Whew. My son, AJ, finished his build of the StarWars Venator-class Republic Attack Cruiser (8039) the other day. It took him about 7 - 30 minute sessions over about 30 days. He got the set for Yule. The long build time was due to his two smaller brothers who come running when they hear the unmistakable sound of a person digging through the parts pile looking for a piece. Haven, the 5 year old wants to help build and says "I'll do the next step". Orion, the 2 1/2 year old simply comes running chanting "GUY! GUY! GUY!", meaning he wants to play with the Lego mini-figures. Both of which, elicit groans and grumblings from AJ as he tries desperately to keep his pieces from being absconded with and lost. He's really good with his brothers and rarely looses his temper completely. I wish we could say the same for the pieces :-). We had to go to the bigger box of Lego pieces several times for this build to find replacement parts for bits that Orion wandered off with.
In the end it's a very satisfying build. It's rather sturdy for a play model. Having a fold out handle helps a lot. Some of the bits of trim on the side wings do fall off from time to time but he manages to put them back on. Pardon the grainy images, I took them with my phone in a hurry (It was past bed time) and my hands weren't as steady as they might have been otherwise.
I love building Lego with the boys (and my daughters too, when they want to). It gives us a chance to talk about fun things without the normal parent "stop doing that" or "do your chores" voices coming out. I get to watch them grow in their understanding of spatial awareness and following directions (two very important abilities). It's a very satisfying way to spend time together.
This set comes with a lot of neat details: An escape pod, a blaster turrent and bomb bay which drops bombs when you turn the crank. I'm sure you can find that out by reading the Amazon details section (link above), but they are AJ's favorite bits so I figured I would call them out. I would highly recommend this set for a family build due to the length of time it takes.
TTFN
D
