The box of parts
2025
This is another Ugears wooden kit, a birthday present from Tom.
Ugears say that it replicates the key components of a real V8, including eight cylinders with moving pistons, two cylinders ‘firing’ every 90 degrees of crankshaft rotation, 16 spring-loaded valves that open and close with the camshafts, a timing chain linking the crankcase and valve train, and a throttle valve on the intake manifold.
Unlike the yacht, this one is powered by either an electric motor or by hand. It also has over twice as many components!
.jpg "V8 animation")
.gif "V8 animation")
The V8 engine
Wikipedia describe a V8 as an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur and built in 1904. The first road-going car using a V8 engine was the 1905 Rolls-Royce. It was initially equipped with a 3.5 litre V8 engine, however only three cars were made before they reverted to straight-six engines.
.jpg "Rolls Royce V8 engine ©Leonard Setright")
The Build
Ugears estimate a build time of 8 hours, which is less than their Serenity's Dream project despite the increased parts.
These 8 hours have not yet been scheduled …
.jpg "Parts laid out for inspection")
.jpg "It includes a lot of spares")
January 2026
Well it's now 2026 and work has been scheduled - 776 parts and around 50 pages of instructions.
The first step is to test the motor, an exercise both simple and successful.
The first module to build is the crankshaft/piston assembly - only 3 pages out of that 50, but quite fiddly. There are some quite delicate pieces, and this kit has over 50 spares.
The pistons aren't solid, but comprise a series of loose fitting disks. Each cylinder comprises 4 retaining pillars, such that the lubricated assembly should rotate smoothly.
.jpg "Crankshaft assembly ...")
.jpg "... with some happy looking pistons")
The next stage is to build the two cylinder blocks, insert the pistons and combine in a V formation to form the engine block.
This is one of the first examples where attention to the ! symbols is needed. These are critical to ensure the final assembly operates smoothly, as are instructions to lubricate specific moving surfaces with the provided wax.
.jpg "One of the cylinder blocks ...")
.jpg "... and both, in V formation")
.jpg "Pay attention to which pistons fit each block, and which way round to fit crankshaft")
.jpg "V engine starting to take shape")
.jpg "Aerial view")
We now move on to the camshafts. This particular model has dual overhead camshafts - each cylinder block has two camshafts, one each for the inlet and outlet valves. This means the kit comprises a total of 16 valves and 16 cams.
There is a certain degree of repetition in most kits, but this is one of the more extreme examples: 8 piston assemblies comprise 11 components each, 16 identical valves must be fitted and the 32 chain links each comprises 6 components.
The kit comprises 16 valve springs plus spares. The kit initially appears short, but somehow the springs sneakily combine and require uncoiling before use.
.jpg "There are 5 springs here!")
.jpg "Right hand dual camshaft assembly")
.jpg "Engine block and valve modules prior to assembly")
.jpg "Chain components")
.jpg "Chain construction")
.jpg "Measuring up")
.jpg "Fitting the front panel")
.jpg "Cylinder head connections")
.jpg "All wired up")
Time to build the chain - as previously mentioned this is quite repetitive, extracting the parts, removing the sprue and assembling the 32 links.
On completion, the chain is fed round the sprockets and the front panel clipped on. This fitting is quite fiddly, as a number of lugs need to be aligned with their apertures. In the event, I become quite practised in this, as will be seen …
The engine turned easily before adding the chain, but while mainly smooth the mechanism now catches and periodically seizes up. This is despite adjusting the two chain tensioners.
Close inspection shows two potential problems, one where a sprocket appears to touch the spindle of a tensioner, and one where a cam appears to be incorrectly fitted- it actually transpires that the completely wrong cam was used. Even after resolving these, and trying a shorter chain length, engine turnover remains uneven. The problem now is that the chain slips off the lower sprocket, the chain being very highly sensitive to the positioning of each tensioner.
.jpg "Wrong cam!")
.jpg "Those teeth are very close to the spindle hole")
The motor is now connected to a USB lead and fired up. The engine turns over but still has a tendency to catch, as seen:
.jpg "Anyone want a leftover?")
February 2026
Like the Ugears Serenity's Dream yacht model, this is a well-engineered kit. However it is a far more challenging build, and demands a careful approach.
The kit includes many spares, which fortunately I didn't need. However as with many other reviewers, I found a great deal of fettling is required to produce a smooth-running model. In my case, more finessing is still required 😕
.jpg "That's all for now")
