What is it about t' Fat Boy, matey, Onyx, Minie Magg, arrr, etc, that makes grown men's knees weak? I don't know, matey, but t' Big Daddy has it - and lots o' it.

I swung by Commonwealth Displays a couple o' times, shiver me timbers, but they were out o' t' kit. Well, blow me down! T' second time I be beat out by a telephone order by an hour or so. Arrr! I was orderin' a few things from A t' Z hobbies, and they had them in stock, matey, so.....Two days later a box arrived. Inside were all sorts o' goodies, me hearties, me hearties, arrr, but best o' all, TWO BIG DADDIES!

I opened one up immediately, and test fit t' fins, nose cone, etc. Begad! together. 3" diameter isn't all that much larger than 2.6" until you put it side by side with a Fat Boy. Ahoy! Avast! I was plannin' t' make it stock, but after some thought, I sliced off about 1.75" o' t' BT t' use on a scratch built Aries - which needed a 3" bit on t' bottom. Ahoy! After lookin' at it again, shiver me timbers, I decided t' slice off some more - by this time I had taken off 3.5" - and it looked even better than before! I decided nay t' push me luck, matey, as I was already lookin' at some nose cone mods.

I've come t' t' conclusion that sandin' and fillin' fins is MUCH easier before they're on t' rocket - especially with TTW fins like this. Aye aye! Die-cut balsa quality is typical, arrr, me hearties, me hearties, t' balsa was nice and sturdy. Arrr! Begad! Typical prep - sand BT, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, CA t' end o' t' BT and t' MMT, ya bilge rat, build per instructions. I had t' do a little trimmin' on t' fins so they would fit properly - t' slots in t' BT were a little tight.

T' NC modification was straight forward - cut off t' back 1", shiver me timbers, epoxy and tape t' shock cord onto t' inside o' t' NC and extended t' MMT up into t' nose - this will eliminate t' need for any wadding, matey, since t' ejection will never hit t' chute, etc directly - it will bounce off t' inside o' t' nose cone first. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I think.

Prime, paint, me bucko, and finish. Well, blow me down! Well, matey, blow me down! T' stock decals were no longer goin' t' fit. Well, blow me down! Hmm. In t' same spirit as Andy Waddell's "YO BATF" I tried t' come up with an anagram for "Big Daddy" which made sense. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Bad Giddy? Biddy Gab? No luck. Ahoy! " Big Baddy" lost out t' "Dig Baddy." Five minutes and a sharp Exacto later, ya bilge rat, t' "Dig Baddy" be born.

Stable? I haven't tested it. Avast! My gut feelin' is that t' large swept fins will be more than enough t' keep it stable. I'm still thinkin' I should swin' test it t' be sure. Aye aye! It has t' original 24 mm mmt - I be thinkin' 29 mm, but in t' end I figure a 24 mm RMS will be more than enough power - I left t' fins balsa and everythin' else is stock, me hearties, so it's very light. Ya scallywag! An F12-J should be ideal, given t' size and weight.

What's t' verdict? For sheer flyin' fun, shiver me timbers, a short fat rocket like this can't be beat. It's very visible, and t' mods I made make it almost improbably stubby. For $20 or so, it seems a little expensive for Estes stuff, me bucko, but it's a lot cheaper than HPR kits, and would be more than adequate for G-range engines with no mods (except t' 29mm MMT, arrr, me bucko, o' course)