Brief:
Futuristic, military interceptor styled rocket with an 18mm mount and rated for B6-2, C6-3, arrr, ya bilge rat, and C6-5 motors.

Construction:
This kit is manufactured by a Canadian company and is a little different than most o' t' kits that I've become familiar with. Aye aye! Begad! T' motor hook is a complete departure from t' long thin sprin' steel hooks we've been usin' for over thirty years, thar are some marked differences in fin attachment points, arrr, arrr, and they have returned t' t' rubber shock cord o' t' past.

T' parts all come in t' standard clear plastic bag, matey, and t' overall quality o' t' parts is very good. Ahoy! Blimey! T' chute material is heavier than most. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! The balsa is laser cut, medium hardness, and has t' correct grain type for the purpose o' makin' fins. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! T' shock cord is an adequate length. Blimey! Blimey! T' decals are stick on type in two colors (red and white). There is also a large printed cardstock sheet t' create various paper construction parts and a shroud that forms t' engine nacelles. Begad! Blimey! T' instructions are clear and well written in both French and English, ya bilge rat, and t' illustrations are very helpful and well drawn.

Construction begins with t' motor mount. Ahoy! Begad! A motor block is glued in flush with one end o' t' motor mount tube and t' two centerin' rings are positioned 5mm from each end o' t' mount. T' motor hook is installed in t' ring opposite t' block and a motor is test fit in t' mount. T' Sunward hook is a heavy metal rod with a 90 degree bend at one end and wood screw threads at the other. A pilot hole is drilled in t' aft centerin' ring, arrr, matey, arrr, which are t' wound paper type, and t' hook is screwed into t' ring. Arrr! After t' motor is installed, shiver me timbers, t' hook is twisted around until it is retainin' t' motor. Avast! After the flight, t' hook is twisted out o' t' way t' make removal o' t' motor possible. Ya scallywag! T' instructions warn that t' hook may be very hot for several minutes after a flight.

Fins are next. Sunward uses a very different approach t' fin attachment than most other manufacturers, too. Ahoy! T' typical kit attaches fins directly t' t' rocket in a butt joint arrangement and adds glue fillets t' t' joint. Larger rockets cut slots in t' body tube with t' fins passin' through t' slot and glued t' the motor tube with fillets at t' airframe/fin joint. Blimey! Aye aye! Sunward instead supplies card stock cutouts that are glued t' t' sides o' t' fins at t' root edge and these assemblies are then joined t' t' airframe tube creatin' a pre-assembled fillet.

T' fins are laser cut from 1/8-inch semi-hard A-grain balsa stock. They are still hangin' on t' t' sheet by short spots left unburned and are carefully removed usin' a sharp hobby knife. Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' edges are lightly sanded to remove t' burned material from t' laser. At this time I cut out all o' the cardboard parts too. I noticed while cuttin' that t' quality o' t' printing and graphics lines vary markedly--some o' t' lines are quite bold while some are very thin. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Also, shiver me timbers, t' curved edges are very jaggy and t' dashed fold lines are quite heavy which later made gettin' an accurate fold difficult. Aye aye! Arrr! Blimey! T' fin is the first part assembled. Avast! A pair o' tabs are glued t' t' sides at t' root edge. Ya scallywag! Before bendin' t' tabs, ya bilge rat, I scored along t' bend line very lightly using a straight edge t' ensure a nice straight and crisp fold. Ahoy! As stated, arrr, t' fold line is very bold and me score line was run down t' center o' t' line on both parts. Avast! Blimey! These are then glued t' t' fins keepin' t' fold line flush with the root edge. While these tabs were dryin' I went on and assembled t' tabs on the main and aft wings as well. Ya scallywag! There is a problem with all o' t' fin tabs: they are all too long. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! Blimey! Nay one fit t' fin or wings properly and required a good deal o' trimmin' t' remove t' overhangin' parts. Begad! Blimey! We aren't talkin' a little amount here, arrr, me hearties, we're talkin' on t' order o' a half inch in some places. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! At first I thought that I had t' wrong tabs but double checkin' proved that I am using the aft win' tabs where t' aft win' tabs are called for. Aye aye! Blimey! Same for t' fins.

T' body tube is marked usin' a guide cut from t' plans t' locate t' parts. Avast, me proud beauty! T' instructions have t' builder mark t' top and bottom center lines, then slide t' marking guide up and down t' tube when markin' t' fin locations. They also suggest usin' a book for t' straight edge. Avast! Begad! T' doorjamb has been me handy marking guide for a long time.

