Project: Metal Earth Models within Marvel – Mjolnir
Difficulty Level: 6/10
I’m starting the hobby train by completing a new model toy from Metal Earth. If you haven’t heard of Metal Earth before, they are 3D models made from steel sheets. They have a lot of different models that you can make from cars, ships, and historical landmarks, but they also partner with a lot of different licensed brands such as Star Wars and Marvel.
Years ago, I made my first Metal Earth model of the Millenium Falcon which I must admit I was very proud of. But it has been a long while since I had constructed one of these so I was nervous about putting this new one together. The difficulty of the Metal Earth steel sheets is they are VERY malleable. It’s kind of both the allure and the deterrent. Because it’s so easy to bend the metal, you are able to get a variety of shapes even circular shapes as is found in Mjolnir’s handle. However, the metal is very similar to the top of a soda can tab, which as you’ve probably done if you bend back and forth enough times just breaks off the can. So there is definitely a level of precision needed with these model kits to ensure you don’t break the parts and end up needing to buy a completely new kit.
With all that in mind, there are two items needed in order to get started with building the kit. Amazon actually sells a 3-Piece Tool Set by Metal Earth that will get you set up, but you may also have the items already at home.
- Wire cutters – for removing the individual pieces from the metal sheets
- Needle Nose Pliers – for folding the pieces to insert tabs or create shapes
- You can use tweezers instead of Needle Nose Pliers but I definitely found that sound pieces require a bit of leverage that I don’t think standard tweezers would give you. It could be helpful to have both options for both the larger and smaller pieces
Here’s what my setup looked like before I got started:
Overall, this model took me a little over 2 hours to complete. When choosing a metal earth project, there is an indicator on the back on how easy/hard and this one was mid but more towards the easy side. In the beginning, I thought it was pretty easy. But if you look at the sheets, you can see there were some really small pieces in the kit. The hardest part of the whole project was the handle strap. The pieces were SO TINY and the actual shape was circular. I probably took 15 minutes just on that part alone. However, other than the circular handle and the strap connector, this was actually a really easy project to complete.
I think if you’re looking to make a model kit, Metal Earth is fun and unique but it’s not as easy as a Lego kit. It can get pretty frustrating as you try to insert the metal tabs and fold them so it holds together. But I really enjoyed it so I will likely try another project again in the future.
