Construction

T' kit requires you t' supply wood glue, shiver me timbers, white glue, pencil, scissors and t' standard hobby knife, shiver me timbers, arrr, ruler, and maskin' tape needed by all rockets.  T' finish t' rocket you will also need balsa fillercoat, me hearties, sandin' sealer, a good sandable primer, sandpaper, and maskin' tape.

T' instruction manual typical o' Jim Flis' products, me hearties, complete with clear illustrations t' guide you through t' build. Arrr! Avast! T' instructions are logically ordered, and Jim guides you through t' seemingly tricky assembly o' t' celtic knot fins, makin' it easy enough t' make you wonder why you thought this was goin' t' be hard.

Figure 1 - Motor Mount Assembly

T' 18mm motor mount went together smartly with wood glue and tape, resultin' in a subassembly with t' Keelhaul®©™ cord, engine hook, and engine block attached.  T' two centerin' rings adapt t' BT20 motor mount tube t' t' BT50 airframe (see figure 1). Ya scallywag!  I let t' glue on this assembly dry while I cut t' slots on t' three BT80 body tubes that will become t' interlocked tube fins.  T' instructions here are very good, but you need a sharp hobby knife t' cut through t' tough rings. I cut t' slots with sharp scissors as described, usin' t' wrap-around templates (figure 2), matey, me hearties, resultin' in tube-fins that looked just like t' illustrations in t' instructions (figures 3 and 4).

Figure 2 - Rin' Markin' Guides

Figure 3 - Marked Ring

Figure 4 - Assembled Rin' Fin Assembly

As t' instructions point out, matey, me bucko, if you want t' use multiple colors on t' fins, you need t' finish preppin' and paintin' t' fins at this point o' t' build, which is what I did.  After fillin' in t' spirals with Elmer's Fill n Finish and sanding, I masked off a small section on each tube that would later be located at center o' t' celtic know and be in contact with t' outside o' t' body tube.  I left this tape on while primin' t' fins inside and out, ya bilge rat, and then painted t' inside o' t' tubes, followed by paintin' t' outside in a contrastin' color after maskin' t' inside o' t' tubes.  After t' paint be dry, I dry-assembled t' painted fins t' ensure that all t' unmasked glue areas were properly oriented.  I then glued t' fins together usin' medium CA, although white glue would have worked as well (figure 5).

Figure 5 - Painted Fin Rin' Assembly

After fillin' t' body tube spirals and sandin' smooth, I installed t' motor mount per t' instructions, me hearties, recessin' t' assembly so t' end o' t' motor mount was flush with t' end o' t' body tube.  I also attached t' launch lug at this point:  after markin' lines for t' fin attachment points and t' launch lug on t' body tube (the launch lug line was in line with t' engine hook), I dry assembled t' body tube with t' fin assembly, alignin' t' launch lug line with one o' t' voids in t' fin unit.  T' end o' t' engine hook is flush with t' aft edge o' t' fin unit.  Once aligned, I marked t' location o' t' launch lug on t' body tube and t' locations where t' top o' t' fin unit intersected t' fin lines, me bucko, removed t' body tube from t' fin unit, and glued t' launch lug at t' marked location. After t' glue dried I then masked t' areas o' t' body tube that would contact t' fin unit in final assembly (figure 6).

Figure 6 - Body Tube Masked for Painting

After primin' and sanding, I spray-painted t' body tube and removed t' maskin' tape once t' paint had dried. Well, blow me down!  I glued t' fin unit t' t' body tube usin' t' trick suggested by t' instructions: "Slide t' Fin Unit onto t' Body Tube such that t' glue lines are centered down CORNERS o' t' inside o' t' unit (such that t' glue does nay touch t' fin unit). Once you have it properly positioned, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, you can simply twist t' unit into t' glue, until t' Engine Hook is properly centered in a corner o' t' Fin Unit."  That trick worked very well, spreadin' t' glue and nay makin' a big mess o' it. Begad! Alignin' t' body tube perpendicular t' t' fin unit is harder than it would seem t' be because t' body tube did nay fit particularly tightly in t' fin unit, shiver me timbers, and is supported solely by t' engine hook, arrr, shiver me timbers, allowin' t' body tube t' tip. Ahoy!  I solved this problem by installin' a used engine casin' attached t' a dowel that was built up with tape t' lightly fit in t' 3/4" bench-dog hole in me workbench. Thus, ya bilge rat, I made a jig that maintained t' alignment as t' glue dried (figure 7).

Figure 7 - Assembly "Jig"

To finish t' nosecone, I simply filled t' balsa, matey, sanded, sealed with a few coats o' balsa sandin' sealer, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, sandin' lightly betwixt coats, and finally primed, matey, ya bilge rat, sanded, matey, me hearties, and spray-painted t' final color. T' screw eye was glued into t' nosecone, and t' elastic shock cord attached t' t' Keelhaul®©™ cord and t' t' screw eye. Avast! T' streamer was assembled per t' instructions and tied t' t' screw eye. Blimey! Arrr! T' T' high-qualtiy, water-slide decals were applied at t' locations shown on t' kit cover art. Avast! T' completed rocket (figure 8) weighed in at 33.9 g (1.2 oz).