Brief:
This rocket is a minimum diameter, 18mm, streamer recovery, arrr, futuristic space plane. Avast! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! This is a beautiful little kit that I did me best t' mess up. Arrr! Blimey! It turned out well anyway.

Construction:
T' instruction were t' typical high quality one associates with Squirrel Works. Avast! They were printed on both sides of a single legal sized piece o' paper. Blimey! They were clear and contained adequate illustrations.

I started off noticin' how thin t' balsa for t' fins is. Aye aye! T' instruction says that all but t' root edges should be rounded. With me and me aggressive clumsiness, ya bilge rat, that means trouble. Avast! I decided t' try and seal/strengthen t' fins with CA.

I drizzled thin CA onto t' fins and swished it around with some card stock. I did this over wax paper, me hearties, thinking that I had read that is a good idea. Arrr! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Blimey! It wasn't. Ahoy! Blimey! Blimey! CA will stick t' wax paper along with everythin' else. Begad! My fins now have little star tattoos since it be Christmas wax paper. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I have t' same tattoos. T' fins are stronger now, arrr, though. Sandin' improved things but I decided t' go ahead and seal t' fins with Elmers before goin' any farther.

Assembly o' t' rocket itself be nay too difficult. It began with t' motor mount. Avast! Begad! A thrust rin' was t' be installed with t' aid o' a provided engine space. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Before installin' t' thrust ring, shiver me timbers, me hearties, I cut a little notch in it so that I could provide a Keelhaul®©™® shock cord mount attached t' t' motor mount instead o' t' provided trifold. Avast, me proud beauty! After t' notch was cut, shiver me timbers, I tied the Keelhaul®©™® around t' rin' and then inserted it as per t' instructions

T' next step was t' cut out t' wrap around fin guide. Aye aye! It matched perfectly and t' fin lines and lug lines were marked. Aye aye! T' fins were attached with CA but I added a step. Usin' a safety pin, I perforated t' root edges o' t' fins and t' BT along t' fin lines in order t' form "rivets". Avast, me proud beauty! Then CA was used t' mount t' fins and t' launch lug. Arrr! When t' fins were dry, they were filleted in t' standard manner with yellow glue.

I had some trepidation about t' canopy but it turned out t' be fairly easy. Its simply a matter o' cuttin' it out with a razor knife and then gluin' a single tab. Ahoy! That part did nay bother me. Avast, me proud beauty! Mountin' it and gettin' it faired did. Begad! Ya scallywag! It turned out t' be nay much o' a problem. Ahoy! I used yellow glue and stuck it in place. Blimey! Begad! It seemed t' follow t' contours of the BT fairly well. Arrr! Blimey! T' one thin' I am unhappy with is me alignment. Avast, me proud beauty! I could have gotten it a tad straighter if I had noticed in time.

While t' glue joints were settin' up, I tied t' elastic shock cord t' t' Keelhaul®©™® and installed t' eye screw in t' balsa nose cone. T' screw is held in place with a bit o' yellow glue. Begad! Aye aye! T' rocket was then ready for finishing.

Finishing:
Finishin' for me started near t' very beginning. Blimey! Before any assembly, matey, I sealed and sanded t' fins with Elmer's Fill 'n Seal. Ahoy! Begad! After that, arrr, matey, me bucko, I assembled t' rocket as per t' instructions. When t' assembly phase be over, shiver me timbers, matey, me bucko, I used Elmer's to seal t' nose cone and fill in a few shrinkage cavities along t' fillets. Well, blow me down! Begad! I also slathered it on at the intersection betwixt t' canopy and t' BT so that with sanding, I could fair t' seam. Avast! Blimey! T' nose cone was high quality and took only a single application. Aye aye! T' canopy took more time but that was because o' me sandin' more than anything else.

T' rocket be given 2 coats o' white primer and be then wet sanded with #600. Begad! Ahoy! After that, me bucko, I began sprayin' on thin coats o' gloss white. Aye aye! I used a total o' three coats.

Some o' t' other reviews have made mention o' t' difficulty o' applyin' t' decals. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Long and skinny decals are always more difficult that ones with more unitary aspect ratios but I had no real trouble with these. Well, blow me down! I don't credit this t' me skill. Ya scallywag! Instead, I think it is a testament t' t' high quality o' t' decals provided. There was no tendency to tear and they went on great. I wish all decals were like this!

I think this is one o' t' best lookin' rockets I have constructed t' date.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
T' maiden flight was on an A8-3. Since this is a friction fit, I used a bit o' maskin' tape t' keep it in. Well, blow me down! It took off with a very mild corkscrew motion. I attribute this t' nay gettin' t' canopy on perfectly straight. Begad! Blimey! This is a light rocket so it flew pretty high, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, even on just an A. Begad! Ejection occurred at apogee, just slightly early. A five second delay might be better for this rocket.

Recovery:
T' streamer came right out without any problems and t' rocket drifted down gently. Blimey! Avast! It seemed t' be a little slow for a streamer decent and, matey, ya bilge rat, on checking, shiver me timbers, I found that t' motor had ejected even with t' maskin' tape used t' friction fit it. It landed without a scratch.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a cool lookin' rocket. Aye aye! Arrr! It flies well and looks good on t' pad and in t' air. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! It is fairly delicate but, with a modicum o' care, should be a reliable part o' any fleet that includes it.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5

Other:
Don't believe that wax paper won't adhere t' CA! It will!