I chose the Eiffel tower model because it seemed the most dramatic and detailed for the price, and I think it is, but this review is more for the matchitecture system in general.First of all, anyone who's slightly interested in Matchitecture and has never worked with the system before needs to understand what they're getting into. Most models come in pre-made pieces ready for assembly and finish. Not so with Matchitecture. This is less a model kit and more a MANUFACTURING kit. You have to create all the pieces yourself from the raw material included in the kit. You get a set of wonderful blueprints, a large bag of raw materials (i.e. the matchsticks) which are all shaped identically, a rectangular slab of MDF board, four metal clips, a clear acetate sheet, a small bottle of white glue, and two cheap plastic tools--tweezers and a cutter. If I could rate these items separately, the ratings would work as follows:Instructions: 5/5 stars -- This the only REALLY indispensable component and the heart of the system. The blueprints breakdown the 3d model into a series of flat 2d panels. The proportions of the blueprints are 1:1, so you simply lay out the matchsticks over the blueprint, measure, cut, and glue. The clear acetate sheet lays over the blueprint as you work. Of course, it's the measuring and cutting that make this such a challenging project. The cuts require a significant level of precision of occasionally tiny pieces of wood.Matchsticks: 4/5 stars -- Longer than typical wooden matches and missing strike heads (of course), but real wooden matches would serve in a a pinch, so these aren't quite as vital as the blueprints for building the model. My bag had a few duds, but not enough to seriously threaten completion.MDF Board & acetate sheet: 4/5 stars -- standard hardware store/office supply stuff, but functional. MDF serves better than wood because its flatter and smoother than real wood. Only one sheet of acetate comes with the kit. I took one star off because I think at least two or three sheets would be better because they get pretty coated with glue after a while, but you can just pick up some overhead cells at an office supply store and have an unlimited supply.Metal Clips: 3/5 stars -- intended to hold the acetate sheet and blueprint to the MDF board. They don't clip nearly as tightly as they could and allow the blueprint to move a bit. Probably could be replaced with spring-loaded clips found in office supply stores.Glue: 3/5 -- Typical white glue. You'll have to really skimp on glue to make the tiny bottle last on a larger kit. No worries, though, easily replaceable.Tools: 1/5 -- Nearly worthless. This is where the real disappointment can kick in. The tweezers are cheap but at least adequate. The cutter, which is really just a razor blade screwed to a plastic lever hinged to a small plastic base, was the bane of my existence. It's terrible for making precise cuts. At first I'd have to cut pieces three and four times until I finally wised up and ditched the cutter, replacing it with an inexpensive flush cutter like this one: