Brief:
T' 38 Special is labeled as a High performance 3 inch diameter rocket designed for G through J motors. Well, blow me down! It includes double tubin' (for added strength and durability), 11 inch payload bay, a 38mm motor mount, vinyl decals, me hearties, me bucko, motor retention, and rail buttons.

Construction:
I bought t' kit directly from BSD, me hearties, shiver me timbers, which came in t' mail in a timely manner and well packed in a sturdy box. Begad! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! All t' parts were included and nothing damaged. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' kit has a large number o' parts.

• 1 nose cone
• 1 34in booster airframe
• 1 11.25in payload section
• 4 coupler tubes
• 1 38mm motor mount tube
• 1 3/16in aircraft plywood fins
• 1 bulkhead plate
• 2 centerin' rings
• 1 nylon shock cord
• 1 30in parachute
• 1 eyebolt assembly
• 1 motor retention kit
• 10ft o' elastic shock cord
• 2 fin alignment guide
• 1 set o' vinyl decals
• 4 removable plastic rivets
• launch lug
• rail buttons

T' instructions with this kit are t' standard o' what instructions should be. Begad! Well, blow me down! Even a beginner who has never made a HPR kit before could follow these instructions with minimal problems. Ahoy! T' instructions are 10 pages in length and go very far into detail, I read through them and then added a few changes to fit me design needs. Blimey! Ahoy!

T' paper tubes and aircraft plywood make take glue and epoxy well offering many options for buildin' other than t' suggested epoxy.

Nothin' out o' the ordinary is needed t' build this kit just a hobby knife, shiver me timbers, glues and epoxies, sandpaper, matey, matey, and finishin' materials.

What was different in this kit from others that I built be t' double wall tubing. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! T' extra coupler tubes are used t' create this double wall. I made the mistake while installin' these BSD has you installin' them with epoxy. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! I did not see t' reason for epoxy and try t' use it only where really needed for two reasons, ya bilge rat, one is cost and t' second is exposure. So I decided t' use Yellow Glue, matey, bad choice as one o' t' couplers got stuck while I was insertin' it. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! I had t' cut one o' t' couplers and put it on either side t' make it work. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! I still think that epoxy is overkill and if I were t' build it again I would use White Glue, ya bilge rat, as it would nay seize up like t' yellow glue did.

T' body tubes are marked well but nay cut but this is nay a big deal with paper tubes. Well, blow me down! T' fins were all shaped well and pre-sanded. Ahoy! All t' pieces for the motor mount and fins fit together nicely. This kit also comes with motor retention (Kaplow clips) as part o' t' kit and was installed. Aye aye! Begad! T' kit also comes with a fin alignment guide for settin' t' fins, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, which comes in very handy.

As this rocket would be for me level two attempt and because I planned to use dual recovery for this rocket, me bucko, I made a few changes t' t' design. Avast! Ahoy! I cut two and a half inches off o' t' payload bay and glued it onto a Giant Leap Avionics bay. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! T' bay was set t' go betwixt t' payload bay and t' main bay for dual deployment.

This kit also offers both launch lugs and rail guides; I opted for t' rail guides. Blimey! Blimey! It sure is nice t' have t' option.

Finishing:
Finishin' on this rocket is as simple or as hard as you want t' make it. I went for fairly simple, I filled in t' small grooves with Fill 'n' Finish, ya bilge rat, sanded, primed and painted. Well, blow me down! I painted it all one color as t' decals give it a very nice detailing.

Vinyl decals are easy t' put on and give t' rocket nice crisp lines and design that would be time consumin' t' recreate with paint and t' decals are applied in just a few minutes.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
All o' t' recommended motors were Aerotech motors, ya bilge rat, but with t' current issues of availability with AT motors I was plannin' a Cesaroni Pro38. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey! I used the 5-grain case and a J-285 motor. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! I left t' delay at its full length as I was plannin' on usin' me altimeter for deployment.

I left out t' elastic shock cord and added Keelhaul®©™® heat shields and tubular nylon for t' recovery and a second chute. Blimey!

Good fast lift off, straight flights.

Recovery:
My first flight did nay go as planned. Begad! Blimey! T' avionics deployed early, around 6 seconds into what should have been 14 second flight. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It zippered t' airframe but only about 4 inches, arrr, nay bad considerin' t' deployment speed. Begad! Blimey! [NOTE: Pictures shown are post-zipper damage, thus t' "38 Spec" decal instead o' "38 Special".]

T' airframe was easily repaired and next mouth I was back t' try again. Same motor and same rocket, ya bilge rat, double checkin' t' electronics this time.

This time everythin' worked perfect. Well, blow me down! Great flight straight and true with a picture perfect recovery and t' rocket came down without any damage. Ya scallywag! Arrr!

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
PROs: Well designed kit, me bucko, ya bilge rat, instructions that are very detailed and easy to follow. Avast! Parts are all top quality with some nice extras like motor retention and choice o' launch lugs and or rail guides.

CONs: Well, hmmm...let's see...I do nay really like elastic so I left it out but some people still like it so I guess its a matter o' opinion on that. Begad!

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5