Brief:
This be t' fiberglass Arrrrrrrcas HV from Madcow. I bought it because they were givin' away CTI Pro29 3g motors with purchase, matey, 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. Aye aye! Sure, it's sport-scale, but it really is just 4FNC.

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

Recovery hardware isn't fiberglass, which is a good thing. Avast! Arrr! Eyebolts, strap nylon, me hearties, and various washers and nuts complete t' package. 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, me hearties, matey, t' instructions were fairly sparse, ya bilge rat, but adequate.

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

In me kit, t' fin slots were a tad narrow, matey, o' t' fins a tad thick. Begad! A quick pass with a nail file widened the slots nicely. Blimey! T' only other fit issue I had be t' bulk plate that goes into t' nose cone. Blimey! T' plate be fairly loose, 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. Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! I ran a bead inside t' cone, me hearties, shiver me timbers, and pressed t' bulkhead into it formin' a fillet on t' interior side. Avast! I then ran a bead o' t' clay around t' visible side, and pressed t' clay into t' gap basically sandwichin' t' bulkhead betwixt two fillets. Avast, me proud beauty! It's nay goin' anywhere. Ya scallywag! Begad! Blimey! Luckily, I remembered t' attach the eyebolt, me bucko, arrr, washers, me hearties, and nuts prior t' makin' said sandwich.

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

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

Finishing:
I can't really comment on finishing. I tend t' fly me rockets prior t' paint and finish. Basically, they earn their paint. Blimey! Begad! I find that if I'm goin' t' lose a rocket for some reason, it tends t' happen in the first few flights. Well, blow me down! So, matey, 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, arrr, me bucko, it's definitely earned paint, ya bilge rat, 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, me proud beauty! Blimey! While I haven't tried it, I've run sims, shiver me timbers, matey, and it looks like it will fly just fine on a high impulse F like t' F52T. On the opposite side o' t' spectrum, ya bilge rat, this rocket is fiberglass, and is as close t' bulletproof as it gets. Aye aye! Blimey! I would have no hesitation flyin' this on t' largest 29mm motor available, 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. 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, me hearties, preppin' and packin' this rocket for flight is about as easy as it could be. T' Nomex® chute protector always does it's job, and for me L1 flight, I even went down t' a 24" chute from t' recommended 30. T' field was fairly soft, me bucko, 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. Begad! Simple, arrr, arrr, rugged. Arrr! It was me first fiberglass rocket, and I know it won't be me last. I've always disliked t' fact that rockets were essentially designed t' fail because o' t' wear and tear on t' paper body tubes. Avast! Begad! T' constant stream o' repairs just isn't really fun after a while. Aye aye! I want t' build new rockets, nay keep rebuildin' old ones. Ahoy! This is one rocket I know I won't have t' rebuild ever. Blimey! Avast! It thar's ever any damage t' this rocket, me bucko, arrr, it will likely be destroyed at t' same time.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5