Brief:
1/64 scale model o' t' workhorse o' t' Soviet space program, me hearties, single stage kit that can be built t' fly on either a single 24mm motor or with an additional four 18mm motors.

T' kit was offered as a limited edition run several years ago and has long since sold out, me bucko, although if you ask Sandman (his handle on various online forums) nicely, you might be able t' talk him into makin' another batch.

This review is based mainly on me first-place NARAM-50 scale entry, which was a significantly modified version of the kit, matey, and included a 24mm motor plus 16 Micromaxx motors in t' boosters, fired usin' a customized spider ignition system. Begad! I will try t' indicate customizations that are nay part o' t' kit, matey, but t' photos might reflect me model, arrr, not necessarily what comes out o' t' box.

A photo album o' more detailed pictures, ya bilge rat, many in high resolution, matey, can be viewed online.

Note that all references t' stages in this review are t' t' actual Soyuz vehicle, nay t' model rocket kit. The kit is strictly single stage.

Construction:
T' kit came packaged neatly in a surprisingly small box, but none o' t' fragile parts were even slightly damaged. In part, this was because they were packed usin' small pouches o' dog barf as padding. Aye aye! Well, me hearties, blow me down! Very cool, shiver me timbers, havin' a rocket kit come with its own recovery insulation.

T' kit does nay include a parts list, but from memory and scannin' over t' model, me bucko, shiver me timbers, I think t' main components included:

• Hardwood dowel tower (custom machined)
• Balsa 3rd stage upper module (custom machined)
• BT-60 upper stage body tube
• Balsa 3rd stage lower transition (custom machined) ^**
• Balsa 2nd stage nose cone/cap ^**
• BT-55 second stage main body tube
• 4 BT-60 booster body tubes (lower section)
• 4 Balsa booster nose cones
• 24mm motor mount assembly (metal hook, rings, tc.)
• 4 18mm motor mount assemblies (no hooks)
• Basswood fin stock
• Laser-cut fiberboard details (interstage truss wrap, ya bilge rat, 3rd stage screens)
• Cardstock shrouds (2nd stage transitions, me hearties, strap-on bodies, me hearties, engine bells)
• Lots o' resin-cast details
• Balsa/Plastruct stock for smaller details
• Silver Monokote adhesive trim
• Waterslide decals
• Estes 18" plastic chute

^** - supplied as a single piece, joined by a dowel

This is certainly nay a quick or easy build, shiver me timbers, and I would rate it every bit o' a 5 on t' 1-5 scale for difficulty. T' instructions are fairly well written and definitely from t' perspective o' an experienced modeler, but thar are several areas where you're given general guidelines or suggestions and left t' figure it out on your own. Avast! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! If you need help though, Sandman is just an email away and is absolutely amazin' in his willingness t' bend over backwards t' help. Throughout me construction project, shiver me timbers, we probably swapped more than 50 notes, and thar were numerous instances where he would scramble and make either a replacement or a slightly customized part for me (sometimes free, me bucko, sometimes for a reasonable fee).

OK, matey, at t' start o' construction, you decide whether or nay t' load t' 4 strap-on boosters with functional 18mm motor tubes. If goin' for a single-motor configuration, me bucko, you can skip a few construction steps but will miss out on the fun o' t' cluster. In me case, I skipped t' 18mm motor tubes in favor o' a highly customized series o' 6mm clusters, 4 per strap-on.

T' build t' lower sections o' t' strap-ons, you start with a short piece o' BT-60 tube, a pair o' centering rings, shiver me timbers, me hearties, me bucko, and t' optional 18mm motor mount. If usin' t' mount, shiver me timbers, t' centerin' rings need t' be carefully marked with alignment ticks, as t' center hole for t' motor tube is off center quite a bit, matey, and it's important t' try t' angle these through t' rocket's CG in case you don't light them all (avoids asymmetrical thrust). There's a sliver o' a tube coupler for t' top edge, me bucko, t' which t' shroud (body) eventually is mounted. Well, blow me down! There's also a very nicely rendered cardstock cover disk for t' aft end that depicts t' locations o' various engine bells and details later in the process. Well, blow me down! If usin' t' 18mm cluster option, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, though, arrr, this has t' be converted t' a removable assembly as it would cover up t' BT-20 tube.

