Father - Son Build Recommendations

[Machwave]

Hello everyone,

My son is almost 5 and completely in love with robots (Transformers, Gundam, Iron Man, etc.). I'm wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a relatively simple kit that I can introduce him to modelling with.

Thanks in advance!

- Mike

[GangsterNo1]

I built this with my son when he was 5 and he loved it because it moved. He insisted on taking it to school for show and tell. Not really a model kit, but it does come on sprues so needs to be trimmed, sanded, etc. Robot Spider!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Playwrite-Spid ... B01LXJK6ZC

Since then we've done some of the Airfix easy build kits and now he's 6 I let him choose an Airfix 1/72 plane for us to do together. I think the Bandai Star Wars kits are good too, Both my sons wanted to help me with the Scout Trooper and Sand Trooper I did.

[Lysus]

Hm. 5 is tough, my daughter loves the little petitgguys from Bandai as they're super simple, if a bit on the cute side. I think at 5 he might want something more dynamic.

You could look for SD Standard Gundam kits.

They're a bit more complex but not by much, however they're a lot more like a toy than the little bears. Cheap, too. I think you might be doing the lion's share of the work, hard to say how good with the fine motor skills a 5 year old is (they're all different) and you don't want frustrate them too early and scare them off. Here's an example of what comes in a box:

[youtube]bkySbNpyP2U[/youtube]

No, they don't all have grim names like that, just that one

You know him best, but if you want something simple to start with, I say look for the above.

[Machwave]

Thanks for the recommendations.

I was watching him at the Lowes/Home Depot kids workshops and his fine motor skills and attention span are probably a little light for actual modelling. That being said the spider and the Gundam look viable because this is as much about time together as anything. If it follows like the kid workshops, I'll end up doing most of this with him helping with instructions and appropriate actions.

thanks again everyone.

[Lysus]

Word.

The other benefit of Bandai is no glue, he can just push the pieces together. Though I firmly believe in not shielding kids from challenge too much, glue can come later

[Machwave]

I thought I'd give you guys an update. We did the SD Gundam. Because he had gotten it for Christmas and the assembly was part of the Christmas morning let's open presents chaos, he didn't get to do a lot of the assembly. He did get the push parts together, but the instructions in Japanese were a little too over the top for him. He helped a little with the decals. Overall, it's been one of his favorites. It's gone from just a cool model to a robot that is part of the play rotation. We'll probably do another for his birthday in May to see if he can do more of the assembly.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Lysus]

That's awesome! Glad it all worked out so well. Thanks for the update, always nice to hear what happens.

[digger303]

Cool.