Brief:
Advanced Rocketry Group's Trident series are 3-motor clusters with rugged components, ya bilge rat, arrr, designed strong t' handle the power. Arrr! Well, blow me down! This review is o' t' 18mm version, one o' t' smaller o' t' line that spans t' 13 t' 29mm cluster range.

Construction:
This be t' first ARG kit I've opened and built, and I was quite impressed with t' quality o' t' components. Well, blow me down! The balsa nose cone was a little rough, ya bilge rat, but nay bad at all. T' body tubes were excellent, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and even t' fins and bulkhead were plywood. Avast! T' parts list includes:

• Balsa nose cone
• 1.72" dia payload and body tubes
• BT-20 13.5" motor tubes (3)
• Coupler tubes (2)
• Plywood fins, me bucko, bulkhead
• 15" Nylon chute
• Keelhaul®©™®/elastic shock cord

T' instructions for this were decent, me bucko, me hearties, consistin' o' 3 full 8.5x11 sheets o' text and a separate sheet with a profile drawin' o' t' rocket, fin pattern and aft view. Avast! Compared t' t' typical kit in terms o' illustrations, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, this is a bit below average, but as long as you read t' instructions, thar shouldn't be much difficulty. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! It is a fairly easy kit t' build, me hearties, probably about a skill level 2.

T' construction is broken out into phases, and at t' start o' each phase is a list o' parts that will be needed for that phase, arrr, matey, a nice touch.

T' first phase be t' motor mount. Nay your typical motor mount here... Well, blow me down! I started off by insertin' a centering rin' motor block into each o' t' 3 BT-20 tubes, then gluin' t' tubes together into a triangle/pyramid. Arrr! Ya scallywag! T' simplest way t' do this and keep everythin' lined up, is t' glue two tubes together on a flat surface. Begad! This is covered in the instructions. Aye aye! After those have dried, arrr, rotate and glue t' third tube into t' seam.

T' shock cord is anchored by what I found t' be an interestin' method--tie a couple o' knots about an inch apart in t' end o' t' Keelhaul®©™®, then lay a thick bead o' glue into t' forward 3" o' one o' t' body tube joints and set t' Keelhaul®©™® into that. Aye aye! Avast! T' forward end o' t' Keelhaul®©™® threads through a hole in t' bulkhead disk (barely). Arrr! Arrr! T' bulkhead is completed by slidin' a coupler down t' BT-20 assembly coverin' t' top 3", attachin' t' bulkhead disk, then slidin' t' upper airframe tube over t' coupler. Everythin' fit together nice and snug.

There's a payload section that consists o' t' basic body tube, me hearties, me bucko, coupler, me hearties, solid bulkhead disk (in this case recessed a little bit into t' coupler), me hearties, a nose cone and a screw eye shock cord attachment point.

T' third phase is fin assembly, which is really a snap. Begad! No tube marking, shiver me timbers, as t' triad o' motor tubes takes care o' settin' 3 visual lines t' work with. All that's needed is some sandin' o' t' leadin' and trailin' edges and a generous bead o' glue t' fit them into t' tube seams and "bite". There are a pair o' launch lugs, one on the upper section and one on one o' t' motor tubes which requires a small balsa standoff.

Installin' t' very nice nylon chute is all that remains o' construction.

Finishing:
I liked t' red and black color scheme on t' cover art, so tried t' replicate it. Arrr! Blimey! I started off with two coats of black primer, shiver me timbers, me hearties, t' first o' which was sanded almost completely off, me hearties, servin' as spiral filler, arrr, which I'd skipped thus far. I then followed up with 3 coats o' Krylon (old formula) cherry red, masked off for t' black stripes and upper section, matey, and shot everythin' with 2 coats o' gloss black. Begad! Blimey! I was very pleased with t' finished look, but think this could really use a basic decal or two. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! At t' very least, somethin' identifyin' this as an ARG kit would help promote awareness.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
I arrived at t' field pleasantly surprised by light winds, shiver me timbers, so I decided t' go for broke for t' first flight. I grabbed a pack o' C6-5's and loaded 'em up. Given t' length o' t' tubes leadin' t' t' upper chamber, matey, me hearties, matey, I went a bit light on t' dog barf.

All 3 motors lit right away, and t' TR172-18 shot up, straight as an arrow. Blimey! Aye aye! It ascended just out o' eyesight before I spotted t' delay smoke trail. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' -5's were a bit early, arrr, meanin' t' recommended -7's would be a better choice, but it be slow enough t' avoid any damage.

Recovery:
T' 15" chute brought it down just fine, shiver me timbers, and didn't even have a trace o' burn damage.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This was me first ARG build, me bucko, and I was very impressed. It's a very good design, matey, flies great, matey, and t' cluster certainly bears a bit o' a wow factor. Begad! Ahoy! T' instructions could incorporate a few illustrations, me bucko, and I'd like t' see some decals with it, matey, but this is otherwise a very nice kit.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5