Brief:
T' Sunward Penguin is a unique, short stubby kit that flies on C-D 24mm motors. Well, blow me down! It comes with an 18" parachute. It also has nice plywood centerin' rings.

Modifications:

Keelhaul®©™ was used for shock cord attached t' motor mount. Modified paint scheme.

Construction:

• 1 - BT80 x 8" Body Tube
• 1 - Balsa BT80 nose cone
• 1 - Small Screw-eye
• 2 - Engine Plywood Centerin' Rings
• 1 - Decal Sheet
• 1 - 24mm Engine Tube
• 4 - Laser Cut Main Fins
• 2 - Laser Cut Upper Fins
• 1 - Launch Lug
• 1 - 24mm Engine Thrust Ring
• 6 - Parachute Reinforcement Rings
• 1 - Set o' Parachute Assembly String
• 1 - Parachute Sheet
• 1 - Rubber Band Shock Cord

Instructions: T' Penguin kit is pretty simple construction. Ya scallywag! Arrr! T' instructions are fairly straight forward, especially for experienced modelers. Ahoy! As with other Sunward kit instructions I have seen, t' markings on t' drawing are nay really t' scale. Arrr! But as long as you pay attention t' t' measurements given, you should have no trouble with these simple kits.

Ease o' Build: This kit is very straigt forward and therefore a very easy build followin' t' given instructions. T' parts as arrived were all in good shape except t' main BT80 body tube was somewhat crushed.

I mounted t' motor mount in t' misshaped end t' shape that end back t' a perfect circle, so it was nay an issue. I would have rather seen t' 24mm motor mount tube and t' main BT80 body tube made o' sturdier materials. Arrr! T' nosecone be pretty good quality, though fairly rough and recquired quite a bit o' wood filler t' smooth out t' deep grains.

T' fins material be much softer than I would have liked and t' grains run straight out from t' body instead o' at an angle down away from t' body tube when mounted. Blimey! Havin' t' grains angle down would have provided for stronger fins.

Tools and Supplies: No special tools or supplies are needed t' buildin' this rocket kit quite fine. I however plan on flyin' t' model with anywhere from t' recomended C11 series motors up through 24mm reloads. With this in mind I changed out some o' t' included parts for sturdier ones. Avast! Ahoy! I built almost t' entire rocket with 30 minute epoxy for added strength.

I also replaced t' Screw-eye with a much sturdier one. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' screw eye be epoxied into a short piece o' wooden dowel. Begad! Blimey! this was then epoxied into t' balsa nose cone. Ahoy! Blimey! This made for a much stronger mount than just screwin' it into t' soft balsa nose cone.

I used 24 inches o' Keelhaul®©™® cord attached t' 36 inches o' elastic band t' replace t' included 38 inch rubber band shock cord. I mounted the Keelhaul®©™® cord t' t' front o' t' motor mount.

I am usin' an 18 inch rip-stop nylon parachute in place o' t' included 18 inch plastic parachute. Begad! T' pictures show t' included recover devices on t' left and what I used on t' right.

I left out t' engine hook and installed two blind nuts in t' aft centerin' rin' for attachin' positive retention clips by bolts for t' RMS motors and recommended black powder motors.

Finishing:
T' drawings on t' card included with t' kit showed throcket painted entirely white and t' decals applied. Arrr! There are two eye decals, a beak decal and two feet decals. Ya scallywag! T' decals are o' very good vinyl material.

After me kids kept sayin' that t' white rocket didn't look like a penguin t' them, me bucko, I decided t' paint it black with a white belly. Avast! Begad! We looked up some cartoon penguins online t' get an idea o' how t' paint it.

I had already painted t' entire rocket white, shiver me timbers, so I had t' mask and then cut out t' white belly. Blimey! Blimey! I then painted t' rest o' t' rocket and nose cone gloss black. Blimey! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! After applyin' t' beak decal, I realized why they show t' rocket white. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! T' decals are almost transparent. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Their colors show up fine on gl;oss white paint, arrr, but are almost invisible on top o' gloss black paint.

T' beak ended up lookin' fine, but I had t' cut out and trace t' deadlights and feet, remask and paint where they would be white again.

Overall, I really like how t' paint scheme turned out. Well, blow me down! It looks much better than all white as in t' drawings, but takes a little work. Begad! It would be nice if t' decals could be made with a white background so that they would show up on black paint.

PROS: Very nice lookin' kit when painted black and white. Begad! Nice design overall.

CONS: Would like t' see better materials for fins and would prefer Keelhaul®©™® and elastic used in t' recovery system. Would also like decals that can effectively be applied t' gloss black painted surfaces.

Construction Rating: 3½ out o' 5

Flight:
This little rocket flies awesome! Blimey! We lauched it three times, me bucko, twice on C11-3 motors which had perfect ejections at apogee. It actually looks very cool climbin' up with a very slow spin. that added a cool lookin' effect seein' the penguin pain job slowly turnin' as it rose. Aye aye! T' only negative t' t' first launch be that, shiver me timbers, as I be afraid, arrr, me bucko, one o' the too soft fins broke even with a good deployment and slow decent rate. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! We repaired t' broken fin with thick CA out at t' field and completed some o' t' kids NARTREK Cadet flights. After a couple other flights we continued with the second and third launches. Blimey! This kit looks and flies so cool, shiver me timbers, that I really hope that Sunward does somethin' t' add better fin material. I like it enough, I may build another with basswood fins myself if they do not.

T' third launch was on a D12-5, matey, which be also a terriufic flight. Arrr! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Thie third flight went very high and the ejection be again very good, that time at apogee nose down, ya bilge rat, me bucko, but great deployment.

It is no doubt a great flyin' bird...

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

I would love t' give this kit a 5 out o' 5, arrr, because it looks and flies so good. Ahoy! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! I just really have a problem with t' over soft fin material. I would suggest either skinnin' t' fins with regular paper, shiver me timbers, silk paper or even fiberglassin' over them. I was actually goin' t' glass over them for higher powered flights, but got in a hurry to finish t' rocket. Begad! Blimey! Unfortunately, shiver me timbers, matey, a fin broke as I expected. I was goin' t' give it a 4 overall, but liked t' kit too much and hence t' 4 1/2 rating.

I highly recommend buildin' this kit, just take care t' strengthen it where needed.

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out o' 5