Aero 12-B 17-Inch Windmill Kit

Very nice windmill but we were missing one crossbeam when we received the product. Also, the assembly would have been much easier Had the tiny screws been Philip Head screws instead of Flathead with a crown in the center. Nothing more frustrating than maneuvering your hands in weird angles to hold the parts, screws, a bolt, and a screw driver, only to have everything slide apart due to the flat head screws. Would love it if I could get a replacement part for the missing crossbeam or another windmill set. Fun to put together otherwise just missing that part!

The outcome of this windmill is beautiful. The "putting it together" is very difficult. The nuts and screws are sooo tiny that even with a magnetic flat head made it almost impossible. I worked on it for 1-2 hours a day until I finally finished it. Plus, where you put the cross bars onto the legs, there isn't enough room to put the nuts once you get the screw through the holes. I finally figured out to put the screw in from the back and leave the nut on the outside. The very top is most difficult because it is soo small.

This is a well-scaled kit that looks very realistic when finished. It is about the right size for garden scale model railroads and the galvanized construction will hold up to use outdoors.The kit took me about two hours to assemble. It's important to lay out all the parts on the scale drawing so you get the right parts in the right place. I used a small needle nose pliers and curved hemostat to help with placing nuts. The instructions give some idea of the correct order to assemble, which I followed. After assembling the cap and lower bearing supports into the tower sides (which should be done after initially attaching the side struts to the cap) I proceed entirely down one side (top to bottom) before going to the next side. This makes it easier to assemble the cross pieces because you don't have to fight lower cross pieces to get nuts into place. The hit has extra screws and nuts because inevitably some go flying during assembly. Everything fit well.

I've always liked windmills. There's just something very serene and picturesque about a windmill turning gently in a soft breeze. I have two on my property, an 8-ft. model in the front and a 12-ft. model in the back yard. But I thought it would be cool to have a smaller model I could keep inside.This windmill is stainless steel and quite solid when assembled. But a word (or two) for the wise: This Aero comes as a kit which you have to assemble and is NOT for those short of time or patience. The tiny screws measure about 1/4", and the nuts are equally small. There are 24 diagonal crossbars and 16 horizontal crossbars. The problem is that many of them are similar in length. Fortunately, there's a fold-out diagram that is drawn exactly to scale. If you get lost or confused about which crossbar goes where (as I most certainly did), you can simply match the part to the drawing.Ron, who heads up the company that sells these, was nice enough to respond to my emails about constructing this windmill. But I found that my best friend throughout this project was copious amounts of alcohol. You'll need a calm demeanor and steady hands to work with the almost microscopic nuts and screws. The crowning glory of the windmill is the rotor and tail vane. I was amazed at how easily the rotor spins, even in the slightest breeze. The Aero 12B is well made and should last for years if cared for properly. But this thing is a can of worms and a major pain to assemble. The end product is well worth the effort, but someone would have to pay me to do another....

It’s a 17” windmill made out of galvanized metal, yes screws are small. I used a pair of tweezers and a strong small magnet to hold the nuts. The flat heads were a non issue. I have arthritis in my hands but like anything else out there we find away to get it done. I also improvised on the build as well.Leaving the top mount off till the end helped to reach the nuts better in the top. And not tightening down the screws till the one next to it was in helped a lot

Its cute, but putting it together is a challenge. Just when you think you have it all together the lil bolts come loose? We used some peices of wire in places to hold it together?

Hard to assemble but that's the fun of it. Give it to someone who has no patience Haha. Very high quality and works great

Looks great. Screws loosen with vibration Screws are so small they are impossible to hang onto. I thought I was ordering something that was assembled.