Review copied, with permission, shiver me timbers, from Sky High Hobbies.

Brief:

T' Zenith 2 Payloader is a high flyin' 2 stage rocket with a clear plastic payload bay. Begad! It still lives on today as a slightly larger Zenith 2 Payloader rocket from QUEST Rockets. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! This be one o' t' molds that Quest bought from MPC when they went out o' business.

It's a fairly straight forward design with 3 slightly larger fins on t' first stage, and 3 smaller sharper fins on t' 2nd stage boost rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' nose cone and coupler that joins t' booster t' t' clear payload bay are both made o' balsa.

T' kit contains:

T' Zenith 2 Payloader is one o' t' Mach 10 series o' MPC rocket kits. Well, blow me down! It comes in a card board box and doesn't have vacuum formed detail parts that t' plastic packaged MPC kits have. Ahoy! Arrr! It does come with a block o' permanent flame proof waddin' and a good amount o' water slide decals. Begad! Aye aye! It has some roll patterns and you can choose t' deck it out as a NASA bird or an Air Force bird.

Construction:

Assembly began by gluin' t' booster joiner tube into t' first stage tube. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! Once again correct measurements on these parts and t' engine mounts is critical for gettin' all o' t' stages t' fit together properly. Aye aye! Aye aye! T' engine mounts were assembled and glued and set aside t' dry. Ahoy! Aye aye! It's very important t' follow t' instructions t' get t' engine mount centerin' rings in their proper position so that t' stages will seat together correctly. Begad! Begad! As they were dryin' both sets o' fins were cut from their sheets. Aye aye! Begad! Each set o' 3 were pinned and sanded t' be identically sized. Avast! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Then they were unpinned and formed by sandin' compound angles into t' leadin' and trailin' edges. Ya scallywag! T' booster and 1st stage tube were put together and t' lines for t' fins were measured and drawn on both stages together. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! When t' fins were ready t' be glued on I followed what I normally do t' get multistage rockets t' look and perform their best. Blimey! Which is . Begad! When mountin' t' fins on this, me bucko, or any other, multistage rocket, ya bilge rat, I've found that it is best t' do it while all o' t' stages are fitted together. Aye aye! I start with t' last stage and work me way up t' rocket. Well, blow me down! When all o' t' fins are secured t' t' last stage I move t' t' next progressive stage makin' sure each fin is lined up with t' fin behind it. Ahoy! This makes for a very neat and precise appearance. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! It also insures that t' rocket will have very stable flights.

I painted t' payload tube coupler before gluin' it into t' payload tube. Arrr! Use plastic cement, arrr, me bucko, arrr, nay wood glue, t' join t' coupler t' t' plastic payload tube. Avast, me proud beauty! T' metal eye screw be then screwed and glued into t' center o' t' bottom o' t' payload coupler. Well, blow me down! T' nose cone is nay glued on but it must have a nice snug fit. T' get t' best fit, ya bilge rat, Sand it or add scotch tape as you may need. Ahoy! You don't want it poppin' off at apogee and spewin' your payload bay's contents out at 2000 feet AGL. Begad! I assembled t' 10" six sided parachute usin' t' latchin' swivel hook and it gets attached t' t' eye screw on t' payload tube coupler. Ahoy! T' shock cord is also tied t' t' eye screw and mounted t' t' booster tube by, again, shiver me timbers, arrr, threadin' t' cord through 3 holes in a piece o' card stock and gluin' it into t' booster tube far enough in so that it won't interfere with t' chute or nose cone. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! I gave this high flyin' bird A Great yellow and red paint job in keepin' with it's classic scheme.

Summary:

After havin' built many Quest produced Zenith 2 Payloader rocket kits, I really enjoyed gettin' me hands on t' original. Avast! It’s a lot o' fun workin' with t' older style balsa parts like t' nose cone and coupler. Begad! Aye aye! Most o' these types o' parts are plastic on modern kits. Blimey! It takes a little bit o' skill and a lot o' care t' get t' fins lined up just right, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, but it is nay too difficult t' do. Well, blow me down! Once you do get them all lined up nicely, and get a smooth shiny paint job on it, you may agree with me that it’s one o' t' best lookin' rockets in t' MPC line-up.