Brief:
A "bag o' parts" clone kit, in this case a reproduction o' t' K-22 V-2. For many modelers, this be their first introduction t' scale model rocketry. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! T' V-2 was a German developed missile, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and as WWII drew t' a conclusion, it was t' most capable rocket in t' world. Ya scallywag! When America brought Werner von Braun and his crew over from Germany, t' V-2 knowledge gave us t' much needed jump start t' move towards t' space age.

Construction:
This one retails for $16 but features some very nice quality custom parts:

• Balsa nose cone
• BT-55 body tube
• Balsa boat tail
• BT-20 motor tube
• laser cut fins (both scale and semi scale versions)
• plastic chute
• rubber shock cord
• 3 launch lugs

T' xKits are just parts--instructions must be downloaded from online archives that store scans o' t' originals. In this case, shiver me timbers, t' JimZ's site features both tiff format and PDF. Ya scallywag! URLs are provided in t' kit as well as hyperlinked from Semroc's main site.

Construction starts simply: t' motor tube is glued inside t' boat tail. Avast! Blimey! T' fit be snug but fine so go light on t' glue. Blimey! Blimey! T' motor block is set via a dummy motor casin' (provided with t' kit).

You'll need t' decide whether t' go scale or semi-scale on t' fins. Arrr! Avast! Both sizes are provided. Scale fins will look more realistic, o' course, but t' smaller fins mean less stable, which means addin' more nose weight. Begad! Aye aye! Semi-scale larger fins result in a rocket that's lighter overall. Avast! Blimey! I went with scale.

Fin mountin' on a boat tail is a bit o' a challenge. Ahoy! Regular tube markin' techniques won't work. Ahoy! T' technique featured in this kit is a pair o' jigs that are basically centerin' rings with a squared base. Ahoy! One fits t' aft end o' t' boat tail and t' other fits t' forward end. Arrr! Each has a series o' tic marks for markin' fin lines. Well, blow me down! Once marked, me bucko, it's up t' you t' figure out how t' draw a straight line along t' curved boat tail. Avast! Well, blow me down! [Tip: Use t' thick paper from t' kit's header card.]

After t' fins are mounted, arrr, t' next step involves cuttin' 4 detail parts from launch lugs. Avast, me proud beauty! You'll definitely want t' print t' original instructions for this step as they include a pattern sheet.

T' last pieces o' trim are servo pods, which are tiny balsa strips laser-cut, ya bilge rat, mounted t' t' fins. Again, me hearties, print out t' directions for a location markin' template.

Shock cord mountin' is a bit unusual but a faithful reproduction o' t' original technique. Begad! Instead o' t' tri-fold method, you tie a knot in one end o' t' rubber then glue it inside t' body tube held in place with a piece o' gauze. Well, blow me down! It strikes me as at least as reliable as t' tri-fold, but I'd rather have Keelhaul®©™®/elastic any day.

Proper weightin' o' t' nose cone is critical as t' V-2 is a notoriously unstable design on its own. Blimey! If you went with semi-scale fins, t' provided nose weight is sufficient, T' CG (loaded with motor) needs t' be about 7.5" at o' t' nose tip. For scale fins, t' CG needs t' be about 6" from t' tip, ya bilge rat, with motor loaded. Begad! In me case, ya bilge rat, me bucko, this extra weight put me up t' a relatively hefty overall weight o' 2.44 ounces, me bucko, well over t' 1.6oz "standard" weight on t' header card.

Finishing:
Finishin' on this was a pain, ya bilge rat, but t' end result is a very nice-lookin' mostly scale finish. You've basically got a checkerboard type o' black and white so thar's a lot o' tricky maskin' involved.

I started by fillin' grains an spirals. Begad! Blimey! Lately I've been usin' honest t' goodness Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish (in tub form, arrr, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, from Lowe's) rather than t' Elmer's Wood Filler. Ahoy! Blimey! When I put a dab on me finger then wet t' surface o' a nose cone, I can smartly rub a light layer across it that sands off very easily after a couple hours. T' result is a mirror smooth finish with very little effort.

T' whole rocket got two coats o' primer followed by two coats o' Krylon gloss white. Ahoy! Avast! It's nay as shiny as Rustoleum but dries much faster so I can mask and accent after about 24-30 hours.

For masking, ya bilge rat, I mostly used a new product I absolutely rave about: Frog tape. Well, blow me down! It's green (thus t' name), has pretty good tack (stronger than blue tape, ya bilge rat, weaker than regular maskin' tape), but really grabs at t' edges and is great at preventin' bleed through.

Fin maskin' is straightforward--two opposin' fins are masked off (remainin' white). Just above t' fin lines, shiver me timbers, extendin' t' t' end o' t' body tube, you divide into fourths, matey, me bucko, with opposin' sections masked off/white. T' header card illustrates this fine. Ahoy! Please note that these are nay pure/straight lines, me hearties, as they start on t' sloped surface o' t' boat tail.

