Brief:
This is a scaled down version of DG&A's Armageddon line. It is a single stage rocket with parachute recovery.

Construction:
This rocket comes with all tubes made of very heavy craft paper. It comes with 27.75" and 6.6" long body tubes, 1 coupler, plastic nose cone, 17" motor tube. The wood parts are all 1/8" birch plywood: 8 nozzle fins, 4 carnard fins, 8 fin detail pieces, 4 fins, 1 bulkplate. It has 3 1/4" plywood CR's. It comes with a 30" ripstop nylon parachute, 1/8"x14' of nylon shock cord and 1/8"x3' of Kevlar® shock cord. Other hardware included is: two 1/4" rail buttons, 1 quick link, two 6/32" t-nuts, 1 eyebolt assembly, vinyl decals, and instructions.

The parts all come individually wrapped in paper in a sturdy cardboard box. They arrived in perfect condition and I was very happy with the quality of the contents.

The instructions are very well done with pictures to show you what you need to do. It includes an alignment guide for the fins and the BT's come pre-marked (but not cut) for all the fins and rail button locations. The order of assembly was well thought out to prevent any details, so if you follow the instructions you will not forget a step.

All the parts fit very well together with only light sanding needed to make things fit perfectly. The parts are all top quality.

The only cons to this kit is that the main fins are fairly large. This makes them a little harder to install but if you have some experience with TTW fins you really shouldn't have any problems. Also the large size of the fins in combination with only 1/8" plywood means that they will not be perfectly straight after installation. I'm sure this has more to do with weight and cost than anything as a lighter material would add a lot to the cost.

Finishing:
The BT's and nosecone are standard LOC sizes so the finishing is very easy. Just paint (I add some primer as well) and you are ready to go. The kit comes with a very nice decal set. The decals are extremely easy to apply as you remove the sticky side, place on the rocket, and then remove the backing. This makes it much easier to keep everything straight when dealing with long decals. He shows the kit with a 2 color blue/white paint scheme but you can come up with anything you like. Anyone who has seen any of the DG&A Armageddon series knows they look great. The styling is unique and they look good on the pad and in the air.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
Since the kit has included Kevlar® cord to attach to the forward CR, you do not need anything to protect that part of the shock cord. However you will need some wadding to protect the chute and the nylon part of the shock cord--I used a Nomex® pad which worked very well. He also includes t-nuts so it is easy to add a positive motor retention system but none is included in the kit so you are free to decide what works best for you.

I have flown this kit twice so far and both flights went great. Both my flights were with G80-7's and went to around 1000 feet. The flights where straight up in low winds. The ejection on both flights was nearly perfect and the rocket came down well under the 30" chute. The only non-perfect part of the flights has to due with the slight warpage of the fins. This caused the rocket to spin along it's axis but as I said it still flew straight up.

You might notice above that the weight on this rocket is pretty high. This is due to my construction techniques and not the rocket kit. I like to build my kits like a tank so I have large epoxy fillets on all the fins which is clearly not required on this size/power rocket. I also put extra epoxy on the fin to motor mount connections as well. Also I'm a picky painter so it has 3 coats of primer, 6 coats of paint, and 3 coats of clearcoat. Needless to say it can (and probably should) be built lighter.

Recovery:
About the only thing I would change about the recover system is to add a swivel to the parachute. It tends to spin some coming down and this just twists up the shock cord making for a slightly longer prep time for another flight, however, there are many good rocketeers who say you should never use swivels so this is not really a negative.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
This is a very well done kit. It has top quality parts and very good step-by-step instructions. It comes with nearly everything you need to fly right in the kit, only needing a motor, wadding, and motor retention system of your choice. It has excellent styling and turns out as a nicely finished product. It really adds to the Armageddon series giving newer HPR rocketeers a beautiful rocket that they can be proud of as well as the expert who just wants to fly something smaller for a change.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5