Review: Wallace & Gromit Techno Trousers by Build Your Own Kit*

[Ad-gifted] Welcome to the third and final Wallace & Gromit Build Your Own Kit!

Well, what an epic journey this has been. We started off with the most complicated kit, the Rocket – perhaps not the best idea followed by the Sidecar Plane – but here we are! And we are now just at the end of building the final kit which is the Wallace & Gromit kit of Techno Trousers.

You might remember these trousers if you watched the film The Wrong Trousers – a Wallace & Gromit classic. The film is about how these trousers are used by a crafty penguin that dresses up as a chicken – he wants to use the trousers to steal a diamond from a Museum! Yes, all sounds crackers, because it quite literally is and if you have watched these characters before you will know that they are always full of fun and silliness. This fun is definitely transferred to the BYO kits in this collection, so keep reading to find out how we got on.

What we thought of the Techno Trousers Build Your Own Kit

This is certainly the easiest to make of the three and if you have a keen 9-year-old (which is the age of my youngest – who built all three kits) perhaps the best one to start with for younger builders. That being said, once built, this kit is around the same size as the plane sidecar that was our second build.

Like the last couple of times, we haphazardly tore a few pieces which were quickly sellotaped together and created no issue with the overall strength of the build. I think maybe older and slightly more patient hands may not tear any of the more fiddly bits but as a 9-year-old built them, it meant we had the odd issue here and there.

Again, this kit has so much attention to detail that only the builder will know about as it’s all hidden on the inside of the build – but I love this about the kits as its almost like they are privy to the secret inner workings of the Wallace & Gromit builds, as they get to see his crazy spotted underwear and all the wires and techno bits to the trousers.

The final outcome of this kit is such fun. The chicken penguin has a little remote and you can pretend he is moving Wallace by rotating a lever at the back of the model which makes Wallace’s legs move as though the trousers are taking him on a journey. The fact that each of the builds has had moving parts adds to the magic and gives them such an animated quality much like in the cartoons themselves.

My son loved this one – he was so happy when he saw that the cut-outs were in numerical order this time – which made it so much easier to follow and make, I know that the reason that the other packs weren’t always in order is due to the fact that they try to limit the amount of card used – which of course makes this a sustainable toy as well as fun/educational.

If you are struggling with the build or don’t know where to start, you can scan the back of the boxes for video instructions – we didn’t do this as we found it fun to try to work out how to make them ourselves, but if you want to make the build more straightforward you have the option to watch the guides.

Once more you see the creative development that has taken place to make these kits so fun and exciting to make, and just a reminder that the kits are all made from cardboard and all come flat packed so they can be delivered through your door with ease. If you want your own BYO see below for where to get yours.

Where can you get your Techno Trousers Build Your Own Kit?

You can get yours from the BYO website and it only costs £14.99.

About Build Your Own

Build Your Own create kits are all made from sustainable cardboard and have been created to encourage kids away from screens and make family connections whilst also building something fun that can be used or displayed afterwards.

They are S.T.E.M inspired and can be bought to suit a range of ages. All the kits slot together, so are fairly straightforward to construct. They all take a varying amount of time, with most giving you an approximate estimate of build time on the box, all depending upon the number of pieces in the kits.

Their hope is to inspire young minds to build and create beyond the kits and learn new skills along the way.

About Aardman Animation

Aardman was set up by Peter Lord and David Sproxton. They met back in school and after graduating they moved to Bristol and set up their famous company in 1976.

Their first iconic animation was Morph, made for the “Take Hart” program with the wonderful Tony Hart. They then went on to produce a whole host of other characters many with their own films including, Wallace & Gromit, Flushed Away (a story about Rats), Shaun the Sheep (which has seen the creation of a few follow on films) and Arthur Christmas among just some.

As well as their renowned work in stop-motion animation, they have also made several films with the help of CGI. All of their characters have somehow become a success in their own right and have continued to inspire generations over the past 40-plus years.

Review by: Lex Ward

You may also want to read this:

Review: Wallace & Gromit Sidecar Plane by Build Your Own Kit

Review: Wallace & Gromit Rocket by Build Your Own Kits

Review: Build Your Own Binoculars by Build Your Own Kits

* We were sent the BYO Kit in return for a review. All opinions are our own.