SEMKY Military Series Leopard 2 A7 Main Battle Tank MOC Building Blocks and Engineering Toy（1063 Pieces），with 4 Figure,WW2 Army Tank for Kid and Military Fan

So the end result is nice to look at but it was very difficult to complete. I never thought I'd have to use a 3/16 inch drillbit to ream out holes in building blocks. There was excess plastic making it difficult to insert the rods. Also, I've made quite a lot of these non-lego tank models and this one is the most fragile by far. The panels above the driver and engine cannot really be opened because the hinges are not secure.

We've gotten a few SEMKY build kits and we have loved all of them so far. My husband and I are looking for ways to play with our inner child more, and since we both played with legos as kids, we get the most enjoyment out of lego-type builds—especially my husband. This one was clearly more for him, and he had a good time putting it together. All the SEMKY builds come with straightforward instructions, better suited for adults but perhaps older kids wouldn't find them frustrating. The end result is beautiful, and the hubby said they were great on the details of this tank. We look forward to our next SEMKY.

This was a bit challenging for a 10 year old, so i assisted him in building it. No missing pieces and the instructions were pretty easy to follow. The quality of the bricks leaves a little to be desired but overall we did have fun building it and once complete it is really cool.

I can't believe it took me 12 days and an engineering caliper to review this. I guess I was having fun. These Semky building blocks are a clone of “Lego” that is also sold on Amazon here:https://www.amazon.com/stores/LEGO/page/017EF856-965D-4B56-A171-EA61CAFF45DD . This Semky model has 1063 pieces, recommended for ages 8 and up. It is a choking hazard for small children. It is too weak to use in it's current form. Key pieces must be glued together to make it stronger. This set is only appropriate for adults and adolescents who can handle gluing models, make redesigns, and be extremely patient with a delicate touch. If you are willing to do this, it will provide you with many days of entertainment. If you already have a large collection of Legos and clones, you can redesign this to be stronger.HIGHLIGHTS: - The quality is not great on the large plates that have tubes on the underside. The tubes are too narrow, causing weak underside connections. This makes the tank undercarriage extremely weak. + The small parts are not affected. They make up 4/5 of the product by volume. These are perfectly interchangeable with your good quality Lego building blocks. + This costs about 35% the price of a Lego set of the same size. You get about 80% high quality blocks at 35% of the price. And, the low quality large plates are still available as a backup. Is that of value to you? + The instructions are easy to follow once you understand how the pictorial manual works. - The tank front and rear walls are designed to fall off. Each is a solid chunk, with a few tiny connections to hold them up. + If you are willing to glue some parts together, you get a really nice looking tank, with moving parts that you can play with. I'd try using rubber cement at first, because you can peel it off if you make a mistake. - The hood over the driver (steps 49-52) is a puzzle. There's no reason for it to be like that. The designer was giving you a challenge. - The front hood will break when you open it. To fix it, you have to raise the hinges up above the other blocks, by inserting a 1x3 plate below both of the two hinges. - When the turret spins left and right, the bottom edges of the turret plates catch against the top edges of the tank hood and the turret plates fall off. I used extra Lego pieces (3x3 not included) to raise the turret up by one plate thickness. Now it spins without interference. - In step 76, an important sub-assembly picture was omitted. If the 2x3 is not installed properly, the top-front section falls apart and you can't raise the big gun. I provide instructions in two photos (76) and in the “Problem” section below. - When the turret half of the model is installed on top, you can't open the driver's hatch nor the engine hatch. The hatches should be redesigned smaller, so that they open when the turret is turned to the side. + One of the joys of building blocks is changing and redesigning a model to suit your creativity.RATING: This is much more work than just a model to be built. With all the problems that need fixing, it becomes a 1063 piece puzzle. Not everyone who buys a model wants to solve a puzzle. The designer should fix the problems and make this model work properly. It has the potential to be really fun. All the hinged and moving pieces bring it to life. 3 STARS, because it's recommended for 8 year olds, but the difficulty level is “Advanced”.DESCRIPTION: These are Lego “clones”. The Lego patent for tubular bricks expired long ago. It is legal for anyone to make blocks with gripping tubes in the inside. They are the same sizes and shapes of Lego bricks, tiles, plates, hinges, axles and