T' fin tabs are now curled slightly with hobby knife handle t' match the curve o' t' body tube and then t' fin and tabs are glued down with t' aft of the fin flush with t' end o' t' tube. This is where I began t' have some trouble. Blimey! T' first problem is that t' line is blocked by t' fin and tabs so it's truly troublesome t' get t' thin' straight. Well, blow me down! I was able t' line up one edge at both ends where t' line is visible. Also, matey, t' plans warn nay t' get glue on t' outside o' t' tabs but I found this very difficult since t' glue naturally oozes out from under t' tabs, arrr, and t' get good contact, arrr, one naturally presses and holds t' fin and tabs t' t' tube resultin' in gettin' glue all over one's fingers and consequently all over everythin' you touch (including the outside o' t' tabs.) I used a tissue with a dot o' water t' attempt to clean up but without much success.

While that was drying, I read ahead in t' instructions again and rolled the shroud t' get it set for when I'll be ready for it. Begad! Well, me hearties, blow me down! T' edge be taped together and it be held with weights on t' workbench t' help fix t' shape while t' fin and wings were bein' glued.

T' aft wings were glued on at this time, again havin' some trouble with alignment and glue but usin' care and time were placed correctly. Ya scallywag! Avast! I really like for me rockets, large and small, me hearties, me bucko, matey, t' fly straight!

T' aft wings and fin were allowed t' dry overnight, and t' forward wings were glued on t' followin' day. Begad! Begad! I made an error here that I found out too late. There are a long set o' tabs and a short set o' tabs for t' main fins. T' long set are for t' main win' t' shroud joint, and t' short ones are for the main t' body tube joint. I accidentally reversed these and had t' cut a second set from scrap for t' shroud t' win' joint. Arrr! And this after all o' that double checkin' done earlier because t' tabs are so much longer than t' balsa parts!

Next comes the shroud. After t' shape is set by curlin' and holdin' in position for a while, the slots for t' fins are cut. Ya scallywag! T' shroud is then test fit and the instructions indicate that t' fin slots are trimmed t' size. Avast! This is overly optimistic since t' holes indicated on t' shroud are way too long. I was careful t' cut where indicated usin' a straight edge and a sharp knife so it isn't due t' me ham fisted cutting. We aren't talkin' a few millimeters here either! T' shroud is then glued t' t' top o' t' rocket usin' t' top line for alignment. When dry, t' bottom is glued along t' bottom line and tabs are added t' t' win' joints. Blimey! A strip o' paper is added t' t' aft o' t' shroud. T' large gaps at t' fin joints were fixed with scraps o' paper. Ahoy! T' plan at this point is t' make these appear as sheet metal so seams and gaps, ya bilge rat, me bucko, etc., matey, arrr, are not a problem.

T' motor mount and shock cord are now glued into t' body tube. Avast! Begad! The provided launch lug is cut in two and t' two halves are glued along t' bottom line. Begad! Well, blow me down! T' standard shock cord mount is OK and widely used but hard t' replace later and in me experience causes t' chute and shrouds t' hang up in t' body tube at ejection. Well, blow me down! I used t' Quest solution for this: a Keelhaul®©™® cord attached t' t' top motor rin' with t' shock cord tied t' this. Begad! I also added an ejection baffle just ahead o' t' motor mount. T' baffle consists of a four inch length o' BT-50 and a balsa disk. T' tube has a few 1/4-inch holes in t' sides, matey, shiver me timbers, and t' top disk has three 1/4-inch slots cut around t' edge. T' BT-50 is glued t' t' disk such that t' slots are offset from t' holes. T' ejection charge fires up through t' BT-50, ya bilge rat, exits through t' holes in the tube, and up through t' slots in t' balsa disk. This action causes t' charge to change direction and swirl around allowin' t' still burnin' particles time to burn out and t' hot gasses a chance t' mix with t' cool air in baffle.

T' instructions indicate that t' fin and win' leadin' and trailin' edges can now be sanded round. Blimey! Normally, me hearties, I would have done this step before gluing but wanted t' see how tabs would work out first. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! As it turns out, matey, this was a mistake--sand t' fins before you glue yours down! I was able t' get t' edges sanded round, ya bilge rat, but it wasn't easy.

