stickershock23
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2009
- Messages
- 0
- Reaction score
- -47
Well, I had some time to build and I thought I might share some of my impressions on the kit.
Overall. I like the kit. Cool rocket. and made even cooler by the fact I did the decals for NASA. so I just had to build one. I opened the box and thought COOL this is going to be fun
Balsa. Fey flimsy, I broke one fin sanding it. AGAINST the Grain.
Price. Fair price but I think the quality could have been better! and shipping seemed high. although I got it VERY FAST!
Decals. very nice set. They look great, I have not installed them yet (probably wont at this point..read on) but they look really nice.
Quality. Good things... The foam Capsule is nice, The fiber centering rings are great. most everything else is good except....
BAD THINGS. Ok here is were I am really disappointed. The body tube really stinks. it is WAY to flimsy (WAY to) when I glued the motor mount into it, the glue made the body tube shrink everywhere glue touched it. so I have two big winkles that run all the way atound the rocket. BAD! then I glued the fins on... same thing the cardboard wrinkled... so I spent some time, and filled them all in smoothed them out best as I could.
Then I primer-ed it.. BAD BAD again. the cardboard tube sucked up the primer, it delaminated in several places, bubbled up and wrinkled. all in all it loooks HORRIBLE. at this point I am so disappointed i might just throw it in the trash. the finish STINKS.
So BOTTOM line Don't waste your money. I would have been way better off ordering a nose cone from Sandman and scratch building the thing.
If you have one and have not built it yet. DON'T go out and find a tube to replace the one the kit comes with. or take the time and wrap a layer of glass around it first.
EDIT: Let me retract what I said in the previous paragraph. "don't waste your money" was a little harsh. I should have said. "Before you build this kit, understand it was built light to make it stable. and some very specific techniques will be needed to make this build nice and fly correct." this kit takes more that typical skills to finish. mark
The way the thing looks right now, I think i'll either toss it in the trash and chalk it up as a learning experience OR I'll rip the fins off of it. sand it down again. wrap a layer of glass on it and make new fins out of some thin baltic birch, make the through the wall and go with a 24mm mount. at least I'll get one cool flight out of it.
I'll try and post some pics later today.
Overall. I like the kit. Cool rocket. and made even cooler by the fact I did the decals for NASA. so I just had to build one. I opened the box and thought COOL this is going to be fun
Balsa. Fey flimsy, I broke one fin sanding it. AGAINST the Grain.
Price. Fair price but I think the quality could have been better! and shipping seemed high. although I got it VERY FAST!
Decals. very nice set. They look great, I have not installed them yet (probably wont at this point..read on) but they look really nice.
Quality. Good things... The foam Capsule is nice, The fiber centering rings are great. most everything else is good except....
BAD THINGS. Ok here is were I am really disappointed. The body tube really stinks. it is WAY to flimsy (WAY to) when I glued the motor mount into it, the glue made the body tube shrink everywhere glue touched it. so I have two big winkles that run all the way atound the rocket. BAD! then I glued the fins on... same thing the cardboard wrinkled... so I spent some time, and filled them all in smoothed them out best as I could.
Then I primer-ed it.. BAD BAD again. the cardboard tube sucked up the primer, it delaminated in several places, bubbled up and wrinkled. all in all it loooks HORRIBLE. at this point I am so disappointed i might just throw it in the trash. the finish STINKS.
So BOTTOM line Don't waste your money. I would have been way better off ordering a nose cone from Sandman and scratch building the thing.
If you have one and have not built it yet. DON'T go out and find a tube to replace the one the kit comes with. or take the time and wrap a layer of glass around it first.
EDIT: Let me retract what I said in the previous paragraph. "don't waste your money" was a little harsh. I should have said. "Before you build this kit, understand it was built light to make it stable. and some very specific techniques will be needed to make this build nice and fly correct." this kit takes more that typical skills to finish. mark
The way the thing looks right now, I think i'll either toss it in the trash and chalk it up as a learning experience OR I'll rip the fins off of it. sand it down again. wrap a layer of glass on it and make new fins out of some thin baltic birch, make the through the wall and go with a 24mm mount. at least I'll get one cool flight out of it.
I'll try and post some pics later today.
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