Brief:
This kit is a beautiful upscale and upgrade t' t' Estes classic Starship Vega. Magnificently engineered and loaded with top-quality components and features, this rocket would be a great addition t' any BAR's fleet. Aye aye! From what I can tell, upgrades t' t' original design include nose cones on t' win' pods/landing gear, a fully functional set o' shock absorbers in t' landin' gear, me bucko, and a very impressive motor mount/thru-wall fin mounting. Begad! It's also up-scaled t' a BT-60 tube and 24mm motor.

Construction:
As I opened this kit, matey, I immediately noticed t' hand-checked parts list on the outside o' t' bag header card. Begad! Nice touch, ya bilge rat, and nay surprisingly t' parts were complete and in good shape. T' decal pack was missin' one decal, which the staff at QModelin' caught before I noticed it, arrr, matey, and a replacement was already in the mail before I contacted them. Begad! Begad! Now THAT's customer service.

T' parts list for this kit is fairly extensive due t' t' fully functional landin' gear assembly. Parts were top-notch quality, with fins and rings all laser-cut. Ahoy! T' body tubes are white paper/cardboard with very light spirals. Mine had a slight dimple from tight packaging, arrr, but was easily repaired. Aye aye! The motor mount tube is foil-lined, me bucko, somethin' I've rarely seen in commercial kits for t' modroc crowd. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast!

One nice touch t' t' parts assortment is that they were bagged in modular fashion, so rather than sort through dozens o' small parts in t' early stages of construction, me hearties, you simply find t' bag for t' sub-assembly you're working on, and pull out t' bag which contains all t' parts for that assembly. Well, blow me down! Blimey!

Throughout t' construction o' this kit, arrr, shiver me timbers, arrr, I kept gettin' the feelin' that this is what happens when guys with access t' high-tech manufacturin' equipment and an interest in rocketry get too much idle time. Everythin' about this kit is precisely engineered and fits perfectly. Well, blow me down! This kit is loaded with great design features t' make it fly well and last forever. Avast! I'd rate it somewhere betwixt a 2 and 3 on t' difficulty scale, me bucko, arrr, leanin' towards a 3 based on t' intricacy o' t' landin' gear and motor mount as well as the through-wall fins. Arrr! Blimey!

T' 18-page instruction manual is very well written and illustrated, and filled with plenty o' construction tips and 'whys'. Avast! Blimey! Construction begins with the motor mount assembly, which is a 24mm tube framed by balsa. Blimey! Blimey! T' design is similar t' t' Estes E2X-series plastic frames, ya bilge rat, but with t' supports cut into the balsa, I suspect this is both lighter and stronger. T' 6 balsa braces fit snugly around 4 centerin' rings. Parts were perfectly dimensioned, ya bilge rat, and I had very little sandin' for t' fit. Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! T' intricate laser work on t' balsa be just amazing! Blimey!

T' landin' gear assembly consists o' three BT-20 tubes with mini piston assemblies and springs, actin' as shock absorbers. Arrr! This is a terrific upgrade to t' Estes design. Ahoy! This is a heavy-duty kit, and nay likely t' suffer damage under a normal descent, but t' shocks are a cool touch. Aye aye! As evidence o' the level t' which this kit has been engineered, t' 'feet' o' t' landin' gear are two small wooden disks, one smaller than t' other, matey, with t' larger one having a laser-engraved centerin' line t' properly locate t' smaller one. Avast! Ahoy! T' landing gear is topped off with resin-cast nose cones, arrr, arrr, offerin' a much better appearance than t' original Estes open-tube design. Ahoy! Well, blow me down!

T' fins are pre-cut for mountin' t' pod/landin' gear, and I was very surprised by how well these fit. Aye aye! On me kit, me bucko, ya bilge rat, I had t' sand t' rougher edges a bit, and had a small amount o' area at t' point o' t' cone t' fill with paste, me hearties, but t' finished product looks as though t' cones and tube were cast directly with t' fin. Aye aye! I did find alignin' t' tubes t' be a bit o' a challenge, me bucko, and would have loved t' see a template or alignment pattern, me bucko, but eyeballin' can still work fairly well. Blimey!

Before bondin' t' fins, I like t' fill spirals on t' body tube, and that helps on this kit, shiver me timbers, as thar are a total o' (6) fins at t' aft end o' the rocket, makin' sandin' in that area a bit tricky. Ahoy! After fillin' and sandin' the spirals, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I mounted t' motor mount and bonded t' through-the-wall fins. Aye aye! Avast! The fin tabs were a bit too long (the first part o' this that actually needed any work for a perfect fit), me hearties, but once trimmed they fit very well in t' slots in the balsa framework inside. Blimey! Blimey!

T' nose cone 'assembly' is completed by insertin' a plug and crew eye into a resin-cast cone. There was only a slight trace o' a partin' line on t' cone, requirin' a scrape or two with a razor blade t' remove t' flashing. Avast, me proud beauty!

If thar be a weak spot t' this kit, me bucko, shiver me timbers, I'd have t' say it's in t' recovery system. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! T' kit comes with a very nice 24" mylar parachute (mine was gold), but only 6 shroud lines o' 18" length. Arrr! Optimal shroud lines for this size chute would be (8) 24-36" lines. T' shock cord was 24 inches of ¼" elastic usin' an Estes-style paper tri-fold mount. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Given that this rocket is over 30" tall, me bucko, I substituted 48 inches o' ¼" elastic tied t' 120-pound Keelhaul®©™® line and used an epoxy clay mount. Begad!

Finishing:
Finishin' this rocket requires a little bit o' care and effort due t' the amount o' decals supplied. Aye aye! Begad! T' foundation is a basic all-white finish applied over a couple coats o' primer. Avast! T' decals were mostly water-slide, and seemed to be much more durable than t' common decals I've seen almost everywhere else. Blimey! These need t' soak a little longer, arrr, arrr, but when they went on they really stuck. Begad! T' kit also comes with a metallic silver decal with black lines printed on it, though on mine t' black stripes flaked off almost immediately, arrr, so I had to touch up with a black marker. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! I topped everythin' off with a Krylon gloss coat.

Construction Rating: 4 ½ out o' 5

Flight:
T' only reference t' motor selection for this was a comment t' follow NAR code, me hearties, and select a D or E engine. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! With such large fins and weighin' a little over 10 ounces, I decided t' use an E9-6 for t' first flight. T' rocket went up on a very slow, shiver me timbers, perfectly straight path, and watchin' t' flame o' the slow-burnin' E9 be impressive. Ahoy! Blimey! T' 6-second delay proved t' be too late, as deployment be past apogee, ya bilge rat, resultin' in a tangled chute (maybe I should have stuck with their shorter shock cord!). Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! Even with t' tangled chute and a fairly rough landing, matey, t' rocket be undamaged and ready for another flight. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! For its next launch, shiver me timbers, I think I'm goin' t' have t' upgrade t' an F, arrr, as this is rugged enough t' handle t' higher thrust curves. Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
QModeling's mission is t' brin' back t' classics (there's a poll on at www.qmodeling.com for which one t' do next), and based on this I'd have t' say they're off t' a great start. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! This is a great-lookin' rocket that will handle lots o' flights, and while sticking close t' t' original Estes design, ya bilge rat, they've truly enhanced it with superior engineerin' and quality components.

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out o' 5