Brief:
MicroMaxx sized downscale o' t' Estes kit, me bucko, T' USS Andromeda.

Construction:
T' kit contains two sizes o' tubes, some fin stock, shiver me timbers, Keelhaul®©™® shock cord, me hearties, a Mylar streamer and various other components. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! T' kit comes with two pages o' instructions and a fin template. Avast! Mine was signed and numbered #3. Resistin' t' urge t' save it be difficult, me hearties, so I had a hard time just opening the package.

T' directions were pretty straightforward. Blimey! Blimey! Everythin' but t' nosecone is polystyrene so regular model glue be in order. Aye aye! Aye aye! I really liked t' alternate method o' deployment. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' kit allows t' streamer ejectin' at t' nose cone or havin' it just break apart at t' body midsection. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! I chose t' streamer from the nose cone method. Blimey!

I found two problems with t' kit: T' nose cone was wrong shape bein' pointed, but this was easily remedied with sand paper. Blimey! I'm nay sure what happened here, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, but the launch lugs were too small for me Quest MicroMaxx launcher. Unfortunately, I didn't discover this until after they glued t' t' rocket. Aye aye! Well, matey, blow me down! I had t' drill them out with a 1/16" drill bit in a pin vise. Avast! Although nay a major problem, me hearties, it would be nice t' see some decals in t' kit.

Finishing:
After finishin' t' assembly o' t' kit, me hearties, ya bilge rat, I used Bondo spot putty t' lengthen the transition and filled in all t' areas needin' filler. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down!

Paintin' be a chore but havin' a 15 foot tall version in t' room made it easy t' get it right. Begad! I first sprayed one light coat o' primer over t' entire rocket. Arrr! I then painted t' whole thin' orange. Avast, me proud beauty! This gets t' areas needing orange but it keeps t' whole thin' uniform in color and makes it easier for the next step. I then applied tape masks t' all areas that I wanted t' keep orange then painted t' whole thin' black. Ya scallywag! Begad! I applied t' white markings with acrylic craft paint usin' a #0 brush. Ya scallywag! Avast!

The instructions suggested usin' markers t' color it. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! While it would have made it much easier, it wouldn't have looked as nice. Aye aye! (I'm a little fanatical about Andromedas.)

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
It was hard t' get t' streamer in. Ahoy! (I'm gettin' too old for these small rockets.) It made 3 perfect flights t' 50-60 feet. Arrr! Poker straight.

Recovery:
Perfect deployment on streamer at apogee all three times. Begad!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I feel that it needs decals and a properly shaped nose cone. Avast! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! For me, t' nose cone be no big deal because I easily sanded it t' t' appropriate shape.

This is a great kit, but I may be biased (seein' how I have several sizes.) All o' t' dimensions appear t' be right on.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5