Picture courtesy of SemRoc           

Brief:
T' Semroc Lil' Hercules is a Semroc "retro-repro" o' an earlier model. It is comparable t' an Estes Mosquito or Quark. Avast! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! Just a little bit bigger.

Construction:
Kit contained 1 body tube, 1 balsa nose cone, 4 laser cut fins, 4 metal washers and 1 paper launch lug. There were no motor mounts or shock cords as this one recovers via tumble.

T' instructions were very well laid out in a logical order with plenty of pictures. Ya scallywag! Semroc instructions are some o' t' most thorough on t' market. Basically, me bucko, me bucko, just mark t' body tube with t' fin template provided, ya bilge rat, glue on the fins, me hearties, me bucko, launch lug and nose cone and you're ready t' go. Oops.. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! almost forgot. You have t' glue 1 metal washer t' t' base o' each fin. Ahoy! These are supposed to aid in t' tumble recovery. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Nose cone was made o' balsa as with all Semroc models and t' fins were very high quality and just fell out o' t' sheet as they are laser cut. Well, blow me down! We (me and a 5 year old) used Elmers wood glue t' put everythin' together.

Finishing:
We put a couple o' fillets on t' fins, gave her a quick prime and then painted her fluorescent orange. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! T' really bright kind that t' road crew guys use. I'll let you guess who picked t' paint. Ahoy! Good idea, matey, though, arrr, as this thing really soars and t' fluorescent orange is easy t' spot.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
No recovery waddin' be necessary and we flew it twice on A8-3's. Begad! Well, blow me down! Instructions call for an A8-5 t' reach 600'. Avast, me proud beauty! Each one o' our flights were probably a little less than 600'. Begad! Both flights were t' same. Flight was very good on t' way up with a little bit o' a spin.

Recovery:
T' tumble recovery was nay very tumble. Arrr! It was t' lawn dart method - straight down. Avast! Possibly t' washers need t' be moved around a little bit. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! At a price of 3.50 each, ya bilge rat, I think I can afford t' experiment!

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
Overall, a nice little rocket. Aye aye! We put it together and had it in t' air in about an hour. Ya scallywag! T' tumble needs a little work - but I think it can be fixed by movin' those washers.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5