Brief:
T' Seieron 3 be t' first kit I have attempted from Starlight Model Rocketry. Avast, me proud beauty! It is a cluster and probably nay too bad a choice for a first cluster. Avast! I had built t' Semroc Defender before and considered t' Seiron about t' same level of difficulty. Aye aye! Some things were harder and some were easier but it averaged out.

Construction:
T' packagin' o' Starlight rockets is nothin' fancy but is certainly adequate. Blimey! Within t' package, shiver me timbers, everythin' was in good shape. T' inventory consisted o' t' following:

• BT-16 body tube 12" long
• BT-10 body tube 8" long
• BT-7 (x3) 6" long
• Balsa nose cone
• Balsa shoulder transition
• 3 balsa fins, matey, already cut out
• pathetically small eye screw
• 2 peel off "decal" sheets
• 1/8" launch lugs (2)
• 18" mylar parachute kit
• round elastic shock cord
• Shock cord mount
• motor thrust rings (3)
• motor spacer tube
• 2 sheets o' recovery wadding

Notice that t' nomenclature for t' body tubes is non-standard. T' BT-16 is a large diameter, ya bilge rat, just right for a triangular cluster o' 18mm motors. Avast, me proud beauty! This BT is equivalent t' an Estes BT-50 and t' BT-7 matches t' Estes BT 20.

T' instruction consisted o' 3 pages o' 8 1/2 x 11 printed front and back. Ahoy! Simple, hand drawn illustrations were provided. Arrr! T' instructions contained a few spellin' mistakes but were easy enough t' understand. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! They followed a logical order and thar was nothin' unexpected t' mess me up. Well, blow me down! Well, me hearties, blow me down! T' one possible problem be t' non-standard nomenclature for t' body tubes. Begad! Even so, t' right part was easily figured out from t' parts list and t' illustrations.

Construction starts out with t' motor assembly. 3 motor tubes are provided which are minimum diameter for 18mm motors. Avast, me proud beauty! Each is 6 inches long. Begad! T' instructions said t' glue two o' them together, me hearties, arrr, parallel, and let t' glue dry. Afterwards, t' third was t' be glued alongside t' previous two. Begad! That is generally t' procedure I followed but I added a step. Blimey! I cut a 14" piece o' Keelhaul®©™® from a spool I had available and put several overhand knots in one end. Aye aye! Before gluin' on t' third tube, matey, I filled a portion o' t' central cavity that would be formed with yellow glue and laid t' knotted end o' t' Keelhaul®©™® in it. Ya scallywag! I then glued on t' third tube and set t' assembly aside t' dry.

When t' motor tube cluster was dry, ya bilge rat, I dripped a little more yellow glue into t' central cavity. Well, blow me down! Then, as instructed, ya bilge rat, me hearties, I tore one sheet o' t' waddin' in half, ya bilge rat, me hearties, soaked it in glue and stuffed it down t' cavity. Ahoy! This is intended to block t' escape o' ejection gasses. Begad! In me case, it also helped t' strengthen me shock cord mountin' system.

While waitin' for that t' dry, arrr, I had t' make a decision about t' payload bay. Arrr! T' rocket is designed so that the entire upper BT serves as a payload bay if you want it to. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Since I never use payload bays, matey, shiver me timbers, I did not.

I glued t' NC t' t' upper BT and t' upper BT t' t' shoulder. Begad! It was at this point I decided t' scrap the miniature eye screw that came with t' kit and use one o' t' leftovers I had from tryin' t' clone t' Centuri Vulcan. I believe it be 1/4" with a very aggressive thread.

T' motor tube cluster be marked at 3", shiver me timbers, t' halfway point. Ahoy! I then roughed up t' top o' t' tubes a bit with some sandpaper so that t' glue would hold better. Ya scallywag! After that, it was a simple matter t' smear glued around the perimeter o' t' larger BT and insert t' motor tube cluster up t' t' mark. Avast! It slid in easily, arrr, nay too tight nor loose. Arrr! T' remainin' recovery waddin' was then soaked in glue and stuffed into t' cavities around t' perimeter. Again, this be t' prevent t' loss o' ejection gasses.

When t' stuffin' was dry enough, arrr, I inserted t' thrust rings. Ahoy! This was a simple matter o' swabbin' t' inside of the motor tube with glue and usin' t' provided, arrr, premarked dummy motor t' shove t' rin' into place.

