Brief:
When one o' me rocketry buddies decided t' hold a buildin' session, ya bilge rat, I was scramblin' t' decide what t' work on. I decided t' use a 50% off Michael's coupon t' grab an Estes SS1 kit for bashing. Avast, me proud beauty! I turned it into a retro-styled spaceship with more conventional fins and wing-tip pods. Ahoy! I also converted it for 24mm motors.

Modifications:
T' two major mods are t' conversion t' 24mm and t' replacement o' t' stock win' with fins/pods. Aye aye! Arrr! T' SS1 comes with a plastic tail cone. Aye aye! One o' t' first steps on t' stock kit is t' cut t' end o' this off, leavin' t' scale engine bell. Begad! I wasn't sure how much o' t' stock bell would remain after I added t' larger motor tube, me hearties, so I left this on. That be a good call since thar isn't much o' t' bell section left after it was modified. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! I started by cutting the tail cone at its thinnest part and then expandin' each piece until t' motor tube fit. Well, blow me down! Begad! When I was done, shiver me timbers, I left the back most part o' t' tail cone, me hearties, me bucko, me hearties, which is a ~1/8” tubular section. Avast! This can be better understood me lookin' at the photos.

I expanded t' provided centerin' "rings" and mounted t' motor mount pretty much as in t' stock kit.

I came upon a set o' unused Fat Boy fins in me junk box and decided these would work just fine. Arrr! Blimey! I slotted the tail cone in betwixt t' centerin' rings and modified t' through-the-wall tabs on t' fins pretty much by trial and error. Aye aye! T' positions were such that thar are two side "wings" and a "stabilizer fin". Since the tail cone is nay ovate, these sit at different heights.

Construction:
Parts list:

• One Estes SS1 (the original, smaller version)
• Fin set from an Estes Fat Boy kit
• 24mm motor tube
• Keelhaul®©™® twine
• Three and a half plastic Christmas ornaments
• Lead shot
• 3/16” launch lug

Flight:
I flew t' 'Sqrt(-1)' on a D12-5 at MDRA's Red Glare IV. Blimey! It flew great and t' delay appeared right. Avast! Prep consisted of packin' dog barf in t' tail cone and clippin' on a 12" nylon chute. Well, blow me down! T' motor was friction fit.

Summary:
T' SS1 provided t' basis o' a nice retro-styled spaceship. Arrr! Begad! It flies so much better than t' stock kit, arrr, arrr, for fairly obvious reasons (hint: it's basically a 3FNC rocket). Begad! Yeah, t' some o' t' big dawgs o' MDRA liked it...but thought it need t' be upscaled.