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, I combined construction and painting.

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

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

Enough about t' original design. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! T' guys that "kitted" this really did their homework on this one. Begad! Seriously, matey, this kit goes together EASIER than your basic 3FNC beginner kit. For one thing--- NO BALSA. Well, me bucko, blow me down! Nothin' t' sand, shiver me timbers, taper, round, shiver me timbers, or otherwise mess with. Begad! 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, me proud beauty! This gets attached t' t' engine block. Blimey! T' Keelhaul®©™ presumably provides t' burn resistance. Blimey! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! T' elastic provides some shock resistance. Ahoy! Aye aye! Also, matey, 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. Begad! Didn't like t' initial position, me bucko, tried t' loosen t' tape and adjust it. Begad! Streamer material came apart just tryin' t' adjust t' tape. Ahoy! 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. Well, blow me down! For all practical purposes, you CANNOT put t' marker card on wrong (check that, I guess you COULD put it on t' outside. Avast, me proud beauty! If you do this, matey, strongly recommend you reconsider rocketry for somethin' more compatible with your mechanical skills--- perhaps stamp collecting. Ya scallywag! This gets glued onto t' inside o' t' BT-80 rin' fin. Begad! Ahoy! 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, AND because me scheme would be difficult t' accomplish with maskin' after t' build. Avast! So I elected t' paint BEFORE attachin' t' rin' fin t' t' fuselage. Well, blow me down! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! T' do this however, I had t' mask t' "contact areas" before painting, ya bilge rat, as gluin' painted surfaces guarantees a very weak joint, matey, 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, arrr, arrr, as per instructions. Begad! . Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Note on me pictures, ya bilge rat, I save original markin' guides whenever possible, arrr, 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! Begad! Because o' t' relative small size o' t' lugs, me hearties, me bucko, me bucko, it is pretty easy t' get them exactly aligned with t' markings. Well, blow me down! Personally, shiver me timbers, 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. Begad! Once you have t' lugs in place, t' body tube literally falls into perfect alignment.

At this point, matey, shiver me timbers, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! I then MASKED t' areas o' contact on each piece.

T' tube spirals were pretty tight. Arrr! I also felt me paint scheme would probably camouflage an residual spirals. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! So I used Krylon Primer t' Prime and fill t' spirals. Arrr! T' true craftsmn may consider fill and finish, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, 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. Ahoy! Aye aye! A really cool trick though was t' use o' electrical tape t' create t' tapered Barber Pole spiral. Begad! 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. Aye aye! Begad! And visitin' t' hardware store (great place t' get rocket part ideas) I noticed they had OTHER colors than black. Hmmm...... Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! How about bright yellow? Once I had t' yellow tape, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, had t' pick a background color. Ahoy! Aye aye! How about--- PURPLE!

Off t' Hobby Lobby. Well, blow me down! Problem. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! 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. Avast! Did some quick research on Lacquer over Enamel, me bucko, shiver me timbers, anyway, ya bilge rat, me bucko, with multiple VERY light coats came out fine.

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

I put a piece o' tape over t' nose cone t' body tube transition. Ya scallywag! Ran t' tape from tip t' tail, arrr, over t' piece o' tape (shield for nose cone edge). I was then able t' cut t' yellow tape over t' transition, remove t' shield, 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! Matched up perfectly as expected. Made attachin' t' body tube a snap. Ya scallywag! Begad! 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. Avast! Begad! (Heavy Fillet). Ahoy! Wiped away any excess glue. Ya scallywag! Did NOT put a fillet on t' outside. (So far, shiver me timbers, it has held up quite well.)