Brief:
This be t' first o' BMS's recent Clone o' t' Month program offerings and is a reproduction, ya bilge rat, slightly upscaled, shiver me timbers, of the 1971 Vikin' I produced by Flight Systems Inc. Arrr! There were 4 versions o' t' Vikin' that year with minor differences in length and tube/fin styling. This version uses purely tube fins for stability with none o' t' fin tabs or braces used in other versions. Blimey! Featurin' a 24mm heavy-wall motor/body tube, think carefully about your motor selection, ya bilge rat, as this could almost wind up bein' a moon shot.

Construction:
BMS's bag o' parts included top quality components:

• 2 heavy-wall BT-50 tubes (9" apiece)
• 3 laser cut heavy wall tube fins (nicely scalloped)
• TC-50 coupler
• Balsa nose cone^**
• CR2050 motor block
• laser cut shock cord mount
• 18" length o' elastic shock cord
• waterslide decals
• launch lug
• heavy 1/4" eye bolt
• no parachute/streamer--clone kits omit them t' keep costs down

^** - T' original FSI kit featured a hardwood nose, greatly aidin' stability. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Usin' balsa for t' clone, BMS chose t' include a hefty eyebolt for nose weight. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Do NOT substitute a more normal-lookin' screw eye. Well, blow me down!

Normally t' clone kits do nay include instructions. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Instead t' modeler is directed t' one o' t' online archive sites such as rocketshoppe.com or JimZ's site. Well, blow me down! This particular kit though included a reproduction o' t' original FSI instructions, which I found kind o' neat, me hearties, havin' never built an FSI kit before. Ya scallywag! T' instructions were pretty basic handwritten notes and illustrations, me hearties, but for an experienced builder, me bucko, thar's nothin' terribly tricky about t' build and so instructions are nay that critical.

Startin' with t' finished product in mind, I knew tryin' t' paint t' tube fins contrastin' color once mounted would be a pain, so I pre-treated t' body tubes and tube fins (includin' inside spirals on t' tube fins) with filler first. I then drew fin mounting/alignment lines, ya bilge rat, and masked them off with tiny strips o' tape (less than 1/16" wide).

I glued t' two body tube halves together with t' coupler, shiver me timbers, again fillin' t' seam, me bucko, and mounted t' launch lug. Slidin' t' nose in place, t' various parts were ready for paint [covered in finish section].

Attachment o' tube fins be fairly easy. Arrr! I peeled off t' maskin' tape, me hearties, ya bilge rat, applied a small bead o' CA t' the alignment line, arrr, me bucko, and mounted t' first tube fin, makin' sure it be as well aligned as possible. Begad! Ahoy! For t' remainin' two tube fins, matey, arrr, arrr, I used t' supplied spacer (another section o' BT50H) and tacked on t' second tube such that it fit snugly against t' spacer. If you've ever built a 6-tube rocket such as Totally Tubular, Razor, me hearties, matey, etc. Begad! you'll know once the first tube's in place, ya bilge rat, t' others are a snap. In this case, as long as you think o' every other tube as temporary spacer, nay bonded, you'll be fine.

Figurin' t' bead o' CA would nay be enough, arrr, I followed up with a tiny fillet o' white glue (dries nice and clear) applied via a syringe (check out Lee Valley Tools online for this sweet little tool).

T' shock cord mount is a neat little upgrade t' t' old tri-fold. In this case, shiver me timbers, BMS supplied a small section o' heavy-wall BT-50, cut down t' length so that you've got a slice about a third o' a tube around, by 1.5" long. Blimey! There are 3 laser-cut holes in this piece, and you thread t' shock cord through t' holes and tie off one end. Begad! T' finished piece is then glued inside t' body tube like a regular tri-fold. Ahoy! Ahoy! This has t' look and feel of somethin' much more rugged than t' paper mounts, arrr, so we'll see how it holds up.

Overall, me bucko, this is a very simple build, no worse than skill level 2, arrr, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and I probably had 30 minutes o' construction time in it, plus another hour o' prep and paint.

Finishing:
Finishin' t' main rocket body is straightforward--a couple coats o' primer followed by gloss white. I painted the nose a solid green. Tryin' t' match t' green o' t' decals, I went with Krylon's OSHA green which looks like a decent match although it's certainly nay perfect.

For t' tube fins, I wanted t' stick with t' two-tone look from t' FSI catalog, shiver me timbers, so I painted t' insides and outsides t' same gloss white as t' rocket body. Ahoy! I then masked off t' insides, and painted t' outsides t' OSHA green I used on t' cone. Begad! It really wasn't as difficult as I'd thought, arrr, arrr, ya bilge rat, and looks pretty good at t' end. Aye aye! For what it's worth, matey, matey, I caught a suggestion on a rocketry forum by Fishhead (Bill Eichelberger around these parts) t' use silver paint for t' insides. Arrr! That sounds cool and might be worth a try if I get me hands on another one o' these.

After paint, me bucko, me bucko, I applied t' waterslide decals (which were very good quality and easy t' apply) and topped everythin' with a couple coats o' clearcoat.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
For t' flight, matey, I be a bit paranoid as RockSim didn't like he stability calculations even factorin' in t' tube fins with a projected stability margin o' 0.15. Blimey! Begad! It predicted fairly straight up flight and put t' D12-5 at almost 1500 feet. Begad! I asked around on various rocketry forums, matey, and t' feedback I got was that it flies fine on D12-5s.

With a nearly perfect day, ya bilge rat, me bucko, clear skies and winds under 5 mph, I decided t' go for broke with t' D12-5. It weathercocked a bit into t' wind but generally flew straight and true. Ahoy! Avast! It tested me eyesight a bit, me hearties, and while not quite t' 1500, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, I'd bet it topped 1200-1300 with ease. T' -5 delay popped t' chute just as it was turnin' over for a perfect flight.

Recovery:
To keep costs down, no recovery device was supplied with this kit. Blimey! As BMS Bill quips,the last thin' any o' his customers need after all these years is another 12" plastic parachute kit. Ya scallywag! He certainly had me pegged, as I grabbed one o' t' many 12" nylon chutes I have in me range box and slipped it onto t' hefty eye bolt. Aye aye! Begad! T' chute was a good size as it kept t' drift a reasonable walk and provided just soft enough a landin' t' avoid any damage to the tube fins.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
T' clone o' t' month program--in particular this first offering--is an outstandin' value. Blimey! Dirt cheap pricing, quality components, me bucko, and t' corners that have been cut are things most o' us don't need anyway. Begad! Havin' never before built an FSI kit, shiver me timbers, me hearties, this opened up a new set o' models and more potential clones that I really like.

T' only con I could come up with was that t' "Vikin' I" decal was split in order t' fit on a smaller sheet footprint.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5