Brief

As opposed t' typical 3FNC (Three Fins and a Nose Cone) this is 1FNC (One Fin and a Nose Cone) mini-engine sport rocket.

Construction

Because I decided t' paint parts before completin' construction, me hearties, arrr, I combined construction and painting.

This is a Bruce Levison design. T' design itself is really cool. Blimey! O' course, standard wisdom is that t' MINIMUM number o' fins for stability is 3. Two fins won't work, shiver me timbers, and o' course, one fin would be absurd. Unless, o' course, ya bilge rat, it is a RING fin. However, if you have t' ATTACH t' rin' fin with support struts, you could argue t' struts are ALSO fins. Begad! so TECHNICALLY wouldn't be a one fin rocket. So how do you symmetrical attach t' rin' with no struts?

You don't. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Mr. Begad! Levison attached t' rin' t' t' side o' t' rocket. Well, blow me down! Looks funky and looks like it shouldn't work, ya bilge rat, matey, but it does. Aye aye! Begad! T' design is stable, arrr, arrr, although it does cause a pronounced "corkscrew" flight pattern, arrr, hence t' name. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! (Side note, discussion with one o' t' designers o' this "kitted" version indicates that t' degree o' "corkscrewing" changes with t' length o' t' rocket, this kitted version is specifically design t' demonstrate t' "corkscrew" flight characteristic. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Reference http://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/search/label/Corkscrew.

Enough about t' original design. Begad! T' guys that "kitted" this really did their homework on this one. Well, blow me down! Seriously, arrr, shiver me timbers, this kit goes together EASIER than your basic 3FNC beginner kit. Begad! Arrr! For one thing--- NO BALSA. Aye aye! Nothin' t' sand, taper, me hearties, round, or otherwise mess with. Avast, me proud beauty! And with t' Reinforcement plate and TWO launch lugs it is a CINCH t' get t' rin' fin on straight (in me opinion EASIER than tryin' t' get 3 fins straight on your typical beginner rocket)

T' combined Keelhaul®©™/elastic shock cord is a nice touch. Aye aye! This gets attached t' t' engine block. T' Keelhaul®©™ presumably provides t' burn resistance. T' elastic provides some shock resistance. Ahoy! Aye aye! Also, nay only do they provide you an empty engine casing, but on t' instructions they even have a "quarter inch" mark for you.

I attached t' streamer t' t' elastic cord with tape as instructed. Avast, me proud beauty! Didn't like t' initial position, tried t' loosen t' tape and adjust it. Ya scallywag! Arrr! Streamer material came apart just tryin' t' adjust t' tape. Aye aye! T' kit actually comes as a combo with a "Powered FLIC Profile Shuttle." I cut t' original streamer off, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and used t' streamer from t' other kit.

T' marker card and t' TWO launch lugs are t' key. For all practical purposes, me hearties, you CANNOT put t' marker card on wrong (check that, ya bilge rat, I guess you COULD put it on t' outside. If you do this, me bucko, strongly recommend you reconsider rocketry for somethin' more compatible with your mechanical skills--- perhaps stamp collecting. This gets glued onto t' inside o' t' BT-80 rin' fin. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! Since it is exactly t' WIDTH (front t' back) o' t' rin' fin, arrr, assumin' you cut it out straight all you have t' do is put it on t' inside and line up t' "long sides" with t' edges o' t' rin' fin (very easily done)

T' marker shows you EXACTLY where t' put t' BT-50 body tube (rocket fuselage) and t' launch lugs. 

While t' instructions were clear, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, I modified me approach because I chose a different paint scheme, AND because me scheme would be difficult t' accomplish with maskin' after t' build. Aye aye! Blimey! So I elected t' paint BEFORE attachin' t' rin' fin t' t' fuselage. Avast, me proud beauty! T' do this however, arrr, arrr, matey, I had t' mask t' "contact areas" before painting, arrr, as gluin' painted surfaces guarantees a very weak joint, shiver me timbers, and in this case with only one fin (and that eccentrically places) this joint takes a lot o' stress (which t' kit designers anticipated and accounted for quite well.)

I attached t' markin' guide first, ya bilge rat, as per instructions. Aye aye! Arrr! . Begad! Note on me pictures, shiver me timbers, I save original markin' guides whenever possible, matey, so I copied t' Reinforcement Plate onto a piece o' cardstock.

I decided t' attach t' launch lugs t' t' rin' fin FIRST. Ya scallywag! Because o' t' relative small size o' t' lugs, it is pretty easy t' get them exactly aligned with t' markings. Arrr! Personally, matey, me bucko, I think this actually would make t' construction EASIER even if you didn't paint t' parts separately, arrr, as in me opinion it is easier t' get these two small lugs in perfect alignment than t' relatively big body tube. Avast! Blimey! Once you have t' lugs in place, ya bilge rat, matey, matey, t' body tube literally falls into perfect alignment.

At this point, I dry-fitted t' BT-5 tube t' t' rin' fin. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I marked t' edges o' t' contact points on both t' RingFin/Lug piece and on t' body tube. I then MASKED t' areas o' contact on each piece.

T' tube spirals were pretty tight. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! I also felt me paint scheme would probably camouflage an residual spirals. Blimey! So I used Krylon Primer t' Prime and fill t' spirals. Ahoy! T' true craftsmn may consider fill and finish, but t' tubes are high quality t' begin with and I felt that was overkill.

For a paint scheme, ya bilge rat, I thought I could come up with somethin' a little more excitin' than t' black and white spiral on t' cover picture. Begad! A really cool trick though was t' use o' electrical tape t' create t' tapered Barber Pole spiral. Aye aye! Blimey! T' tape has enough flexibility that you can get a true tight "spiral" that you can't get with any other tape I know of. And visitin' t' hardware store (great place t' get rocket part ideas) I noticed they had OTHER colors than black. Arrr! Arrr! Hmmm...... Ya scallywag! How about bright yellow? Once I had t' yellow tape, had t' pick a background color. Ahoy! How about--- PURPLE!

Off t' Hobby Lobby. Problem. T' only cool purple they had be lacquer-based (Testors One Coat Lacquer Purple-Licious.) Wasn't sure how well this would go over t' Krylon Primer. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Did some quick research on Lacquer over Enamel, shiver me timbers, anyway, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, with multiple VERY light coats came out fine.

I like t' hide t' nose cone t' body tube junctions on me rockets. T' stock paint scheme instead emphasizes it with t' different color. Begad! Besides, isn't a corkscrew supposed t' taper t' a point?

I put a piece o' black tape on a metal ruler longer than t' yellow tape. Ahoy! Then cut t' long taperin' "Barber Pole" with a hobby cutlass and another metal ruler. Ya scallywag! Was able t' pull t' yellow tape piece off t' black tape. Well, blow me down!

I put a piece o' tape over t' nose cone t' body tube transition. Avast, me proud beauty! Ran t' tape from tip t' tail, shiver me timbers, me bucko, over t' piece o' tape (shield for nose cone edge). Aye aye! I was then able t' cut t' yellow tape over t' transition, remove t' shield, and re-affix t' tape (spiral over nose cone edge).

I mated up t' unmasked ring/kug part and t' Body Tube part. Ahoy! Ahoy! Blimey! Matched up perfectly as expected. Made attachin' t' body tube a snap. I did put a generous "internal fillet" in place as I knew I wouldn't have access t' this area once t' pieces were attached. Avast, me proud beauty! (Heavy Fillet). Arrr! Blimey! Wiped away any excess glue. Avast! Blimey! Did NOT put a fillet on t' outside. (So far, ya bilge rat, me hearties, it has held up quite well.)