Metal Earth Steampunk Butterfly 3D Metal Model Kit Fascinations

Bought for father in law who is 80. The pieces are absolutely tiny and he has struggled with it.

If you like Metal Earth models, this is a good one for you. It can be a bit finicky but the end product is quite pretty. It's not as simple as I was expecting, but that's okay. My photos show the completed model. There are a couple of photos to show how small the pieces can be, as well as a particularly tedious step from the manual so be warned if you don't like working with tiny things. You'll definitely need some nippers to get the pieces off the metal. Be sure to have a clean workspace and a magnet in case any parts get away from you. I've got a flat one from the fridge that I use to organize things, and a much stronger fishing magnet in case any pieces fall on the carpet and turn invisible. I recommend a set of bending tools too and some pliers. This is a newer model and just came out this year (2024). It has some features that earlier models lacked, like the pieces have numbers engraved on the back and on the metal that you cut the parts from. This makes it easy to find the parts and put them in the right place. I found the body of the butterfly to be the most difficult part. You assemble it from short cylindrical segments, and attach the head, complete with its fragile antennae, before the abdomen. Probably bent needlenose pliers would be helpful here. The butterfly's eyes require some patience. I recommend placing the flat metal piece on something soft and then poke at it with something rounded, to start it off. Then very slowly bend it into the correct shape by shaping it little by little.

I didn't get a picture of it in time because it was a gift to a friend who loved it. Now the instructions were confusing at times and could have been redone in a few steps, making the next step easier. I have had to do some more bending to the metal parts than I like to. I've snapped off a tab by accident trying to feed it through an insert on the neck of the butterfly. But despite that, when it was finished, I showed it off to my family and they thought it was amazing, lots of tiny pieces bring out the detail. But if you're careful enough, you can get it done near to perfect. It is tedious but not too hard.

For the overall "piece count", I found this to be one of the more challenging in regards to what they expect of the builder. I've done harder, larger ones; but at sub-50 pieces on 1.5 sheets; I was shocked to find myself hitting "speedbumps". It looks awesome. However, the second half of the instructions will probably push less experienced modelers. The thorax is multiple segments connected together with "tab hiding" (going into slots from the outside so the tabs are flattened and twisted inside). This makes for a better end result; but it can be tricky to pull right. The head expects you to attach five pieces before it's done. Just because the Monarch Butterfly, for instance was easy; don't expect this one to be.

They loved it

Don't bother unless you have some kind of shop set up, already, to build watches or something. Cutting the metal pieces out of the cast is troublesome enough. You need another pair of arms to be able to tighten the nuts. Buyer beware. This will probably make you cause crimes due to the difficulty.