The Star Wars Metal Earth 3D model kit offers an interesting take on model construction, all the parts are cut into steel sheets and you have to pop them out to construct the final model without the need for any glue.
Some are the parts are fairly small and some of the steps can be rather fiddly so you’ll need to have a good bit of patient and know when to take a break if you get tired/frustrated.
Metal Earth have done a good job on the included instructions which are fairly clear, although it’s best to look over each section a couple of times before committing yourself to avoid potential mistakes. Fortunately if you do make a mistake the steel is fairly forgiving and will allow you to bend it and reshaping it as long as you’re not too rough with it. Go too far and it has the potential to snap, it is a very thin sheet.
You’ll need a pair of needle nose pliers to make assembly a lot easier than trying to manipulate the steel with your hands, and a small pair of scissors come in handy to cut each part free.
This is targeted at 14+, sensible given the sharp edges involved, but is good fun for those ‘big kids’ that want to give it a go. This is part of a wider range of Metal Earth models available, if you get the bug you could end up with a shelf of metal art!
There’s no denying this can be hugely frustrating at times and if you don’t get it perfect it’s likely the finished R2-D2 model will look a little wonky (see the end of my video below), but it’s a great feeling to finally complete the build and it doesn’t require any previous model making experience.
The Metal Earth range is available on Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/1wZtA5l and Amazon com: https://amzn.to/14zw4lk
