Construction

T' instructions are very good, arrr, easy t' follow and well illustrated. Avast! Arrr! Construction basically spans 4 8.5x11 pages, 33 steps, shiver me timbers, matey, and while it might be slightly more challengin' than t' skill level 1 rating, I don't think it's much tougher than a 1.5. Other than surface prep and finishing, I barely had an hour into t' construction.

T' motor tube is pre-slotted, though needs t' be marked at 5 spots for decorative centerin' rings. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! After fittin' t' metal hook into t' slot, slide each o' t' 5 rings (plus a 6th for forward alignment) into place. Blimey! Arrr! I recommend just a drop o' super thin CA on each, shiver me timbers, except for wood glue fillets on t' forward ring. Avast, me proud beauty! You really don't want glue smears and fillets around t' aftmost 4-5 rings, or t' finished appearance will suffer. Aye aye! They're only thar as eye candy, matey, nay t' hold anythin' in place.

Next comes a series o' modular assemblies. Each are very easy, matey, but you need t' be careful t' select t' right tube(s) and right cone(s). Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! T' main aft tube gets t' shortest "fat" tube and t' shortest nose cone. Arrr! Ya scallywag! One tip for longevity--coat t' aft end o' t' shoulder with a generous smearin' o' glue or epoxy, matey, as it will catch a lot o' ejection charges over time. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Next come t' three pod tubes. These assemblies consist o' a pair o' 9.5" slotted BT-5's joined via coupler, and a nose cone on each end (longer aft, me bucko, shorter forward). Ya scallywag! Ahoy! T' make sure t' slots are perfectly aligned, you need t' draw a line extending the slot edge up t' t' end o' t' tube. Arrr! Either extend lines up for each edge, or just one side but be careful t' extend "top" on half t' tubes and "bottom" on t' other half or your slots will be positioned adjacent t' each other rather than perfectly aligned (see photo). Avast! T' main forward tube gets a nose cone glued into t' aft end, with a screw eye attached t' t' shock cord (do this before gluin' it in...). Ya scallywag! T' forward nose cone deploys, so is nay glue in.

Now for gluin' together all t' assemblies. Arrr! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! With t' original, me hearties, me hearties, this was a lot o' fun. You'd need t' carefully position two tubes against each other with slots aligned, arrr, and apply a series o' fillets t' hold everythin' together and seal t' gaps betwixt t' slots. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Semroc provides a laser-cut jig.

With this approach, ya bilge rat, you simply slide each o' t' BT-5 pods in, matey, rotate them until t' slots line up with a mark on t' jig, matey, then slide in t' main for and aft tubes. Avast! Rotate t' main tubes so that t' slots line up with those o' t' BT-5's, and you're all set t' glue. I used a bead o' wood glue for t' first bondin' o' each, arrr, then followed up with a fillet o' 20-minute epoxy, but wood glue would certainly work fine. Begad! I just wanted t' strength o' t' epoxy, plus could lay a heavier fillet that sets smoothly, matey, versus 2-3 more rounds o' wood glue that would tend t' shrink and bubble a bit.

Once t' tubes are glued up, shiver me timbers, while still in t' fixture mark t' launch lug and fin line locations on t' fore and aft main tubes (based on a notch line on t' fixture). Then, remove t' assembly and tack on t' fins and lugs.

That's all thar be t' construction. Aye aye! Arrr! Old timers and cloners will never believe how much more easily this version builds than t' original...