other special pieces. They are made of ABS, just like Legos. They are compatible with Legos. The snap feels the same as Legos EXCEPT for the underside of all the large pieces and only a few of the small pieces. The Leonard2 tank is topical at this point in history. It is made in Germany. and sold throughout Europe. It is being used in Ukraine to defend against the Soviet invasion. Those who like to play war games could have a lot of fun building this, while discussing how it is making history, right now, in Ukraine.HOW MUCH WORK IS INVOLVED? This set has 1063 pieces. The manual and the pieces are divided in 6 sections. It takes a couple of hours to complete each section. If you spend a couple of hours a day, you can finish it in 6 days.WHAT YOU GET IN THE BOX: - 14 bags of parts that are labeled with the number of the section in which they are used. - One toy soldier. - One orange pry tool, to dis-assemble blocks. It has a sharp end that mimics a thumbnail to open a space between blocks. It has a shaft to poke axles out of wheels. It has a stud end and an “anti-stud” (socket) end, to help you handle parts. - A high quality Instruction Manual: 40 glossy, color pages, illustrations for constructing every piece, (except one), and thick high quality paper that will last in your toy box.HOW THE INSTRUCTION MANUAL IS ORGANIZED: It's an international manual, so everything is pictorial with no words. Numbers are used to keep track of which bags to open, keep track of what step you are on, and tell you the number of pieces needed for each step. (See the photos,)(1) The manual will show a picture of a numbered bag at the beginning of each section. Open these bags to build the upcoming section.(2) Each section is divided into several small steps.Section #1 has steps 1-19, and uses 3 bags of parts, (small / medium / large), all labeled “1”.Section #2 has steps 20-25, and uses 2 bags of parts, (medium / large), both labeled “2”.Section #3 has steps 26-40, and uses 2 bags of parts, (medium / large), both labeled “3”.Section #4 has steps 41-54, and uses 2 bags of parts, (small / large), both labeled “4”.Section #5 has steps 55-73, and uses 3 bags of parts, (small / medium), both labeled labeled “5”.Section #6 has steps 74-82, and uses 2 bags of parts, (medium / large), both labeled labeled “6”.(3) Each step in the manual shows you a header box with a sky-blue background. It contains a pictorial list of the parts you will need and how many of each of part. The parts are pictured in order from smallest to largest. You can get those parts out of your bags, to start building that step. Below the header box, there is an assembly picture showing you where to put the parts. The parts you are assembling are pictured in color. Pay attention to where the seams (edges) of each block go. When you move on to the next step, the parts that were installed in the last step are no longer in color. The previous parts are “dimmed” by changing them to a light blue color to make them less attention grabbing. Only the new blocks that you are assembling in this step are shown in their actual colors. Color makes it easier to find the new blocks in the assembly picture, so you can install them faster. When you come to the end of a section, your bags of parts will be nearly empty except for a few pieces. SAVE THESE! They are used in future sections. The next picture in your manual is a picture of the next bag of parts for the next section. if you need to stop for the day, this is a good stopping point. Stop after you've used up your open bags of parts, and before you open new bags of parts. This will make it less likely that you will lose any loose parts. When you are ready to start building again, you get the bags out for the next section and continue assembling. Repeat until the entire 6 sections are built.PROBLEMS ANALYZED:Problem #1: The bottom side of the large Semky plates are too loose.The problem is because the gripping tubes on the bottom side were too narrow, leaving loose space around the mating studs. (The sockets are too loose.) I got out my engineering caliper, to accurately compare Legos vs. Semkys. The Lego tubes were all consistent in diameter on all their blocks. This consistency is what makes Lego the gold standard to which other brands are compared. I looked at the Semky blocks that had tubes underneath. - All the parts that had 40 or more studs (27 or more tubes) had tubes that were VERY LOOSE fitting. - All the parts that had between 24 and 32 studs (15 to 21 tubes) had SLIGHTLY LOOSE fitting tubes. - Some of the parts that had between 8 and 16 “anti-studs” (3 to 9 tubes) had slight looseness. - None of the small blocks with 4 to 6 “anti-studs” (1 or 2 tubes) was loose.The looseness got worse as the size of the plate increased. I measured wall thickness. The Semky wall thickness is the same as Lego's. I measured stud diameter. On my old Lego blocks, the white blocks have the largest stud diameter. The brightly colored blocks have slightly smaller studs, but they are close. All of the Semky blocks have a wide stud diameter similar to the white Legos. The