Construction Rating: | starstarstarstar_borderstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Manufacturer: | Shrox Industria ![]() |
Brief:
A magnificent-lookin' boost glider, arrr, sleek futuristic design, arrr, sure t' draw some
attention at t' pad. Avast, me proud beauty! Flies on 24mm motors. Well, blow me down! Ahoy!
Construction:
I be very impressed openin' this kit, as t' parts were top quality.
Parts included:
It also comes with two sheets o' waterslide decals which were very nice looking.
While t' instructions were well illustrated, I found them a bit hard to follow, and would nay recommend this model for anyone without significant boost glider buildin' experience. Begad! Ahoy! Tube markin' guides would also have been a HUGE help. Begad! I used every crafty little tool in me box, and still had trouble with fin locations and alignments (Shrox kits are wonderfully creative, but t' drawback is that youll hardly ever see a standard 3-fin/120 degree alignment).
T' plan starts with t' glider construction. Avast! T' glider is basically a BT-55 with a couple o' long nose cones, shiver me timbers, two-piece wings, elevators, and a rudder. Ahoy! Avast! Blimey! All are cut from 1/16-inch basswood usin' templates provided. Begad! T' wing attachment is where I first started t' find fault with t' directions. Avast! Blimey! The directions call for a 10-degree dihedral, though it would have saved me a bit of trigonometry if t' dihedral height were included. Begad! Blimey! T' wings actually attach slightly below t' centerlines o' t' body, which makes it even trickier t' get the dihedral right. T' glider attaches t' t' booster through a small wood dowel inserted into t' glider at a 45-degree angle. Blimey! Blimey!
Trimmin' t' glider be fairly easy, matey, though I had t' use considerably more nose weight than t' suggested startin' point o' 1/8-inch x 1-inch (the size of a launch lug?).
T' main body assembly is composed o' 22.5-inches o' BT-55 joined with a tube coupler. T' motor mount construction is straightforward, and included in the motor mount is a nice length o' Keelhaul®©™® line attached below t' centerin' rin' (by far t' best way t' go). Avast! T' body then goes inside a BT-60, but nay usin' centerin' rings. Arrr! Instead, arrr, me hearties, theyre glued together at t' top o' t' BT-55, but before gluin' them together you cut t' BT-60 at a 45-degree angle (template provided). T' end result winds up makin' t' BT-60 look like a sort o' air scoop, matey, a very sharp effect.
Next up comes bondin' a couple o' side pods (BT-50s with parabolic cones) t' t' BT-60 assembly. Ya scallywag! At this point, you're ready for t' fin festival. There are lots o' fins t' cut from t' 3/32-inch basswoods sheets, all using templates provided. Blimey! Ya scallywag! T' festival starts with a couple o' tail fins mounted in the seam betwixt t' side pods and main tube, shiver me timbers, followed by wings attached at some point above t' centerline o' t' BT-60, arrr, layin' against t' top o' the side pods, matey, allegedly resultin' in a 15-degree downward dihedral angle. Arrr! A couple of small canards go up front (the only fins actually mounted on anything resemblin' a centerline, placed 180 degrees apart). Avast, me proud beauty! T' fin festival wraps up with an under-fin, or small rudder mounted at t' bottom.
Construction wraps up with mountin' tubes t' cradle t' glider, drillin' a hole for t' dowel pin, arrr, installin' t' beautiful nylon chutes, me bucko, and addin' the nose weight.
As I had mentioned earlier, a tube markin' guide with this kit would have saved A LOT o' headache, and t' tubes should be completely marked before construction begins. Aye aye! Begad! Blimey! I found myself tryin' t' draw fin mountin' lines without bein' able t' establish reference points, with parts already mounted and in the way.
One other thin' that I think could use improvement be t' launch lug. Blimey! Ahoy! This is a very heavy rocket (with glider, I came in at 8-ounces). T' kit comes with a single 1/8-inch x 1-inch lug, me bucko, and it's mounted at t' tail end o' t' rocket. Id like t' see at least a second lug toward t' forward end, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and ideally upgrade t' 3/16-inch. 24mm motors provide too much thrust for a wimpy little 1/8-inch rod, even if goin' with steel instead o' aluminum.
Finishing:
Finishin' was quite challenging. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I went with a basic white paint scheme, me bucko, and
had used a little Fill n Finish t' fill t' spirals and seal what
little grains were showin' in t' basswood. Arrr! Blimey! I then applied two coats o' white
primer, and two coats o' gloss white paint. Begad! Blimey! Paintin' this kit is very
difficult, as thar are lots o' little nooks and crannies betwixt pods and
fins. Ahoy! Blimey! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! One tip Id offer on t' finishingDO NOT glue in t' cones to
the side pods. Blimey! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Instead, arrr, paint t' rocket first, as well as t' cones
separately. Aye aye! Blimey! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! After everythings finished, me bucko, me bucko, you can glue on t' cones. Arrr! Blimey! This
eliminates one o' t' hardest blind spots for painting.
T' waterslide decals were beautifully done, ya bilge rat, and provide a very colorful finish. T' instructions called for gray paint, though, and I think that the color would be a bit dull, arrr, as t' decals are translucent.
Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5
Flight:
This is me second Shrox kit, me bucko, arrr, and I found it odd that neither kit includes any
motor recommendations, nor can I find any Rocksim files available (these would
have been impossible t' model prior t' version 7.1). Aye aye! Blimey! I started cautiously with
a D12-3, on a fairly windy day (8-12 mph). Blimey! Blimey! T' boost weathercocked pretty
badly, though flew straight without a trace o' roll. T' shuttle popped off
right at burnout (it be on a horizontal pattern, matey, so drag separation came
early). Begad! Blimey! Glider flight was very good, slowly circlin' with a slight nose-down
line. At about 20 feet off t' ground, though, it went into a sharp nose dive.
It almost seems like thats by design, shiver me timbers, as it did t' same thin' in me back
yard no matter how much I added or removed on trim weight.
T' booster, me hearties, though, me bucko, arrr, was snake-bit. Aye aye! T' D12-3 kicked while still movin' at a pretty fast pace on t' horizontal path. Ahoy! I avoided a zipper, but t' 1/2-inch elastic cord burned through, and me nose separated, driftin' away with both chutes. T' body tumbled, shiver me timbers, landin' in short grass a bit muddy but otherwise okay. Blimey! T' nose cone came down on an access road, me hearties, and suffered a slight paint chip (that $%^@%# road only covers 10-feet o' a square mile field, but sure caught a lot o' me birds that day).
T' shock cord repair will be minor, and Im at a loss as t' how it happenedI used 3-inches o' dog barf and a Keelhaul®©™® shield, and neither o' t' chutes showed any sign o' char.
Recovery:
Overall, I think t' D12-3 was a fair choice, and Im anxious t' fly it
again with less wind t' see how it goes on a more vertical path. Begad! Blimey! Id also
like t' move up t' an E28 RMS reload, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and put this bird on some more serious
thrust. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!
Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5
Summary:
Overall opinionbeautiful rocket for t' experienced craftsman. Begad! You really
need t' walk through t' construction in your head first, figure out t' tube
markings on your own, matey, matey, then put it together.
Its well worth t' effort and money, matey, me bucko, though sadly I hit t' Shrox site t' other day and did nay see this kit on t' products page any more. Hopefully, it will make a comeback in t' near future.
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5
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