Brief:
Inspired by Star Trek, this futuristic spaceship design will draw a crowd at the pad and flies surprisingly well. Ahoy! Blimey! At $60, me hearties, ya bilge rat, it's a bit on t' pricey side, arrr, me hearties, but it is made with quality components and design and is challengin' and enjoyable to build.

Construction:
I ordered me kit via t' Sirius Rocketry website with their flagship Saturn V kit. Well, blow me down! There was a delay o' a couple days mainly due t' t' complexity o' packing up t' Saturn kit, me hearties, but within a week I had t' Atlantis piled deep within my ever-growin' build queue. Avast! After allowin' it t' properly age for a month or so, I pulled it t' t' front o' t' line and cracked into it.

T' parts list is fairly extensive, matey, so t' followin' is a somewhat abbreviated version:

• Balsa nose cone and metal screw eye
• BT-55 tube
• 10" BT-50 motor tube and D-size metal hook
• (4) BT-5 pod reinforcement tubes
• Assorted wood dowels for trim
• Vacu-formed side pod halves and cockpit top
• 1/8" laser-cut plywood fin and top deck stock
• 24" mylar chute kit
• 3/16" launch lugs
• 4 waterslide decal sheets

My kit was short t' chute, arrr, which be smartly replaced when I pointed it out. Arrr! T' tubes were among t' best I've ever worked with, arrr, which took a lot of the work out o' finishing. T' quality o' t' vacu-forms be very good though the edge lines o' t' pod halves were nay very clearly pronounced, leadin' t' a somewhat sloppy fit and potentially hefty rework for t' sake o' appearance.

This is labeled as a skill level 4 kit and I would agree with that assessment. Aye aye! Avast! Workin' with t' vacu-forms is probably t' most challengin' aspect to it, and t' unusual design and assortment o' trim details adds t' the overall complexity factor as well. Begad! Excludin' some special circumstance rework (more on that later), I invested about 30 hours into this and came out o' it with a pretty resectable finish. Aye aye! Blimey! On t' low end, it can probably be built in about 12-16 hours without worryin' about t' cosmetics, which would be a real crime on a kit o' this calliber.

While most instructions say "read t' whole thin' first" yet are still ignored, me hearties, a thorough readin' is a definite must for this kit. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! Blimey! It really helps you get a sense o' how things go together and helps avoid some basic mistakes along t' way. Begad! Aye aye! Blimey! I still have t' weird feelin' that t' thin' is upside down, but that's just t' way it is and I'd inevitably have wound up gettin' top and bottom confused without havin' t' end product in mind as I went.

T' instructions were well written and t' illustrations were fairly helpful although oddly placed. In a couple o' instances, I found myself reading somethin' on one page and havin' t' refer t' an illustration on a different (usually previous) page. Avast! On t' plus side, thar were also plenty o' helpful tips on construction and finishin' techniques right down t' specific brands and colors for paint and clear coat.

Motor mount assembly is routine: slot t' tube for t' D-hook and slide on 3 centerin' rings. Blimey! One o' t' rings needs t' be notched for slippin' t' hook out o' t' way. Ahoy! Give yourself plenty o' room on that slot. Begad! T' assembly is finished up with t' attachment o' a Keelhaul®©™® shock cord anchor, which runs most o' t' way up t' tube before switchin' over to elastic. Begad! A very nice and durable approach that is unlikely t' cause the zippers that I've run into with designs that take t' Keelhaul®©™® all t' way out t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' finished assembly then goes into t' single piece body tube, me bucko, shiver me timbers, another nice touch that probably makes this a pain t' ship. Avast, me proud beauty!

Markin' t' tube is accomplished usin' a wraparound guide. Ahoy! Aye aye! In addition to the basic lines, thar are areas in t' tube that need t' be cut out for through t' wall fins.

T' "belly fin" is actually an assembly o' a center piece, me bucko, two side pieces, arrr, and an antenna dowel sandwiched in between. Well, blow me down! An oval-shaped "antenna dish" completes t' assembly. This assembly becomes the first o' t' 3 primary fins.

