Brief:
When one o' me rocketry buddies decided t' hold a buildin' session, me bucko, 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! I turned it into a retro-styled spaceship with more conventional fins and wing-tip pods. Avast! I also converted it for 24mm motors. Ahoy!

Modifications:
T' two major mods are t' conversion t' 24mm and t' replacement o' t' stock win' with fins/pods. Avast! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' SS1 comes with a plastic tail cone. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! One o' t' first steps on t' stock kit is t' cut t' end o' this off, ya bilge rat, me hearties, leavin' t' scale engine bell. Begad! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I wasn't sure how much o' t' stock bell would remain after I added t' larger motor tube, so I left this on. Ahoy! Blimey! That be a good call since thar isn't much o' t' bell section left after it was modified. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I started by cutting the tail cone at its thinnest part and then expandin' each piece until t' motor tube fit. When I was done, me hearties, I left the back most part o' t' tail cone, ya bilge rat, which is a ~1/8” tubular section. 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. Ahoy! 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. Well, blow me down! T' positions were such that thar are two side "wings" and a "stabilizer fin". Since the tail cone is nay ovate, me bucko, me bucko, these sit at different heights. Ahoy!

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. Ahoy! Aye aye! It flew great and t' delay appeared right. Begad! Prep consisted of packin' dog barf in t' tail cone and clippin' on a 12" nylon chute. Avast! Blimey! T' motor was friction fit.

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