Horse Mechanoid Mechanical Model Kit

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Discontinued - clearance price

 

Before the Age of Steam took over the world, the only reliable transport available to travelers was been strong and fast horses. Step away from high end technologies and ultra high-speed to appreciate the time of traveling by horse-back with this model that joins nature and mechanics.

In other walking horse models, stability of the moving construction is usually realized by means of additional extremities or other external supports. The absolutely unique mechanism of this model that makes your Horse a real quadruped is a brand new innovation developed by Ugears.

The designers paid special attention to the anatomy of the animal’s legs to make sure that all the joints and movements closely resemble those of a real horse. The heart of the horse is a pendulum installed in the chest, which slows the transmission of energy from the rubber-band motor to the movable elements.

The Bionic Horse won’t carry you over the horizon – the distance it can cover in one winding is quite limited. Regardless, it is enough to observe the work of the unique mechanism and enjoy the beauty of the mechanics of the model. When moving, the mechanoid shakes its head swaying its soft rubber band mane.


Notes from Alex (revised)

We had to replace out existing model for the upcoming season - while all the UGears models are fairly rugged, after either falling or being blown off the shelf several times this past year our horse was in rough shape, The replacement model was just finished.

I would still maintain this is one of the most challenging kits to build, up there with the truck, Dream Cabriolet, and Express Train. It's totally worth the effort, though. This is mentioned in most of my notes but it is EXTREMELY important during assembly to make sure that all moving parts move freely and are well-lubricated (waxed). The instructions call out several places where you should test the movement - do NOT skip these steps. The design is such that it is virtually impossible to correct any issues with sticking after assembly.

As a side note, I've found that while the wax they include with the kits is fine for the simpler models, for those that are more complex a votive candle works better - the wax has a higher melting point and is therefore harder and less "sticky"

The mechanism itself is very interesting, and I found myself thinking at several points that it could not possibly work - the offset gears in particular don't make a lot of sense until you actually see them moving.