Model Train Journal

My daughter got me this item as a gift. It is a Disney edition of a Ugears "model". These are laser cut plywood models of various things. This particular thing is a model of one of the DisneyLand locomotives, the Walter Elias Disney steam engine. It has a rubber band powered wind up motor.



No glue required for assembly. Everything is supposed to "just fit". It sort of does. I have had to use a razor saw to assist with some of the part removal. The instructions remind of Lego (maybe the same people do both).

The laser was also used to burn some of the decorative effects. Model will be about 10 inches long when completed. I'm about 1/2 way done. The photo is at around 25%. Nice kits, you do need to pay attention to the details to make sure the parts are aligned properly.

Web site with partial catalog

https://ugears.us/collections/all-products

website of the "blog" featuring many of the models

https://ugearsmodels.us/blog/

Disney stuff is handled separately

it includes the locomotive, the monorail, Cinderella's coach and a Disney parks castle

I've seen these advertised and wondered about them - thanks for posting this! Please continue!!

Around the 50% point. This was the most difficult step to date. The cab with the motor had to be mounted to the "frame". As there is no glue, the pieces are a little loose. This is both good and bad. You can adjust alignment but this step was tricky as the cab has multiple axis of alignment. It takes a certain amount of patience to "adjust" the cab to match the holes in the frame. I think it took me about 15-20 minutes of manipulating the assembly to get everything to line up and then lock in place. It is a good thing the material is plywood. Straight bass would have snapped and anything harder would have been a nightmare to work with (e.g. oak or maple).





This is not a quick or easy kit to assemble and I have taken a number of breaks when I was getting frustrated. I had the cab finished last night but wisely chose to wait until this morning before trying to place it on the frame. The instruction manual isn't that bad other than the rubber band parts. This is where some "prose" could have been helpful. After a while you reach the "ah hah" moment and the diagrams start to make sense. Looking forward to the next steps. I will be looking at some of the other models for possible future builds. There is some frustration but also a great deal of satisfaction when you work it out and accomplish the assembly.

Nice job!

We sell a lot of Ugears in the shop. They are very popular.

George

I have the Grand Prix car kit here, still unbuilt. I'll have to bust that out sometime.

Bullfrog manual switch controllers are the same type of construction and work very well

Some additional photo's and comments:







You need to be patient when working on one of these. The gear alignment is critical and some of the "gears" are actually two gears stacked. As this is wood, you need to pay attention to which way the pieces face and it may require flipping/rotating to get them aligned properly. One set required eight tries to get the right configuration. I also broke my first part. It's a decorative piece with no structural requirements and I was able to use crazy glue to effect repairs. The laser cuts are incredibly precise. They are also quite thin. I am using this product to facilitate part removal from the sheets.

https://www.micromark.com/Ultra-Fine-Saw-Blade-pack-of-5

A typical Xacto blade is two thick to fit within the laser pre-cuts. BTW, these are insanely thin and sharp. They need to be handled with care. These are nothing like the old die cut Guillow balsa airplane kits. This is fairly thick plywood. The part I broke probably had a defect in the plywood as I had previously remove +130 pieces from 5 sheets without an issue.

You really need to pay attention to the red exclamation point warning icons in the instructions. These provide valuable clues to alignment and spacing.

These are also not "quick kits". I'm on my third day of assembly and I am doing two sessions a day, each about 90-120 minutes in length.

Finished the model. This is a picture of some of the "spare" parts to show the way the laser burns through the plywood. It is three ply material and it is 3.7 mm or 9/64" thick.



This is where I used the razor saw to finish the cuts to pop the parts out.

This is the completed model:



And this is an attempt to show the model "operating". It's only 8 seconds. I'm not sure how MTJ will react to a .mp4 file

http://www.umich.edu/~chuck/ugears.mp4

The kits are extremely well done and they are a way to pass time while building something unique. Tools required are pretty basic. A sharp thin knife (i used the razor saw because I have one an X-Acto will work but requires more care), a pice of 150 grit sandpaper and a plain wax candle or block of paraffin to act as a dry lubricant. Learning how to apply pressure to fit the parts takes a little getting used to. The plywood is pretty forgiving, I only broke 1 of the 300+ parts in the kit. Take your time and you will be rewarded with a unique model.

Nicely done, Chuck!

Turned out beautifully.

George

Thanks George. It was overall a very pleasant experience.

They are very nicely thought out kits. The only "issue" I had was with the rubber band drive. They could expand on the directions or post some YouTube video's to clarify the procedure/process. It wasn't insanely hard. I finally "got it". One other cautionary note about the kits. The panel layout is pretty straight forward but there are a few pieces that are nested.

I heartily recommend hanging onto all of the "scrap" until you are done in case you missed something. The nested parts can be "tricky".

Looks great Chuck. Every once in awhile it is nice to go another route/material with kit assembly. Back when we had a B&N in town I got one of the etched metal kits for the hay of it. Had a blast and then could give my wife a lighthouse. As she loves those buildings it was a win-win. Thanks for sharing.

Jim K

My fingers and eyes could NEVER do that,
Congratulations, Chuck!

chuck wrote:My daughter got me this item as a gift. It is a Disney edition of a Ugears "model". These are laser cut plywood models of various things. This particular thing is a model of one of the DisneyLand locomotives, the Walter Elias Disney steam engine...it includes the locomotive, the monorail, Cinderella's coach and a Disney parks castle

Interesting. Sounds like an ambitious set of models. I like the design of the Ugears tram set, with it's various accessories and figures. It's nice how they use the laser for lettering, lining and other decoration.

If you like working with wood, you might like OcCre models, which are made in Spain. (Ugears are made in the Ukraine.) They have good models of both transcontinental golden spike engines, among other things.

https://www.occre.com/?___store=en

Speaking of Disney, there's also this site, which has nice, free paper models:

https://www.disneyexperience.com/models/index.php?page=1

They have Disneyland's Main Street train station, and the Big Thunder Mountain loco and car, as well as other usable models.

Daughter requested that I build this one, for her. She loves Disneyland and misses being able to go. Kit just arrived. Will post updates as i build it.



Matterhorn is her favorite. I like Soaring over in California Adventure.

About 90 minutes later I've made it through page 7 (of 17) on the tea cup model. First thing I had to "remember" was to find a plain white candle to "wax" some of the gears/bearings. Second thing was to look the sheets over from both sides to use a vert sharp Xacto to cut parts free. This is laser cut plywood but there are pin sized bridges holding the pieces to the sheets. You almost always have to cut these to get pieces to come free cleanly. Main issue is the "bridges" could be on either the top or bottom and occasionally on both sides. I can't find a rhyme or reason.

You also HAVE to pay attention to the orientation of some of the laser cut "scroll" work on pieces to make sure you are placing them correctly. The numbers are on the carrier "plates" and not the pieces. DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING until its ready to be assembled. Some pictures of the model as it is being assembled.