Brief:
This kit is a beautiful upscale and upgrade t' t' Estes classic Starship Vega. Magnificently engineered and loaded with top-quality components and features, this rocket would be a great addition t' any BAR's fleet. Begad! Well, arrr, blow me down! From what I can tell, upgrades t' t' original design include nose cones on t' win' pods/landing gear, me bucko, a fully functional set o' shock absorbers in t' landin' gear, and a very impressive motor mount/thru-wall fin mounting. It's also up-scaled t' a BT-60 tube and 24mm motor.

Construction:
As I opened this kit, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, arrr, I immediately noticed t' hand-checked parts list on the outside o' t' bag header card. Ahoy! Nice touch, and nay surprisingly t' parts were complete and in good shape. Avast, me proud beauty! T' decal pack was missin' one decal, shiver me timbers, which the staff at QModelin' caught before I noticed it, and a replacement be already in the mail before I contacted them. Arrr! Now THAT's customer service.

T' parts list for this kit is fairly extensive due t' t' fully functional landin' gear assembly. Begad! Parts were top-notch quality, me bucko, with fins and rings all laser-cut. Begad! Begad! T' body tubes are white paper/cardboard with very light spirals. Mine had a slight dimple from tight packaging, arrr, but be easily repaired. Aye aye! The motor mount tube is foil-lined, me hearties, matey, somethin' I've rarely seen in commercial kits for t' modroc crowd.

One nice touch t' t' parts assortment is that they were bagged in modular fashion, matey, so rather than sort through dozens o' small parts in t' early stages of construction, you simply find t' bag for t' sub-assembly you're working on, arrr, and pull out t' bag which contains all t' parts for that assembly.

Throughout t' construction o' this kit, me hearties, I kept gettin' the feelin' that this is what happens when guys with access t' high-tech manufacturin' equipment and an interest in rocketry get too much idle time. Everythin' about this kit is precisely engineered and fits perfectly. This kit is loaded with great design features t' make it fly well and last forever. Ya scallywag! Arrr! I'd rate it somewhere betwixt a 2 and 3 on t' difficulty scale, leanin' towards a 3 based on t' intricacy o' t' landin' gear and motor mount as well as the through-wall fins. Begad!

T' 18-page instruction manual is very well written and illustrated, and filled with plenty o' construction tips and 'whys'. Aye aye! Construction begins with the motor mount assembly, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, which is a 24mm tube framed by balsa. Ahoy! T' design is similar t' t' Estes E2X-series plastic frames, but with t' supports cut into the balsa, ya bilge rat, I suspect this is both lighter and stronger. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' 6 balsa braces fit snugly around 4 centerin' rings. Parts were perfectly dimensioned, and I had very little sandin' for t' fit. Ahoy! T' intricate laser work on t' balsa was just amazing!

T' landin' gear assembly consists o' three BT-20 tubes with mini piston assemblies and springs, matey, actin' as shock absorbers. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! This is a terrific upgrade to t' Estes design. This is a heavy-duty kit, matey, ya bilge rat, and nay likely t' suffer damage under a normal descent, me bucko, but t' shocks are a cool touch. Begad! As evidence o' the level t' which this kit has been engineered, me bucko, t' 'feet' o' t' landin' gear are two small wooden disks, one smaller than t' other, matey, with t' larger one having a laser-engraved centerin' line t' properly locate t' smaller one. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! T' landing gear is topped off with resin-cast nose cones, me hearties, offerin' a much better appearance than t' original Estes open-tube design. Aye aye!

T' fins are pre-cut for mountin' t' pod/landin' gear, me bucko, and I was very surprised by how well these fit. Blimey! On me kit, I had t' sand t' rougher edges a bit, arrr, and had a small amount o' area at t' point o' t' cone t' fill with paste, but t' finished product looks as though t' cones and tube were cast directly with t' fin. Well, blow me down! Begad! I did find alignin' t' tubes t' be a bit o' a challenge, shiver me timbers, and would have loved t' see a template or alignment pattern, but eyeballin' can still work fairly well. Well, blow me down!

Before bondin' t' fins, arrr, I like t' fill spirals on t' body tube, and that helps on this kit, me hearties, matey, as thar are a total o' (6) fins at t' aft end o' the rocket, ya bilge rat, arrr, makin' sandin' in that area a bit tricky. Ya scallywag! After fillin' and sandin' the spirals, ya bilge rat, I mounted t' motor mount and bonded t' through-the-wall fins. The fin tabs were a bit too long (the first part o' this that actually needed any work for a perfect fit), but once trimmed they fit very well in t' slots in the balsa framework inside. Ahoy! Begad!

T' nose cone 'assembly' is completed by insertin' a plug and crew eye into a resin-cast cone. Arrr! Avast! There be only a slight trace o' a partin' line on t' cone, requirin' a scrape or two with a razor blade t' remove t' flashing.

If thar be a weak spot t' this kit, me hearties, I'd have t' say it's in t' recovery system. Aye aye! T' kit comes with a very nice 24" mylar parachute (mine was gold), me hearties, but only 6 shroud lines o' 18" length. Blimey! Optimal shroud lines for this size chute would be (8) 24-36" lines. T' shock cord be 24 inches of ¼" elastic usin' an Estes-style paper tri-fold mount. Avast! Given that this rocket is over 30" tall, arrr, I substituted 48 inches o' ¼" elastic tied t' 120-pound Keelhaul®©™® line and used an epoxy clay mount.

Finishing:
Finishin' this rocket requires a little bit o' care and effort due t' the amount o' decals supplied. Begad! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! T' foundation is a basic all-white finish applied over a couple coats o' primer. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' decals were mostly water-slide, shiver me timbers, and seemed to be much more durable than t' common decals I've seen almost everywhere else. These need t' soak a little longer, matey, but when they went on they really stuck. Ahoy! Blimey! T' kit also comes with a metallic silver decal with black lines printed on it, though on mine t' black stripes flaked off almost immediately, so I had to touch up with a black marker. Blimey! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! I topped everythin' off with a Krylon gloss coat.

Construction Rating: 4 ½ out o' 5

Flight:
T' only reference t' motor selection for this was a comment t' follow NAR code, and select a D or E engine. Aye aye! Avast! With such large fins and weighin' a little over 10 ounces, ya bilge rat, me bucko, I decided t' use an E9-6 for t' first flight. Aye aye! T' rocket went up on a very slow, perfectly straight path, ya bilge rat, and watchin' t' flame o' the slow-burnin' E9 was impressive. T' 6-second delay proved t' be too late, matey, as deployment be past apogee, resultin' in a tangled chute (maybe I should have stuck with their shorter shock cord!). Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Even with t' tangled chute and a fairly rough landing, t' rocket was undamaged and ready for another flight. Avast! For its next launch, I think I'm goin' t' have t' upgrade t' an F, shiver me timbers, me hearties, as this is rugged enough t' handle t' higher thrust curves.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
QModeling's mission is t' brin' back t' classics (there's a poll on at www.qmodeling.com for which one t' do next), and based on this I'd have t' say they're off t' a great start. Blimey! Blimey! This is a great-lookin' rocket that will handle lots o' flights, and while sticking close t' t' original Estes design, they've truly enhanced it with superior engineerin' and quality components.

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out o' 5