T' strap-on bodies are formed mostly by cardstock shrouds, which are a lot o' fun t' make. Arrr! These are not standard/straight shrouds, ya bilge rat, instead taperin' t' mount t' t' main body tube at an angle. Aye aye! Compoundin' this challenge is the fact that t' nose cones have t' slip tightly into t' open top (from inside/below), and are in turn mounted at an opposin' angle t' mate up against a sloped transition section o' t' main body. Arrr! Ahoy! Yikes! For sport flying, matey, me hearties, arrr, a few gaps here and thar are probably nay a big deal, but for NARAM scale this was extremely challenging, shiver me timbers, especially since I chose t' paint these separately before mounting, and therefore could nay really get a good fit check until very late in the process. My fin spans were off as much as 15mm, me bucko, matey, so I wound up havin' t' make some funky little clamps t' gradually pull t' strap-ons back into position and hold them overnight while I used some thin epoxy t' keep them in place.

Fins, me hearties, matey, by t' way, ya bilge rat, are very tiny and cut by hand from basswood per a cardstock pattern. I went a little above and beyond, ya bilge rat, makin' t' fin mountin' platform from balsa--the fins were detachable on t' real thing, and nay mounted until the vehicle was at t' pad.

For some additional fun, thar's one other scale-like step you could choose t' take. Avast! T' aft end o' each strap-on body is nay actually round. Well, blow me down! This is because thar are fairings that mount t' t' second stage that would butt up against t' strap-on bodies. There's actually a small "step" cut across t' inside edge o' t' BT-60 body tube t' flatten it, me bucko, ya bilge rat, which I then sealed off with a piece o' cardstock and a little wedge o' balsa (see photos). Ya scallywag! Without doin' that, t' strap-ons will really be stickin' out too far at t' aft end and t' gaps would be pretty glaring, matey, plus I'd imagine that would throw t' thrust angles off a bit o' any motors in t' strap-ons...

T' second stage (main body) is probably t' easiest portion o' t' assembly. T' aft end gets a standard BT-50 motor tube/centerin' rings/metal hook motor assembly. T' forward end has two opposin' transitions made from paper shrouds, matey, supported by a couple fiberboard centerin' rings. As mentioned earlier, arrr, thar are some resin-cast details for the aft end as well--4 fairings and 4 auxiliary motors.

At this point, me bucko, matey, you could glue t' strap-ons t' t' second stage, matey, but, arrr, as I indicated, arrr, shiver me timbers, paintin' could be an issue. Aye aye! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' bottom section o' t' strap-ons is painted orange, arrr, shiver me timbers, t' upper section gray (not white or olive green, a common mistake--see finishin' details), and thar's a silver Monokote wrap that accents them as well. Blimey! Blimey! Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! Maskin' for this, plus tryin' t' apply t' Monokote after they're mounted strikes me as insanely difficult, me hearties, especially since t' second stage is all gray (no orange). Begad! Blimey! Wait until after everythin' is painted t' assemble t' strap-ons and second stage.

Mountin' o' t' launch lug is one o' those vague parts I had warned about--the instructions simply say to mount a pair o' lugs after t' assembly, but offer no suggestions for where. Well, blow me down! On somethin' with this many diameters and such complex geometry, ya bilge rat, that's nay exactly an easy decision. Blimey! In me case, I had planned on usin' a fly-away pop lug, so all I needed t' do be drill a couple small holes for a couple pins from me pop lug plate.

