The rocket is 23.25" tall and 1.325" in diameter. It uses a hollow, plastic nose cone and, of course, tube fins (seven of them). An elastic shock cord and a 2"x36" metallic mylar streamer make up the recovery system. There is also a small water-transfer decal page with a couple of strips and the name Serval in black.

See my Tube-Fin Rocket Comparison Page

CONSTRUCTION:

There are four pages of construction instructions, including an inventory page, 15 steps of illustrated construction details and 3 steps of illustrated flying preparation tasks. The instructions are in logical order, including 2 steps on spray painting and applying the decals. The kit is rated skill level 2.

Assembly of Serval™ was, for the most part, without any complications. The motor mount is a standard tube, hook, and two centering rings. This kit uses 1/32" paper centering rings. Also like the other Custom kits I've looked at before, it uses the same thin motor hook. The thin (1/16") motor hook does it's job, however, it seems to get out of shape easier than the wider (1/8") motor hooks from other manufacturers.

There was also a decision that had to be made on the motor mount assembly by comparing the illustrations to the instructions. The instructions, in step 3, read, "Insert the motor mount until both tubes ends are flush." However, the color illustration on the packaging and 6 other illustrations throughout the instructions show the motor mount sticking out approximately 1/2". The latter is how it was assembled.

The kit comes with a "fin placement template" used for marking all seven tube-fins and the launch lug. This template seemed slightly bigger than the body tube so care must be taken in marking the body tube, especially the launch lug position. The positioning is supposed to allow the guide rod to pass through a gap in two of the tube-fins and then straight through the launch lug.

I used Quick Grab glue for attaching the tube-fins and have found this glue to work very well on this task. (additional comments about Quick Grab glue)

The recovery system is a standard 3-fold paper mount for the elastic shock cord which is then tied to an eye-screw that is screwed into the nose cone. There is one 6" shroud line that is attached to the mylar streamer using a round sticker. This shroud line is then tied to the eye-screw.

I used Plasti-Kote primer to fill the tube spirals and to make the entire rocket smooth. Then, I used Walmart's enamel primer for the final coat. While still wet, I dropped the rocket. This required more priming and smoothing. I then painted the entire rocket bright red with a black nose cone using Walmart enamel. (additional comments about Walmart paint) The sample paint scheme on the packaging shows the rocket in light gray and the nose cone black, but I like the red better. Lastly, the three black decals were placed onto the rocket without incident.

Overall, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this kit 3 points.
 

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

While preparing the Serval™ for flight, I removed the nose cone and shook the line to let the streamer uncurl. The streamer dropped off the shroud line because the sticker didn't hold it. This being the second Custom kit using a sticker-to-shroud line approach, which failed, made me change it right away. I punched a small hole through the top of the streamer, about 1/2" in, tied the shroud line to it and then put the sticker back on.

I choose to follow Custom's recommended motor list on the Serval™, using an A8-3 for it's first flight. It's first flight was over quickly because the A8 barely got this kit off of the pad. It probably only went 70 feet off of the ground, ejected and the streamer barely got fully deployed before it landed 10 feet from the pad.

The second flight was on a B6-4 which proved to be a nice, lower altitude flight. The Serval™ flew very straight. Repeated perfect flights twice more on C6-5's which demonstrated that this tube-finned flyer was worth it's price.

Although I didn't get a chance to fly my Serval™ at NARAM-40, I enjoyed watching someone's fly on a "D" motor. Straight as an arrow. It looked like it was converted to a 24mm motor mount. I am ready to fly mine on an Apogee D3-7 for it's next launch.

For FLIGHT/RECOVERY, I would rate this kit 4 points, losing a point primarily due to the recovery system. The kit flies straight and true and looks good while doing it. The metallic mylar streamer also adds to its looks.

Overall, the Serval™Overall, the Serval™ is a nice performing tube-fin rocket. I give the kit an OVERALL rating of 4 points.