top of the Semkys will have a tight fit when paired with Legos. WHY would Semky make the bottoms of large plates LOOSER? In Legos, every “anti-stud” (socket) must have friction strong enough to hold up a 1x1. The more studs you insert in the anti-studs, the more friction you will have, and the more strength you will need to force them all in at the same time. I tried stacking two 6x8 Lego plates on top of each other. The force required to insert 48 studs all at the same time was too great. I had to get pliers to squeeze them flush. The Semky designer stacks a lot of large plates on top of a lot of studs. This would have a lot of friction force, making assembly difficult. To reduce the friction, Semky decreased the size of the tubes on these large plates. The mistake is, this also reduced the friction on the tank undercarriage where the 2x2 axles are mounted, as well as the 2x2 circles that hold up the front end. These parts are constantly falling off.Problem #2: The wheels are attached to cantilevered axles. When you press down on the tank, the cantilevered axle creates a moment force that separates the black axle mount studs from the weak undercarriage tubes. If we had 4” long axles, we could connect the left and right wheels (like a car), canceling out the moment forces on the mounts.Problem #3: Too many seams are stacked on top of each other. That is weak. Any experienced brick builder knows that if you want your design to be strong, you lay bricks in a staggered, overlapping pattern like you see in brick walls. As one reviewer noted, whole sections of the model are just hanging on by a few studs. Those are the front end and the rear end of the tank. I'm wondering if the designer wanted the tank to be weak, so kids could wreck the model with projectiles when playing war games. Then the Mom builds the model up again, and the kids wreck it again.Problem #4: The front hood breaks when you open it. The ratcheted hinges only work at 0 degrees, or at 90 degrees. Any position in-between causes interference between the blocks along the hinge-line. They start to pop off. Gluing won't fix this. To fix it, you have to raise the hinges up above the other blocks by inserting a 1x3 plate below each of the two hinges. After the fix, the hatch looks beautiful and it opens smoothly from 0 through 90 degrees with no problems!Problem #5: A sub-assembly drawing is missing from step 76. It was supposed to show the 2x3 green plate being assembled underneath the other parts. Two studs go underneath the 2x2 black wedge. 4 studs go under neath the 2x8 green plate. This securely sandwiches the black wedge between two plates. This sub-assembly is a lever that you toggle down to raise the tank's gun up. Then I noticed the last two exposed studs got stuck in the curved green 2x8 above it. To prevent that, I added two 1x1 tiles to cover those studs. This stops the sub-assembly from sticking to the roof of the turret. The sub-assembly has a 1x1 wedge in the middle. This is like a knob that you push backwards to raise the gun.SOME PROBLEMS REPORTED BY OTHER REVIEWERS ARE NOT REALLY PROBLEMS: Correction 1: One reviewer said the dimples on the studs were a defect. They are not a defect. They are the spots where the plastic was injected into the mold. Legos have dimples too, that are much smaller and less noticeable. The Semky dimples may be bigger and uglier, but this does not effect the functionality of the parts. Correction 2: One reviewer said the manual had missing pieces between steps 65 and 66. The parts are not missing in the drawings. In step 66, the previous “step 65 parts” were turned light blue in color and partially covered by the colorful parts from step 66. The manual is good except for step 76. NOTE: The brown in the manual is so dark, it almost looks black. The brown parts in real life are medium brown, not dark brown. Correction 3: The soldier DOES fit in the driver area, and in both turret hatches, and at the same time can hold the steering wheel & shift, or the machine gun and the grenades/binoculars. Correction 4: One reviewer said the instructions sound like Chinese that got translated into bad English. There are no words, only pictures in the manual. So that is not possible. They must have been talking about the Amazon ad. Those are not instructions. Correction 5: One reviewer complained that only one side of the model was shown, making it hard to assemble the other side. Correction: The other side was shown in another separate drawing, except for step 76.GLUING NEEDED IN SECTION #1: I'd start with rubber cement. It's easier to peel off if you make a mistake. Step 1: Glue all the parts that go on the bottom of the undercarriage. HINT: Make sure all 14 axles are the same length: 1.6”. A few axles are shorter. The axles must be inside the mounts before you glue down both sides. Step 2: Glue the two gray disks, the gray 1x1 & the gray 1x6. DO STEPS 4,5,6,7 AFTER step 16. Step 4: There is one green 2x3 tile. It attaches to two black wedges and a gray plate. Glue the flat green tile to the gray plate and the two black wedges. That one green piece