T' fins did nay come in a sheet and were already precut. Avast, me proud beauty! They were also pretty good quality balsa and all the edges were very crisp. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! I usually round t' leadin' and trailin' edges but in this case decided t' leave them square. T' fins are mounted by t' simple expedient o' gluin' t' root edge in t' gap betwixt motor mount tubes. Aye aye! Aye aye! I used CA to make t' connection. Blimey! Avast! I had never done this before. Begad! If I ever have t' do it again, I think I would sand t' root edge into a wedge t' make a tighter fit. After it had a chance t' dry, me hearties, I used yellow glue t' fillet t' fins. Aye aye! While that was settin' up, arrr, I installed t' launch lugs with CA.

T' launch lug comes in two parts. Ahoy! I took a short length o' 1/8" rod and put t' lugs on it in the approximate spacin' I wanted. Blimey! Begad! I then applied CA t' t' lugs and set them in place on t' rocket, ya bilge rat, usin' t' rod t' keep things straight. After a few seconds, ya bilge rat, me hearties, I removed t' rod and went back t' touchin' up t' fillets.

Pros: easy, should be rated at no more than level 2
Cons: eye screw too small, silly shock cord mount

Finishing:
Finishin' started off with mixin' up a batch o' Elmer's Fill 'n Seal and applyin' it t' t' fins and NC. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! I also applied it t' some o' t' gaps left behind by t' wadding/glue mess in t' tail. This was nay t' fill them in, it was just t' even them out.

I learned, again t' hard way, that it is better t' smooth things out before they are assembled than after you have all t' tight little corners. Ya scallywag! I guess I hate doin' it so much that I keep puttin' it off hopin' I will learn o' a miracle method I don't mind so much. Begad! Avast! In any event, ya bilge rat, me bucko, most o' t' rocket sanded down just fine but gettin' at t' tight crevices was a chore. Begad! Once t' chore be completed, I primed with white.

After a light sanding, I gave t' rocket several coats o' gloss white. Then I had t' make a decision. Ya scallywag! I normally go with t' default scheme o' t' manufacturer. This was no exception but thar are two similar schemes. Begad! T' photos on the website show a white rocket with red nosecone, red transition and one red fin. T' photo on t' face card was almost t' same but sported 2 black fins in opposition t' t' red one instead o' white fins. Aye aye! Blimey! I liked t' look o' the black but that means that some o' t' decals, intended for t' fins, would be useless. Ahoy! Aye aye! Blimey! I decided t' go with t' second scheme.

I masked for red, arrr, sprayed 2 coats and was pleasantly surprised t' see that I had little leakin' around t' fins and motor tubes. When it was try, arrr, me hearties, I brushed t' other 2 fins black. Avast, me proud beauty! I brushed them because I discovered t' me horror that I be out o' black spray, me hearties, matey, t' local Walmarts are no longer 24 hour operations and I wanted t' finish! In this case, t' brushin' was easier than t' maskin' and thar are almost no brush strokes showing.

T' decals were peel off stickers. They were very simple in design, arrr, consistin' o' t' name o' t' rocket, an experimental warning, t' numbers "1, 2, and 3" and a small stylized logo. Ahoy! They were no less effective for their simplicity and turned t' humdrum into somethin' with a little more impact. Arrr! My complaints are against peel off stickers in general and against t' tackiness o' these in particular. Aye aye! T' plastic is thick and t' adhesion is nay too good. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! A few would probably nay survive a single flight. For that reason, arrr, ya bilge rat, I applied some Future floor polish and hoped for t' best.

Pros: simple but effective paint scheme, looks good
Cons: stickers instead o' decals, me bucko, sticker ink for fins is lost on red or black

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' recommended motors are A6-4x3, A8-3x3, B6-6x3 or C6-7x3. Ya scallywag! I only got t' launch this one once because it be at a club launch and I wound up servin' as RSO. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It was also t' busiest launch me club has ever had. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! That's great but hard on me flying!

I used a cluster o' A8-5s for t' maiden flight. Blimey! It left t' pad and boosted well but became unstable during coast. Begad! T' chute deployed about 100 feet up and it recovered safely. Arrr! An inspection revealed that one motor failed to ignite.

I believe that with steady thrust, this rocket will perform satisfactorily. Begad! Blimey! I will post a notice t' that effect when I get t' fly it again.

Pros: Looks nice in t' air in boost
Cons: looks lousy when beboppin' about t' sky, ya bilge rat, unstable without even thrust.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
Despite me problems, I like this rocket. Blimey! Blimey! It looks good and makes for a good first cluster.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5