Brief:
Single stage D power scale model of an X-Prize rocket with 18" parachute recovery. It has a Saturn 1b look to it, so if you're a fan of the Saturn 1b you will probably like this kit.

Construction:
The kit includes:

• 7 lower rocket body tubes
• 1 upper body tube
• 6 plastic fins
• 2 plastic body tube holders
• plastic nose cone
• rubber shock cord
• Estes paper mount
• 6 plastic rocket nozzles for scale look

The kit has the typical Estes quality instructions with drawings and text. My version had a 1 page insert of modified Steps 1 and 2. The normal assortment of tools are needed for the build. Pay attention to the modified instructions. It will make it much easier to attached the 7 body tubes in the lower part of the rocket. The tubes are not easy to feed in so you want to make sure they seat right. Practice it several times without glue to make sure you can do it smoothly and quickly so the tubes don't catch at the wrong point.

Finishing:
The instructions have you paint the rocket after it is done. With the lower section the way it is, I think it would be hard to do it that way. I painted all the parts first, masking off the areas where glue would be applied so that I wouldn't be gluing to paint. This makes it a little harder to assemble everything without scratching the paint, but easier than trying to paint after everything is together.

The plastic parts take paint well without chipping. Krylon Original Chrome paint looks sharp on the plastic parts but seems to scratch easily.

The kit includes typical Estes peel and stick decals.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
Flying on a D12-5 gave a perfectly straight up flight, seeming to hang in the air momentarily, and then deploy of the chute. The 18" chute seem about right for descent without too much drift.

Recovery:
The upper body tube is big and easy to pack in wadding and chute. I placed a few small balls of wadding in the engine tube and layered some full sheets in the upper parachute tube.

One of the plastic fins stuck in the soft dirt and broke off clean at the glue joint. I am thinking this might be a regular occurrence when flying this kit.

Since this kit has a plastic lower body and cones, you want to clothespin this rocket above the blast deflector otherwise you risk melting the lower section of the rocket. Check out the launch picture.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
Nice X-Prize kit with cool looking Saturn 1b lines. Listed as a Skill level one but the lower body assembly is pretty tricky to get together right.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5