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(More customer reviews)As danielsmom notes this toy has problems; assembly is complex, parts sometimes have fitting problems, and the animation of the toy knights is overly ambitious. To top this off I purchased this toy (indicated ages 8-12) for my 4-year-old! Here is how I made it work (so far).
I'm an experienced plastic model builder so I had a few tricks up my sleeve that the average parent might not have. After initally constructing the ship and seeing how its 'snap-together' construction was quickly going to snap-apart I decided to rebuild it gluing it together with old fashioned model airplane glue. This isn't as hard as it seems; use the glue very sparingly and since the ship snaps together very little support is needed while the glue dries. I did have a small problem with one of the upper hull fore or rear deck pieces being slightly warped but some gentle bending and strapping it down with rubber bands as the glue dried fixed that.
Some thought must be given to the which deck pieces to snap together and which to glue because the batteries and motor which power the "rowing motion" are in a block that forms part of and rests under the deck. This isn't terribly critical because there is not much trouble with the deck coming apart during play anyway. The mast, which attaches to the battery/motor compartment, is a problem and the mast base should be glued to said compartment. I chose not to glue the mast itself into this base (which holds the mast perfectly well) so that the mast can be removed for play or easier storage. The motor as it came in my ship seazed and produced a horrible grinding noise which told me the gears where not meshing and I noticed that the exterior cam wheels where not turning in unison. I was able to re-sync the gears by trapping one set of wheels with the one hand while forcing the other wheel into a similar alignment. All works well now.
The figures that come with the ship are supposed to grasp the oars and sway back and forth as the motor moves the oars in a rowing motion. I can't see how this can be made to practically work for a child of any age. My solution was to forget having the knights row (what a peasants for after all?) a hold the oars in place not with the supplied figures but with small O-ring from a hardware store.
All-in-all this a challenging build for Dad that he'd best start before Christmas Eve but with some determination, glue, and fore-though makes a very impressive, thoughly playable toy.
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Mega Bloks King Arthur Attack Action WarshipThis buildable 100+ piece war ship sets the stage for royal adventures as King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table come to life. There's a launching cannon, six-headed dragon and five articulated figures that really row the boat. Included figures spring to life with the "magic 'n motion" stick. Requires 2 "AA" batteries, not included. Ship measures 15" tall when assembled.
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