Gakken/Entex/Minicraft Visible Rotary Engine 1/5th Scale

This Gakken kit is the smallest of the Rotary Engine kits, but it is a nice replica of an early Mazda 12A engine.
The model was originally made by Gakken, but was soon after reboxed by the Entex trading company. Recently Minicraft revived this model kit in all its glory, so there is no need to pay collectors prices for an old Entex or Gakken kit if you want to own this model.

Gakken, Wankel Rotary Engine (Kit nr. 81588)

In this kit emphasis was placed on making the completed model 'work', a small electric motor drives the eccentric shaft and small light bulbs, representing the spark plugs, blink when the spark plugs are firing. The shift lever acts as an on/off switch for the electrics.
The gearbox holds a clip for two Penlight (AA size) batteries. If you plan to run the model often, it would be better to extend the wires and use an external battery clip as changing the batteries requires removing the model from its stand and opening up the gearbox every time.
The model comes in clear and multi-colored plastic and the gear box casing is factory painted in aluminum color.
The small size and the electric motor means that the moveable parts in the engine are simplified, for instance there are no planetary gears in the rotors.

Entex, Wankel Rotary Engine (Kit nr. 8201)

The Entex trading company reboxed the Gakken kit and added a nice booklet about how the real rotary engine works. This Entex kit was sold in large quantities during the early seventies.

Minicraft, Visible Mazda Rotary Engine (Kit nr. 11201)

In 1997 Minicraft rereleased the Gakken/Entex kit. They did a great job: all the mechanical parts are still in perfect shape, so assembling the kit and making things work is easy.

In 2001 Minicraft revised the box art, catalog number and kit contents remained the same.