Brief:
I don't think anyone would argue that t' Saturn V be t' Cadillac o' rockets. Arrr! Well, that bein' t' case, me bucko, arrr, then t' Mercury Atlas has t' be t' Corvette. Begad! Begad! T' rocket is a stunnin' piece o' American engineerin' and a critical piece o' American space flight history. T' Sheri's Hot Rocket version o' t' Mercury Atlas is equally stunnin' a model rocket as t' original one. Avast! T' build through flight proved t' be a rewardin' experience that culminated in a beautiful flight.

Construction:
T' kit arrived at me doorstep about a month after ordering. Up front, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, Sheri will tell you that these kits are custom made and that you are t' expect some length o' delivery time. Arrr! When t' kit arrived, ya bilge rat, matey, it be packed tightly in a pretty small box. Well, blow me down! I was amazed that it all fit, arrr, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, but everythin' was packed neatly and well protected. T' kit included:

• 5.00" x 26" main body tube
• 5.00" coupler
• 3.125" x 7.5" support tube
• 29mm motor tube (19-3/8" long)
• 3 ¼" plywood centerin' rings
• heavy-duty nylon shock cord
• Lexan fins (pre-cut)
• Styrene corrugation panels
• Styrene strips and tubing
• Resin-cast capsule
• 3 Resin nozzles
• Parts for Escape tower (tubing, ya bilge rat, plywood and resin)
• Styrofoam pieces for equipment pods
• Assorted hardware, arrr, (fin attachment and Lugs)
• Waterslide decals
• Monokote Mylar Chrome Trim sheets
• Large hand-drawn blueprint and instructions

Probably me favorite thin' about this kit is that Sheri provides is a full size set o' plans for this rocket. Ya scallywag! T' drawings are clear and make a great reference when buildin' this rocket. Blimey! Avast! I would also add that if you are interested in a great reference, shiver me timbers, thar be none better than t' drawings available from David Weeks.

Construction begins on t' main booster. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! T' lower centerin' rin' (CR) is ¼" ply with lobs that form t' lower nacelle/booster fairin' bulkhead. Ya scallywag! I call them "mouse ears". Aye aye! I prepped t' lower CR per t' instructions by addin' blind nuts for attachin' t' fins. Begad! T' fins are attached via ¼-20 nuts and bolts along with "L" brackets. At this point, I knew this thin' needed t' lose some weight so I added t' 5/32" blind nuts t' hold t' outboard nozzles. Avast, me proud beauty! T' main BT is a U-Line shippin' tube. Arrr! Blimey! U-Line tubes have a wall thickness just shy o' ¼ inch. Additionally, they have pretty heavy grooves and that could be a nightmare t' try and finish, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, however, me hearties, what I smartly found out was that Sheri provides a way t' get a smooth finish on this tube. It is wrapped completely in 0.10" sheet styrene. Arrr! Avast! This flawless surface is needed t' get t' smooth finish for t' trademark Mercury Atlas polished finish. Avast! What did worry me be t' weight o' t' tube. Arrr! That will come into play for t' flight o' this rocket.

Small cutouts are made in t' base o' t' BT t' accept t' lower CR. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Once that is in, it is now time t' add t' framework, resin pieces, arrr, and sheet styrene that form t' nacelles/booster fairing. Aye aye! Blimey! If you follow t' instructions, this works very well t' produce a convincin' lower BT section. Avast, me proud beauty! After completin' that, it's time t' add t' 0.10" sheet styrene wraps. Blimey! This can be very frustratin' (ready any review on t' Estes Saturn V about t' vacuform wraps!) but if done correctly, t' finish is remarkable. Arrr! Begad! T' joints line up under other details t' totally hide t' seams. One frustratin' part be t' pre-cut corrugated styrene pieces on t' lower booster section were t' wrong shape. Ya scallywag! A better option would have been t' leave them long and let t' modeler cut t' shape. Aye aye! I realize this would make t' build a little more difficult, arrr, however, me hearties, me bucko, no modeler buildin' this rocket would find it hard.

At this point, arrr, matey, it's time t' add t' equipment pods. Avast, me proud beauty! These are t' two nacelles on opposite sides o' t' main BT that are capped by resin triangle shaped cones. T' pods are made from hot wired shaped Styrofoam plugs. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! These are also covered in 0.10" sheet styrene. Aye aye! One word o' caution, you have t' use special glue for Styrofoam otherwise either t' styrene won't stick or t' foam will melt. Begad! T' instructions provide a recommended brand. Ahoy! After t' equipment pods are completed, it is time t' t' final details for t' booster.

When addin' t' upper equipment fairings (nose cone type pieces) and t' Vernier rocket pods, shiver me timbers, I took a sheet o' sandpaper and a 4" piece o' PVC pipe and shaped t' back o' t' parts t' create a better fit t' t' main BT. Blimey! Additionally, I drilled 1/16" holes in t' resin pieces and pinned them t' t' BT for added strength.

Now t' fun part! Blimey! Addin' t' Monokote Chrome trim sheets. Arrr! This gives t' Atlas t' distinctive finish. Ahoy! T' sheets are 4" wide. Blimey! Blimey! T' real Atlas booster has 16 stainless steel tank sections on t' lower portion o' t' booster. Ahoy! Blimey! If you go with t' Monokote trim sheets, matey, shiver me timbers, you'll get 5 with a small piece left over. Avast! I went somewhere in t' middle with 8 sections for a more realistic look. If you have done a reasonably good job on t' styrene, you can produce a nice finish with t' Monokote sheets.

