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". All of Fred's designs are based on old Estes kits (in this case t' Wolverine), ya bilge rat, 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, matey, an inlet style nose cone that must be cut and pieced together, and a canopy that is shaped and formed from a provided pattern sheet. Begad! Excelsior rates t' Iron Wombat a skill level 3, and while it is nay t' most challengin' o' Fred's Goony Birds, ya bilge rat, 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. Avast! Included in the "plans" are t' instructions with a nice color picture o' the finished rocket, shiver me timbers, t' fin templates, tube markin' wrap and canopy patterns printed on a separate sheet o' cardstock, and o' course, t' decal sheet, which is t' best part o' t' whole deal. 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, arrr, 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, me hearties, ya bilge rat, so I had some idea o' what t' expect as I read through t' plans. Ya scallywag! I was therefore surprised t' find a couple o' mistakes in t' instructions. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! On every Goony Bird I have built, t' instructions direct you t' install t' motor mount further forward, me hearties, ya bilge rat, with t' end o' t' engine hook even with t' aft end o' the body tube. Well, blow me down! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' Iron Wombat plans did nay mention this step at all. Additionally, 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, me hearties, me bucko, which would actually put them behind t' leadin' edge o' t' wings. (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, matey, t' fin markin' guide be indeed incorrect, me bucko, and the canard placement was incorrect. Begad! Blimey! 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, matey, threaded through t' forward centerin' ring, and glued in place. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' motor mount be installed in t' body tube, arrr, ya bilge rat, and as described above, matey, pushed forward until t' end o' t' engine hook is even with t' end o' t' body tube. Begad! This puts t' motor mount about 3/4" further forward than a stock Baby Bertha, and thereby moves t' CG forward and provides better stability.

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

T' next step involved constructin' t' nose cone assembly. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! First, me bucko, matey, matey, the balsa nose cone must be cut into two separate pieces. Avast! Blimey! A 3/4" piece is cut from t' tip and then another 1/4" is cut from t' main part o' t' nose cone. Avast! T' tip is then glued back on t' main part o' t' nose cone creatin' a ramjet look. Aye aye! Ahoy! Blimey! I mounted t' nose cone in a scrap section o' BT-60, ya bilge rat, me hearties, shiver me timbers, usin' masking tape t' get a very tight fit. I be then able t' secure t' assembly in a standard miter box t' make t' cuts. Ya scallywag! 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. I was able t' clean up both pieces with a bit o' sandin' and Elmer's Wood Filler. Once t' two pieces were assembled, I sealed t' nose cone with thinned down Wood Filler and sanded it smooth. Begad! Blimey! T' canopy was assembled from t' provided pattern and thar are actually two included on t' sheet in case you mess one up. Begad! Avast! Blimey! 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, shiver me timbers, with Krylon Aluminum bein' t' recommended choice. Avast! T' real impressive look for this rocket comes from t' decals. Ahoy! As with all o' Excelsior's products, arrr, arrr, t' color, sharpness, ya bilge rat, and detail o' t' decal sheet is awesome. Well, blow me down! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! There is a lot o' balsa to be prepped on this rocket, and like t' nose cone, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, t' fins were coated with thinned down Wood Filler and sanded smooth. Well, blow me down! Begad! Next came two coats o' Rustoleum Painter's Touch Sandable Primer, me hearties, followed by two coats o' Rustoleum Aluminum spray enamel, me hearties, workin' down t' 400 grit sandpaper for t' in betwixt coat sanding. Aye aye! 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, applyin' and finishing, matey, 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, shiver me timbers, havin' had good success with Testor's Gloss-Cote (#1216). 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 bucko, ya bilge rat, slide into place, arrr, me hearties, and blot dry routine. Begad! Ahoy! Excelsior's decals are a pleasure t' use as they have just t' right mix o' thinness and tackiness. I did manage t' tear one o' t' decals but only because I got in a hurry. Begad! After the decals had completely dried, me bucko, me hearties, I added a final spray o' Gloss-Cote t' the whole rocket. 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. Begad! Blimey! Next I put drops o' CA glue on all t' knots. T' 12" Estes parachute came pre-assembled, ya bilge rat, 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. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! Recommended motors are t' standard A8-3, matey, B6-4, me hearties, and C6-5. Aye aye! There isn't any published weight or CP for this kit, ya bilge rat, but me finished Wombat weighed in at 1.5oz. Ahoy! Flight preparation is standard. Begad! Begad! With a BT-60 body tube, ya bilge rat, I use a 4"x4" Nomex® heat shield looped onto t' Keelhaul®©™® anchor cord. Begad! Even with t' forward position o' t' engine mount, thar be still enough room for t' heat shield and parachute t' fit comfortably. As mentioned earlier, ya bilge rat, t' engine mount is located 3/4" forward in t' body tube, matey, but I was still able t' install and remove motors and igniters with no difficulty. Motor retention is via t' standard beefy Estes hook. Aye aye! T' Iron Wombat has flown once on a B6-4 and 4 times on C6-5s. 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. Ahoy! Aye aye! Even in winds approachin' 15 knots, 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. Begad! All five flights have had good deployments and t' standard 12" Estes chute brought t' Iron Wombat down at a reasonable rate. Aye aye! All flights so far have recovered in tall grass and weeds with zero damage. Arrr! Arrr! On t' last 2 flights t' Nomex® heat shield did nay eject from t' body tube. Well, blow me down! 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 be only the heat shield that kept t' whole recovery system intact. Blimey! There is something appealin' about a non-standard rocket boostin' straight and true. Avast, me proud beauty! While the Iron Wombat may nay win any altitude contests, it can certainly hold its own in the "attitude" category. Ahoy! Ahoy! 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", arrr, either for those who thought they were cool then or for people like me who think they are cool now. Well, blow me down! Arrr! There is surely a "Goony" for everyone, arrr, from simple 3FNC t' much more challenging projects, ya bilge rat, 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. Arrr! Everyone needs a Goony in their lineup. Ahoy! They are fun to build, fun t' brin' t' t' range, fun t' fly, arrr, 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