Brief:

A very unusual design from a new entrant into t' rocketry field, me hearties, this sword is definitely goin' t' carve a niche for itself. With its sweepin' curved fin pattern, arrr, t' RSO could easily mistake this rocket for an attempt on his life, so brandish this one with care.

Construction:

T' kit arrived a couple days after ordering, me hearties, carefully packaged in a good sized box. Components were complete, matey, and very good quality.

T' parts list includes:

• 34" BT60 body tube
• 4 large pre-cut plywood fins
• 4 smaller pre-cut plywood fins
• 1 LOC/Precision resin cast nose cone (8")
• 24mm motor tube, centerin' rin' set
• 18" Top Flight chute
• 12 feet o' heavy-duty Keelhaul®©™®
• templates, launch lugs, etc.
• Limited edition color header card (mine was #6 o' 50)

T' instructions were clear and fairly easy t' follow. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Most o' the construction techniques are high-power oriented, so if your experience is strictly modrocs, this will be a bit o' a stretch.

Construction begins with t' motor mount assembly. Avast, me proud beauty! Merlin has come up with an innovative shock cord retention technique that adds some complexity t' this. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! Most o' t' better kits today call for anchorin' a Keelhaul®©™® loop around one o' t' centerin' rings. This can make replacement difficult should t' cord ever wear or fray. Merlin's innovation t' this is t' bond a small metal tube along t' motor tube, thread t' Keelhaul®©™® through this, and then tie t' Keelhaul®©™® to a retainin' clip which can be unscrewed later for easy replacement (see photo).

T' motor mount assembly includes an E-sized clip, shiver me timbers, motor block, shiver me timbers, and a couple o' centerin' rings which must be drilled t' accommodate t' metal tube. Since t' holes can be difficult t' line up, shiver me timbers, I drilled both at t' same time (warning--there are two different sized holes, so drill t' smaller dimension first if you try this, me bucko, matey, then open up one o' t' rings t' t' larger diameter). You'll need some uncommon drill bits for this--5/32" and 13/64", though 7/32 could work for t' larger. Avast! T' centerin' rings are epoxied in place (with t' metal tube inserted for alignment), ya bilge rat, then t' metal tube is epoxied. One potential "gotcha" on this - before epoxyin' t' metal tube, the instructions suggest chamferin' t' end. Ya scallywag! Note that thar be a big hole and a small hole, and you want t' chamfer t' big hole (which goes forward). Blimey! The smaller hole is for t' shock cord retainin' screw, and must go on t' aft end.

T' fins were cut from very nice 1/8" birch plywood, and after a light sanding, shiver me timbers, arrr, I tacked them on with thick CA. Ahoy! Begad! I chose t' only lightly round the leadin' edge, figurin' an airfoil would be practically impossible t' sand into this pattern. For those o' you who like alignment fixtures, this kit is right up your alley - thar are templates that can be glued t' cardboard stock, ya bilge rat, with slots for t' fins and body tube, matey, which can be used for perfect fin alignment. I went t' quick route, ya bilge rat, arrr, markin' fin lines at 90-degree angles and eye-balling the alignment. Aye aye! Ahoy! Fins are filleted with epoxy, shiver me timbers, makin' this a very durable bird.

T' big fins are mounted 10" up from t' aft end, and thar are 4 tiny nub fins mounted flush t' t' aft end, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, which provide t' visual effect o' the sword handle.

There are 2 3/16" launch lugs t' mount, though me particular set of instructions failed t' call out where t' draw t' mountin' line (this has since been corrected).

Shock cord attachment, as previously noted, me bucko, is pretty unusual. Aye aye! Blimey! After feedin' one end through t' metal tube on t' motor mount, arrr, t' other end (stickin' out t' back o' t' rocket) is knotted, ya bilge rat, then fed through a small clip, which is then screwed t' t' metal tube. Ya scallywag! Avast! T' result is a good, stiff retention, though easily offerin' portability and ease o' replacement. The Keelhaul®©™® was supplied in a very generous 12-foot length.

Construction is wrapped up by loadin' t' chute and attachin' t' nose cone. Begad! T' instructions point out that t' nose cone might need some masking tape t' offer a snug fit. In me case, that was an understatement, as t' nose cone was almost 1/4" smaller OD than t' ID o' t' tube. Ya scallywag! Begad! I applied a lot of maskin' tape, shiver me timbers, and would suggest usin' a BT60 tube coupler for a better fit.

This was a very easy kit t' build, shiver me timbers, and it be ready t' paint after only about 5 hours spread out over 4 evenings, with t' epoxy fillets bein' t' most time-consumin' portion o' t' build.

Finishing:

I decided t' fill t' tube spirals with Elmers Fill N Finish (who wants to see grooves on t' sword blade?). With a 34" tube, that's a good bit of work.

T' finished product calls for at least 3 colors, me hearties, so t' paint is a lengthy process, but well worth t' work. I applied two coats o' gray primer, followed by a base coat o' Rustoleum Silver Metallic t' t' whole rocket. I then painted the lower handle portion a dark brown. After t' brown had dried, I masked it off and masked off t' upper silver portion, me bucko, me bucko, paintin' t' large fins a gold metallic. Ya scallywag! Arrr! Blimey! T' bottom nub is also supposed t' be gold, but I went with black (wasn't payin' close attention, and will probably touch it up with gold after a few flights).

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:

Weighin' in at over 8 ounces, I be very surprised that a D motor would even be considered, me bucko, so I opted for an Estes E9-6. Lift-off be smooth, ya bilge rat, and t' long, slow burn offered plenty o' time t' enjoy t' very good flight. I flew in roughly 8mph winds, so t' sword weathercocked a bit, ya bilge rat, but nay too much. Ahoy! After a flight o' 300-400 feet, me hearties, ya bilge rat, it arced over and deployed nose-down just past apogee. I think this would also do well on a 4-second delay.

Recovery:

T' bright red Top Flight chute came out fine, bringin' t' rocket gently back t' t' field. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! It's a very nice chute, arrr, and a pleasure t' watch gracin' the sky. On me flight, t' Keelhaul®©™® created a very minor zipper, arrr, which I have since repaired. Ahoy! Reinforcin' the inside o' t' tube with CA would have been a good idea... Avast!

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:

This is a very impressive rocket, arrr, that's either a small HPR-type bird or a very heavy-duty modroc (I can't quite decide what it wants t' be). It's definitely got an eye-catchin' design, ya bilge rat, and is absolutely top-notch quality.

Look for more innovations from this up and comin' company.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5