Brief:
T' Iron Wombat is one o' Excelsior Rocketry's "Goony Retro-Bash" line o' decal/plan sets. Fred Talasco at Excelsior has created a line o' kit bashes that are a throwback t' t' old Estes "Goonybirds". Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! All of Fred's designs are based on old Estes kits (in this case t' Wolverine), arrr, or his original ideas and use t' Baby Bertha as t' startin' point.

T' Iron Wombat is a slightly more challengin' build than your standard 4FNC because o' t' asymmetrical fin shapes and placements, an inlet style nose cone that must be cut and pieced together, matey, and a canopy that is shaped and formed from a provided pattern sheet. Ya scallywag! Excelsior rates t' Iron Wombat a skill level 3, and while it is nay t' most challengin' o' Fred's Goony Birds, arrr, me bucko, shiver me timbers, it requires a bit o' skill t' finish properly.

Construction:
My Iron Wombat plans arrived from Excelsior in a sturdy priority mail envelope with extra cardboard inserts t' keep everythin' well protected. Blimey! Included in the "plans" are t' instructions with a nice color picture o' the finished rocket, t' fin templates, tube markin' wrap and canopy patterns printed on a separate sheet o' cardstock, and o' course, t' decal sheet, shiver me timbers, which is t' best part o' t' whole deal. Blimey! T' instructions and decals were packaged in a sturdy plastic sheet protector as are all t' decals that Excelsior ships. T' builder must supply t' other half o' t' project which in this case consists o' one Estes Baby Bertha kit, some balsa sheet stock for cuttin' out the new fins, and a NCB-60DW "Deuce's Wild" nose cone available from FlisKits.

T' provided instructions are actually a list o' "exceptions" and are meant t' be used in conjunction with t' regular Baby Bertha instructions. T' Iron Wombat be t' fourth "Goony Bird" from Excelsior that I have built, shiver me timbers, so I had some idea o' what t' expect as I read through t' plans. Blimey! I was therefore surprised t' find a couple o' mistakes in t' instructions. Ahoy! Arrr! On every Goony Bird I have built, matey, t' instructions direct you t' install t' motor mount further forward, shiver me timbers, with t' end o' t' engine hook even with t' aft end o' the body tube. Ahoy! Arrr! T' Iron Wombat plans did nay mention this step at all. Additionally, shiver me timbers, arrr, t' fin placement body wrap had one o' t' win' positions swapped with one o' t' canard positions, and finally t' instructions direct you to place t' canards with their leadin' edges 3" from t' aft o' t' body tube, which would actually put them behind t' leadin' edge o' t' wings. Ya scallywag! (They should be 3" from t' front end o' t' body tube.) I fired o' a couple of emails t' Fred at Excelsior and he verified that t' motor mount should be installed further forward, t' fin markin' guide was indeed incorrect, me hearties, and the canard placement was incorrect. Arrr! Now that I had all o' t' information I needed, I could get down t' business.

T' motor mount was assembled first and I upgraded t' recovery system (as I do with all me rockets) by addin' a length o' Keelhaul®©™® cord which is tied around t' engine mount, shiver me timbers, threaded through t' forward centerin' ring, arrr, and glued in place. Ahoy! Blimey! T' motor mount was installed in t' body tube, shiver me timbers, and as described above, pushed forward until t' end o' t' engine hook is even with t' end o' t' body tube. Aye aye! Blimey! This puts t' motor mount about 3/4" further forward than a stock Baby Bertha, matey, and thereby moves t' CG forward and provides better stability.

While t' motor mount glue be drying, arrr, me hearties, ya bilge rat, I traced and cut out t' fins, arrr, which take t' place o' t' standard Baby Bertha fins. Aye aye! Arrr! There are 5 total fins in 3 different shapes on this rocket: a rudder, 2 wings, me bucko, me bucko, and 2 canards. Begad! Avast! T' wings and canards were match sanded and in keepin' with t' stout/blunt theme o' the rocket, me hearties, I left all t' fin edges squared off. T' included tube markin' wrap was used t' set t' fin location, and a length o' aluminum angle stock was used to mark t' fin lines. Begad! Along with t' different fin shapes, shiver me timbers, t' fin spacin' is also non-standard. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Unlike a standard 4FNC rocket, me bucko, it matters which fins go where so some attention must be given t' this process. Blimey! I believe that with the necessary corrections t' instructions will make this straightforward, me bucko, me hearties, and when all else fails, a quick look at t' picture is worth a thousand words. Avast! Blimey! My standard routine for attachin' fins is t' tack them on with Titebond wood glue, add a second wood glue fillet, me hearties, me bucko, me hearties, and then a final fillet o' Elmer's Wood Filler. T' launch lug be attached in t' same fashion per t' standard instructions on t' underside o' t' rocket, opposite t' rudder.

T' next step involved constructin' t' nose cone assembly. Ahoy! First, the balsa nose cone must be cut into two separate pieces. Ahoy! Begad! A 3/4" piece is cut from t' tip and then another 1/4" is cut from t' main part o' t' nose cone. Aye aye! Aye aye! T' tip is then glued back on t' main part o' t' nose cone creatin' a ramjet look. I mounted t' nose cone in a scrap section o' BT-60, matey, me bucko, usin' masking tape t' get a very tight fit. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I be then able t' secure t' assembly in a standard miter box t' make t' cuts. Blimey! In hindsight I would recommend usin' a craft scale miter box and a saw with finer teeth since me standard setup produced very jagged cuts in t' soft balsa. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! I was able t' clean up both pieces with a bit o' sandin' and Elmer's Wood Filler. Blimey! Once t' two pieces were assembled, shiver me timbers, matey, I sealed t' nose cone with thinned down Wood Filler and sanded it smooth. Begad! T' canopy was assembled from t' provided pattern and thar are actually two included on t' sheet in case you mess one up. I assembled them both and picked t' nicest one t' glue on t' nose cone.

