****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I bought this as a gift for my girlfriend because I couldn't find any Eiffel tower that was around 4 feet tall that looked realistic and was already built. I didn't even consider the Lego Eiffel tower because it was almost two grand and looked terrible and wasn't even as tall. The instructions for the most part on this Eitech model were pretty easy but it got difficult at certain stages and I made mistakes and had to spend an hour or two taking apart the sections I built incorrectly. It took me almost 30 hours to build it. As far as the tools go there was a wrench like tool that's supposed to hold a nut for you while you try to screw a bolt into it. The reason for this is because while you are building the tower there will be sections too small to reach into with your fingers. It was frustrating at times to have the nut keep falling out of the tool meant to hold it in place. I would say the proportions look amazing. I did not get the version with the lights because I heard the lights were cheap looking. Instead what I did was spray paint the completed tower the milk chocolate brown like the real tower and then rigged my own lights. I took the puck lights that you would use to illuminate a shelf in an armoire and rigged five of them by picture hanging wire in all the parts of the tower where I could fit it and secured the electrical cords so that you can't see them at all. I spray painted the electrical cords and the lights brown so that you don't notice them. Then I plugged all the cords into a power strip/surge protector so the tower can be illuminated with the flick of a switch. I have seen Eiffel tower statues on Ebay that are 6 ft tall and made of fiberglass. It was around $1700 and was not hollow like the real tower so you cannot rig any lighting. Certainly this Eitech version is of high quality. My final touch was placing the tower on an end table. When lit the tower casts amazing grid like shadows throughout the roomBought this as a gift for my wife who is a French Teacher. I tasked my son who is a lego master and I think I broke him. Hahaha poor guy he is 10 years old and he tried very hard and diligently to put this together for his mom. Needless to say I have something new on my “Honey Do “ list.I’m am happy with the quality of the materials, the box in which it comes in is a good start to keeping things organized. I am excited to see this built as we are hoping to add som LED lights to this as well.The tower is generally easy to build except when you need to piece certain parts together which can cause some difficulties in accessing the bolt/ nut.The tools provided are really useful and there is ample materials to construct the tower. The proportion of the tower is accurate and is really impressive once its completed.It may be useful to provide a contact to request for spares in case of parts/ tools being lost.Grandson had Eiffel Tower research project for French class -- we decided to build a model. This metal kit provided hours of planning, preparing and working together. Best done in good company; I would worry about someone -- particularly a 13 year old -- wanting to do this by themselves. It was a serious undertaking with seemingly thousands of parts -- all there thankfully. If you enjoy putting Ikea furniture together, you will love this kit. The plans are clear and intuitive; and the tools adequate (we added our own). Recommend using a white canvas drop cloth or sheet to work on; helps in organizing the various pieces and finding fallen nuts and bolts.This is a very well engineered product. Like the country of origin, if you are meticulous in building it and pay attention, it is a breeze even for my 8 year old. It kept them busy for days. Non toxic parts are nice and safe and can be trusted here versus "other" parts of the world. No issues with lost parts-this is a function of being messy and disorganized-don't construct on deep shag carpeting or on the front yard. This kit is awesome and it looks great in my downtown condo in the city! Thanks boys for building it.This product is waaaaay too big for anyone, and extremely hard to assemble.It was an expensive item by my standards, but after assembling it, I realize why. Each piece was precision made, not a piece didn't fit properly. Always enough or extra pieces. A lot of metal period.packed in a nice wooden box. This is not for kids, took many hours to build
