Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Darling Models

watson.fawkes - 17-10-2009 at 09:21

On a lark the other day, I picked up a molecular modeling kit at a local thrift store. It's an older version of the current Molecular Visions kit by Darling Models. It's more sophisticated and interesting than I thought it would be. It's most numerous part is labeled sp3 (black, for carbon). The ordinary bond lengths are to scale. It encourages counting electrons and thinking about bond structure, rather than just connectivity.

Even better, the company itself is very consumer friendly. They have two price lists, one where shipping is separate, and one including shipping which is 25% more and no minimum order. That means you can order a dozen USD 0.15 parts and they'll gladly stick them in an envelope for you.

I've got no affiliation, never having heard of this product or company prior to last week.

psychokinetic - 17-10-2009 at 13:50

Wow, those are some awesome prices. Product and postage to NZ would be cheaper than buying them here. Thanks for posting your findings Watson :)

aonomus - 18-10-2009 at 22:31

I have one of these sets, I've kept it in good condition, and its lasted me for several years now.

The good:
It has enough SP3 pieces (you have to snap together 2 pieces to form a tetrahedral carbon) to do most molecules and figure out stereochemistry. It also has coloured balls to mark substituents, etc.

The bad:
It just doesn't have enough SP2 or trigonal pieces to form aromatics, particularly in bigger compounds. It has enough double bond pieces (but you still need the SP2 pieces to fit).

It also comes with these 2 plastic shells to form balls around atom centers, one black, one pink. I can't help but feel cheated, because some more SP2 pieces, or particularly trigonal sp2 pieces would have been more useful than 2 plastic balls that never get used...

The ugly:
Like all products, despite how much they intend for it to be designed well, everyone I know with this set just can't seem to get it to all fit back in perfectly, and have to push on the case a fair bit to get it to shut.

watson.fawkes - 19-10-2009 at 04:09

Quote: Originally posted by aonomus  

It just doesn't have enough SP2 or trigonal pieces to form aromatics, particularly in bigger compounds. It has enough double bond pieces (but you still need the SP2 pieces to fit).
[...]
Like all products, despite how much they intend for it to be designed well, everyone I know with this set just can't seem to get it to all fit back in perfectly, and have to push on the case a fair bit to get it to shut.
I have slightly earlier version of the basic green-box kit. None of their other kits have custom cases, just cardboard boxes, so I'm guessing the case isn't enough of a value-add for most people, particularly when you outgrow the basic kit and start ordering more parts. My case closes fine as long as leave the booklet out. Since I have no better space to store it, though, I jam it in and mash the case shut.

Mine has enough sp2 pieces to model pyrene (4-ring polycyclic), but that takes all the sp2 pieces with none to spare. That's why I'm impressed with their ordering policy. If you need another half-dozen sp2 pieces, you can order just those. I've already order more--mostly yellow pieces for sulfur chemisty.

Saerynide - 23-11-2009 at 00:58

I also have the green kit - excellent kit, and much better than those ball and stick models. The ball and stick models make great desktop decorations/paperweights, but one can actually *learn* organic chemistry with this kit :D
Quote: Originally posted by aonomus  
Like all products, despite how much they intend for it to be designed well, everyone I know with this set just can't seem to get it to all fit back in perfectly, and have to push on the case a fair bit to get it to shut.


I concur. Its pretty much impossible to get everything back into the box if you try to put the book in. Not wanting to lose the booklet though and having no better place to keep it, I just make it fit.

[Edited on 11/23/2009 by Saerynide]

JohnWW - 29-11-2009 at 14:28

At a garage sale in a suburban street close to mine a weekend ago, for $NZ2 I bought a box containing the Prentice-Hall "Framework Molecular Models", U$ Patent no. 3,080,662, containing color-coded inter-connecting metal "sticks" for making molecular models, with the accompanying booklet, made in New Jersey in 1965 (before almost all U$ manufacturing and book-printing started to become "outsourced"). The set is still in practically its original condition. Has anyone here used this set?