turn the car upside down, the valves fall out ! Eventually, I covered the top end with cellotape. Problem solved.Some stages of the build were very frustrating. Such as fitting the second side of the car to the rest. You need six pairs of hands. I had to get inventive, and secure the rear section with an elastic band. Much dratting and blasting later, it all went together. Which starts off being really annoying, but once completed, is oddly satisfying and triumphal.The main issue I have with the kit, though, is in its function. It doesn’t function. It is functionless. Function, it has none. This is not down to my building it wrong. It’s down to the fact that despite the parts being very accurately laser cut, the tolerances are WAAAAAAAY out. It’s a function of modelling in wood. Had the cogs and gears been made of metal, they would have meshed properly. But being wood, cut to a very wide tolerance, they oftentimes do not mesh. They even jam up. Now, if I were a skilled and experienced modeleer, I might have been able to ‘fettle’ things to fit better. But I’m not. I slavishly followed the plans, and hoped for the best. So now I have a car that doesn’t work as it should.In that sense, the kit is overly complex. If there had never seriously been a possibility of working as it was intended, then it could have been a lot simpler in its design. Just enough detail to look authentic. But not so complicated.To sum up….. What I have now is a lovely ornament. It takes pride of place on board my classic wooden yacht, and is much admired by everyone who sees it. It was a lot of fun to build. I’m even considering buying another one the same, to see if I can build a working version, now I understand how it fits together, and where it falls short. I might buy the ‘drift racing’ cobra, and see if I can get that to work instead. However, I’d baulk at the idea of buying one of the clocks UGears sell, as a non-functioning clock is useless.All in all a lovely ornament, and great fun to build. And a sense of accomplishment. Just don’t expect it to work(!)

I bought this for my boyfriend. He loved it

The media could not be loaded.  My first experience with Ugears was the Hurdy Gurdy which I found reasonably easy to construct. I have managed to play God Save the Queen on it. I am very interested in old cars and so I purchased the U-9 Grand Prix Car. I am 75yrs old and I found the small items a little tricky. The most challenging part was connecting the rubber bands into the slots for the motor. I watched the video of the young lady connecting them and she made it look so easy, it took me several hours to complete this operation. I do think that the rubber bands supplied in the kit were thicker than the ones she used in your video. But I managed to complete the task and I’m pleased to say it all works. (See video). Using the wax where advised is most important, some of the smaller items with fine detail can delaminate small bits but great kits I am considering which to purchase next. Tony Jane’s husband.

I received this kit for Xmas and it's been VERY fun building it. The engineering behind the design is very cool and intricate. Unfortunately, some pieces require a LOT of force to fit together and I've managed to break the engine camshaft which is meant to move the valves in the cylinder head. I didn't realize this piece had broken until well after the steps to fit the engine into the car frame, so it was too late to disassemble and repair. Once the pieces are fixed together...they're not coming apart. Also, there are like a 1000 gears in this kit and none of them mesh smoothly. The end result is that the car does not roll at all once completed. If I were to do this kit (or any other UGears kit) again, I would take my time to sand/polish each piece to ensure a proper fit and use better lubrication for the gears instead of a chopped candle (supplied).Anyway, treat this kit like a 300+ piece 3D-Puzzle and you'll have a blast building it. Don't expect to win any races with it though.

UPDATE: After contact with Ugears and examining the gearing carefully, I found a crushed cocktail stick. A quick replacement and the car works. Just a hint, the fan behind the radiator sticks, it's not necessary to the workings so I removed it, the car worked betterJust finished making this. Some parts are very tight, I broke a front wheel support trying to fit the seat. Also put the drive shaft in the wrong way round, one end is slightly longer than the other so take care.Overall the most complicated I have made, the most important thing is IT WON'T WORK.All the parts move when rotating the drive shaft manually but will not run when wound up.Yes I did wax and sand all moving parts. As a model its great, I'm just disappointed, has anyone got any ideas???

This was my second U-Gears model, the first being the excellent Roadster. Unfortunately this model didn't give me the same pleasurable experience. The problem being that for many parts, especially the smaller ones, the plywood core material was extremely hard which resulted in a number of breakages when removing the part from the sheet. U-Gears are helpful in that they dispatch replacements without issue but this is a long process which would mean it would take ages to complete if you had to stop every time a part broke. My solution was a good wood glue and a lowering of my expectations of the final result.

5 days in and I am really enjoying this. Such attention to detail. All on wood to boot. Every detail meticulously planned out to fit in one compact box. Amazing attention to detail. Some parts can be fragile so not recommended for youngster with limited patience. Not mentioned but there are spares on Sheet 6. Youtube videos are a big help.