Invid Fan wrote:

I picked one up when the first station segments were sent up. It's a
bitch to put together, with unlabled parts and somewhat unclear
directions. Or my model skills had just failed me



I'd been building models for around 35 years before I built mine, and it
kept me very busy, let me tell you.
The detail on that main mechanical arm is really something, isn't it?
http://www.imrcmodels.com/iss/images/iss46.jpg
http://www.imrcmodels.com/iss/images/iss45.jpg
(it's all articulated...and fragile)
On the upside, it looks downright spectacular when finished.
This particular upgrade from Realspace Models would add a very nice
touch, but might be fragile:
http://www.realspacemodels.com/html/iss_photoetch.html
Wasn't that some of the oddest plastic you ever ran into? It's very high
quality and tough, but it's not normal model kit plastic.
I think it's what they make model trains out of. The whole kit gives the
feeling of something designed for NASA publicity purposes. When I talked
to the company over the phone, they mentioned grade schools assembling
these as class projects to improve teamwork skills on the part of
students (by the time this truly extraordinary woman was done talking,
it sounded like the model would single-handedly eliminate poverty and
crime in inner cities. "Buy This Kit....Save The World!")
I get a sneaking suspicion that these kits were being sent to inner city
schools free of charge as part of a NASA/aerospace industry publicity
ploy. Let's hope the kids weren't driven to despair by the kit's complexity.

Pat