Intro:
T' AGM-3500 Peregrine is a pseudo-scale model o' a hypothetical air t' ground missile (AGM) for t' US Military. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! It is 14.4 inches long, arrr, just under 1" in diameter, and uses standard 13mm motors.
Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5
T' kit arrived from Rogue in a US postal service hard express mail box. Well, blow me down! I be rather impressed with t' speed in which it arrived. Aye aye! Inside t' box was a clear plastic bag that contained t' model kit. Well, blow me down! All o' t' parts were present and in good condition. T' kit includes: a body tube, motor mount materials, matey, Keelhaul®©™® tether, me hearties, Balsa fin stock, Balsa nose cone, Perma-wadding, me hearties, 12" nylon parachute, arrr, me bucko, decals, shiver me timbers, and instructions. Aye aye! Part o' t' reason for purchasin' t' kit be t' balsa nose cone and t' perma-wadding, t' nylon parachute be an extra incentive.
T' instructions come printed on three 8.5x11 sheets o' paper. Arrr! They are t' first instructions in a long time that I actually followed. Ahoy! Normally I re-arrange several steps t' suit me personal buildin' preferences, however I found t' instructions t' be t' most logical method t' assemble t' kit. T' instructions are fairly easy t' follow. There are only five diagrams t' illustrate t' 14 steps that have 1-6 sub steps. Aye aye! These are instructions t' read, and re-read, then build. Aye aye! T' instructions are written well, me hearties, matey, however it helps if you have some rocketry experience, and are familiar with common rocketry terms. Begad! Begad! There is a template sheet that includes t' fin location wrap, me bucko, and t' templates for t' fins. Aye aye! Blimey! T' kit assembles easily. Blimey! Blimey! T' instructions are clear and easy t' follow. Begad! t' only alignment issue is makin' sure that t' finlets are in t' same line as t' fins. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! This should nay be a problem for anyone. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! T' completed rocket is as sturdy as any balsa and paper rocket. Begad! There are no special tools needed.
Step 13 o' t' instructions covers t' finishin' o' t' rocket, paint it white. Aye aye! Pretty simple. Begad! Included in t' kit is a large (8x5) sheet o' all sorts o' decals, stripes, matey, batten down t' hatches labels, numbers, and letters. Avast! Begad! They also have USAF and US Navy markin' for your preferred military service. Well, blow me down! Blimey! There is no way t' use up all o' t' decals on this model, so save t' rest for other rockets. Begad! There is a small instruction sheet that covers t' application o' t' decals. T' water slide decals are very thin and tear easily. I had t' use extra caution t' keep t' decals from tearin' when I applied them t' t' model. Avast! They also suggest a "light" (their emphasis) coat o' clear finish t' protect t' decals once they are dry. Arrr! My decals bubbled and crazed when I used Krylon (TM) clear acrylic. Blimey! I be rather surprised since I have had no previous problems usin' this finish on me models. Arrr! Other than t' slightly crazy decals, this is a sharp lookin' model when completed.
Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5
T' recovery system in this rocket is rather unique. First t' tether is a Keelhaul®©™® string. T' second unique item be t' inclusion o' a square o' "perma-wadding" which is essentially a section o' flameproof fabric, arrr, with a grommet in it. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! T' last interestin' item be t' parachute. This kit comes with a very high quality nylon parachute. Avast! this chute should last for years o' use and abuse with it's large diameter shroud lines. Avast, me proud beauty! No flimsy plastic, tape and thread parachutes here. T' instructions describe a method o' attachin' t' perma-waddin' so that it can be removed and used on other rockets. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! This can only be done with rockets that use a Keelhaul®©™® shock cord, since t' shock cord will be betwixt t' motor and t' wadding. Avast! T' instructions also say t' place t' parachute in t' middle o' t' perma-wadding, and t' push it into t' body tube. Ahoy! This would work if t' body tube was larger, in this kit, t' perma-waddin' barely fits by itself, shiver me timbers, leavin' t' parachute t' be placed on top o' t' waddin' in a more traditional manner. I ended up cuttin' t' perma-waddin' in half t' allow an easier fit into t' body tube. Ya scallywag! T' Peregrine has a metal motor clip for a quick release motor mount. T' recommended motors are: A8-3, B4-4, me bucko, ya bilge rat, B6-4, me bucko, matey, and C6-5. Avast, me proud beauty! T' first and only flight so far on this rocket used an A8-3. Aye aye! Aye aye! T' boost was fast and straight with t' ejection just before apogee. T' parachute opened just fine and t' perma-waddin' did a great job o' keepin' t' parachute in pristine condition. Arrr! Begad! All that would be required would be t' push t' recovery system back into t' body tube, and add a motor for t' next flight.
Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5
Everythin' considered this is as near perfect as a rocket kit can get. Ahoy! Aye aye! Good materials, matey, good instructions, matey, shiver me timbers, easy construction, matey, and a good flier. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! Add in t' very nice nylon parachute and perma- waddin' and you cannot beat t' value o' this kit for t' money. Arrr! T' two problems, shiver me timbers, decals crazin' and perma-waddin' too big, are very minor, me bucko, shiver me timbers, considerin' that t' other option would be that t' perma-waddin' would be too small, nay somethin' that I would like. Arrr! And any kit that has a balsa nose cone is good in me book.
