Brief

As opposed t' typical 3FNC (Three Fins and a Nose Cone) this is 1FNC (One Fin and a Nose Cone) mini-engine sport rocket.

Construction

Because I decided t' paint parts before completin' construction, shiver me timbers, me hearties, arrr, I combined construction and painting.

This is a Bruce Levison design. Aye aye! T' design itself is really cool. Avast, me proud beauty! O' course, standard wisdom is that t' MINIMUM number o' fins for stability is 3. Begad! Two fins won't work, shiver me timbers, and o' course, one fin would be absurd. Unless, me hearties, o' course, it is a RING fin. Aye aye! However, me hearties, arrr, if you have t' ATTACH t' rin' fin with support struts, you could argue t' struts are ALSO fins. so TECHNICALLY wouldn't be a one fin rocket. So how do you symmetrical attach t' rin' with no struts?

You don't. Ahoy! Mr. Ya scallywag! Levison attached t' rin' t' t' side o' t' rocket. Looks funky and looks like it shouldn't work, shiver me timbers, but it does. T' design is stable, although it does cause a pronounced "corkscrew" flight pattern, ya bilge rat, hence t' name. (Side note, ya bilge rat, discussion with one o' t' designers o' this "kitted" version indicates that t' degree o' "corkscrewing" changes with t' length o' t' rocket, shiver me timbers, this kitted version is specifically design t' demonstrate t' "corkscrew" flight characteristic. Reference http://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/search/label/Corkscrew.

Enough about t' original design. T' guys that "kitted" this really did their homework on this one. Arrr! Blimey! Seriously, matey, this kit goes together EASIER than your basic 3FNC beginner kit. Begad! Blimey! For one thing--- NO BALSA. Begad! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Nothin' t' sand, shiver me timbers, taper, round, or otherwise mess with. Ya scallywag! Blimey! And with t' Reinforcement plate and TWO launch lugs it is a CINCH t' get t' rin' fin on straight (in me opinion EASIER than tryin' t' get 3 fins straight on your typical beginner rocket)

T' combined Keelhaul®©™/elastic shock cord is a nice touch. Avast! This gets attached t' t' engine block. Arrr! Blimey! T' Keelhaul®©™ presumably provides t' burn resistance. Avast, me proud beauty! T' elastic provides some shock resistance. Begad! Also, me bucko, nay only do they provide you an empty engine casing, matey, but on t' instructions they even have a "quarter inch" mark for you.

I attached t' streamer t' t' elastic cord with tape as instructed. Didn't like t' initial position, tried t' loosen t' tape and adjust it. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Streamer material came apart just tryin' t' adjust t' tape. T' kit actually comes as a combo with a "Powered FLIC Profile Shuttle." I cut t' original streamer off, and used t' streamer from t' other kit.

T' marker card and t' TWO launch lugs are t' key. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! For all practical purposes, you CANNOT put t' marker card on wrong (check that, me hearties, I guess you COULD put it on t' outside. If you do this, strongly recommend you reconsider rocketry for somethin' more compatible with your mechanical skills--- perhaps stamp collecting. Aye aye! This gets glued onto t' inside o' t' BT-80 rin' fin. Well, matey, blow me down! Since it is exactly t' WIDTH (front t' back) o' t' rin' fin, me hearties, assumin' you cut it out straight all you have t' do is put it on t' inside and line up t' "long sides" with t' edges o' t' rin' fin (very easily done)

T' marker shows you EXACTLY where t' put t' BT-50 body tube (rocket fuselage) and t' launch lugs. 

While t' instructions were clear, I modified me approach because I chose a different paint scheme, ya bilge rat, AND because me scheme would be difficult t' accomplish with maskin' after t' build. Ya scallywag! So I elected t' paint BEFORE attachin' t' rin' fin t' t' fuselage. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! T' do this however, arrr, I had t' mask t' "contact areas" before painting, as gluin' painted surfaces guarantees a very weak joint, and in this case with only one fin (and that eccentrically places) this joint takes a lot o' stress (which t' kit designers anticipated and accounted for quite well.)

I attached t' markin' guide first, me bucko, ya bilge rat, as per instructions. Ya scallywag! . Ya scallywag! Note on me pictures, I save original markin' guides whenever possible, shiver me timbers, so I copied t' Reinforcement Plate onto a piece o' cardstock.

I decided t' attach t' launch lugs t' t' rin' fin FIRST. Because o' t' relative small size o' t' lugs, it is pretty easy t' get them exactly aligned with t' markings. Personally, me hearties, I think this actually would make t' construction EASIER even if you didn't paint t' parts separately, as in me opinion it is easier t' get these two small lugs in perfect alignment than t' relatively big body tube. Ya scallywag! Once you have t' lugs in place, t' body tube literally falls into perfect alignment.

At this point, me hearties, I dry-fitted t' BT-5 tube t' t' rin' fin. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Blimey! I marked t' edges o' t' contact points on both t' RingFin/Lug piece and on t' body tube. Begad! Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey! I then MASKED t' areas o' contact on each piece.

T' tube spirals were pretty tight. Avast! Blimey! Blimey! I also felt me paint scheme would probably camouflage an residual spirals. Blimey! Blimey! So I used Krylon Primer t' Prime and fill t' spirals. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' true craftsmn may consider fill and finish, but t' tubes are high quality t' begin with and I felt that was overkill.

For a paint scheme, I thought I could come up with somethin' a little more excitin' than t' black and white spiral on t' cover picture. A really cool trick though was t' use o' electrical tape t' create t' tapered Barber Pole spiral. Avast! T' tape has enough flexibility that you can get a true tight "spiral" that you can't get with any other tape I know of. Begad! Well, blow me down! And visitin' t' hardware store (great place t' get rocket part ideas) I noticed they had OTHER colors than black. Aye aye! Hmmm...... How about bright yellow? Once I had t' yellow tape, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, had t' pick a background color. How about--- PURPLE!

Off t' Hobby Lobby. Problem. Begad! T' only cool purple they had was lacquer-based (Testors One Coat Lacquer Purple-Licious.) Wasn't sure how well this would go over t' Krylon Primer. Ahoy! Begad! Did some quick research on Lacquer over Enamel, anyway, matey, with multiple VERY light coats came out fine.

I like t' hide t' nose cone t' body tube junctions on me rockets. Ya scallywag! T' stock paint scheme instead emphasizes it with t' different color. Aye aye! Besides, shiver me timbers, isn't a corkscrew supposed t' taper t' a point?

I put a piece o' black tape on a metal ruler longer than t' yellow tape. Begad! Ya scallywag! Then cut t' long taperin' "Barber Pole" with a hobby knife and another metal ruler. Avast, me proud beauty! Was able t' pull t' yellow tape piece off t' black tape. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad!

I put a piece o' tape over t' nose cone t' body tube transition. Ran t' tape from tip t' tail, shiver me timbers, over t' piece o' tape (shield for nose cone edge). I be then able t' cut t' yellow tape over t' transition, ya bilge rat, remove t' shield, me hearties, and re-affix t' tape (spiral over nose cone edge).

I mated up t' unmasked ring/kug part and t' Body Tube part. Ahoy! Begad! Matched up perfectly as expected. Blimey! Made attachin' t' body tube a snap. Blimey! Well, blow me down! I did put a generous "internal fillet" in place as I knew I wouldn't have access t' this area once t' pieces were attached. Ahoy! (Heavy Fillet). Blimey! Wiped away any excess glue. Ya scallywag! Did NOT put a fillet on t' outside. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! (So far, shiver me timbers, it has held up quite well.)