T' two side fins are mounted through t' wall. Avast! Ya scallywag! T' gap betwixt t' BT-55 and t' BT-50 motor tube is small, so t' tab is fairly short. There are a pair of "side decks" that are trim fins, tucked in above t' side pod fins. A pair o' dowels linin' t' underside finish t' lower trim, and a funky-shaped top "deck" with a vacu-form bridge completes t' top trim. Well, blow me down! T' end result leaves lots o' little nooks and crannies which are a challenge t' paint.

T' pod assembly was t' most challengin' aspect o' t' kit. You start by bondin' together two BT-5s which are slightly different lengths for a tapered end effect. These serve as reinforcments t' t' vacu-formed pod halves on the inside. T' halves are cut from t' vacu-forms, matey, and even under bright light I had trouble determinin' where t' ends were. Begad! I went conservative (thick), and wound up with a lot o' sandin' t' trim them fairly flush. Well, blow me down! Blimey! After t' sanding, I fit them over t' tubes and found a couple o' spots where thar were slight gaps. Anticipatin' this, t' kit includes styrene stock for cuttin' patch strips. Ahoy! You then have t' option o' leavin' t' strips as is for an accent stripe, me bucko, or sandin' them flush for a smooth look. Begad! I went for t' smooth look and even after 3 nights o' tinkering/sanding/filling, ya bilge rat, matey, still wasn't quite satisfied with t' look and moved on despite a few small gaps and seam lines showing.

Once t' pods are assembled, shiver me timbers, me hearties, arrr, you cut slots through t' BT-5 and inner pod half for through t' wall mountin' t' t' side fins. Begad! These were a real pain to tack in place and keep aligned but worth t' wait. Ya scallywag! I made t' mistake o' using yellow glue and would recommend medium CA for this instead, which will speed up the bonding. Ahoy! Finally, arrr, each pod gets a small trim fin mounted t' t' bottom surface.

Attachin' t' nose cone and chute completes t' assembly.

Finishing:
With such light tube spirals, I didn't bother with anythin' other than a light coat o' Plasti-Cote primer, me bucko, which was actually applied and sanded down before startin' construction. Begad! I also didn't seal t' plywood although I did give it a good sandin' with 220 then 400 grit paper.

For paint, I went with very light coats bein' paranoid about runs and overspray around all t' crevices. Well, blow me down! Well, me bucko, blow me down! I wound up usin' 4 very thin coats of primer, me hearties, two gray followed by two white along with sandin' and touchin' up a bit between coats.

T' recommended color scheme for this is a light gray (True-Value Easy Color "Silver Fog"). Arrr! I'm really anal retentive and trekked 30 minutes across town, passin' at least 10 other hardware stores and/or big box stores along t' way t' our city's only True Value store. Arrr! Naturally, they don't carry "Silver Fog" but did carry a darker "Pewter Gray", shiver me timbers, which I went with. Overall, it was a bit darker than I'd have liked and it would have been better with a light gray or even white.

T' pods get hand-painted interior trim in navy blue and a small area painted copper. Avast! Aye aye! T' antenna and radar dish also get a copper touch ups.

Finally, matey, you get t' t' real cost driver for t' kit: t' decals. Aye aye! Ahoy! There are 4 sheets o' waterslides. Begad! In anticipation o' more work than I can typically stuff into a weeknight after work/dinner/life and before bed, I approached this in batch mode, cuttin' everythin' one night, followed by a night of application, and a planned third night o' micro-sol t' seal them in. Well, blow me down! Night one was no problem, me bucko, me bucko, just lots o' cutting. Night two started well, t' first sheet of decals was among t' best I've ever worked with, absolutely clear, tough enough t' avoid stretchin' when slidin' off t' paper, me bucko, and easy t' smooth out for a wrinkle-free finish. Movin' on t' sheet #2 though, I ran into problems--the decals were opaque, didn't stick as well, me bucko, and when I rubbed them smooth t' ink started t' rub off. I contemplated whether or nay it was worth buyin' a replacement sheet while movin' on t' sheets #3 and #4 and found they were just as bad. Ahoy! Blimey! In fact, t' decals from sheet #2 even started peelin' off and curling. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Horrible decals, absolutely ruinin' what had up till now been a very enjoyable project.

