Brief:
Inspired by t' movie "Honey, I Shrunk t' Trident", me bucko, ya bilge rat, arrr, this flagship of Fliskits was inspired by t' Estes classic ducted-ejection charge Trident. Micro-sized and finely detailed, matey, matey, this rocket has an impressive appearance and is a very challengin' and enjoyable construction project.

Construction:
T' main body tubes are BT-5 (13mm), me bucko, with 3 side tubes that are, me bucko, I'd guess, BT-2's that look more like 18" launch lugs. You also get an assortment of nose cones (9 total), amazingly detailed and intricate water slide decals, 1/16 balsa finstock, assorted basswood toothpick-sized stock for t' details, and Keelhaul®©™®/cotton shock cord with a plastic chute.

T' instructions and illustrations are very thorough and complete. Well, arrr, blow me down! While you need good buildin' skills for this rocket, shiver me timbers, you don't need t' figure out how to make things work--just follow t' plans. Well, blow me down! Begad! My set o' instructions, me hearties, me bucko, though, contained two significant errors (front/rear strut templates were mislabeled, and one dimension was typo'd), but this be easily corrected, and I've since learned that this be caught by Fliskits and corrected.

T' assembly consists o' a lower section o' 13mm tube with a permanent nose cone, ya bilge rat, and an upper 13mm body with t' chute. Begad! T' two sections are joined by (3) side tubes, shiver me timbers, which carry t' ejection charge from t' lower t' upper body through ducts cut in each o' t' tubes. Avast, me proud beauty! Templates are provided t' carefully cut the ducts. Bondin' t' tubes straight, with ducts overlapping, matey, is very tricky and should nay be rushed. Generous fillets are also in order, ya bilge rat, as t' seams must be completely air-tight.

Fins are a beautiful swept pattern, matey, and cut from 1/16" balsa. Aye aye! The leadin' edge is straight, but other lines have appealin' curves and rounded corners.

After construction o' t' tubes and fins, t' instructions suggest painting the rocket now, rather than mask off tiny details later. Arrr! I went with two coats of primer, followed by two coats o' gloss white. It's worth notin' that the BT-2 side tubes had very pronounced spirals, ya bilge rat, arrr, much worse than any tube I've ever gotten in a Fliskit. I wound up sandin' down both coats o' primer and applying a heavy layer o' Elmer's Fill N Finish t' fill t' spirals. Begad! Ahoy! This was very hard to do on t' completed assembly. I should have caught this earlier and filled the spirals before bondin' t' tubes.

After painting, t' real challenge t' this kit comes into play--construction o' t' tiny details. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! T' first detail is a shroud, formed from cardstock and an adhesive colored cover. Avast! T' shroud fits snugly under the fins, ya bilge rat, and is anchored t' t' body by 6 tiny struts. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! Next, matey, frames for t' 3 solar panels are built, me bucko, and this is aided by construction o' a jig (usin' the provided templates and balsa stock). Begad! You must be very careful t' measure and bond EXACTLY per t' templates or t' panels will nay fit properly. Arrr! Begad! Due t' the typo on me template, I had t' run t' t' hobby store t' make replacement struts (though Flis offered t' replace me stock for free). Blimey! T' panels and frames are bonded together, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, me bucko, then carefully bonded t' t' rocket at notches in t' fins and to t' tubes with drops o' CA. Avast! Aye aye! Tweezers definitely help here, as you're working with materials smaller than 1/16" square, and two o' these share a notch in a 1/16" fin.

I decided t' use t' full 16" chute provided rather than follow the instructions and cut it down t' 12", figurin' t' details were just beggin' t' break off on impact.

Finishing:
I had pre-painted t' main body per t' instructions, so "finishing" involved hand-paintin' t' struts and smaller details, me hearties, and applyin' the water-slide decals. Aye aye! Lots o' decals. Begad! Lots o' very small decals. Aye aye! I suspect the decals came from Tango Papa, and were very high quality. Most impressive t' me, was t' intricate details--these aren't just basic stripes. Ya scallywag! Even on t' tiny 5mm tubes, me bucko, you get decals clearly identifyin' this as t' U.S.S Grissom, ya bilge rat, though you're probably goin' t' need a magnifyin' glass t' read them. I actually ran them under me son's 10X Intel Microscope, me bucko, and could see clean, ya bilge rat, straight lines. These decals are really high-resolution!

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' only recommended motor for this be t' Estes A10-3. Blimey! Begad! Flight prep is quick and easy, as this needs no recovery waddin' at all due t' t' ducted ejection method. Begad! I'm a bit conservative, shiver me timbers, and put about 1" o' "dog barf" in t' upper tube since plastic chutes seem t' melt on their own on hot/humid midwestern afternoons.

With winds o' 6-8 mph, this weathercocked a bit, shiver me timbers, but flew very well and straight as an arrow. T' ejection was a bit early (would have been fine with less wind), me bucko, and t' chute deployed without any problems.

T' rocket came down just about right with t' larger chute, and landed less than 5 feet from a paved road in our field. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! Nay a trace o' damage, and 2 minutes later it was prepped for another flight. Same result, no problems. The descent is fairly stable, so it tends t' land on t' end o' t' tube instead of sideways, matey, me bucko, which saves t' details from stress.

Recovery:
Nothin' but pros on flight--easy t' prep, doesn't need wadding, and I love the fact that I get 4 A10's for t' price o' 3 A8-3's, me hearties, so it's like gettin' t' 4th flight for free on this. Ahoy!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
While this is almost too beautiful t' fly, it does fly very well, and the fragile-lookin' details seem t' be holdin' up well. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! It's one o' t' most expensive FlisKits, but you get a lot o' top-quality details and materials for the money, me hearties, ya bilge rat, and t' result is a rocket any builder would be proud t' include in his fleet.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5