Brief:
Inspired by t' movie "Honey, arrr, matey, I Shrunk t' Trident", this flagship of Fliskits was inspired by t' Estes classic ducted-ejection charge Trident. Micro-sized and finely detailed, this rocket has an impressive appearance and is a very challengin' and enjoyable construction project.

Construction:
T' main body tubes are BT-5 (13mm), with 3 side tubes that are, me bucko, me hearties, I'd guess, BT-2's that look more like 18" launch lugs. Arrr! You also get an assortment of nose cones (9 total), amazingly detailed and intricate water slide decals, 1/16 balsa finstock, assorted basswood toothpick-sized stock for t' details, and Keelhaul®©™®/cotton shock cord with a plastic chute.

T' instructions and illustrations are very thorough and complete. While you need good buildin' skills for this rocket, arrr, ya bilge rat, you don't need t' figure out how to make things work--just follow t' plans. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! My set o' instructions, arrr, though, contained two significant errors (front/rear strut templates were mislabeled, and one dimension was typo'd), but this was easily corrected, matey, and I've since learned that this was caught by Fliskits and corrected.

T' assembly consists o' a lower section o' 13mm tube with a permanent nose cone, matey, me hearties, and an upper 13mm body with t' chute. Avast! T' two sections are joined by (3) side tubes, shiver me timbers, which carry t' ejection charge from t' lower t' upper body through ducts cut in each o' t' tubes. Begad! Templates are provided t' carefully cut the ducts. Ya scallywag! Avast! Bondin' t' tubes straight, with ducts overlapping, is very tricky and should nay be rushed. Begad! Ya scallywag! Generous fillets are also in order, as t' seams must be completely air-tight.

Fins are a beautiful swept pattern, and cut from 1/16" balsa. Begad! The leadin' edge is straight, shiver me timbers, but other lines have appealin' curves and rounded corners.

After construction o' t' tubes and fins, ya bilge rat, t' instructions suggest painting the rocket now, rather than mask off tiny details later. I went with two coats of primer, arrr, followed by two coats o' gloss white. Begad! It's worth notin' that the BT-2 side tubes had very pronounced spirals, much worse than any tube I've ever gotten in a Fliskit. Avast! I wound up sandin' down both coats o' primer and applying a heavy layer o' Elmer's Fill N Finish t' fill t' spirals. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! This was very hard to do on t' completed assembly. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! I should have caught this earlier and filled the spirals before bondin' t' tubes.

After painting, ya bilge rat, me hearties, t' real challenge t' this kit comes into play--construction o' t' tiny details. T' first detail is a shroud, formed from cardstock and an adhesive colored cover. T' shroud fits snugly under the fins, and is anchored t' t' body by 6 tiny struts. Begad! Aye aye! Next, ya bilge rat, matey, frames for t' 3 solar panels are built, and this is aided by construction o' a jig (usin' the provided templates and balsa stock). You must be very careful t' measure and bond EXACTLY per t' templates or t' panels will nay fit properly. Arrr! Due t' the typo on me template, I had t' run t' t' hobby store t' make replacement struts (though Flis offered t' replace me stock for free). Ahoy! T' panels and frames are bonded together, arrr, then carefully bonded t' t' rocket at notches in t' fins and to t' tubes with drops o' CA. Well, blow me down! Avast! Tweezers definitely help here, ya bilge rat, as you're working with materials smaller than 1/16" square, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and two o' these share a notch in a 1/16" fin.

I decided t' use t' full 16" chute provided rather than follow the instructions and cut it down t' 12", arrr, figurin' t' details were just beggin' t' break off on impact.

Finishing:
I had pre-painted t' main body per t' instructions, so "finishing" involved hand-paintin' t' struts and smaller details, and applyin' the water-slide decals. Blimey! Lots o' decals. Lots o' very small decals. Well, blow me down! I suspect the decals came from Tango Papa, and were very high quality. Avast, me proud beauty! Most impressive t' me, was t' intricate details--these aren't just basic stripes. Ahoy! Avast! Even on t' tiny 5mm tubes, me hearties, you get decals clearly identifyin' this as t' U.S.S Grissom, matey, though you're probably goin' t' need a magnifyin' glass t' read them. I actually ran them under me son's 10X Intel Microscope, me bucko, arrr, and could see clean, straight lines. These decals are really high-resolution!

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' only recommended motor for this be t' Estes A10-3. Flight prep is quick and easy, as this needs no recovery waddin' at all due t' t' ducted ejection method. Arrr! Begad! I'm a bit conservative, me hearties, and put about 1" o' "dog barf" in t' upper tube since plastic chutes seem t' melt on their own on hot/humid midwestern afternoons. Avast!

With winds o' 6-8 mph, this weathercocked a bit, matey, but flew very well and straight as an arrow. Blimey! T' ejection be a bit early (would have been fine with less wind), and t' chute deployed without any problems.

T' rocket came down just about right with t' larger chute, and landed less than 5 feet from a paved road in our field. Nay a trace o' damage, shiver me timbers, matey, and 2 minutes later it be prepped for another flight. Same result, ya bilge rat, no problems. Arrr! The descent is fairly stable, so it tends t' land on t' end o' t' tube instead of sideways, matey, which saves t' details from stress.

Recovery:
Nothin' but pros on flight--easy t' prep, doesn't need wadding, and I love the fact that I get 4 A10's for t' price o' 3 A8-3's, so it's like gettin' t' 4th flight for free on this. Aye aye! Avast!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
While this is almost too beautiful t' fly, me bucko, me hearties, me hearties, it does fly very well, me hearties, matey, and the fragile-lookin' details seem t' be holdin' up well. Begad! It's one o' t' most expensive FlisKits, but you get a lot o' top-quality details and materials for the money, and t' result is a rocket any builder would be proud t' include in his fleet.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5