Movin' on t' t' interstage truss and upper stage, I started t' really deviate from t' standard kit even more. T' interstage truss is a grid pattern laser-cut from cardboard. Arrr! As such, me hearties, it would nay provide much strength holding the two sections together durin' thrust with only 12 small connection points. Ya scallywag! [Note: All t' early versions o' t' kit, includin' mine, had a truss that incorrectly only included 10 sections, nay 12.] T' way Sandman got around this was to leave t' dowel used t' turn t' balsa pieces on t' lathe in them so thar's a strong ¼" round dowel holdin' t' 2nd stage nose cone t' t' 3rd stage. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! This also does a great job o' keepin' t' two sections vertically aligned. Avast! Unfortunately, shiver me timbers, arrr, thar be no big honkin' pipe connectin' t' stages on t' real vehicle, me hearties, so I had t' come up with somethin' different. Blimey! I decided t' cut out t' dowel (leavin' a fair amount o' filling/finishin' work t' hide the results), ditch t' cardboard truss, arrr, and make me own from music wire. I used 0.050" wire originally (shown in the detail photos), me hearties, but found despite me efforts t' bend them as close t' spec as possible, ya bilge rat, they did nay line up perfectly with t' carefully drilled mountin' holes I had drilled, and attemptin' t' bend them after I'd mounted them in one half tended t' break away at t' balsa instead. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! As a result, arrr, I scrapped t' music wire and went with 0.050" brass rod instead--same scale accuracy, me bucko, but much easier t' work with. Avast! T' finished model photos feature t' brass truss, me hearties, but I was too behind schedule while buildin' it t' have caught decent shots durin' t' construction.

There's also a pretty cool embossed wrap t' go around t' second stage just below t' interstage truss. Unfortunately for me, that wrap had flattened out almost completely after t' years o' storage, arrr, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and Sandman's tool had pretty much worn down over t' years, shiver me timbers, me hearties, so t' replacements he tried t' make for me were no better.

T' third stage construction, aside from t' details, is pretty quick and easy as well. Ahoy! Aye aye! It consists o' a lower section o' balsa (very nicely turned), a short section o' BT-60 (in me case thar be a significant gaffe in the length, which has since corrected on his other kits), and a balsa nose section that is a work o' art in terms of quality o' t' machining. A hardwood dowel tower goes into t' end o' t' nose cone t' complete t' major structure. Before sealin' everythin' up though, you'll want t' add some nose weight t' brin' t' CG into an acceptable position. I dry-fit t' major components together, matey, me bucko, loaded up motors, and found that t' get a stable CG I needed t' add a couple ounces o' epoxy and lead sinkers, me bucko, fillin' almost half o' t' body tube cavity.

T' rest o' t' construction is focused on t' ton o' details, most o' which are provided, though some are left to t' modeler t' make by hand. Arrr! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! If you refer t' Peter Alway's Rockets O' T' World drawing, ya bilge rat, you'll find most of the details included on his drawin' are reflected in this kit but nay quite all. Begad! If you have t' more detailed Minakov drawings (available from NARTS in t' Russian Scale Data Pack), you'll find that while this kit is dimensionally based upon those drawings, me bucko, however, ya bilge rat, t' level o' detail doesn't get down t' those prints. That's nay a knock on t' kit but a testimony t' t' amazin' richness o' t' Minakov drawings.

Strap-on details include a couple resin vents per booster and a you-cut-it umbilical and conduit piece. On the aft end, thar's some amazin' detail work involved. I had previously mentioned t' finely drawn paper disk that can be used as a locator. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! There's also a small "platform" pattern from paper that creates t' proper cant for the engine bells. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! T' engine bells themselves are paper shroud wraps. Aye aye! In me case, since I be goin' t' have functional motors inside each one, I painted t' inside o' each with a very thin epoxy. Well, blow me down! Arrr! As an added touch, I also glued a single wrap o' Keelhaul®©™® thread around each one t' serve as a semi-scale effort t' replicate t' tubin' around them. Begad! T' final detail on t' aft end be t' auxiliary motor "assembly", which consists o' a cast resin base plus a pair o' resin motors. Well, blow me down! The resin parts were o' decent quality, nay t' greatest, ya bilge rat, and do require a bit o' cleanup and void filling.

