****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
What an excellent model. It came well-packaged and could be easily given as a gift in the beautifully decorated box. I purchased this as a fun project for myself, however, so I just jumped right in to putting it together. As with many other products like this, it is made for multiple countries, so pictures are abundant in the instructions and they are super detailed and easy to follow. A first look at the book may be intimidating for some, it is pretty hefty and lengthy looking when you pull it out of the box, but it is because of the detail and pictures, which is exactly what I was looking for.Upon starting, I was initially concerned about ripping the printed paper off the foam backing board, as that happened with some prior models I’ve done. But none of that happened with this kit. I was even comfortable letting my kids help remove some of the pieces and having them help with assembly. No parts were lost to ripping or bending! I did have to take extra care with the sails, since they are printed and made with a thinner paper. But with time and patience, those came out great too.A single criticism that I have would be the lighting switch. Once installed in the ship and the rest of the ship is built around it, there is very little to press against to move the stiff on/off switch. There is a little latch that you can remove the device for battery changes, but for the routine on/off function, opening this latch would lead to premature wear. I would suggest either making sure the switch moves easily before placing it into the model, or perhaps even that the manufacturer consider making the device have a small push-style on/off switch. Otherwise, I think this is a great model.So overall, I think this is a great model and I would definitely recommend.
