Brief:
1.85x upscale o' t' Starlight F-32 Avenger, includin' upgradin' t' motor from 18mm t' 24mm.

Modifications:
I have t' Starlight kit, matey, ya bilge rat, me hearties, so I decided t' build both in parallel. Arrr! Begad! I traced t' win' fins, me hearties, tail fin, and canard fins onto paper. Ahoy! Arrr! I also made 5 registration marks 1" apart. Arrr! Blimey! I then brought t' drawin' t' a copy machine and enlarged until t' registration marks showed I achieved t' 1.85x size.

I positioned t' long motor hook onto t' ST-950 tube so 1/2" extended beyond t' bottom o' t' tube. Ya scallywag! I made a mark and slit t' allow insertin' t' motor hook. Begad! I cut a 3/8" piece o' an expended D motor t' make a motor block. Blimey! Well, blow me down! A little glue and t' spent casin' t' push t' block down t' t' hook wire. Blimey! Finally, I used 4 o' t' centering rings. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! I notched 2 o' t' rings t' clear t' hook. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! T' original kit has its aft centerin' rin' even with t' body tube. Arrr! Its centerin' rin' is 1/4" thick. Avast, me proud beauty! T' Semroc rings are fiber board, so I glued 2 together t' increase the thickness. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! These rings glue t' t' motor tube 0.925" from t' aft o' t' tube. Ahoy! Ahoy! T' third rin' overlapped t' hook by about 1/2" from t' top. Begad! T' last rin' glued onto t' front end about 1/8" down.

While t' motor mount was drying, I worked on t' fins. Begad! Since t' enlarged win' fins are 6.388" long, ya bilge rat, me hearties, me hearties, I decided they should use through t' tube mounting. I sketched tabs onto t' enlarged fin pattern for both t' wings and the tail fin (I did nay bother with tabs for t' canards since they are small and t' motor tube did nay extend that far), me bucko, ya bilge rat, takin' into account t' need t' avoid t' third centerin' rin' on t' motor mount and then cut all t' fins out. Meanwhile, me hearties, I learned a valuable lesson: pay attention t' which tube is which. Ahoy! I drew tabs for t' difference between the ST-18 and t' ST-13, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, but t' motor used t' ST-9. Well, blow me down! Blimey! My tabs were too short! I cut some extra balsa that I glued onto my tabs t' lengthen them.

I took a strip o' paper, wrapped it around t' ST-18 body tube and marked where they overlapped. I removed t' paper and measured its length. Ahoy! Ahoy! I divided t' length by 3 and by 4 and marked t' paper accordingly. Avast, me proud beauty! T' "by 3" marks indicated where t' wings and tail go, me hearties, t' "by 4" indicated where the canards and launch lug belong. I reapplied t' paper t' t' tube, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, transferred t' marks, and then lengthened t' marks along t' body tube.

I double checked t' tab placement on t' wings and tail against t' motor mount assembly. Ahoy! I held t' win' and tail fins against t' body t' mark where t' cutouts would be required for t' tabs. Arrr! Then usin' a new, arrr, sharp blade, I cut out t' tab slots. I checked t' fit o' t' fins and then glued t' motor mount in with t' motor hook aligned with the tail line. Ahoy!

I again checked t' fins into t' slots and t' fit with t' motor tube. Begad! After me first error, shiver me timbers, I made t' tabs a little long and sanded them down t' fit, me bucko, ya bilge rat, then glued t' wings and tail on. After t' fins were dry, I added t' canards and launch lug. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! Once they were dry, I applied a glue fillet t' all t' joints. Begad! Last, me hearties, I cut t' 1/4" dowel t' size and glued these t' t' ends o' t' win' fins and t' t' sides o' t' launch lug. Avast! T' ST-13 tube got cut into 2 lengths each 5.088" long. Avast, me proud beauty! These got glued onto t' tops o' t' win' fins.

I used 4' o' 1/4" elastic with a standard Estes tri-fold mount for t' shock cord.

T' nose cone was a bit long for t' 1.85x upscale plus it be more pointy. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I cut 1/4" off t' top and then sanded t' cone t' be more rounded and a better match t' t' original cone. A screw eye be installed t' tie t' shock cord to. Arrr! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I am goin' t' use a stock 18" chute that I have lyin' around.

Construction:
This was me first attempt at upscalin' a rocket. Aye aye! I did nay want anythin' too wild or difficult, matey, but I wanted somethin' more than a 3FNC rocket. Begad! Ahoy! I finally decided on t' Starlight F-32 Avenger. This kit looks like a delta wing fighter with tubes as engine pods/nacelles with additional canards and some dowels for details.

My first design decision be how much t' upscale. Ahoy! Aye aye! T' original kit uses 2 different size body tube, a BT-50 for the main tube and BT-20 for t' "engine nacelles". After comparin' available tubes (and knowin' t' delivery speed which I needed since I procrastinated, me hearties, again), me bucko, I went with Semroc products. Ya scallywag! I replaced t' BT-50 with their ST-181120 (a 1.885x factor) and t' BT-20 be replaced with their ST-13105 tube (a 1.821x factor). Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! I used t' average (1.85x) for all t' other dimensions. Avast! T' longest size 18 tube is only 18" long. Begad! Blimey! I needed 22.2" for t' new body tube, arrr, shiver me timbers, so I ordered 2 o' t' 12" tubes plus an HTC-18 coupler. One o' t' tubes I cut down t' 10.2" and used t' coupler t' join t' tubes t' have an overall 22.2" length. Other parts that I ordered included:

• BC-1853 Balsa nose cone
• CR-918 Centerin' rings (pkg o' 6)
• EH-38 Long Engine Hook
• LL-3B 3/16" X 2" launch lugs
• ST-950 Size 9 x 5" body tube for motor mount.

In addition, I picked up some 1/4" dowel and 3/16" x 6" x 36" balsa from AC Moore.

Finishing:
I used Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish for t' spirals on t' tubes plus I sealed all t' balsa. I first used Krylon gray primer (I feel it has better fillin' properties and is better for sanding), sanded, ya bilge rat, then Krylon white primer, and then finally 2 coats o' Krylon gloss white.

I used a copy machine with a ruler t' enlarge t' decals by 1.85x. Ahoy! T' decals are mostly black and white. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! T' red stripes I plan t' use tape t' duplicate, but for me initial flights I flew both this upscale and t' original kit without decals.

Flight:
I did a total o' 4 flights. Avast! Begad! T' first three all were on D12-3 (with an extender since I made t' motor mount for an E length) and t' fourth flight was on an E9-4.

When I first went t' me local launch field (a school yard), I had t' turn around as t' field was in use. Begad! After dinner, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I returned t' t' field and it was empty. Avast! Avast! I set up 2 launch pads (I was also flyin' t' original kit).

For t' upscaled version, arrr, all flights were nice and straight. Avast! Arrr! I was actually surprised that with t' large wing fins it did nay weathercock more, arrr, but then again t' winds were very light (<5mph). Begad! Aye aye! T' D12-3 be just about perfect--the nose was just goin' down when t' chute would be ejected. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! For t' E9-4, shiver me timbers, me bucko, t' chute did nay deploy until about a second after apogee.

Recovery:
I had no problems with me shock cord. Ya scallywag! I had protected everythin' with a generous load o' dog barf. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! T' descent rate was good--nice soft landings. Aye aye! My only issue be t' field is shielded by some hills so at ground level where I launched there were no winds. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Higher up it was a different story. I had a good hike through a weed field after t' E9 flight, but I got it back.