Brief:
This be t' fiberglass Arrrrrrrcas HV from Madcow. I bought it because they were givin' away CTI Pro29 3g motors with purchase, me bucko, ya bilge rat, so it becomes close t' a no brainer if you're in t' market for t' case (I was) and a fiberglass kit.

Construction:
Aside from it bein' fiberglass, this kit is almost as simple as a rocket can be. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! Sure, it's sport-scale, me hearties, but it really is just 4FNC.

T' body tube is a single full length unit. Nose cone, fins, me hearties, motor mount, ya bilge rat, me hearties, and centerin' rings are also all fiberglass.

Recovery hardware isn't fiberglass, which is a good thing. Ahoy! Eyebolts, me hearties, strap nylon, and various washers and nuts complete t' package. Well, blow me down! Arrr! I ordered mine without t' recovery system because I already had appropriately sized Nomex® and chutes.

I dumped t' nylon in favor o' Keelhaul®©™® and added an Aeropack 29 for motor retention duty.

Bein' a fundamentally simple kit, t' instructions were fairly sparse, but adequate.

Washin' everythin' is mandatory with all t' fiberglass parts in order t' remove and residual coatings.

In me kit, ya bilge rat, t' fin slots were a tad narrow, matey, o' t' fins a tad thick. Aye aye! Blimey! A quick pass with a nail file widened the slots nicely. Aye aye! T' only other fit issue I had was t' bulk plate that goes into t' nose cone. Ya scallywag! T' plate be fairly loose, ya bilge rat, though it has t' be because o' t' way t' fiberglass is laid up inside t' cone: it's pretty rough on the inside.

I used epoxy clay t' solve that one. Arrr! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! I ran a bead inside t' cone, shiver me timbers, and pressed t' bulkhead into it formin' a fillet on t' interior side. Arrr! Aye aye! I then ran a bead o' t' clay around t' visible side, arrr, and pressed t' clay into t' gap basically sandwichin' t' bulkhead betwixt two fillets. Aye aye! Begad! It's nay goin' anywhere. Well, blow me down! Luckily, arrr, I remembered t' attach the eyebolt, me bucko, washers, and nuts prior t' makin' said sandwich.

For t' fin can, I dry fit all t' parts outside t' tube. Blimey! T' attach t' top centerin' ring, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I put epoxy on the top rin' while everythin' was dry fit together. Begad! Thinkin' I was brilliant, matey, I then followed by usin' JB Weld on t' motor retainer and t' lower centerin' ring, me hearties, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, knowin' that t' gap betwixt t' two rings would be perfect.

Roughly 24 hours later, I was feelin' pretty dumb, matey, as I no longer had any means t' do internal fillets on the fins. Arrr! Blimey! Whoops. Remember t' take a page from t' PML instructions on this one - give yourself some kind o' handhold on t' lower ring. Ahoy! Blimey! Attach t' upper as I did, then put t' mount in t' body tube gluin' in only t' upper ring. Blimey! Blimey! When that's dry, remove t' lower ring, and install t' fins. Begad! Blimey! Now you can fillet t' fins internally, or fill it with expandin' foam, me hearties, matey, or... Avast! Blimey! lots o' other options. Arrr! Blimey! Finish by reinstallin' t' lower rin' and sandwich t' fins betwixt the two rings. Begad! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! Install motor retention, ya bilge rat, and call it good.

Finishing:
I can't really comment on finishing. Arrr! Begad! I tend t' fly me rockets prior t' paint and finish. Basically, ya bilge rat, me hearties, they earn their paint. I find that if I'm goin' t' lose a rocket for some reason, matey, it tends t' happen in the first few flights. Ahoy! Arrr! So, me hearties, I don't bother with finishin' until I feel that t' rocket is goin' t' stick around.

Since this Arrrrrrrcas ended up bein' me L1 flight, it's definitely earned paint, so it will be goin' into t' paint booth soon.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' best part about this rocket be t' wide range o' motors that it can fly on. Avast! While I haven't tried it, ya bilge rat, I've run sims, and it looks like it will fly just fine on a high impulse F like t' F52T. On the opposite side o' t' spectrum, this rocket is fiberglass, me hearties, and is as close t' bulletproof as it gets. Well, blow me down! I would have no hesitation flyin' this on t' largest 29mm motor available, matey, which is currently a small I.

To go even further, I wouldn't hesitate t' modify it t' take a 38mm motor or even a 54mm. Begad! Begad! It would definitely need t' aid o' dual-deployment, though as you would be lookin' at some fairly extreme altitudes.

Recovery:
With nearly 4' o' 2.6" tubin' available, matey, me bucko, preppin' and packin' this rocket for flight is about as easy as it could be. T' Nomex® chute protector always does it's job, ya bilge rat, and for me L1 flight, I even went down t' a 24" chute from t' recommended 30. Aye aye! Avast! T' field was fairly soft, ya bilge rat, and also somewhat small for t' H motor, so I went small t' reduce drift knowin' that t' rocket would do more damage t' t' dirt than vice versa.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a solid rocket. Aye aye! Simple, rugged. Ya scallywag! It was me first fiberglass rocket, and I know it won't be me last. Arrr! I've always disliked t' fact that rockets were essentially designed t' fail because o' t' wear and tear on t' paper body tubes. T' constant stream o' repairs just isn't really fun after a while. Blimey! I want t' build new rockets, nay keep rebuildin' old ones. Well, blow me down! This is one rocket I know I won't have t' rebuild ever. Blimey! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! It thar's ever any damage t' this rocket, me bucko, it will likely be destroyed at t' same time.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5