Brief:
A great 2.2x upscale o' t' 1970's Estes classic that is capable o' flyin' to nearly 1000 feet on 24mm motors.

Construction:
Parts were tightly packed in a plastic bag with a header card showing handwritten production number. Despite tight packing, thar was no problem at all with component quality. Parts list includes:

• Cast resin nose cone
• BT-60 body tube
• 4 Laser cut balsa fins
• 24mm foil-lined motor tube
• Motor mount/centerin' rin' assembly
• 9" x 9" Nomex® heat shield
• 30" Top Flight ripstop nylon chute
• Keelhaul®©™® shock cord
• Water slide decals
• 3/16" launch lug

T' Qmodelin' instructions are very good and include plenty of illustrations. Arrr! Blimey! An added touch is that they're broken down into sections with estimated times, so you can plan t' construction out around your real life, without havin' t' worry about bein' in t' middle o' a tricky assembly when it's time t' haul t' kids off t' t' latest event.

Construction starts with t' motor mount assembly. Aye aye! If you're nay familiar with Qmodeling mounts, ya bilge rat, this will be a bit o' a challenge as they are much more complicated than usual. Begad! T' assembly consists o' a series o' mountin' rings carefully spaced along t' motor tube followed by balsa fin braces that support location of through t' wall fin mounting. Blimey! Ya scallywag! These are very precisely cut parts and fit very well but you need t' be especially careful about t' alignment o' the parts for correct placement o' fins and t' motor tube. Blimey! Once everythin' is glued together, shiver me timbers, t' assembly finishes up by tying/gluin' t' Keelhaul®©™® shock cord t' t' motor tube.

Sanding/sealing of t' 4 fairly large fins can take some time but is worth t' effort. Ya scallywag! Once prepped, arrr, t' fins are then bonded t' t' motor tube through t' wall and fillets applied along t' body tube. Ahoy! T' fit be perfect and alignment is not an issue with t' fin braces.

Construction finishes up by attachin' t' launch lug and preppin' t' nose cone. Begad! Ahoy! Blimey! Note that t' dimension listed for placement o' t' launch lug is incorrect and would result in decal and paint problems. Aye aye! Aye aye! Blimey! Rather than the recommended 5 9/16" from tube bottom placement, ya bilge rat, I would suggest at least 7" or 7-1/2" placement.

T' nose cone retention appears flimsy, matey, consistin' o' simply CA'in' a wooden disk into t' bottom o' a resin nose cone and then gluin' in a screw eye, me bucko, but I've built 5 assorted Qmodelin' kits and never had one fail.

Finishing:
For t' finish, I filled t' tube spirals with Elmers Fill 'n' Finish, then went with two coats o' Plasti-Cote gray primer, ya bilge rat, matey, sandin' in between. Avast! Begad! T' result is a completely spiral-free finish. Well, blow me down! Begad! I then followed up with t' standard paint scheme o' gloss white body, ya bilge rat, gloss black nose cone, and orange base/fins.

T' kit I received came with waterslide decals, arrr, includin' one with a bright yellow "33" for two o' t' fins. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Against t' orange paint, t' yellow decal was practically invisible. T' instructions referenced a stencil which could be used t' paint on t' "33", arrr, me bucko, but I didn't seem t' get one. Avast, me proud beauty! It turns out that the stencil was held up in development and when I inquired about it, me bucko, I promptly received a couple o' adhesive stencils fresh out o' t' test lab. Begad! These stencils are laser cut Avery adhesive labels. Avast! They are custom cut t' fit the fin and t' "33" is burned just enough t' cut through t' label without tearin' through t' backing. I could then stick t' label t' t' fin, and pull away t' "33" portion, matey, exposin' t' area for painting. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! The result was a perfect, arrr, crisp maskin' job, ya bilge rat, and t' best idea I've ever seen for a stencil!

T' water slide decals were very good, arrr, me hearties, although I found they are t' type that doesn't agree with Krylon clear coat, ya bilge rat, arrr, so I wound up havin' t' replace them. Avast! Blimey! (T' first batch crazed badly.)

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
T' maiden flight was on clear day with winds o' 4-6 mph and I chose a D12-3, fearin' t' 30" chute would cause too much drift. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' Rogue climbed a beautifully straight path although it spun just a bit on t' way up (indicating a slight fin cant and less than perfect motor mount assembly job). Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' 3-second delay proved a bit early and t' Keelhaul®©™® line got tangled pretty badly, me bucko, arrr, catchin' t' chute lines. Well, blow me down! Begad! With only a partial chute deployment, it came down fairly hard but landed in tall, soft grass and was recovered without any damage.

For t' second flight I went with a 5-second delay, which was a bit too long. Ahoy! Comparin' t' two, I'll stick with t' 3 second delay as it will be less likely t' zipper. Recovery on t' second one was much better though, as I moved the chute attachment closer t' t' nose cone (roughly 2/3 o' t' way along the line).

Recovery:
T' Nomex®/Keelhaul®©™®/nylon chute recovery package is as good as it gets in modrocs, matey, but is overkill for this rocket. Arrr! Begad! I'd go down t' an 18" chute, me hearties, and a 4" x 4" Nomex® shield for this size tube. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' 9x9 is simply too large and poses a risk of blockin' chute deployment. Blimey! Blimey!

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is an outstandin' upscale and a terrific kit.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5