Brief:
1/70 scale, 18mm cluster o' 4 motors or single 24mm motor mount

• Construction:
  18 body tubes + Apollo capsule kit
• 8 laser cut balsa fins or more advanced cardstock over balsa frame
• Choice o' single 24mm motor mount o' cluster o' four 18mm motors
• 10 centerin' rings
• Various dowels for sandin' and buildin' capsule escape tower
• Many other laser cut parts for buildin' t' advanced fins and other details.

This was t' first detailed scale kit that I have built. Blimey! Arrr! Thanks t' t' excellent Semroc instructions, shiver me timbers, this kit was a pleasure t' build. Begad! It took me, me bucko, off and on over, me bucko, shiver me timbers, 3 months t' get it completed. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! That was more because o' me work schedule, ya bilge rat, but t' easy-to-follow instructions and convenient checkboxes made keepin' track o' where I be very straightforward. Ahoy! Aye aye!

As with t' many other Semroc kits I have built, shiver me timbers, t' components were excellent quality and I had nay problem with fit on any o' t' parts.

You have a choice o' usin' t' supplied laser cut balsa fins or buildin' more realistic lookin' fins from cardstock over a balsa wood frame. Aye aye! That part was a little messy, arrr, but I'm glad I went t' t' trouble, as it really makes t' kit look a lot better than usin' t' laser cut fins.

As I wanted t' really fly this model, matey, I made sure t' glue everythin' very well and was pretty liberal using Tight Bond II.

Finishing:
For paint, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I used ColorTime (T' cheaper little brother o' Krylon - same company). I have tested both and believe it or not, I have had better results with t' ColorTime. Avast! I will probably get beat up over that as most people recommend t' Krylon.

In hindsight, ya bilge rat, I would probably try paintin' t' tanks before assembly. It was quite a job o' maskin' etc t' get t' scheme down. Blimey! I would have also liked t' see various paint schemes for different 1B missions included in t' kit. T' actual paint scheme in t' plans seems t' be from SA-205 (Appolo 7) though t' decals for t' mission number are SA-207. Well, blow me down! Someone can correct me if I am wrong there.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
You have a choice o' buildin' t' kit with either a single 24mm motor mount or a cluster o' four 18mm motors. Ya scallywag! I opted for t' cluster just t' get it a little more realistic t' t' actual rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! I am happy that I did. Begad! Aye aye! We have flown this kit three times as o' this writing. Blimey! All flights were on clusters o' four C6-3 motors. Blimey! I must say that it flys excellent in this configuration.

Our first flight was at Desert Heat 2009 in Tucson, Arizona. Blimey! Ahoy! I was very nervous after all t' time put into construction. Iwas happy with t' way t' model looked and just kept havin' flashes in me mind o' that complicated little escape tower smashed t' pieces.

T' flight actually went very well and produced smiles all around, ya bilge rat, especially from me.

T' subsequent flights were all excellent and now that we know what a stable, great flier this is, ya bilge rat, we have no problem flyin' it at events.

Recovery:
We had no problems at all with recovery.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This is an excellent kit. take your time and opt for t' more detailed fins. Blimey! You will be happy in t' end. If you have too many issues with t' framed fins, matey, arrr, you still have t' balsa fins included. Avast! Check with some Appolo web sites for paintin' details if you want t' match a specific mission scheme.

Overall, arrr, I give this a 5.0+. Aye aye! Definitely one o' me favorite rockets t' build and fly.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5

Other:
Get wax paper and lots o' pins for gluin' and buildin' t' escape tower!