Now for t' really hard part: t' nose cone. There are a total o' 8 sections on this nose, shiver me timbers, matey, all sloped t' some degree. Ahoy! I wound up takin' a piece o' paper and tapin' it around one side o' t' nose cone. Begad! Next, I took a piece o' strin' and pinned one end t' t' tip o' t' nose, ya bilge rat, then pulled t' other end taught where t' nose intersected one o' t' white/black seams o' t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! I then traced that strin' line (chalk line might have worked, me hearties, but would have been too thick). Begad! Aye aye! I repeated this for t' other "edge", runnin' from t' nose tip t' t' other end o' t' black/white seam from t' section I'd lined up with on t' first line. Arrr! T' result was a template that looks like 1/4 o' t' nose cone.

I then took this template, and traced t' outline onto two pieces o' maskin' tape, ya bilge rat, then cut out t' shapes from t' tape. Avast! Finally, matey, since t' black and white sections don't run all t' way up t' nose, I marked points roughly 3/4 o' t' way up on each tape silhouette and cut off t' top sections o' each. I then applied t' "bottom" o' each tape silhouette on opposite sides o' t' nose cone usin' t' body tube patterns t' align with. Aye aye! I then took t' remainin' top pieces o' t' tape silhouettes and applied them just above and betwixt t' taped bottom portions. Blimey! T' intersected perfectly, ya bilge rat, me bucko, which meant I did a good job with t' template.

Now with all that tapin' done, arrr, even usin' t' excellent no-bleed Frog tape, ya bilge rat, me hearties, which I've now seen available at that major home supply center with t' orange banners for about half what I paid, arrr, I didn't want t' risk black bleedin' under onto t' white so I shot t' whole rocket with one very light coat o' white primer. Begad! This way, matey, t' primer would penetrate (if anythin' could penetrate), matey, ya bilge rat, and form a tight seal. Avast! T' "bleed" would basically be t' same white as t' undercoat, so would nay be noticed. After t' primer, arrr, I shot two coats o' gloss black. Begad! When I removed t' tape, ya bilge rat, t' seams were perfect.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
First flight was with a C6-5, shiver me timbers, figurin' with all me added weight an A would be grossly underpowered and a B6 in t' moderate winds might get into trouble with less velocity off t' rod. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! There was a little bit o' a corkscrew action off t' rod as it needed t' fight for stability, me bucko, but it smartly found a vertical path, arrr, even weathercockin' a bit. Avast, me proud beauty! T' -5 was t' right delay, ya bilge rat, deployin' just past apogee.

Recovery:
Recovery on this was almost as much fun as finishin' it--that rubber shock cord proved t' be feeble, especially with me added nose weight for scale fin stability. It snapped right away, shiver me timbers, arrr, leavin' me body t' tumble down and t' nose cone t' ride t' thermal in t' 8-10 mph winds towards t' edge o' our park and almost into t' nearby subdivision.

I was very fortunate t' be flyin' with me club rather than solo. Aye aye! Blimey! Two guys had spotted t' body tumblin' down and tracked it, ya bilge rat, while another buddy and I went after t' nose cone/chute. Ahoy! I blinked for a split second as it went into t' sun and lost it, ya bilge rat, but me buddy still had it. Avast! He gave me t' line, while admittin' that it be "way out there"--meanin' about 350-450 yards and likely in 4-5 foot tall weeds and thorns.

I caught up with t' two guys that tracked t' body, matey, and they had just found it. Ya scallywag! Coincidentally, matey, one o' them later managed t' spot and track a CATO'd 24mm motor that ejected from a rocket and landed in 2-foot tall brush more than 50 yards from t' pad so his vision be amazin' that day.

I then started on t' line t' me cone. Aye aye! After walkin' for about 25 yards, I realized with t' stiff breeze, me bucko, matey, ya bilge rat, it really wasn't tough t' track much o' anything, me hearties, me hearties, as all "lines" had t' follow that breeze, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and I aimed a degree or two left t' better follow t' wind. Blimey! Sure enough, 5 minutes later I walked right up t' t' cone, ya bilge rat, which I'd have never been able t' spot from even 5 feet away in either direction.

I be extremely lucky t' have found both parts and am grateful t' me fellow QUARKers who saved t' day. All that prep and finishin' work would have been a shame t' waste on just one flight.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
Needless t' say, matey, I'll be ditchin' that rubber shock cord for some good ol' modern Keelhaul®©™.

Other than t' shock cord, shiver me timbers, I think this is a fine rocket and decent scale kit for anyone interested in startin' t' build "real" models rather than models o' imaginary vehicles. Arrr! T' xKit value is also very appealing.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5