Brief:
T' 38 Special is labeled as a High performance 3 inch diameter rocket designed for G through J motors. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! It includes double tubin' (for added strength and durability), matey, 11 inch payload bay, arrr, a 38mm motor mount, vinyl decals, ya bilge rat, me bucko, motor retention, and rail buttons.

Construction:
I bought t' kit directly from BSD, which came in t' mail in a timely manner and well packed in a sturdy box. Blimey! All t' parts were included and nothing damaged. 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! Even a beginner who has never made a HPR kit before could follow these instructions with minimal problems. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! 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. Begad! Avast, matey, me proud beauty!

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, glues and epoxies, sandpaper, me bucko, and finishin' materials.

What was different in this kit from others that I built be t' double wall tubing. Avast! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! 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. I did not see t' reason for epoxy and try t' use it only where really needed for two reasons, me bucko, one is cost and t' second is exposure. Ya scallywag! So I decided t' use Yellow Glue, arrr, bad choice as one o' t' couplers got stuck while I be insertin' it. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! I had t' cut one o' t' couplers and put it on either side t' make it work. Blimey! Ya scallywag! I still think that epoxy is overkill and if I were t' build it again I would use White Glue, 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. Blimey! Begad! T' fins were all shaped well and pre-sanded. Begad! Aye aye! All t' pieces for the motor mount and fins fit together nicely. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! This kit also comes with motor retention (Kaplow clips) as part o' t' kit and was installed. Avast! T' kit also comes with a fin alignment guide for settin' t' fins, arrr, 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, ya bilge rat, I made a few changes t' t' design. Avast! Ya scallywag! I cut two and a half inches off o' t' payload bay and glued it onto a Giant Leap Avionics bay. Ya scallywag! 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. Ahoy! I went for fairly simple, shiver me timbers, I filled in t' small grooves with Fill 'n' Finish, shiver me timbers, sanded, primed and painted. 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, but with t' current issues of availability with AT motors I be plannin' a Cesaroni Pro38. Blimey! I used the 5-grain case and a J-285 motor. Blimey! Ahoy! 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! Blimey!

Good fast lift off, me hearties, arrr, shiver me timbers, straight flights.

Recovery:
My first flight did nay go as planned. T' avionics deployed early, ya bilge rat, me hearties, around 6 seconds into what should have been 14 second flight. It zippered t' airframe but only about 4 inches, 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 be back t' try again. Same motor and same rocket, shiver me timbers, double checkin' t' electronics this time.

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

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

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

CONs: Well, ya bilge rat, 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. Avast!

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5