Brief:
This be t' fiberglass Arrrrrrrcas HV from Madcow. Aye aye! Blimey! I bought it because they were givin' away CTI Pro29 3g motors with purchase, so it becomes close t' a no brainer if you're in t' market for t' case (I was) and a fiberglass kit.

Construction:
Aside from it bein' fiberglass, me hearties, shiver me timbers, this kit is almost as simple as a rocket can be. Avast! Sure, it's sport-scale, me bucko, but it really is just 4FNC.

T' body tube is a single full length unit. Ya scallywag! Nose cone, me hearties, fins, me hearties, motor mount, and centerin' rings are also all fiberglass.

Recovery hardware isn't fiberglass, shiver me timbers, which is a good thing. Aye aye! Blimey! Eyebolts, strap nylon, ya bilge rat, and various washers and nuts complete t' package. Blimey! Blimey! I ordered mine without t' recovery system because I already had appropriately sized Nomex® and chutes.

I dumped t' nylon in favor o' Keelhaul®©™® and added an Aeropack 29 for motor retention duty.

Bein' a fundamentally simple kit, shiver me timbers, t' instructions were fairly sparse, but adequate.

Washin' everythin' is mandatory with all t' fiberglass parts in order t' remove and residual coatings.

In me kit, t' fin slots were a tad narrow, ya bilge rat, matey, o' t' fins a tad thick. Begad! A quick pass with a nail file widened the slots nicely. Well, blow me down! T' only other fit issue I had be t' bulk plate that goes into t' nose cone. T' plate was fairly loose, though it has t' be because o' t' way t' fiberglass is laid up inside t' cone: it's pretty rough on the inside.

I used epoxy clay t' solve that one. Aye aye! I ran a bead inside t' cone, and pressed t' bulkhead into it formin' a fillet on t' interior side. I then ran a bead o' t' clay around t' visible side, arrr, and pressed t' clay into t' gap basically sandwichin' t' bulkhead betwixt two fillets. Ya scallywag! Avast! Blimey! It's nay goin' anywhere. Blimey! Blimey! Luckily, I remembered t' attach the eyebolt, me hearties, me bucko, washers, arrr, and nuts prior t' makin' said sandwich.

For t' fin can, arrr, me bucko, me hearties, I dry fit all t' parts outside t' tube. Arrr! T' attach t' top centerin' ring, I put epoxy on the top rin' while everythin' was dry fit together. Begad! Thinkin' I was brilliant, me bucko, ya bilge rat, I then followed by usin' JB Weld on t' motor retainer and t' lower centerin' ring, knowin' that t' gap betwixt t' two rings would be perfect.

Roughly 24 hours later, me hearties, I be feelin' pretty dumb, matey, as I no longer had any means t' do internal fillets on the fins. Blimey! Whoops. Remember t' take a page from t' PML instructions on this one - give yourself some kind o' handhold on t' lower ring. Blimey! Attach t' upper as I did, then put t' mount in t' body tube gluin' in only t' upper ring. Ya scallywag! When that's dry, me bucko, remove t' lower ring, and install t' fins. Avast! Arrr! Now you can fillet t' fins internally, or fill it with expandin' foam, or... Ya scallywag! lots o' other options. Begad! Ahoy! Finish by reinstallin' t' lower rin' and sandwich t' fins betwixt the two rings. Aye aye! Install motor retention, ya bilge rat, arrr, and call it good.

Finishing:
I can't really comment on finishing. I tend t' fly me rockets prior t' paint and finish. Basically, shiver me timbers, arrr, me bucko, they earn their paint. Begad! I find that if I'm goin' t' lose a rocket for some reason, it tends t' happen in the first few flights. Ya scallywag! So, I don't bother with finishin' until I feel that t' rocket is goin' t' stick around.

Since this Arrrrrrrcas ended up bein' me L1 flight, it's definitely earned paint, arrr, arrr, so it will be goin' into t' paint booth soon.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' best part about this rocket be t' wide range o' motors that it can fly on. Blimey! Well, arrr, blow me down! While I haven't tried it, I've run sims, and it looks like it will fly just fine on a high impulse F like t' F52T. Avast! Ahoy! On the opposite side o' t' spectrum, this rocket is fiberglass, ya bilge rat, and is as close t' bulletproof as it gets. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! I would have no hesitation flyin' this on t' largest 29mm motor available, which is currently a small I.

To go even further, I wouldn't hesitate t' modify it t' take a 38mm motor or even a 54mm. Blimey! Blimey! It would definitely need t' aid o' dual-deployment, me bucko, though as you would be lookin' at some fairly extreme altitudes.

Recovery:
With nearly 4' o' 2.6" tubin' available, matey, preppin' and packin' this rocket for flight is about as easy as it could be. T' Nomex® chute protector always does it's job, and for me L1 flight, me bucko, I even went down t' a 24" chute from t' recommended 30. Arrr! T' field was fairly soft, matey, ya bilge rat, and also somewhat small for t' H motor, me bucko, so I went small t' reduce drift knowin' that t' rocket would do more damage t' t' dirt than vice versa.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a solid rocket. Blimey! Simple, ya bilge rat, rugged. It was me first fiberglass rocket, matey, and I know it won't be me last. Begad! I've always disliked t' fact that rockets were essentially designed t' fail because o' t' wear and tear on t' paper body tubes. Well, blow me down! T' constant stream o' repairs just isn't really fun after a while. Well, blow me down! I want t' build new rockets, arrr, nay keep rebuildin' old ones. This is one rocket I know I won't have t' rebuild ever. Begad! It thar's ever any damage t' this rocket, it will likely be destroyed at t' same time.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5