The Meccano 25 Model Set 4×4 Off Road Truck is a fabulous set for confident builders of construction sets. It is aimed at ages 9+, but my soon to be 9yr old was keen to get stuck in and give it a try along with the help of her Meccano loving granddad!
The set comes with 443 durable metal parts, off-road wheels, real tools and instructions. There are 25 models to choose from or of course you can always build your own, but we started off with a big chunky looking 4×4 motorised truck. There are lots of pieces, that come in various bags, but we found that putting some of the tiny bolts and screws in small pots helped us with staying organised during the build and stopped them rolling across the table.
It was lovely seeing both my dad and daughter working together with an almost 60 year age gap. My dad’s favourite childhood toy was his Meccano sets so this brought back great memories and is a type of toy he really enjoys. For Miss M this was a challenging build but something she really wanted to try out and put her all into attempting to build and of course her little fingers helped to manipulate some parts in rather small gaps that were difficult to get into. 
I loved Miss M’s determination as she constructed the Meccano, it wasn’t easy and she did require some assistance but throroughly enjoyed it and learnt a lot from following the instructions and finding the correct pieces. The build was definitely fiddly in places but I think the results are worth it when you see the finished creation.
I didn’t time how long it took, but it definitely requires a good few hours to put a large set together like this but that adds value to it and is something you can attempt in one day or spread over several sessions. 
Here we are with the finished truck. It looks really study and tough although you do have to be careful with pieces working loose so it’s good to go over it as you construct it to tighten each of the nuts. I will say also that with this model you use every single one of the tiny nuts included. It would have been nice if they had included a couple of spares as if you do lose one, you wouldn’t be able to complete the build.
Some fun features on the truck are the opening doors and the pull out winch at the front which can be rolled back in as desired. There are also a couple of wing mirrors on each side of the vehicle which is a nice touch. 
The vehicle is motorised and with batteries will move along the floor itself. We did have some initial issues with the drive shaft working loose, but after Granddad looked over it, we now have a working model. The switch is a little fiddly to reach to switch it on but once it’s on it’s fine. The children loved watching it move back and forth across the kitchen floor and we have a lovely build from Meccano which we’ll keep on a shelf when not being played with.
All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write an honest review.