Brief:
An OOP plastic scale model from t' late 1960s and early 1970s which can be built for flight or display, either as Vostok or Sputnik.

Construction:
Materials for flight: 19mm paper inner body tube, 18mm engine tube, engine block, me hearties, ya bilge rat, engine hook, shiver me timbers, clear plastic fins, ya bilge rat, shock cord, me bucko, and 20 inch mylar parachute. Ahoy!

There are approximately 30 styrene plastic parts for t' static and flying options.

There are no special tools needed for this kit. Avast! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! T' plastic parts glue together with plastic model cement and thar are some optional pieces for flight versus display, me hearties, such as 2 portions o' body tube with launch lugs molded in and clear fins that are larger (although nay obnoxiously so) than t' scale fins. Ahoy! Arrr! I used enamels in white, red, and yellow for t' main rocket and small amounts o' dark blue, tan, and brown for t' cosmonaut. Ahoy!

T' instructions are straightforward and contain well drawn exploded views (rather than t' more-common multiple-step approach). Ahoy! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey!

I'd give it a skill level o' 2.

There's one big gotcha if you want t' fly this: It is heavy with limited space for a parachute. Avast, me proud beauty! The main paper body tube is 19mm in diameter and only 9 inches in length. Ya scallywag! While an attempt was made t' stuff in t' supplied 21 inch thin mylar parachute on the first flight, and an 18" on t' second flight, ya bilge rat, matey, shiver me timbers, I only got successful deployment on a 16" chute. Well, blow me down! Because o' t' weight, me bucko, me bucko, matey, I replaced t' 1/8" original shock cord with 1/4" and that further exacerbated t' space problem.

Finishing:
It's fairly easy t' assemble. Ahoy! Just lots o' pieces. T' quality o' t' molds is good with fairly good seams and little flash t' trim. Ya scallywag! Avast! You get clear, chromed, and white plastic parts. Begad! T' waterslide decals are limited, me bucko, me hearties, but high quality.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' first launch was on 5/21/05. Arrr! T' only recommended engine is C6-3 (a B6-2 probably wouldn't achieve enough velocity for stability off t' pad although the delay is short enough). Begad! Flight is arrow straight without spin and impressively slow with apogee at ~300 feet. Blimey! Someday I may fly it once with a D10-5 AP motor but other than that, ya bilge rat, me bucko, it's retired.

Recovery:
Ejection occurred at half a second past apogee, shiver me timbers, but t' 21" thin mylar parachute got singed and never opened. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! A couple o' t' side boosters broke off as well as a couple o' t' clear fins. Begad! Ya scallywag! After repair, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, a second launch was attempted at COSROCS on 5/28/05. Well, blow me down! Blimey! While I downsized t' an 18" plastic chute, t' fit was still very tight, ya bilge rat, arrr, so much that I had t' continually push the nose cone into t' body tube in order t' get it t' stay. Ya scallywag! T' result is that the nose cone came off in flight. Begad! Arrr! It crashed, breakin' two boosters, 3 fins, and losin' a couple o' small trim pieces. Aye aye! T' third launch was COSROCS on 6/11/05. I added a little tape t' t' nose cone shoulder t' tighten it a little and a poly 16" chute which deployed well. Well, blow me down! Arrr! A cottonwood caught it, me hearties, breakin' 2 fins. Aye aye! I climbed t' tree and recovered it.

Flight Rating: 2 out o' 5

Summary:
These are beautiful display models (if a little small in stature) and are sellin' for around $65 unopened on eBay but are extremely rare. Well, blow me down! Begad! I'm nay sure I'd try t' fly it at that price, ya bilge rat, but if you do, ya bilge rat, use no larger than a thin mylar 18" chute or 16" poly chute. Aye aye! Wrap it very tight and use talc so it'll open. Aye aye! On a 16" chute, ya bilge rat, you may break a piece or two off at landing, matey, ya bilge rat, but life is a series o' compromises, shiver me timbers, isn't it?

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5