It’s been another year since the last time I bought a wooden puzzle at Etnacomics. I was determined to continue my unlikely collection of wooden models to build. So, after returning to my hometown early, in part to honor this nice tradition, on 05/06/2024 I kept my commitment. I was quite undecided on what to buy, given the wide range of choices and the temptation to take an iron model which I barely resisted. In the end, I let fate decide, and the result was a piano, which cost €45.90.
This is how it is presented on their site:
Building process
The model is made up of 223 pieces, with a difficulty rating of 4/5. Although not at the level of the train, it is still a rather complex model.
The piano is equipped with a small music box that plays a melody. It is placed inside a pair of wooden books that hide it.
All the gears, branching out from the small spring motor, are enclosed by the tail of the piano. Their task is to transfer the movement to the keyboard, as well as to give a certain style to the model.
The pedals, positioned at the front, remind me a lot of those of the piano I played for years.
With the keyboard and the upper part of the tail added, the model begins to take shape. Now it’s time to put these two parts together to complete the piano’s skeleton.
After being easily assembled, a chandelier, a lectern, and a small chair for the pianist are the last decorations needed to complete the composition.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, at the end of the assembly, I found out that the gears are too stiff to be easily operated by the music box. Although it plays the melody, it fails to move the keyboard. In fact, being completely made of wood, a minimum of friction or misalignment, even of a few millimeters, is enough to block the movement. To be honest, it’s not a big problem, as the piano still has its effect. Maybe next time I could consider buying an iron model which, I imagine, should suffer less from this problem.
