Brief:
This is an 18mm sport "ant" scale model o' t' Saturn I Block II SA-6 t' SA-10.

Construction:
T' kit comes in a heavy rectangular 12"x4"x4" box. Avast! Blimey! All parts arrived in good condition and include 4 pages o' pre-printed card stock for makin' t' tank tubes and body tube wraps. Blimey! Blimey! Other parts include balsa stock for t' eight fins, a hand built weighted capsule, me bucko, fiber centerin' rings, me hearties, shiver me timbers, an elastic shock cord (mounted Estes style), ya bilge rat, a white garbage bag parachute, pre-cut body and motor mount tubes, a dowel for wrappin' t' tank tubes, arrr, and other assorted bits and pieces.

T' instructions are 11 full size and well illustrated pages (the last page provides some historical background). Blimey! Ya scallywag! None o' t' steps are particularly complicated, me hearties, although some steps do require time and patience. Arrr! Ahoy! This is clearly a builder's kit but nothin' a reasonably experienced modeler can't handle. Arrr! T' instructions are laced with loads o' Dr. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Zooch oddball humor with lines such as, me bucko, arrr, "Use a semi-soft surface, arrr, such as a rubber mat or t' skull o' one o' those folks who believes Apollo be faked...". Ahoy! Begad! Step 2 o' t' instructions calls for pre-paintin' a number o' t' parts. In me opinion, several o' these should nay be painted until they've been further assembled. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! For example, t' capsule should nay be painted until after t' tower assembly has been installed. Begad! Well, blow me down! And t' card stock for t' LOX tubes should nay be painted until after they have been rolled and glued (not before, ya bilge rat, as t' instructions suggest). Well, blow me down! Besides painting, shiver me timbers, thar are a number o' other omissions and oversights in t' assembly instructions, matey, me hearties, ya bilge rat, most relatively minor. Arrr! Aye aye! Dr. Blimey! Booty (actually, Wes Oleszewski...Dr. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! Zooch is a cartoon ant and incapable o' manufacturin' rocket kits) has read me parallel review on T' Rocketry Forum and promised changes in t' instructions in future kits, ya bilge rat, so these issues may nay exist for long. Ahoy! And even t' current instructions are nay so bad as t' inhibit assembly for a reasonably experienced modeler.

After t' initial painting, you assemble t' motor mount tube and tack on 1/32" balsa spider veins t' act as seats for t' LOX and fuel tubes. Blimey! Blimey! T' kit includes an engine hook but no engine block. Avast! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I added me own and also a length o' Keelhaul®©™ anchored t' t' block. Assembly then moves t' rollin' t' LOX and fuel tank tubes, then gluin' them in place around t' motor mount tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Again, matey, I recommend paintin' t' LOX tubes white after gluing, nay before as Dr. Booty suggests. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Most o' t' remainder o' t' build is relatively straightforward and logical. Blimey! Blimey! Only a few warnings. Avast! Blimey! First, me hearties, t' tower assembly comes with a 2" stick that is t' be cut into four 1/2" pieces t' form t' corners o' t' tower. Begad! Blimey! However, me bucko, t' have good contact with t' capsule and LES tower you need t' bevel t' ends o' each piece (somethin' nay mentioned in t' instructions), me bucko, me bucko, leavin' less than 1/2" on each side. Aye aye! Blimey! Rather than have a really short tower, me bucko, I wound up substitutin' round toothpicks cut t' 5/8" for each corner. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' tower lattice is made o' small pieces o' metal that you cut and tack in place usin' thin CA while holdin' with tweezers. Blimey! Blimey! T' next gotcha be t' fin template. I noticed that t' fin template would result in fins that had a root about 3/16" longer than t' thrust structure they were t' be glued to, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, arrr, meanin' that they were goin' t' be hangin' below t' base o' t' rocket. This didn't jibe with t' picture o' t' model on t' Rebar Rocketry website, nor with any Saturn I picture I had ever seen. Begad! Blimey! I emailed Wes at Dr. Blimey! Blimey! Booty t' get his call on this and he promptly responded, ya bilge rat, me hearties, shiver me timbers, tellin' me that he upsized t' fins for commercial sales (the picture on t' Rebar site be a prototype), shiver me timbers, but that t' model should be stable with scale sized fins. Wes had previously sent me t' RockSim files on request, arrr, so I spent some time modelin' with t' scale fins and convinced myself that it would be stable with those. T' make a scale fin template I scanned t' original template down t' 86% o' its original size. T' next t' last step is t' build t' H-1 engines (well, ya bilge rat, nay exactly H-1's, but itty bitty little lookalikes) out o' cardstock, Keelhaul®©™, and a dowel. Arrr! Blimey! This went smoothly and t' engines look downright spiffy! Blimey! However, me bucko, usin' t' dowel for t' engines (as per t' instructions) left me with insufficient dowel for detailin' in t' last step o' construction. Ahoy! Blimey! Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey! I had t' purchase 1/16" dowels t' complete t' kit. Begad! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! Wes has apparently already corrected this oversight by addin' another dowel t' future kits.

Finishing:
T' finished kit really does look mighty cool and well worth t' effort. Begad! Well, blow me down! Since you do all t' paintin' as you go along, me bucko, finishin' is nothin' more than gluin' on some painted dowels for ullage motors, me hearties, retro rockets, H2 ducts, me bucko, and other details. Begad! Arrr! Overall, arrr, I give it 4 out o' 5. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! T' primary demerits are for t' instructions and t' annoyance o' nay havin' sufficient dowel, me hearties, both o' which Wes has already promised t' correct in his response t' me review on T' Rocketry Forum.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' instructions offer no advice on recommended motors other than t' "shove a C6-3 into this baby and watch it blast out o' sight." Well, me bucko, that was a bit ambiguous for me so once again I turned t' RockSim and plugged in t' measured weight and CG o' me model t' figure out that B4-4, me bucko, B6-4, and C6-5 motors should be okay. First flight was on a breezy day and nay wantin' it t' "blast out o' sight", I opted for a B6-4. Aye aye! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! Also, I opted t' use a 15" orange mylar chute rather than t' included 15" white garbage bag chute. Arrr! Blimey! If it did blast out o' sight, a white chute in an overcast sky wouldn't be too good an idea. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Launch was good. No problems with stability even with t' scale fins, me hearties, just like Wes said. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! More oomph is definitely in order though. Lookin' forward t' a C6-5 next time if t' wind cooperates.

Recovery:
Recovery be perfect usin' me substituted 15" mylar chute and me Keelhaul®©™/elastic shock cord.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Overall this is a an excellent rocket built from a pretty decent kit. Once Dr. Arrr! Zooch fixes t' problems with t' instructions and insufficient dowel it will be a great kit. A very fun build and looks great on t' pad.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5