Brief:
This is a skill level 2 kit from Quest with pseudo-military looks using the Nike name and lower fin shape. It is a single stage rocket with mid-body separation. The upper section could be used for payload.

Construction:
The basic components consist of the following:

• Main body tube 8.5" long
• smaller dia. upper body tube 9" long
• plastic fin can
• plastic transition with shock cord attachment plate
• plastic nose cone
• two plastic centering rings (upper and lower)
• 18mm motor mount tube
• 18mm motor block
• metal motor hook
• 18" length of Kevlar® cord
• 24" length of round elastic shock cord
• 2" length of 1/8" launch lug
• 12" plastic Quest parachute
• pack of 3-26" shroud lines
• two strips of three gripper tabs
• decal sheet
• instructions

You will need a hobby knife, pencil, medium grit sandpaper, wood glue, plastic cement, and some masking tape as well.

I came home one night about midnight from work and still being slightly wired from a not so great time at work, I started to build this kit. About one hour later it was completely done. I even tried to do it as if I had never built a kit before and reread the instructions a few times to see if they made sense. I also used too much glue in many areas as a novice might do to see if I could mess this one up.

If you follow the instructions carefully, this rocket will go together quickly, easily, and be finished before you know it. It is a very well thought out kit with an excellent set of parts and instructions. There were no "gotchas" anywhere and even with the application of too much glue, the rocket came together very nicely with no flaws. The instructions flowed along very logically with clear illustrations and steps that were simple to follow. Of course, I wiped all the excess glue off carefully as I still have my standards to adhere to. Regular plastic cement by Testors welded the plastic to the cardboard tubes just fine and did not melt any of the plastic to plastic joints. I have had some issues with the motor hook on some of their other kits but this one was not a problem at all. All the pieces fit together the first time and only very slight trimming of some of the plastic parts was necessary, mostly for cosmetic reasons.

Finishing:
Finishing of this bird could not be easier! There were some very thin, slight tube spirals which were hardly noticeable which were left as is. With careful application of glue, no finishing is required to have a nice looking rocket. Although the plastic fin can and transition were orange in color, the nose cone white, and the addition of the decals, the colors seemed to blend in nicely. For the novice builder this is a definite plus because it cuts down on the amount of work needed and still produces a nice rocket that can be shown proudly. The only issue, if that, is that the instructions lead you to think that the decals are the waterslide type, which they are not. You have to peel the paper backing off of the decal and then apply it to the rocket. However, the soapy water is still needed to apply these. The decal is very sticky and once it is on, you will ruin it if you try to take it back up to reposition it. They are also very difficult to separate from the backing once you have cut them to size.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
Recommended motors were the B6-4 and C6-5. The first flight was sent up on the B6-4, although I am leery of using the smallest motor at first. However, keeping with the pseudo-novice approach, I followed the recommendations. Rocket preparation for flight is easy to do on this one, just fill the large main body tube with four sheets of standard wadding. The chute was folded and inserted next with the upper section then joined to the lower. The motor was slid in and the hook held it tight. The launch was straight and true to about 400' with ejection just slight past apogee. It is a good chute and provides a damage free landing.

Next flight was with the C6-5 and it really gets some serious height with this one! It was high enough that these older eyes really didn't see the chute come out but the slow drift down told me it was OK. The rather long walk reminded me of that as well.

I tried one more flight with the only Quest engine I had which was not a recommended one. The A6-4 got it off the pad OK, but the height was almost not enough for the chute to open with that long of a delay! The rocket landed a bit hard but suffered no damage and is OK to fly again.

Recovery:
The supplied chute is more than adequate for this bird with nice soft landings assured. I happen to like the Quest style of shock cord mount and use it in many of my other rockets. For the C6 flights, a smaller chute should be fine to keep it close. With the plastic, one piece fin can, I might even try a good size streamer next.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
PROs: Excellent first time kit for someone looking to try to build something even without modeling skills. Very good first step up from a RTF. No special tools or supplies are needed to build or finish this kit. Easy to follow instructions to take you from start to finish in no time.

CONs: The decal problem as described and the funky orange color of the fins and transition.