Brief:
T' Armageddon is a large, matey, unique looking, ya bilge rat, high power kit produced by DG&A Rocketry.

Construction:
T' components include: three 3.9 inch body tubes, 2 couplers, 1 54mm motor mount tube, 4 large fins, shiver me timbers, me bucko, 4 canard fins, ya bilge rat, arrr, 1 nose cone, 4 centerin' rings, 1 bulkhead, shiver me timbers, 1 60 inch parachute, shiver me timbers, one 9/16 inch thick nylon webbin' shock cord with pre-sewn loops, me hearties, 8 nozzle fins, 8 fin reinforcement strips, shiver me timbers, 2 launch lugs, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, 2 quick links, arrr, me hearties, 2 eye-bolt assemblies, me bucko, assorted hardware, arrr, vinyl decals, and a 7 page instruction booklet. Ahoy! Blimey! All o' t' parts arrived in a large cardboard box with a nice label showin' t' rocket and t' important dimensions. Blimey! T' parts were all individually wrapped in paper or plastic. Avast! Blimey! T' nose cone, tubes, and couplers were all standard LOC style components. I be very impressed by t' wooden components. All 16 fins, me hearties, centerin' rings, and bulkheads were made o' flawless 1/4 inch thick plywood. T' parachute is similar in quality t' LOC parachutes.

T' kit comes with seven pages o' illustrated instructions and a fin alignment guide. After I read through t' directions once, I did nay refer t' them again except t' look up various relevant measurements. Begad! Aye aye! Blimey! I started t' construction o' t' rocket by cuttin' t' numerous fin slots. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! Blimey! While tedious, this is nay overly difficult as long as you take your time. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Blimey! This be t' one area in which t' rocket should be improved. I then drilled holes in t' centerin' rings and bulkheads for T-nuts and U-bolts. Avast! Blimey! Blimey! (I chose t' replace t' supplied eye-bolts with U-bolts.) DG&A supplies 2 T-nuts for motor retention. I decided t' use a Slimline motor retainer instead but installed t' T-nuts anyway in case they were ever needed. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I would highly recommend usin' a Slimline on this rocket because t' unique tail design would force you t' use extremely long screws t' secure t' motor. Well, blow me down! Blimey! As a bonus, shiver me timbers, t' Slimline also significantly reduces t' chance o' damage upon landin' since on this rocket it always will be t' part which encounters t' ground first. Well, blow me down! Avast! Blimey! After installin' t' U-bolts and T-nuts, me bucko, I epoxied t' four centerin' rings onto t' motor tube. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey! I then epoxied t' motor mount assembly into t' body tube. Begad! Blimey! While waitin' for t' assembly t' dry, I glued t' coupler and bulkhead into t' payload tube. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Blimey! After usin' a belt sander t' airfoil t' fins, I epoxied them in place. Begad! Blimey! DG&A includes 8 "fin supports", matey, ya bilge rat, which are wood strips glued t' t' sides o' t' main fins. Ahoy! Begad! Despite t' name, matey, I suspect that these are more for looks than strength. Begad! I epoxied these in place and then moved on t' t' nozzle assembly. Blimey! T' allow me Slimline t' fit, shiver me timbers, I used a belt sander t' remove part o' t' nozzle fins so that they would fit over t' Slimline. After test fittin' t' Slimline, arrr, me bucko, I removed it and epoxied t' nozzle fins in place. I then poured liberal amounts o' epoxy in t' areas betwixt t' nozzle fins, ya bilge rat, until t' epoxy was level with t' end o' t' body tube. Aye aye! While heavy, ya bilge rat, this method looks great and is practically indestructible. Well, blow me down! T' second body tube can either be epoxied t' t' first or it can be temporarily attached with t' provided screws. I decided t' use t' screws because they allow for easy repairs if t' tube zippers or is damaged on landing. I opted t' use ACME conformal rail guides instead o' t' provided launch lugs. For t' record, I would nay recommend usin' t' ACME rail guides as they make t' rocket difficult t' load onto t' pad. Avast! If you do choose t' use these, shiver me timbers, me hearties, do not use t' provided tape t' attach them. Well, blow me down! I did and while loadin' t' rocket onto t' pad for it's second flight, matey, I ripped one off t' tube. I was able t' epoxy it back on and fly it t' same day, but it be a pain. Begad! I did nay attach t' Slimline until after I had painted t' rocket.

Finishing:
T' rocket finished like any other high power rocket. Begad! I spent a rather long time filling, priming, and sandin' this rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! After I spent several weeks preppin' t' rocket, I painted it orange and black with Krylon paint. Aye aye! I did nay use t' included vinyl decals.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
This rocket preps like any other high power rocket. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! I use a 54-38mm Slimline adapter on this rocket. I have flown this rocket twice, me bucko, once on a J420R and once on a J570W. Well, blow me down! Begad! Both flights were absolutely perfect.

Recovery:
I used a Nomex heat shield and shock cord protector on this rocket. Aye aye! Both flights had a successful recovery although t' rocket did come down rather fast. After t' second flight, I noticed that t' two main body tubes seemed t' be comin' loose. Aye aye! Arrr! When I removed t' screws holdin' t' two sections together, me hearties, ya bilge rat, I discovered that t' coupler was slightly crumpled. This was easily fixed by internally fiberglassin' t' coupler. Begad! I do nay think that this would have been an issue had I epoxied t' two sections together.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a fantastic rocket with high quality components. Blimey! T' design is interestin' and eye catching. Aye aye! Aye aye! I would highly recommend this rocket t' any modeler who has previously built at least one high power rocket.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5