A local hobby shop was going out of business and I bought everything that was left for $100. I figured it to be about $300 worth of stuff. In that, I gained a Custom Razor and since I like tube-fin rockets I went ahead and built this one.

This kit is designed as a Skill Level 1 for the beginner and starter. Yes, you build it, but it is not necessary to paint it as it comes with gloss yellow tubes and a black plastic nose cone. So I just built it the way the kit was originally intended.

See my Tube-Fin Rocket Comparison Page

The Razor comes with a plastic nose cone, a single 9" body tube, six (6) 1 7/8" tube fins, an 18mm motor mount with a motor retainer clip, a short (12") piece of elastic shock cord and a plastic 12" parachute. There are some water transfer decals for the finishing touch.

CONSTRUCTION:

The instructions for the kit were thorough and allowed for any skill of builder to be successful in assembly of the Razor. They include diagrams to ensure accuracy. They also included finishing (although that is only putting on the decals) and flight instructions.

As mentioned, I planned to build this rocket quickly and with no plans to paint it since the body and fin tubes were already gloss yellow and the nose cone was black. I literally assembled this rocket in 5 minutes. All except the shock cord and parachute. I used Quick Grab glue on this model (additional comments about Quick Grab glue) for everything except gluing the 3-fold shock cord mount into place.

I decided not to use the 12" piece of elastic because I feel it is too short, so I added 18" of 1/16" Kevlar® to it. I used the Kevlar® in the 3-fold method of shock cord attachment. I also replaced the parachute with a 18" x 3" plastic streamer just to help in recovery. It is such a light rocket that I would rather see it drop faster.

Even though the kit is designed so that you don't have to paint, the tube spirals are very evident. The black water-transfer decals include tube stripes, the numbers 1 through 6 for each tube and the word "Razor".

Overall, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this kit 3 ½ points. It's fast and easy, like a skill level one should be but also has too short of a shock cord and this would have been a good candidate for a streamer (like Custom's Serval came with).

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

Custom recommended the following motors: 1/2A6-2, A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, C6-5, and C6-7.

The first day I could fly the Razor was perfect! No wind and so I loaded it up with a C6-7 for its first flight. I had added a piece of Rogue Perma-wadding so preparation was easy. At ignition, this little guy was out of here and it went very high, in fact I lost track until the tracking smoke. It was clear that it was still going up upon ejection. The streamer deployed and it was recovered close by.

The next opportunity I had to fly was also very nice, so I loaded up the Apogee C10-7 and let her rip! Wow, zoom off the pad and straight up, except for a little tight tail swing. It was way up there and I could track the position by the nice amount of tracking smoke in the C10. It arced over and ejected and then I heard the ejection a split second later. The streamer was folded/rolled and got caught in the shock cord and the rocket fell to the ground with no damage. However, the poor Rogue Perma-wadding just isn't cut out to handle the powerful Apogee motor ejection charges!

The third flight, in the same day, was also on an Apogee motor, the C4-5. This time I used some wadding and the remains of the Perma-wadding. Again, ignition and a straight flight (no wiggle this time) and you could hear the extra time in the burn. It was at apogee, perfect, when the ejection charge fired. I followed the rocket down only to find it missing the nose cone and steamer.

For FLIGHT/RECOVERY, I would rate this kit 4 points. It is definitely a fun flier after changing the shock cord and adding a streamer. You can fly it on 1/2A's, A's and B's, but I was taking it to its limits. Make sure you have a calm day and a large field with C motors and have some fun!

Overall, the Razor is good first rocket for someone looking for a Tube-Fin. It is fast to assemble and gives nice flights. Make the modifications though, because otherwise I fear you'll only be getting a couple of flights on it before banging the body tube, breaking the shock cord or losing it on a parachute. I give the kit an OVERALL rating of 3 ½ points.