I purchased a wooden puzzle in Japan on a whim. I saw these previously, somewhere on the interwebs and was fascinated – how sturdy are the finished models, how easy is assembly and is it fun? I can now answer all these questions since I built my first, albeit with some difficulty.

The model I purchased was the TG407 wooden airship from Rolife*, something that harkens to the world of the hindenburg and the golden age of exploration. The finished model includes a gondola suspended from a exposed-frame gas envelope. The gondola resembles a horse carriage with its wheels and even has a fan at the rear end. Very aesthetically pleasing.

The annoyance and difficult level of the assembly process depend on your familiarity with woodworking. I have none so I found it very annoying. The individual pieces are on a frame and you press them out. The pieces are held to the frame by little studs and often, these do not separate cleanly, leaving splinters everywhere. The smaller pieces – the round ones, notably – are prone to breaking as you separate them from the frame. Same story with the elongated pieces.

The assembly process is straightforward and the instructions are understandable. The problem is, wood pieces have a large tolerance for flex and dimensional errors. Assembly also requires pushing pieces together and the force sometimes breaks the larger ones. Spares are included but only the smaller pieces. My suggestion is to purchase two identical models if this is your first attempt – things will go wrong.

You often need glue and some pieces must be sanded – a square of sandpaper is included. The trouble is that knowing when to use glue or sandpaper isn’t easy to gauge and the instructions contain no information. A pity.

The finished product is decidedly not sturdy. A misplaced finger can topple or separate the model. A display case is a good idea.

On the whole, the models are enjoyable to assemble and the finished product is pleasing to the eye. The process is slightly messy with wood dust and splinters involved however, this is not aimed at kids so no great problems, just be aware.

*Rokr, Rolife and Robolife all appear to be different brands from the same Chinese company.

You can buy one here, straight from the manufacturer (Note – this is not an affiliate link) https://www.robotimeonline.com/ca/products/modern-3d-wooden-puzzle-tg407-airship