Brief:
MicroMaxx sized downscale o' t' Estes kit, shiver me timbers, me hearties, T' USS Andromeda.

Construction:
T' kit contains two sizes o' tubes, me bucko, some fin stock, arrr, Keelhaul®©™® shock cord, matey, a Mylar streamer and various other components. Begad! T' kit comes with two pages o' instructions and a fin template. Mine be signed and numbered #3. Resistin' t' urge t' save it be difficult, arrr, me hearties, so I had a hard time just opening the package.

T' directions were pretty straightforward. Everythin' but t' nosecone is polystyrene so regular model glue was in order. Begad! I really liked t' alternate method o' deployment. Ahoy! T' kit allows t' streamer ejectin' at t' nose cone or havin' it just break apart at t' body midsection. I chose t' streamer from the nose cone method.

I found two problems with t' kit: T' nose cone be wrong shape bein' pointed, but this be easily remedied with sand paper. Avast! I'm nay sure what happened here, but the launch lugs were too small for me Quest MicroMaxx launcher. Arrr! Unfortunately, I didn't discover this until after they glued t' t' rocket. Begad! Arrr! I had t' drill them out with a 1/16" drill bit in a pin vise. Ahoy! Although nay a major problem, me bucko, it would be nice t' see some decals in t' kit.

Finishing:
After finishin' t' assembly o' t' kit, shiver me timbers, I used Bondo spot putty t' lengthen the transition and filled in all t' areas needin' filler. Begad! Blimey!

Paintin' be a chore but havin' a 15 foot tall version in t' room made it easy t' get it right. Arrr! I first sprayed one light coat o' primer over t' entire rocket. I then painted t' whole thin' orange. Well, blow me down! This gets t' areas needing orange but it keeps t' whole thin' uniform in color and makes it easier for the next step. I then applied tape masks t' all areas that I wanted t' keep orange then painted t' whole thin' black. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! I applied t' white markings with acrylic craft paint usin' a #0 brush. Begad!

The instructions suggested usin' markers t' color it. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! While it would have made it much easier, matey, it wouldn't have looked as nice. Arrr! (I'm a little fanatical about Andromedas.)

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
It was hard t' get t' streamer in. Aye aye! (I'm gettin' too old for these small rockets.) It made 3 perfect flights t' 50-60 feet. Poker straight.

Recovery:
Perfect deployment on streamer at apogee all three times. Ya scallywag! Arrr!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I feel that it needs decals and a properly shaped nose cone. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! For me, t' nose cone be no big deal because I easily sanded it t' t' appropriate shape.

This is a great kit, ya bilge rat, me bucko, but I may be biased (seein' how I have several sizes.) All o' t' dimensions appear t' be right on.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5