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, ya bilge rat, me bucko, I combined construction and painting.

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

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

Enough about t' original design. Avast! Blimey! T' guys that "kitted" this really did their homework on this one. Seriously, me bucko, this kit goes together EASIER than your basic 3FNC beginner kit. Blimey! Blimey! For one thing--- NO BALSA. Ahoy! Blimey! Nothin' t' sand, me hearties, taper, shiver me timbers, round, matey, or otherwise mess with. Aye aye! 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. Ya scallywag! This gets attached t' t' engine block. Aye aye! T' Keelhaul®©™ presumably provides t' burn resistance. Begad! Ahoy! T' elastic provides some shock resistance. Also, nay only do they provide you an empty engine casing, ya bilge rat, 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. Avast! Blimey! Didn't like t' initial position, shiver me timbers, tried t' loosen t' tape and adjust it. Ahoy! Blimey! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Blimey! Streamer material came apart just tryin' t' adjust t' tape. Avast! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' kit actually comes as a combo with a "Powered FLIC Profile Shuttle." I cut t' original streamer off, matey, and used t' streamer from t' other kit.

T' marker card and t' TWO launch lugs are t' key. For all practical purposes, shiver me timbers, arrr, you CANNOT put t' marker card on wrong (check that, shiver me timbers, 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. Ahoy! This gets glued onto t' inside o' t' BT-80 rin' fin. Since it is exactly t' WIDTH (front t' back) o' t' rin' fin, 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, shiver me timbers, I modified me approach because I chose a different paint scheme, me bucko, me bucko, AND because me scheme would be difficult t' accomplish with maskin' after t' build. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, matey, blow me down! So I elected t' paint BEFORE attachin' t' rin' fin t' t' fuselage. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' do this however, I had t' mask t' "contact areas" before painting, as gluin' painted surfaces guarantees a very weak joint, shiver me timbers, 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, matey, as per instructions. Avast, me proud beauty! . Blimey! Note on me pictures, I save original markin' guides whenever possible, matey, so I copied t' Reinforcement Plate onto a piece o' cardstock.

I decided t' attach t' launch lugs t' t' rin' fin FIRST. Aye aye! Because o' t' relative small size o' t' lugs, ya bilge rat, it is pretty easy t' get them exactly aligned with t' markings. Avast! Personally, ya bilge rat, me bucko, 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. Arrr! Once you have t' lugs in place, arrr, t' body tube literally falls into perfect alignment.

At this point, me hearties, I dry-fitted t' BT-5 tube t' t' rin' fin. Aye aye! I marked t' edges o' t' contact points on both t' RingFin/Lug piece and on t' body tube. I then MASKED t' areas o' contact on each piece.

T' tube spirals were pretty tight. Avast, me proud beauty! I also felt me paint scheme would probably camouflage an residual spirals. Ahoy! Blimey! So I used Krylon Primer t' Prime and fill t' spirals. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! T' true craftsmn may consider fill and finish, but t' tubes are high quality t' begin with and I felt that be 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. Arrr! A really cool trick though was t' use o' electrical tape t' create t' tapered Barber Pole spiral. Blimey! 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. Ahoy! And visitin' t' hardware store (great place t' get rocket part ideas) I noticed they had OTHER colors than black. Avast! Hmmm...... How about bright yellow? Once I had t' yellow tape, matey, had t' pick a background color. Ya scallywag! How about--- PURPLE!

Off t' Hobby Lobby. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Blimey! Problem. Well, blow me down! Blimey! 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. Arrr! Begad! Blimey! Did some quick research on Lacquer over Enamel, anyway, matey, arrr, with multiple VERY light coats came out fine.

I like t' hide t' nose cone t' body tube junctions on me rockets. T' stock paint scheme instead emphasizes it with t' different color. Arrr! Besides, 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. Then cut t' long taperin' "Barber Pole" with a hobby knife and another metal ruler. Arrr! Was able t' pull t' yellow tape piece off t' black tape. Avast! Begad!

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

I mated up t' unmasked ring/kug part and t' Body Tube part. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! Matched up perfectly as expected. Well, blow me down! Made attachin' t' body tube a snap. Well, ya bilge rat, 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. Well, blow me down! (Heavy Fillet). Avast, me proud beauty! Wiped away any excess glue. Aye aye! Did NOT put a fillet on t' outside. (So far, it has held up quite well.)