T' second stage has much less detail work--a set o' 4 cast fairings, me bucko, 4 cast auxiliary motors, 4 embossed butterfly hinges where t' strap-ons are attached, matey, a resin conduit piece, and a you-cut-it balsa conduit.

T' upper stage includes t' most detail. Avast, me proud beauty! For starters, shiver me timbers, thar are t' 4 screens towards t' top o' t' command module. Ahoy! These are made from a laser-cut cardboard panel and legs. It's solid, me bucko, nay screened, arrr, and t' screen effect is achieved by a printed paper pattern that is t' be glued on after painting. Arrr! Bein' an anal-retentive scale modeler though, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I searched several stores for real screen that would be t' right size and pattern. Begad! After strikin' out, me hearties, I noticed me very old screen door looked about right, ya bilge rat, however, shiver me timbers, one evenin' when t' wife be out, me bucko, I sliced away a few inches that fit t' bill nicely. Ahoy! Aye aye! My poor dog be t' primary suspect in all household damage, ya bilge rat, matey, deservedly so, shiver me timbers, but in this case he took one for his master. T' things we do for our models...

There are about a dozen little resin doodads nay worth gettin' into, arrr, as well as 4 resin escape motors that go on the tower. Blimey! Sandman grouses in t' instructions that technically thar are also supposed t' be 4 more intermediate escape motors about 0.080" diameter plus two 6-motor clusters that are 0.050" diameter, arrr, which he be not goin' t' bother with. Avast! Blimey! I did, makin' all out o' various pieces o' toothpicks.

Finishing:
Much like a Saturn, arrr, finishin' t' construction only offers a brief opportunity t' sit back, matey, admire your work, arrr, and let out a big "Whew!". Begad! T' finishin' is no picnic, me bucko, with a total o' seven different painted colors involved. Avast, me proud beauty! For the most part, I used Krylon primer followed by various custom-mixed Testor's enamels sprayed on with a cheapo single-action external mix Badger airbrush.

One note on t' color scheme, shiver me timbers, which will probably look "wrong" t' most casual fans o' t' Soyuz--the most popular photographs o' t' TM series are generally either t' poorly developed shots that look like t' main body is olive green, arrr, matey, or launch pad shots that make it look white due t' t' frost on t' fuel tanks. Blimey! T' actual vehicle was mostly gray, supported me a number o' photos o' t' factory floor that show t' gray in good lighting.

Strap-ons were all painted gray, matey, then masked for t' orange. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, me hearties, blow me down! Fins were painted silver and t' aft end painted stainless. Begad! T' nozzles were painted red/copper inside. After all paint had cured, I applied an adhesive chrome for the silver metallic effect.

Second stage was all gray, shiver me timbers, with t' aft end (resin motors) painted steel.

Upper stage starts out with a white base, matey, then is masked t' paint t' middle section gray. Avast, me proud beauty! More masking, shiver me timbers, matey, then the lowest portion gets orange paint. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Underneath, t' motors are a combination o' silver and copper. Avast! T' motors, by the way, are nay covered in t' standard kit--I made 2 different 4-motor sets out o' paper shrouds from scale drawings.

T' tower is all white, me bucko, though thar are brown sections on t' larger escape motors, and t' smaller escape motors have red nozzles.

T' kit is designed t' match either t' TM-11 round or t' TM-12 round. Arrr! T' TM-11 was a mission involvin' live video and a reporter for t' Tokyo Broadcastin' System. Avast! T' TM-12 mission included Britain's first citizen in space, scientist Helen Sharman. Each flight included t' flags o' t' respective participatin' countries, me bucko, as well as corporate logos for TM-11. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! I decided t' model t' Tokyo Broadcastin' System TM-11 mission, shiver me timbers, and applied t' decals accordingly. T' decals for t' kit were provided by Excelsior Rocketry, shiver me timbers, which means they were excellent quality but very thin and extremely fragile. You do not want t' try applyin' these without first treatin' with Microscale's decal solution, and t' decal instructions make this very clear.

