Loc/Precision just came out with a V2 kit in two sizes. Well, blow me down! I bought t' smaller one at t' April LUNAR launch. Begad! Apparently, ya bilge rat, I got one o' t' first few produced. 

I like sport-scale rockets and hadn't built anythin' like a V2 before, so this was great timing. 

This rocket flew for t' first time on an I357, matey, although I had me first burn-by o' t' Aerotech delay sleeve. Avast! Well, blow me down! T' ejection charge went off shortly after t' motor burned out. (I was told I hadn't used enough grease.) At least t' rocket was recovered in flyable shape although t' inside was blackened. 

T' Kit

T' Loc/Precision kit had less detailed instructions than usual (it's obvious this kit is brand new). But, as I've come t' find, matey, arrr, high-power rockets pretty much all go together t' same way. 

I decided t' paint me rocket in t' familiar black and yellow pattern o' V-2 Nos. Begad! Blimey! 3 and 3 (taken from Rockets o' t' World and colorized). I had a hard time gettin' t' paint t' stick t' t' blow molded nose cone. Aye aye! Begad! Even with washin' t' nose with soap and water, then with alcohol, t' primer still wouldn't stick. Aye aye! Ahoy! I had t' re-paint several areas where t' maskin' tape (Scotch magic tape) pulled t' paint and primer off right down t' t' plastic nose cone! It turned out OK from a distance (or in a low resolution photograph), though. 

Also see t' actual photograph below. 

V2 History

T' V2 was an unmanned, guided, ballistic missile. Avast, me proud beauty! It was guided by an advanced gyroscopic guidance system that sent signals t' aerodynamic steerin' tabs on t' fins. Well, blow me down! It was generally inaccurate due t' errors in alignin' t' rocket with it's target, premature shut-off o' t' motor and inconsistencies in electric current in t' guidance system. Begad! It was propelled by a hydrogen peroxide-methanol motor that generated 55,000 lbs o' thrust. Ya scallywag! T' motor typically burned for 60 seconds, pushin' t' rocket t' around 4,400 ft/second. It rose t' an altitude o' 52 miles and had a range o' 200 - 225 miles. Aye aye! T' V2 carried a high explosive warhead weighin' 2,000 lbs (1 ton) that was capable o' flattenin' a large building. Ahoy! It was first fired operationally on Sept 7, 1944 against London, primarily as a propaganda exercise. 

It's real claim t' fame was as t' progenitor o' t' rocket race that developed durin' t' Cold War, me bucko, and ultimately put men on t' moon and probes that have left our solar system. In 1945, t' U.S. Aye aye! Blimey! managed t' capture and ship home parts for 100 German V2 missiles, while almost all t' best o' t' German engineers surrendered t' t' US Army and moved t' America. Ahoy! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Many V2s were launched from 1946 through 1952, me bucko, mostly carryin' scientific experiments, includin' t' upper atmosphere research which discovered t' ozone layer. 

(Borrowed from Miles Constable's V2 page (link-out dead) and Rockets o' t' World by Peter Alway, shiver me timbers, available from Saturn Press.)