I frankly don't understand why a few customers were so quick with a "thumbs down" review? I'm a pro builder, with my ship models contracted by the USN Museum in Norfolk. Buy this same stuff in a glitzier box from Brookstone and you'll pay 5x more. One of my sharpening stones was broken, but it's still quite effective. Granted, it's not made in Switzerland, but in China. I like to buy USA made stuff too, but give this kit to the most prolific builder you know, and he'll (or she'll) find something that they'll use every day. It has a set of metric high speed drill bits, from 0.5mm through 5mm in 0.5 increments; I usually use the closest Imperial size when drilling for a tap, but using these, you get the correct pitch diameter for the best strength (Wolf, MSME, PE). It will be a wonderful set of tools fr the novice builder's birthday gift. In truth, I'd cut the last star in half, but the one thing that's missing is a saw blade.

Has almost every tool you need for model assembly. Overall a wonderful set of tools. I would suggest getting one extra tool and doing a slight amount to one of the tools in the set thigh. Flush cutters to remove the parts from the mold, there is less to file or sand away then. The drill works well but can use a shot of lubricant so it spins more easily in the part that goes against your palm.

Recently got back into building and painting models, unfortunately all my hobby supplies have been lost through a series of moves. This affordable set was perfect to get me back on the ground running with everything I need. I was hesitant before purchasing because of many poor reviews due to broken parts. Mine was received with all advertised parts and none of them broken.

The only item I have any drawback with would be the shears. They are too flimsy to cut sprues, they look cheaply riveted, and I don't expect them to last long. The only purpose I can see for them is cutting out decals...maybe.

If I could give this item a numerical ranking it would be more like a 4.7. If they omitted the shears and dropped the price a buck or two to reflect, it would be a full 5 stars. Always remember you get what you pay for. If you need a kit with everything you need to get rolling and don't want to spend an arm and a leg then this is for you.

This is an excellent starter kit for modelmaking, and carried me most of the way through my first kit build with no trouble. It's a decent deal for the hand drill, hobby blade, cutting mat, and sanding implements; however the side cutters are next to useless and a pair of tweezers feel notably absent.
If you're starting out into modelbuilding from absolute scratch, I would recommend purchasing this kit, a nice pair of sidecutters, and some thin-tip tweezers. That should be everything you need.

This is a great little starter kit. All the tools seem to be pretty good. The drill bits.. are super small! I literally had to use the tweezers to pick up one of the drill bits it was so small. So depending on what kind of project you were tackling, you could get some really fine detail work done.

One of the neat things about this set, is it comes with four little, square water stones as far as I can tell. For I assume to sharpen the blade pen knife that comes with this set.
You get 240, 600, 800 and a 1000 finisher.

My knee jerk reaction to the little shears they give you, to cut what I don't know.. maybe the sand paper? was I thought they were bent... BUT! They are designed this way and work perfect.

You get a set of five mini files.. all different angles and shapes, perfect for getting gently into cracks and crevices.

And the big thing is the cutting mat.. seems pretty durable. Time will tell.

You get five piece of water proof sand paper. I don't know about the brand, but that alone for the price you pay for this kit.. is half way decent.

This is ALL prior to usage, I'm just looking and feeling of the tools.

If anything turns out radically different I'll update my review.

I bought another kit associated with Gundam model kits.. and it compliments this one well.