In me kit, ya bilge rat, t' decals o' t' Sony and TBS logos turned out t' be slightly oversized--not only non-scale, but so large that they would nay fit in t' proper area o' t' rocket. I didn't discover this until t' day before turn-in for NARAM, so had t' scramble t' scan, matey, resize, and reprint a set on me own decal paper. Arrr! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! While mine fit better, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, they were not nearly as nice as Excelsior's.

Once all t' decals were set, arrr, I hit everythin' with 3 coats o' Testor's flat clear dullcoat, me bucko, which nay only helped nail t' scale-like finish, ya bilge rat, but also wound up makin' t' decals appear as though they were painted on, perfectly blendin' into t' painted background.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
Before startin' on t' flight report, me hearties, I should probably include a few words about t' mechanism I used t' achieve the clustered ignition. Ya scallywag! Begad! When you start stretchin' beyond 4-6 motors, clip-whips and/or spliced leads is nay a very effective ignition method, me bucko, with t' current gettin' spread too far/too thin/too inconsistently t' reliably light them all. Blimey! A more effective method that's been used, particularly in international competition, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, matey, is "flash pan" ignition, where you essentially pour some black powder onto a pan, ya bilge rat, set t' rocket on top o' it, shiver me timbers, and light t' powder. While it does a good job o' lightin' t' motors, it also tends t' char t' aft end o' t' model pretty badly as well.

A few years ago, t' Meatball Rocketry team (Josh Tschirhart in particular) introduced what's referred t' as a spidered ignition system. Arrr! Ya scallywag! While they didn't invent this, they published an excellent R&D report and set o' plans that made this somethin' that a modeler with average skills could pull off, matey, shiver me timbers, and Josh also changed t' Pyrodex, arrr, a much safer and more readily available powder alternative.

A spider is basically a section o' large pipe (in me case, me hearties, 4" PVC) with a small bowl sealed inside (mounted on top o' a removable centerin' rin' that bolts in). Well, blow me down! There are a series o' small brass tubes runnin' through t' top that line up with t' nozzles o' t' rocket motor cluster. Well, blow me down! T' interior bowl is filled with Pyrodex, and when ignited (usin' a regular Estes igniter), me hearties, t' resultin' flamin' particles go shootin' up t' brass tubes (vents), eventually sneakin' up into t' nozzles o' t' black powder motors (this will not work on AP motors) t' light them.

Knowin' only a little about spiders and nay at all sure I could pull off a 17-motor cluster (Josh's spider was for an 8-motor Saturn), much less on t' small-scale MMX motors (Josh had done 18mm and 13mm motors), I turned t' a member o' our local club who had been usin' Josh's basic design for a couple years and enlisted his help. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! T' guru, Steve Bostwick, ya bilge rat, proceeded t' take me motor mount layout/design and one evenin' later had a basic bench test mock-up ready t' test fire. Arrr! We managed t' light 3 o' 4 motors on t' test, matey, ya bilge rat, and concluded that t' 4th failed because we didn't have a standoff, which meant one motor was sittin' directly on top o' t' vent tube, sealin' it off.

Steve proceeded t' smartly knock off another full-sized version, which also included telescopin' tubin' so that I could individually adjust each tube t' seat properly at t' pad. Begad! Given t' time crunch I was facin' buildin' the rocket, shiver me timbers, Steve's quick engineering/construction saved me what would have been weeks o' fiddlin' and tweaking, shiver me timbers, and he basically flattened me learnin' curve.

Fast forward t' NARAM...

For scale, arrr, t' total score is composed o' two parts--static, which is about 3/4 o' t' total and represents how well t' model was built (finish, me hearties, accuracy, me bucko, etc.) and flight, shiver me timbers, which is about 1/4 o' t' score, and in part based on the complexity o' t' flight (staging, shiver me timbers, clustering, etc. Well, blow me down! get extra points). Ya scallywag! Begad! No matter how well you do in static, arrr, you can't place in t' event without a safe/stable flight.