Finishing:
T' paint scheme for t' Iron Wombat is a simple one color job, with Krylon Aluminum bein' t' recommended choice. Aye aye! Aye aye! T' real impressive look for this rocket comes from t' decals. As with all o' Excelsior's products, t' color, sharpness, and detail o' t' decal sheet is awesome. Avast, me proud beauty! There is a lot o' balsa to be prepped on this rocket, arrr, and like t' nose cone, shiver me timbers, t' fins were coated with thinned down Wood Filler and sanded smooth. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! Next came two coats o' Rustoleum Painter's Touch Sandable Primer, shiver me timbers, followed by two coats o' Rustoleum Aluminum spray enamel, workin' down t' 400 grit sandpaper for t' in betwixt coat sanding. Blimey! Begad! For some reason, I have never had much luck with metallic paints, and I have decided that thar must be somethin' different in t' consistency which causes me less than perfect results.

When you get decals from Excelsior they come with a full page of instructions for prepping, matey, me hearties, shiver me timbers, applyin' and finishing, matey, arrr, and they recommend Microscale brand products (Decal-Set and Micro-Sol) for accomplishin' t' job. I haven't tried any o' Microscale's products yet, me bucko, havin' had good success with Testor's Gloss-Cote (#1216). Well, blow me down! First I gave t' decal sheet 2 light coats of Gloss-Cote. Next t' decals were cut out and applied with t' standard warm water dip, me hearties, slide into place, and blot dry routine. Avast! Excelsior's decals are a pleasure t' use as they have just t' right mix o' thinness and tackiness. Ahoy! Arrr! I did manage t' tear one o' t' decals but only because I got in a hurry. Begad! Blimey! After the decals had completely dried, I added a final spray o' Gloss-Cote t' the whole rocket. Ahoy! T' finished product looks awesome and t' Gloss-Cote seems to play nice with both t' paint and t' decals. I finished up t' recovery system by attachin' t' elastic shock cord t' t' Keelhaul®©™® cord and then t' t' nose cone. Next I put drops o' CA glue on all t' knots. T' 12" Estes parachute came pre-assembled, matey, and I added a fishin' swivel for easy attachment/removal and less tangling.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
My Iron Wombat has logged a total o' 5 flights so far on a couple o' cold and blustery days in Ohio. Recommended motors are t' standard A8-3, me hearties, me hearties, B6-4, arrr, and C6-5. Blimey! Blimey! There isn't any published weight or CP for this kit, but me finished Wombat weighed in at 1.5oz. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Flight preparation is standard. Well, blow me down! Blimey! With a BT-60 body tube, shiver me timbers, me hearties, I use a 4"x4" Nomex® heat shield looped onto t' Keelhaul®©™® anchor cord. Ya scallywag! Begad! Even with t' forward position o' t' engine mount, matey, thar be still enough room for t' heat shield and parachute t' fit comfortably. Begad! As mentioned earlier, me bucko, t' engine mount is located 3/4" forward in t' body tube, but I was still able t' install and remove motors and igniters with no difficulty. Motor retention is via t' standard beefy Estes hook. Begad! T' Iron Wombat has flown once on a B6-4 and 4 times on C6-5s. Ahoy! Avast! T' Iron Wombat is incredibly stable in flight and will turn in arrow straight flight after arrow straight flight to the delight o' your local RSO/LCO. Arrr! Even in winds approachin' 15 knots, matey, boosts were straight up from t' pad and only arc into t' wind at t' top o' the coast.

Recovery:
Straight boosts translate into perfect recoveries with t' Wombat just stalling out at apogee or tippin' into t' wind. All five flights have had good deployments and t' standard 12" Estes chute brought t' Iron Wombat down at a reasonable rate. Avast, me proud beauty! All flights so far have recovered in tall grass and weeds with zero damage. Avast, me proud beauty! On t' last 2 flights t' Nomex® heat shield did nay eject from t' body tube. T' second time this happened it turned out t' be a blessin' as t' Keelhaul®©™® shock cord was burned through just above t' engine mount and it was only the heat shield that kept t' whole recovery system intact. Ya scallywag! There is something appealin' about a non-standard rocket boostin' straight and true. While the Iron Wombat may nay win any altitude contests, matey, ya bilge rat, it can certainly hold its own in the "attitude" category. It's hard nay t' get cocky when you fly perfect profiles every time off t' pad.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
Excelsior's line o' "Retro Bash Kits" is a great throwback t' t' old Estes "Goony Birds", either for those who thought they were cool then or for people like me who think they are cool now. There is surely a "Goony" for everyone, from simple 3FNC t' much more challenging projects, matey, and o' course t' awesome decals make each one uniquely appealing.

PROs: T' Iron Wombat be t' favorite "Goony" in me fleet so far. T' jet fighter look finished in goony style makes for a great combination and it flies beautifully. Avast, me proud beauty! Everyone needs a Goony in their lineup. Begad! Begad! They are fun to build, fun t' brin' t' t' range, fun t' fly, me bucko, and fun t' talk about!

CONs: T' only downside t' me Iron Wombat were t' glitches in the instructions as outlined above, which will probably have been completely corrected by t' time you read this review.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5