Brief:
MicroMaxx sized downscale o' t' Estes kit, arrr, T' USS Andromeda.

Construction:
T' kit contains two sizes o' tubes, ya bilge rat, some fin stock, Keelhaul®©™® shock cord, a Mylar streamer and various other components. Begad! T' kit comes with two pages o' instructions and a fin template. Mine was signed and numbered #3. Resistin' t' urge t' save it was difficult, me bucko, so I had a hard time just opening the package.

T' directions were pretty straightforward. Begad! Everythin' but t' nosecone is polystyrene so regular model glue was in order. Avast, me proud beauty! I really liked t' alternate method o' deployment. T' kit allows t' streamer ejectin' at t' nose cone or havin' it just break apart at t' body midsection. Aye aye! I chose t' streamer from the nose cone method. Avast, me proud beauty!

I found two problems with t' kit: T' nose cone was wrong shape bein' pointed, but this was easily remedied with sand paper. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! I'm nay sure what happened here, but the launch lugs were too small for me Quest MicroMaxx launcher. Begad! Begad! Unfortunately, I didn't discover this until after they glued t' t' rocket. I had t' drill them out with a 1/16" drill bit in a pin vise. Well, blow me down! Although nay a major problem, me hearties, it would be nice t' see some decals in t' kit.

Finishing:
After finishin' t' assembly o' t' kit, arrr, me bucko, I used Bondo spot putty t' lengthen the transition and filled in all t' areas needin' filler. Aye aye!

Paintin' be a chore but havin' a 15 foot tall version in t' room made it easy t' get it right. I first sprayed one light coat o' primer over t' entire rocket. Ahoy! Blimey! I then painted t' whole thin' orange. Begad! This gets t' areas needing orange but it keeps t' whole thin' uniform in color and makes it easier for the next step. I then applied tape masks t' all areas that I wanted t' keep orange then painted t' whole thin' black. I applied t' white markings with acrylic craft paint usin' a #0 brush. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Blimey!

The instructions suggested usin' markers t' color it. Arrr! Begad! Blimey! While it would have made it much easier, it wouldn't have looked as nice. Avast! Blimey! (I'm a little fanatical about Andromedas.)

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
It was hard t' get t' streamer in. Ya scallywag! (I'm gettin' too old for these small rockets.) It made 3 perfect flights t' 50-60 feet. Well, blow me down! Poker straight.

Recovery:
Perfect deployment on streamer at apogee all three times. Begad! Blimey!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I feel that it needs decals and a properly shaped nose cone. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! For me, me bucko, t' nose cone be no big deal because I easily sanded it t' t' appropriate shape.

This is a great kit, arrr, but I may be biased (seein' how I have several sizes.) All o' t' dimensions appear t' be right on.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5