When we reviewed t' static scores, I be tied for 4th behind some stunnin' models. Begad! However, matey, with t' potential to max out me flight score with 17 clustered motors, me bucko, shiver me timbers, I felt pretty good about me overall chances as no one else had quite as high a potential flight score. Aye aye! Blimey! I wanted t' first "lock" in me score with a qualified single-motor flight though in case somethin' went wrong with t' cluster and t' model was too badly damaged t' fly again. Aye aye! As an aside, me motto for t' week, me bucko, which certainly applied t' this event, me bucko, arrr, shiver me timbers, was "what could possibly go wrong? [insert big grin here]".

I loaded up an Aerotech D15-4 (reload), wantin' a little more thrust spike and total impulse than t' Estes D12, but also wantin' t' make sure I got it back smartly and safely. Aye aye! Arrr! Blimey! Liftoff was actually a bit slow, me bucko, shiver me timbers, me hearties, probably due t' my added nose weight, ya bilge rat, arrr, and t' rocket weathercocked a little bit but generally few fine. Blimey! Blimey! T' -4, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, shortest delay available for t' motor, was a bit too long and it deployed just after it had turned over. Avast! I had gone with 2-piece recovery and ditched t' cheesy plastic chute for a pair o' 18" nylon chutes. Other than breakin' off one small resin detail from t' upper stage, t' rocket was unblemished.

As t' rest o' t' day played out, a few o' t' competitors who were behind me in static had passed over me by flyin' more complex flights, matey, so I had t' go for t' cluster for me second (and last) flight. Blimey! Avast! I had spent t' better part o' 2 hours casually preppin' t' 16 MMX motors (and went with an E9-4 central) and loadin' up t' spider. Ya scallywag! By the time I hauled everythin' out t' t' pad, shiver me timbers, I had drawn a pretty decent crowd, no doubt in part because I had boasted that havin' nay had any mishaps so far in t' week, me bucko, this would be me "Best Midwest Qualified Flight Award--Record Trial" (I'm a two-time winner, and no one has ever won 3 o' this award given every year t' t' most spectacular flight failure at NARAM). T' sun was bakin' down on me as I fidgeted with t' tubes, shiver me timbers, slidin' t' rocket on, off, on again, off again, etc. Arrr! workin' on t' alignment. Begad! I had somehow managed t' misplace me needle nose pliers, and rather than make another trip back t' t' car 200 yards away, I pressed on with as well as I could do usin' fingers. Avast, me proud beauty! After about 15 minutes, matey, I was cooked and decided that with t' way t' points system worked, arrr, anythin' more than 11 motors lightin' would achieve a max, so I left a 4-motor cluster set with a nearly 3/8" gap, me hearties, far too wide for t' spider to reach.

I stepped back, me hearties, raised me paddle t' signal t' t' RSO that I was ready for launch, ya bilge rat, me hearties, and said a few prayers. Begad! The countdown hit zero, t' spider lit with a hissin' sound, and t' rocket took off skyward (the launch photo credit goes to George Gassaway, who caught it beautifully). Arrr! Begad! I got a kick out o' t' folks who were tryin' t' shoot pictures o' the cluster in flight, as me simulations show t' MMX's burn out before t' rocket clears he rod, ya bilge rat, and t' E9-4 does all the real work.

Recovery:
Flight/recovery pros: gettin' a Soyuz stable with such tiny fins is challengin' but this kit is well designed and flies very well.

Flight/recovery cons: given t' superb quality o' every other aspect o' t' kit, t' plastic chute is really shockingly bad and a bit undersized, however, certainly it's reasonable t' expect that anyone buildin' this has probably picked up a good quality spare chute or two, so it's nay that big a deal. Ya scallywag! If any corners needed t' be cut, this be t' corner I'd cut...

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a terrific kit, and while I certainly went a bit over t' top for t' NARAM scale competition, it can be a perfectly fine sport model and would be a fun although somewhat challengin' build. Well, me hearties, blow me down! Roachwerks kits are well researched, very accurate, reliable fliers, and backed by outstandin' customer support.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5