Wilesco Steam Engine D 5 Model Kit

Good design and actually works a treat. Avery fun thing to build and use

As a recently retired person catching up on the things I couldn't afford when younger, I really enjoyed building this kit. The base and "superstructure" are made of lighter gauge metal than perhaps you would expect with 'Steam-Engine-engineering', but its adequate for the job. The instructions are not perfect or optimised/refined, so you have to think a bit. As others have said, parts of the build are quite fiddly, namely fitting the really small bolts - but once I'd worked out that the screwdriver provided was strongly magnetic, I found you could use it to pick and place the bolts into the not very accessible holes where your fingers let you down. The manufacturers quality control failed with one crucial part which had to be screwed on to the threaded end of the flywheel spindle - the part ( in my kit ) did not have the corresponding thread machined into it, just had a plain hole. I was able to thread the hole using an old engineers trick of cutting vertical grooves down the sides of a couple of spare bolts (of the right size ) to make improvised thread-cutters. It was an interesting diversion for half an hour, but I accept this would be an absolute "killer" fault for many, which would have stopped them getting any further making the kit non-viable - so manufacturer - Take Note! Having said that, the finished steam engine works very nicely - It gets my vote

It is what it is - fantastic. I didn't realise it was in kit but that only increased the fun.

Seeing as this was made in Germany frankly I expected better. There seems to be a small part missing and I had no response to my email. The boiler housing is slightly bent out of shape and the tablets don't seem to fit the fuel tray properly. My first attempt to make it run was unsuccessful, however I've ordered some gel and will try again. In addition the instructions are quite poor, both in terms of writing and the diagrams. Overall though it quite solidly built and nicely painted and finished, as long as I can get it going I'll be happy.

Very disappointed, bought for my 78 year old father. Instructions extremely hard to follow, when we finally managed to put it together it didn't work. The heat resistant washers didn't work and expanded so much that they no longer work. All in all extremely disappointed and would not recommend buying.

It doesn't come with brass chimney as illustrated and the plastic one melts

works well still

IPicture of item looks very attractive as indeed all the components are. But item is very small & I think the youngster for whom this is a Christmas present will be a little disappointed.

Build solid and a lot of fun. I expected a plastic housing based on price, but it's solid. The tube from the boiler to the wheel assembly needed very minor simple tweaking due to a slight warp in shipping. We love this item.

Piccola ma veramente graziosa e oltretutto Funzionante perfettamente macchina a vapore,sembra strano come dell'acqua in ebollizione sia in grado di far compiere un moto rotatorio ad una puleggia, grazie.

Got this years ago, kid LOVED it when he was 5. Quality German made, like stuff when I was a kid. Now he's 11 and building motorcycle engines.

Entretingut de muntar. Al començament no girava, pero després d'ajustar cargols i lubricar va funcionar. Degut a les pèrdues d'aigua cal posar una safata a sota. I pel fum millor un extractor. La cuina és el lloc més recomanable. Sino, a l'exterior. Perill de cremades si es toca el metall. Regalat a l'avi que s'ho passa molt be. El proper regal serà alguna ampliació. Potser el generador de llum

Die Lieferung kam super pünktlich. Der Bausatz war wie beschrieben und vollständig. Etwas Zeit und schmale, gelenkige Finger sind beim Zusammenbau von Vorteil. Sonst alles okay.