(08/31/05) I have been eyein' them for a while, but I have finally gotten around t' buyin' a couple Squirrel Works kits. Ahoy! Begad! Blimey! This one, Vulture, and t' Astrid. Begad! Squirrel Works has some exceptionally nice looking graphics associated with their kits that make them jump out at ya and say, "buy me". Ahoy! Most have a sci-fi theme associated with them. Ahoy! So as Squirrel Works states about t' Vulture: "Get ready t' explore the cosmos with this precisely detailed space plane".

T' kit is packaged professionally and includes an 8" long, ya bilge rat, 1.325" diameter body tube, ya bilge rat, and a 5.5" long balsa nose cone. T' fins are laser-cut balsa. Ahoy! There is a cardstock cockpit, arrr, a motor tube with black fiber centerin' rings, me bucko, thrust ring, and a motor hook. Arrr! A washer is provided as nose weight. There is an eye-screw t' attached the 36" long, ya bilge rat, 1/8" wide elastic shockcord t' and a 12" mylar parachute. A decal sheet is provide t' complete t' make up o' t' kit.

CONSTRUCTION:

T' instructions are printed on a multi-folded sheet o' pager. Arrr! Blimey! They include illustrations for construction and pictures for kit contents and decal placement. Aye aye! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! T' tube markin' guide and 3-fold paper for t' attachment o' t' shockcord are cut out from the instruction sheet. Begad! Blimey! Instructions are logical and easy t' follow.

T' Vulture is a fairly easy kit. Ahoy! Blimey! With the win' tips and t' cockpit, ya bilge rat, arrr, it would probably fall into a skill level 3 (from Estes and Quest standards).

T' assembly o' this progresses as one would expect:

T' motor tube is assembled. Begad! You will need a strip o' maskin' tape t' hold t' center o' t' motor hook t' t' body tube. T' two centerin' rings are added along with a thrust ring.

T' next step is t' mark t' body tube. The markin' guide aligned well.

T' fins are then attached. T' main win' is made up o' two pieces o' balsa (laser-cut is wonderful). Well, blow me down! These two pieces, called t' win' and fairing, me bucko, give t' Vulture a nice look. But what tops off the look, ya bilge rat, matey, be t' two perpendicular win' tips that are glued onto t' end of wing-fin. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! There are two other stabilizin' fins that are on t' top and bottom of t' rocket body.

T' nose cone is really grainy t' me, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, so I would recommend sealin' and sandin' it before you use it in t' build. This is important because once t' cockpit is put in place, shiver me timbers, it makes t' nose cone harder t' smooth out and finish (I know).

T' cockpit is made from cardstock. Begad! Blimey! It is cut out, folded, me bucko, glued and then glued onto t' nose cone. Aye aye! Blimey! I consider this a nice touch.

Squirrel Works goes on t' give instructions on assembly o' t' parachute and attachment t' t' nose cone (via an eye-screw) and t' body (via 3-fold paper method). Begad! T' parachute is 8-sided mylar and uses Keelhaul®©™® shroud lines. Ahoy! Blimey! T' shroud line ends were frayed t' about 1".

They also give basic finishin' instructions and then detailed instructions on placement o' t' provide water-transfer decals.

Have I expressed how much I enjoy workin' with balsa nose cones?... NOT. Ahoy! But, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, they are sometimes a necessary evil due t' small manufacturers' ability t' produce plastic ones, or cost, me hearties, or those holdin' on to the "old" ways, or those that are more environmentally conscious, or, or, me bucko, etc. Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! Well, arrr, me hearties, let me tell you about t' Vulture's nose cone: it ranks in the top o' t' necessary "evil" class! I believe it is because of the sharp angle cut on t' balsa that really opened up t' grains. Begad! Avast! Perhaps the grade o' balsa, but regardless, me hearties, t' grains were really exposed.

I have yet t' develop a better method for finishin' balsa and perhaps after this I will. Well, blow me down! Please note that I don't use sandin' sealer so some o' me frustrations could be self-induced. I stuck t' my typical multiple coats o' Plastic-Kote Primer and sandin' in-between. Arrr! With the exposes grains, it took no less than 10 coats o' primer with sandin' in-between to get a nice smooth finish on this nose cone... Arrr! but it looks good now, shiver me timbers, doesn't it!

T' rest o' t' primer, ya bilge rat, sand, ya bilge rat, primer, sand technique was normal. Well, blow me down! Avast! I then painted it with me favorite low-cost painting solution: Walmart paint (additional comments about Walmart paint). Begad!

I only had t' paint it one color, arrr, gloss white, me bucko, so I then applied t' wonderful set o' decals t' next day. Arrr! I love the decals provided by Squirrel Works. They are water-transfer and went on like a dream. They were nay too thin and adhered well. Ya scallywag! If I really want t' complain, I would suggest that Squirrel Works adds a decal for t' outside o' each wing-tip fin. Aye aye! Had I given it a forethought I would have put t' little Vulture circle out thar instead o' under t' cockpit.

After 1 week, I hit t' whole rocket with a coat o' Walmart Clearcoat t' seal t' decals.

No fault o' Squirrel Works, arrr, arrr, but I made a mistake in finishin' t' rocket... Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! Blimey! can you find it?

Overall, matey, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this kit 4 ½ points. Blimey! T' instructions are excellent. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! T' part components are excellent. Ya scallywag! T' decals are excellent. Arrr! Begad! T' balsa nose cone was a pain.

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

Squirrel Works recommends t' A8-3, me bucko, B4-4, B6-4, and C6-5.

Squirrel Works indicates t' finished rocket should weigh 1.5 ounces. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! My finished rocket weighed 2.0 ounces.

I have only flown me Vulture once and I've been waitin' and waitin' t' get at least 1 more flight. It appears that this will be me lowest number o' flights/year since gettin' back into the hobby, me hearties, me bucko, matey, so, arrr, I'm goin' forward with t' review and postin' it... Blimey! Ahoy! with one flight.

First flight be on a Quest A6-4. Aye aye! T' flight was excellent and very stable. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Ejection was at apogee and t' rocket descended with no issues.

So thar ya have it. Ya scallywag! Perfect flight.

For FLIGHT/RECOVERY, arrr, matey, I would rate this rocket 5 points. Again, me hearties, ya bilge rat, based on 1 flight so far, ya bilge rat, but t' components are nice and thar be good consideration t' t' length o' shockcord. Ahoy! Blimey! It be stable as built per t' instructions.

I give t' rocket an OVERALL ratin' o' 4 ½ points. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! Nice lookin' rocket, shiver me timbers, that requires a bit o' work t' look polished with t' balsa nose cone. Small and unique.