Brief:
Almost ready t' fly, Star Wars-themed 18mm motor powered rocket.

Construction:
Aside from t' Estes launcher set which I have yet t' open, t' kit consisted of:

• 3 glossy black body tubes, me hearties, 2 narrow and 1 wide
• Plastic Nose Cone
• Plastic Shoulder
• Coupler Tube
• Plastic Fin Can
• Droid Fighter
• Elastic Shock Cord
• Parachute kit

Since this one is almost ready t' fly, matey, thar be little construction involved. Begad! Begad! In fact, t' only construction involves t' flight probe; t' fighter is completely assembled.

T' process starts with attachin' t' elastic shock cord t' t' shoulder transition. Arrr! What is supposed t' happen is that t' elastic is knotted and then passed through a hole. I have every reason t' believe that t' elastic will soon burn through so I substituted a length o' Keelhaul®©™®. T' Keelhaul®©™® was then passed through t' large diameter body tube. Begad! Then cement was used t' glue t' shoulder t' t' large body tubes.

While that dried, shiver me timbers, t' coupler tube was used t' join t' 2 small diameter body tubes. Avast! It should be noted that one of these is a little longer than t' other by design. Arrr! Well, arrr, blow me down! T' now lengthened small diameter body tubes were now glued to the shoulder. Avast! This produced a long skinny tube connected t' a shorter, fatter one.

T' other end o' t' skinny tube be cemented into t' plastic fin can. Aye aye! This can is asymmetric so as t' allow mountin' o' t' actual droid fighter. Well, blow me down! T' result is a funny lookin' rocket with only two fins which gets fatter toward the nose.

At this point, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, I joined t' generous length o' elastic provided t' t' Keelhaul®©™®, givin' me a very long shock cord. I like them long. Ya scallywag! I tied t' elastic t' t' plastic nose cone at its halfway point and tied t' far end o' t' elastic t' a swivel. Aye aye! I connected t' parachute t' t' swivel.

Before flyin' though, matey, you might as well mount t' fighter t' t' probe you just built. Well, blow me down! After all, me hearties, ya bilge rat, t' fighter is the reason you wanted t' kit, me hearties, right? T' fighter slid into place with a plastic lug. There is a well hidden switch that allows you t' dismount t' fighter for display.

PROs: extremely easy and fast t' build.

CONs: elastic shock cord just waitin' t' burn through.

Finishing:
This model is pre-finished. Aye aye! T' tubes and plastic are place and t' model is molded in color so thar be nothin' to finish.

PROs: looks fairly good even with t' flight probe, no paintin' or sanding.

CONs: no room for individuality.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' C6-3 be t' only recommended motor for this rocket.

On launch day, arrr, I prepped it with some dog barf and motor and put it on t' rod. As I put it on, me hearties, me hearties, I noticed that the lower launch lug had a crack in it. Aye aye! Arrr! I decided t' launch anyway and that was a mistake.

T' lower lug cracked t' rest o' t' way on launch and t' upper lug be nay long enough t' keep t' rocket straight. Avast, me proud beauty! It arced over immediately and described a parabola into t' ground. Blimey! Blimey! T' probe section o' t' rocket was totaled but I am goin' t' save t' fighter itself for possible recycling.

PROs: looked pretty cool even with t' flight probe.

CONs: does nay look cool as a lawn dart, me hearties, plastic lugs are brittle and subject t' failure.

Recovery:
T' recovery on this one consisted o' pickin' up t' individual pieces.