There was a year long pause in t' constructin' o' this kit betwixt the shroud installation and sandin' o' t' fins. This be partly due t' my reluctance t' start on a sandin' job that was almost certainly t' be a pain, partly due t' t' flyin' season arriving, and partly due t' other projects and a call t' do some high power flying. Begad! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! This review was written largely as it happened, arrr, but in t' meantime, me bucko, ya bilge rat, t' guys that I normally fly with found some of these kits and started bringin' them t' t' launches. Arrr! Blimey! Most o' them turned out pretty nice.

Finishing:
T' seam lines in t' plastic nose cone were sanded smooth and t' entire nose was sanded lightly. Avast! T' lines were deep and required a good bit o' work t' get smooth. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! T' spirals in t' tube were filled with Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish and sanded. Ahoy! T' fingerprints were also sanded off all t' parts. Ya scallywag! T' fins were given four coats o' AeroGloss sandin' sealer with a light sandin' in between coats and a finish sandin' with 400 grit paper. I considered attemptin' t' fill and smooth all o' t' tab seams but decided it would be too much work and, as indicated earlier, arrr, I decided instead t' make use o' t' tabs by makin' them appear as sheet metal. Begad! T' rocket was primed with white sandable primer and sanded lightly with 400 grit paper. I used a syringe that I use t' deliver epoxy t' close areas t' create a line o' fake rivets all around t' tab edges. It turns out that me faux rivet makin' skills need some work. Begad! T' epoxy was thin enough t' pass through t' syringe but took so long t' set up that it flattened out and ran together in places. Blimey! Begad! Somethin' other than epoxy (or at least t' type I was using) would make better rivets. Ahoy! Some research and testing on this technique is needed.

T' rocket was then painted with gloss blue paint and trimmed with black paint. Avast, me proud beauty! I used aluminum paint for t' canopy and had some trouble with t' base color flakin' away when t' maskin' tape was removed--I was usin' t' low-tack blue tape, ya bilge rat, too! T' decals were applied at this point--these are a thin, self-adhesive type on a single sheet and cut out with scissors. Self sticking decals are improvin' as these went on without a lot o' trouble and look OK as the substrate blends into t' paint reasonably well. Avast, me proud beauty! There are a very few decals and while they look OK they also appear very simple. I don't know about the Canadian Military, but t' U. Ya scallywag! S. military plasters markings, warnings, arrr, me bucko, and instructions seemingly everywhere and this very limited number o' decals seems strange t' me. Ya scallywag! Arrr! T' rocket be then coated lightly with a clear gloss coat.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
First flown at our club launch in February 2004 on an Estes C6-3. T' flight was a sort o' long arcin' flight with some very strange oscillations starting somewhere near apogee and continuin' until ejection. Arrr! Well, blow me down! T' second flight was quite weird and a lot lower on a B6-2. Arrr! T' ejection might have been a tad early. I be messin' around tryin' t' get a good photo o' t' flight and didn't fully appreciate t' wobbling.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
PROs:

• This is truly a builder's kit and believe it or not, is a fun kit t' build. It isn't a simple three-fins-and-a-nose-cone rocket that one can slap together in an afternoon. Avast, me proud beauty! Time and effort are required t' produce a good product.
• T' laser cut fins are terrific, and t' design is very eye catchin' both on display and in flight.
• T' instructions are clear and well illustrated and most problems I experienced where me own fault for missin' somethin' in t' instructions.
• T' motor hook is also very interestin' but hasn't been well tested by me as yet.
• T' shock cord has been gettin' good reviews on t' flight line. Begad! This material is more in line with that used by another long standin' manufacturer in times past and seems t' be resistant t' heat.
• T' rewardin' finished product makes up for t' problems with t' tabs and slots.

CONs:

• T' tabs make t' fins tricky. Ahoy! Blimey! It's hard t' get them lined up because of the nature o' t' tabs blockin' t' view. Avast! Also, matey, t' tabs could easily cause the fin t' nay make good contact with t' body tube and t' glue gets everywhere. I've never had so many fingerprints everywhere! Blimey! It occurs t' me that t' fins should be glued t' t' airframe and then add t' tabs.
• Roundin' t' fins after t' rocket is constructed is a nuisance--it's a lot easier t' do and t' get even before they are attached t' t' airframe.
• Lastly, t' problems with t' tabs and slots nay bein' t' correct size are a pain. Ahoy! I know I keep whinin' about them, but these things combine t' take a lot o' t' joy out o' t' building.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5