Brief:
T' DX3 is a fairly simple 2.6" diameter 3FNC mid-power rocket with a large payload section.

Construction:
T' kit is complete, with a pre-slotted body tube, a payload tube, plastic nose cone, 3 laser-cut 1/8" plywood fins, matey, 29mm 8" cardboard MMT, me bucko, plywood centerin' rings, a cardboard coupler with plywood bulkhead, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, a Nomex® chute protector, a Keelhaul®©™®/Nylon shock cord (total length about 8 feet), arrr, eyebolt and washers, shiver me timbers, 1/4" launch lugs, arrr, arrr, and a 24" nylon parachute. Begad! All tubes are heavy-duty cardboard.

This was me first MPR build and bein' o' t' balsa generation o' LPR, matey, I wanted t' avoid t' plastic-fins route.

T' kit quality be excellent and I had little trouble dry-fittin' everything. Blimey! Ahoy! I basically followed the instructions, with t' exception that (per t' excellent review o' t' Madcow Cowabunga on EMRR) I left t' aft centerin' rin' off so I could put internal fillets on t' fins and MMT, shiver me timbers, and I used 30-minute epoxy for t' centering rings (which is a pain if you're an impatient builder like me; I'm sure 5-minute would have been fine.)

I also bought t' Madcow motor retention kit, which is a metal plate that attaches t' t' aft centerin' rin' with two 6-32 cap screws into brass inserts. T' only gotcha for me be that t' inserts are quite close t' t' ID o' the centerin' rin' and I had trouble drillin' and screwin' them in without breakin' through t' plywood. Aye aye! Blimey! I also found it hard t' thread them straight in. Begad! Begad! But with some epoxy I didn't have any problem.

I thought about buildin' this zipperless by drillin' some holes in t' coupler bulkhead and attachin' t' coupler to t' lower body tube, ya bilge rat, me bucko, but decided t' nay get fancy this time around. (Minor issue with t' instructions: they say to attach t' shock cord t' t' nose cone, but o' course it goes t' t' eyebolt in t' coupler.)

T' biggest problem I had was that t' coupler required a fair bit o' sandin' t' get a proper fit into t' body tube and even then it's still pretty snug.

T' instructions also didn't say anythin' about how t' attach t' NC t' t' payload section, shiver me timbers, so I friction-fitted it with maskin' tape.

Finishing:
Finishin' used two coats o' watered Elmer's Wood Filler with 220 grit sandin' on t' fins, then one coat o' Rustoleum Painter's Touch white primer, 400 grit dry sanding, shiver me timbers, and then a coat o' Painter's Touch Deep Blue on t' lower and Gloss White on t' upper. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I left t' NC bare; Madcow recommends multiple coats o' plastic primer on t' NC, arrr, but I be lazy. Blimey!

Note that t' vendor site gives a weight o' 15 oz but mine ended up at 18.2 oz and Rocksim estimates around 17 oz.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
Though t' smallest recommended motor was an F20, shiver me timbers, t' first flight was on a fairly small field, so I went with an E30-4T, which simmed t' about 500 feet. T' Madcow 24-29mm adapter be used; this has a thrust rin' front and back, and a 24mm Madcow retainer was used on t' DX3.

Like other Madcow models, me hearties, t' DX3 uses a Nomex® chute protector so no waddin' is needed. Ahoy! Arrr! It's easy t' get everythin' above t' Keelhaul®©™® portion o' t' shock cord wrapped up in t' protector.

T' first flight be straight and went t' about t' expected altitude, though t' NC came off t' payload section at ejection and fell free (no damage landin' on packed sand); thar were some blue paint marks on t' white payload section, me bucko, so t' sections hit each other at some point (7' o' shock cord may nay be enough given t' large and fairly heavy forward section.)

Recovery:
T' chute deployed normally and t' descent rate be about right, shiver me timbers, maybe a little fast, but that kept it on t' field better.

In a total o' four flights, all on E30-4T, t' NC came off twice despite progressively more tape, me hearties, ya bilge rat, and thar was a small dent in t' bottom edge o' t' tube from t' landin' (since t' fins are above t' end o' t' body tube, shiver me timbers, t' tube ends up takin' t' landin' impact.)

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
T' kit quality is extremely good and I enjoyed t' build. Ya scallywag! I'm lookin' forward t' tryin' larger motors. Aye aye! Arrr! With the large payload section you could imagine buildin' this for dual-deployment easily.

T' biggest con is that you really need t' make sure that t' NC is well-attached t' t' payload section. Ya scallywag! Since the NC is pretty heavy (over four ounces) friction-fittin' may nay be effective. Avast! Ahoy! Removable rivets or rivet nuts would probably work well.

A longer shock cord might lessen t' deployment forces.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5

Other:
You may want t' strengthen t' bottom o' t' body tube with a doubler and some epoxy since it'll bear t' burden of impact. Ya scallywag! Blimey!