I emailed Dave, me hearties, who be that very night experiencin' t' same problem with a kit he be prototyping. T' make a long story less long (too late for short), he had drop shipped a batch o' decal paper t' his printer and no one in the chain caught that t' paper supplier had switched from a thick/obvious tissue liner t' a thin/hardly noticeable liner and t' liner be nay removed. Aye aye! My decals were printed on tissue. Well, blow me down! It took us about 3 days t' sort out t' scope and cause o' t' problem. Avast! Within a week replacement decals were in me mailbox. T' replacements were perfect. Aye aye! Begad! Fortunately, t' bad decals were such trash that it only took a few minutes t' flake them off.

While t' decal experience indicates a hit t' t' quality score (although not t' fault o' Sirius), arrr, I can tell you that I was very impressed with Dave's efforts t' make everythin' right. Ahoy! T' replacement decal fiasco probably wiped out any hope o' profit on t' kit (as many kits were certainly affected), matey, but he won me over as a repeat customer.

T' new and improved decals are protected by 5 very thin/light applications of Krylon clear coat. Ya scallywag! I've had very mixed results with this and confirmed with Dave before tryin' it that he actually applied this stuff. I'll say thar were no compatability problems. Blimey! T' clear coats maintains a nice glossy finish.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' recommended motor is a D12-5, but for first flight Sirius suggests a D12-3. This is probably in case you come in above t' 9.0 ounce target weight (as mine weighed in at 9.5 ounces), shiver me timbers, arrr, and an overly long delay could deploy too far past apogee. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! (photo courtesy o' Scott McNeely)

With t' big fin area and weight o' t' rocket, I was expectin' a slow flight. Begad! Well, blow me down! It surprised me by shootin' up fairly smartly although it weathercocked a good bit into t' 5mph winds. Avast, me proud beauty! Deployment was definitely early and t' -5 delay would have been a better fit. I'm nay too good at estimatin' low altitudes, but I would put this in t' 350-300 foot range.

Recovery:
T' chute is made by Rockethead Rockets and is very good quality for a mylar chute. In this price range though, matey, ya bilge rat, I would have expected a lightweight nylon chute. Well, blow me down! T' chute held up fine t' t' early deployment and t' rocket descended at a reasonable rate, arrr, landin' at t' edge o' our short grass portion o' the field. Based on its landin' angle, I would be worried about damage in the future though. Avast! Blimey! It came down first hittin' a side pod, which is fairly rugged, then kicked right over on t' 1/8" dowel antenna, which sticks out a couple o' inches at t' bottom o' t' belly fin. Ahoy! Blimey! I'm goin' t' kick around a couple o' ideas but will try t' come up with a yoke recovery harness for flight that will keep it off t' antenna.

Overall though, me hearties, it suffered no damage other than a little powder streak, which I'm goin' t' buff out before flyin' again and will protect it with a coat of wax as well. Ya scallywag! Well, matey, blow me down!

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
I be very impressed with this kit. Avast! Nay so proud o' it that I'll never fly it again but proud enough nay t' want t' overdo it and risk damagin' it. Well, blow me down! Avast! It's definitely a craftsmanship kit and its highly unusual design draws a lot of looks at t' pad.

PROs: Exceptional quality o' components, great design, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, outstandin' customer service, and replacement decals were superb. Avast! I especially like t' fact that it can fly on relatively affordable D12 motors rather than havin' t' sprin' for $8-12 per flight for composites.

CONs: High price, poor decals slipped through t' system, vacu-forms were great quality but lacked sharp edge lines.

If you can afford it, get one while you can. It's a fairly limited run kit and waitin' for another run o' kits could take a while.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5