holds up the entire back end, until you get to step 17. Then the 1x8's add a little extra support. Very little. If you WANT the back to fall off during war play, then only glue the green tile to the two black wedges. Step 17: Glue down the gray pieces. Step 18: Glue down the two gray 1x1 hinges. (In SECTION #4, step 48, the engine hatch rips these gray pieces off when you open and close it.)SECTION #2: Don't assemble steps 24 & 25 (The wheels & chain-linked-treads) until SECTION #3.SECTION #3: Step 30: The gray hinges need to be raised up above the other plates, or the hood won't open & close properly. Add an extra 1x3 plate under each hinge (or add equally sized spacer parts). If you don't have extra parts, take it out of step 39. You don't need it there. You do need it here. Trust me. If you get more extra parts later on, you can fill in step 39 later. Step 33: Don't assemble step 33 until after step 35. Then immediately attach the 10x4 plates (in step 36) to the front end to keep it from falling off. The designer deliberately created a front end that was designed to fall off in one big piece. Steps 34 and 35: glue all these pieces together. When you remove the turret to open the hatches, the model breaks here. Step 36: Assemble most of the pieces, EXCEPT for the 2x2 right angle brackets. Then assemble step 24, the wheels. Assemble the treads: If you use 69 treads on each side, the treads will be tight and harder to revolve. but they look good. Installation was so tight, I bent the small pin that holds up the arm of the upper front wheel. I pushed the pin back in place. No harm done. If you use 70 treads on each side, they will be very loose and revolve freely. It's fun to watch. They will be so loose, they hang down when you lift the model up, which looks sloppy. (The lower wheels are too tight to spin. Only the top wheels and treads spin easily.) Finish assembling step 36, the right angle brackets. Steps 39 & 40: Don't do steps 39 and 40 until after SECTION #4, step 54. They keep falling off when you handle them.SECTION #4: After step 54 is done, then install steps 39 and 40 from SECTION #3. Step 39: Glue down the two front green tiles that attach by one stud only. If you run out of green 1x3 plates, use whatever left over 1x2 and 1x1 parts that you have.SECTION #5: Steps 69 & 70: Glue the three green tiles to the gray1x3, (4 sets).Step 73: Glue the four 1x2 oval grenade launchers to the studs on the wall.SECTION #6: Step 81: The antennas are loose. In real life, antennas are detachable. Don't loose them.Step 82 & 83: Glue the 2 tip pieces that attach by one stud.MY FIXES THAT DON'T USE GLUE, USING MY LEGO COLLECTION: Extra Lego plates used: 6x14, 6x8, 2x4, 1x4, 2x3, 2x3. SECTION #1, step 1: I used two large Lego plates to replace the three weak Semky plates. I used Legos 6x8 and 6x14 plates to remove one bad seam and have tighter fitting tubes on the bottom. This made the SECTION #1 build stronger. If you DON'T want the front end to FALL OFF when “bombed”, then add extra plates between the two round gray 2x2 circles, to help hold it up better. I used a Lego 2x4 & 1x4. SECTION #1, step 4: If you DON'T want the back end to FALL OFF when “bombed”, then add two extra 2x3 plates on the bottom to strengthen the connection. Put one 2x3 between the axle mounts. Put the other 2x3 half on the first 2x3 and half on the gray 1x6. You can remove these extra support pieces later, when you do want to play war games.“Good Luck” on “Your mission, should you choose to accept it...” - Mission: Impossible.

This kit is perfect for the L?go enthusiast who is also a fan of tanks. The colors on the box are off (too bluish), the actual kit mostly has a light olive color. That's still much lighter than the correct Bundeswehr drab olive, but it looks good.All parts are packaged in numbered bags. The CAD-generated assembly instructions reference those bag numbers, no need to hunt for the parts needed for that assembly stage. The manual is step-by-step, clear, and easy to follow.

I got this for my nephew. He love military vehicles and toys. He is 7 and really like this as a gift. He needs help putting it together though. I would suggest glue too becaue you wont be able to use these blocks with legos and it can fall apart.

This is a ok building set, but the final product doesn’t look as impressive to me as similar builds from other brands. The overall color is kinda off and some of the multi-color parts make it look more fake in my opinion. The price per brick is also not the best. There are similar-priced sets out there with 400 more pieces. The pieces generally fit together well but once you start putting things together they start coming apart very easily. The foundation isn’t strong enough. So some parts of the build you are likely to experience some frustration with parts coming apart as there is not enough support all around so things keep coming loose. No missing pieces and the instructions were clear to me.

After few hours of frustration, finally got it fully build. However it is very weak and fragile. The designs only for display and not playable.