Brief:
T' Armageddon is a large, unique looking, arrr, high power kit produced by DG&A Rocketry.

Construction:
T' components include: three 3.9 inch body tubes, ya bilge rat, 2 couplers, matey, 1 54mm motor mount tube, me hearties, 4 large fins, 4 canard fins, 1 nose cone, ya bilge rat, 4 centerin' rings, matey, 1 bulkhead, 1 60 inch parachute, arrr, one 9/16 inch thick nylon webbin' shock cord with pre-sewn loops, 8 nozzle fins, shiver me timbers, 8 fin reinforcement strips, 2 launch lugs, shiver me timbers, 2 quick links, 2 eye-bolt assemblies, assorted hardware, vinyl decals, and a 7 page instruction booklet. All o' t' parts arrived in a large cardboard box with a nice label showin' t' rocket and t' important dimensions. Aye aye! T' parts were all individually wrapped in paper or plastic. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! T' nose cone, tubes, me bucko, me bucko, arrr, and couplers were all standard LOC style components. I was very impressed by t' wooden components. Ahoy! All 16 fins, centerin' rings, and bulkheads were made o' flawless 1/4 inch thick plywood. Arrr! T' parachute is similar in quality t' LOC parachutes.

T' kit comes with seven pages o' illustrated instructions and a fin alignment guide. After I read through t' directions once, shiver me timbers, I did nay refer t' them again except t' look up various relevant measurements. Ahoy! Begad! I started t' construction o' t' rocket by cuttin' t' numerous fin slots. Blimey! While tedious, shiver me timbers, this is nay overly difficult as long as you take your time. This be t' one area in which t' rocket should be improved. Ya scallywag! I then drilled holes in t' centerin' rings and bulkheads for T-nuts and U-bolts. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! (I chose t' replace t' supplied eye-bolts with U-bolts.) DG&A supplies 2 T-nuts for motor retention. Well, arrr, blow me down! I decided t' use a Slimline motor retainer instead but installed t' T-nuts anyway in case they were ever needed. Ya scallywag! I would highly recommend usin' a Slimline on this rocket because t' unique tail design would force you t' use extremely long screws t' secure t' motor. Avast, me proud beauty! As a bonus, t' Slimline also significantly reduces t' chance o' damage upon landin' since on this rocket it always will be t' part which encounters t' ground first. Arrr! After installin' t' U-bolts and T-nuts, matey, arrr, I epoxied t' four centerin' rings onto t' motor tube. I then epoxied t' motor mount assembly into t' body tube. While waitin' for t' assembly t' dry, arrr, I glued t' coupler and bulkhead into t' payload tube. Ya scallywag! After usin' a belt sander t' airfoil t' fins, I epoxied them in place. Begad! DG&A includes 8 "fin supports", which are wood strips glued t' t' sides o' t' main fins. Arrr! Despite t' name, arrr, I suspect that these are more for looks than strength. Begad! I epoxied these in place and then moved on t' t' nozzle assembly. Well, blow me down! T' allow me Slimline t' fit, ya bilge rat, I used a belt sander t' remove part o' t' nozzle fins so that they would fit over t' Slimline. After test fittin' t' Slimline, shiver me timbers, arrr, me hearties, I removed it and epoxied t' nozzle fins in place. Aye aye! I then poured liberal amounts o' epoxy in t' areas betwixt t' nozzle fins, until t' epoxy was level with t' end o' t' body tube. Arrr! While heavy, this method looks great and is practically indestructible. Begad! Aye aye! T' second body tube can either be epoxied t' t' first or it can be temporarily attached with t' provided screws. I decided t' use t' screws because they allow for easy repairs if t' tube zippers or is damaged on landing. Aye aye! I opted t' use ACME conformal rail guides instead o' t' provided launch lugs. Ya scallywag! For t' record, me bucko, I would nay recommend usin' t' ACME rail guides as they make t' rocket difficult t' load onto t' pad. Avast! Ahoy! If you do choose t' use these, do not use t' provided tape t' attach them. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I did and while loadin' t' rocket onto t' pad for it's second flight, me bucko, I ripped one off t' tube. Begad! Blimey! I be able t' epoxy it back on and fly it t' same day, but it was a pain. Blimey! Blimey! I did nay attach t' Slimline until after I had painted t' rocket.

Finishing:
T' rocket finished like any other high power rocket. Blimey! I spent a rather long time filling, me bucko, matey, priming, and sandin' this rocket. Ya scallywag! After I spent several weeks preppin' t' rocket, ya bilge rat, I painted it orange and black with Krylon paint. Blimey! Avast! I did nay use t' included vinyl decals.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
This rocket preps like any other high power rocket. I use a 54-38mm Slimline adapter on this rocket. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I have flown this rocket twice, once on a J420R and once on a J570W. Arrr! Blimey! Both flights were absolutely perfect.

Recovery:
I used a Nomex heat shield and shock cord protector on this rocket. Both flights had a successful recovery although t' rocket did come down rather fast. Arrr! Well, blow me down! After t' second flight, I noticed that t' two main body tubes seemed t' be comin' loose. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! When I removed t' screws holdin' t' two sections together, I discovered that t' coupler was slightly crumpled. Begad! Aye aye! This was easily fixed by internally fiberglassin' t' coupler. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! I do nay think that this would have been an issue had I epoxied t' two sections together.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a fantastic rocket with high quality components. T' design is interestin' and eye catching. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I would highly recommend this rocket t' any modeler who has previously built at least one high power rocket.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5