Fascinations Premium Series Notre Dame Cathedral 3D Metal Model Kit

Awesome model. Looks great when finished. Getting all the flying buttresses secure and even was challenging and time comsuing, but the end result is very impressive. Just a note - PLEASE heed the manufacturer's warning that these are NOT toys and are not for children. These kits require patience (particularly the 3-sheet models, which can take a couple hours to complete). These do not go together like simple puzzles. Also, without a few tools, you simply cannot complete them - in particular, needle nose pliers are helpful and flat-nose pliers are basically required. The company sells a branded kit, but I bought it and I can tell you the quality is VERY mediocre.

My so-in-law, who is from Belgium and visited France numerous times during his childhood and as an adult, loves all things French, especially the architecture in Paris. This kit was perfect for him; putting it together was a challenge, which he enjoys, as the pieces are tiny and require patience. But the result is worth it; the model is beautiful and the right size for his desk. For the price it was a great gift for him. One warning: this requires an adult to put it together because some of the pieces are "razor" sharp and they are tiny. This is a perfect gift for an adult who enjoys puzzles and/or architecture.

I have built several Metal Earth models and was eagerly awaiting the ICONX series. This one did not disappoint. That said, it was a challenge. Keep in mind that the parts are almost microscopic. Fine needle nose pliers are a must, along with patience. I’d say it took me about 4 hours to build. I’ve never been to Notre Dame de Paris but my daughter has and the completed model was a gift for her. She was very impressed! The detail is amazing. I assumed it would be larger than the Metal Earth series, which it is, but still very small. To get an idea of scale, there’s plenty of room to put this model on a dollar bill. The big difference is complexity. There’s four times the sheet metal area compared to a regular Metal Earth model. Also, the picture on this Amazon site as I write this is not correct. It is apparently a pre-production sample, as the actual model is far better. Check out the Fascinations web site for the latest photos, including a 360 spin-around. I have a little constructive feedback for Fascinations: The locations of some of the sprues, especially for some of the flying buttresses (but not all) were in the thinnest area of the parts, exactly the opposite of where they should be. One must be very careful removing those parts from the sheet without damaging them. Speaking of flying buttresses, they should have been longer and inserted into slots in the main building to keep them aligned. As it is they are hanging in space and almost impossible to line up perfectly parallel with each other. Otherwise, simply awesome.

This was tedious, aggravating, and obscenely challenging. I loved absolutely every minute of it. The sheets are high quality and it is helpful to have tin snips or cuticle trimmers to cut the tabs attaching the pieces to the sheets for some of the smaller pieces. That being said, the pieces all fit perfectly, as long as you remove them appropriately. The only thing that I do not like about this, which is the same complaint that I have regarding the Neuschwanstein model, is that the diagram showing the pieces numbers is on the same page as the instructions. It gets annoying to flip over the paper constantly when working on the second half of the model.

Nice not too tricky

This is the first model of this type that I've built, and in hindsight I probably should have started simpler. It's got tons of thin, fragile pieces (just look at all of those buttresses) and many of the tabs you need to bend/twist are in hard-to-reach spots. I'm going to separate this from the rest of the review for emphasis: GET YOURSELF SOME GOOD NEEDLE-NOSE PLIERS!!! Preferably ones with the longest, thinnest...nose. There are a few kits available on here with a set of those, plus wirecutters. I wish I'd had them, since I did mine with a pair of tweezers and an old nail-clipper! Tweezers work, but the grip they get on the tabs isn't great. After all of the stress, though, the final model is fantastic-looking. Mine came out basically the way it looks in the product photo, and I'm thrilled with it. I ordered another Metal Earth model because of it - they're really great quarantine projects.

This was the first thing of this type of "building" that I have ever done and I love it too much. I felt like I bought the hardest one, but I am glad that I did. I actually would like to get another so I can redo it even better and I can not mess up several times, as I did on my first one. The only complaint that I truly have with this is that the flying buttresses made me extremely nervous to try to take out, as I felt like I was about to break every one of them, because they're so thin. Other than that, I absolutely loved this product. Extremely detailed as well!

Out of seven Metal Earth models to date, this is my favorite (although as a medievalist, I'm a bit biased). With about 90 pieces assembled into a product that's only 4 inches long, its a real challenge, but the result is beautiful. It also has very few pieces that need to be rounded, which is always a challenge (and not in a fun way) This Amazon listing says its for 14 months and up. It should say 14 years and up! And it would require a 14 year old with a lot of patience. The product comes with tweezers. I strongly suggest getting small needle nose pliers, like what you find in jewelry sections of craft stores. Tweezers are too big. My one tiny complaint is the top of the flying buttresses don't anchor to the building. I suspect it would require overly precise fitting of other pieces for it to all work. You have to actively look for it to see it, however. Seriously, it's a beautiful piece.