Now comes t' more difficult part o' t' build: t' upper booster section and transition t' t' capsule. Ya scallywag! T' distinctive taper on t' Atlas is made from a very basic set o' parts. Aye aye! A piece o' 3.125" tubin' is glued t' t' upper CR and a transition is formed with a piece o' pre-cut styrene. Ya scallywag! Three quick steps and you have a transition. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! T' capsule is then glued t' that transition. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! There is about 3" o' BT showin' so you cover that with corrugated sheet styrene. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Very fast and convincing. Well, blow me down! T' complete this portion, Sheri has you build a coupler out o' a piece o' main BT. Arrr! This is easy but can be troublesome if it is nay lined up correctly.

At this point, you have a very convincin' Mercury Atlas! Now comes what I considered t' most difficult part o' t' build. Begad! Figurin' out how t' wrap t' transition with Monokote. Begad! Aye aye! Nay hard but cumbersome t' get right. Avast! Begad! I smartly decided that I would make paper patterns usin' t' "Robert Blaske's Shroud Calculator" found in t' tools section o' EMRR! This required a beam compass due t' t' lengths involved. Ya scallywag! This worked perfectly and created t' perfect effect. Ahoy! One comment on t' capsule: paint does nay like t' stick t' this thin' (or any o' t' resin for that matter). Begad! I scrubbed and bleached and did all sorts o' things t' get paint t' stick, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but in t' end, I basically used self-etchin' auto primer for a base coat and that worked. Avast! Begad! Your mileage may vary.

T' Escape Tower be next. Begad! T' construction be unremarkable except that I pinned all joints at t' tip and base o' t' tower in an effort t' improve t' strength. This will prove t' be a good thin' durin' t' first flight.

After decals are added and t' screw-eye launch lugs (yes, me hearties, screw-eyes), t' rocket is basically complete. Arrr! Blimey! Time t' fly!

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
I loaded up t' rocket with a 60" nylon parachute (recommended) and placed it on t' pad at Red Glare VI. Avast! T' button was pushed and t' rocket boosted into t' sky. Blimey! I was a beautiful sight. Begad! Arrr! Very realistic. T' only casualty was t' Escape Tower. Begad! Ahoy! While preppin' for t' flight, me hearties, I discussed with Foose4strin' what I thought would happen t' t' tower on t' flight. Well, blow me down! I knew t' escape tower was a goner before I even launched. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Sure enough, it made it through ejection, then sheared off like we thought. Well, blow me down! Begad! I was able t' recover t' parts so it will be rebuilt!

This is where me love-hate view o' this rocket comes into play. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! I constructed this rocket exactly by t' plans. Avast! No added extras. Begad! In fact, I actually drilled out t' outboard solid rocket nozzles (Engines No. Avast, me proud beauty! 1 and 2) in an effort t' reduce weight. Ya scallywag! This thin' weights a ton! 5.4 pounds ready t' fly without a motor! In me opinion, arrr, ya bilge rat, in order t' get a safe altitude, ya bilge rat, I had t' fly this on a 29mm H128. Well, blow me down! I simmed this every way I could but couldn't get a good balance betwixt altitude and launch rod speed at liftoff. Aye aye! With t' H128 t' rocket flew t' about 430 feet and t' short delay was about 2.5-3.0 seconds too long. Ahoy! Avast! If I fly it again, I'm goin' with at least an H180.

Recovery:
T' boost and glide phase o' t' flight be spectacular. Blimey! T' delay grain was t' "short" provided by AeroTech but that be too long. T' rocket was clearly in a nose down attitude when t' parachute deployed. This caused t' capsule t' snap t' an upright position and t' recovery lanyard sheared off t' escape tower. Blimey! In t' pictures o' t' launch, arrr, me bucko, you can clearly see t' tower separate. Aye aye! T' 60" chute proved t' be about right. Arrr! I used a homemade 60" hemispherical chute that I thought might be a little overkill, but it brought t' rocket down smoothly. Begad! I was hopin' for that "original orange and white" recovery look. Arrr! Begad! It was spot on! Once on t' ground, t' rocket dragged a little in t' field. Ahoy! This caused scratches on t' Monokote. Be forewarned, shiver me timbers, t' scratches are inevitable.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
I will say this about t' flight. Begad! T' glide phase was about as realistic as it gets. Aye aye! Begad! It was a beautiful thin' t' see. Begad! I be happy that t' flight was just what I expected. Blimey! T' main drawback o' this kit be t' weight. Begad! In order t' get this thin' t' fly on a G motor, you'll need t' make it as light as possible. T' me that means basically rebuildin' all t' components with lighter materials. Then, what would be t' point o' t' kit?! I think Sheri's design o' t' Mercury Atlas kit is spot on. I don't see a better way t' do this model in terms o' design. Avast! If I were t' rebuild this model, I'd use a different BT, smaller CRs and hollow out t' resin components as much as possible. Ya scallywag! T' fact that t' BT is wrapped in styrene gives it enough strength. T' U-line BT is too heavy. Avast! Begad! I would nay fly this on a G.

Many thanks t' Peter Abresch for capturin' t' flight.

PROs: Design. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! Well thought out construction. Blimey! LOOKS!

CONs: Too heavy. Ya scallywag! Large components.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5