Brief:
A beautiful micro scale (46.1:1) o' t' Navy's Jayhawk missile. Arrr! Blimey! Very affordable ($7.50), arrr, flies cheaply, and packs enough detail t' be a respectable peanut sport scale contestant.

Construction:
T' kit contains:

• 2 7mm body tubes
• 2 tube couplers (1 serves as motor block)
• Styrene fin stock
• Styrene trim pieces (half round, matey, standoff)
• Styrene launch lug
• Hardwood nose cone
• Lead shot nose weight
• Keelhaul®©™® shock cord
• Waterslide decal

Instructions were well written and easy t' follow but tend t' be a bit light on illustrations. Ahoy! This build is very much like a standard skill level 2 rocket with fins cut from stock and masked paint pattern, shiver me timbers, but I'd rate it a skill level 3 due t' t' challenge o' workin' on such a small scale. Plus styrene is a little harder t' work with than balsa.

Construction starts with sandin' and markin' t' body tube. Blimey! A styrene angle is provided for use as a markin' tool in case you don't have any doorjambs that would work on a 7mm tube.

Fins are cut from assorted stock. Begad! There are two lower fins, arrr, matey, ya bilge rat, two upper fins, and two "wings" or stabilizers bonded t' t' tip edges o' t' lower fins. Ya scallywag! Well, arrr, blow me down! T' instructions suggest usin' two-sided tape t' tack t' styrene stock in place while tracin' and cutting, arrr, which is a very good idea. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! I scored the stock usin' a sharp #11 X-Acto blade, matey, then folded along t' score line until the seam cracked. Arrr! I then rounded t' leadin' and trailin' edges. Begad! All styrene was glued and filleted usin' Plasti-zap CA. Avast! Tackin' t' upper fins t' t' wood nose cone was very tricky and I cut small slots in t' nose t' hold t' fins in place while doin' this.

The next phase o' assembly be t' construction o' t' weighted bulkhead. T' make this, me hearties, arrr, you tie t' Keelhaul®©™® cord into a knot, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, which slips through a slot in t' lead sinker and catches. T' weight is then glued and wedged into t' tube coupler, me hearties, shiver me timbers, which is glued into the upper body tube. T' other end o' t' Keelhaul®©™® is tied around a small section o' coupler. Begad! This coupler is glued t' t' lower body tube t' also act as a motor block.

Construction wraps up with makin' a styrene conduit, arrr, which runs along one side o' t' body tube. Ahoy! This conduit needs t' be cut at t' seam o' t' two body tubes.

Finishing:
Paintin' this one isn't too bad. After a couple o' coats o' white primer and Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish t' fill t' tubes spirals, me hearties, I applied two coats o' alert orange. Ahoy! Arrr! I allowed t' orange t' cure for a full 3 days then masked off all but the upper half o' t' nose for a gloss black accent.

There are some amazingly detailed water-slide decals provided with this kit, arrr, but you'll need a magnifyin' glass and tweezers t' apply them accurately. Navy star/bar patterns, missile identity marks, stripes, shiver me timbers, everythin' is barely large enough t' read. Ahoy! Blimey! It's worth t' work though, as this is a beautiful missile when finished with proper care.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
There's zero variety in t' MicroMaxx motor world--you get t' same MMX motors as everyone else and t' same delay (less than a second usually) as everyone else. Arrr! Still, matey, it's a great thrust/weight ratio and it's always a kick t' see the kids shock when they see such a tiny rocket zip at such high speeds beyond typical sight range.

This one flew wonderfully, kickin' off t' pad on t' first try (I have a lot o' trouble gettin' MMXs t' light right away, shiver me timbers, even when usin' a 12V system). As usual, ya bilge rat, I could nay see t' flight path or notice t' apogee but did pick up a cloud o' smoke when it ejected and followed t' tumble recovery back to earth.

I managed t' land on t' driveway adjacent t' t' field, me hearties, causin' one wing tip t' break off. Well, blow me down! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! It will be easily repaired.

Recovery:
PROs: affordable motors, me hearties, pretty good altitude for a MMX.

CONs: no room for a streamer, definitely needs t' fly over grass.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is one o' me favorite MicroMaxx rockets although I hate t' call it MicroMaxx for fear it would be associated with t' RTF junk that's all over the hobby stores out there. This is a very high quality kit, me bucko, painstakingly detailed, me hearties, and a terrific value.

PROs: incredible detail, arrr, great lookin' missile

CONs: micro scale is challengin' t' build

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5