Brief:
Semroc Large Scale (SLS) reproduction of the Centuri Scorpion Space Probe from 1965.

Construction:
The kit includes:

• 1 body tube
• 1 engine tube
• 1 balsa nose cone
• 1 set laser cut fins
• 1 thrust ring
• 1 launch lug
• 1 screw eye
• 1 elastic cord
• 1 Kevlar® thread
• 1 nylon parachute
• 1 24mm engine mount
• 1 set decals

Semroc kits come with exceptionally high quality parts and clear instructions and the SLS line is no exception. The parts come in little Ziploc bags and assemblies are bagged together so you do not have parts lying all over the place during assembly. The first assembly is the 24mm engine mount/adapter which includes an engine hook for motor retention.

The engine tube is 29mm and is very sturdy with thick walls just like the main body tube. A large thrust ring is glued inside the main body tube along with the Kevlar® shock cord mount. One minor complaint is that there is no motor retention included for the 29mm motors, so you must use friction fit.

The basswood fins are laser cut and need very little sanding. There is a little typo on step 6 where it tells you to sand the "three fins". The kit actually includes four fins.

The body tube is already slotted to accept the TTW fins. The engine tube is just below the slots which gives the fins something to grip to. All that is left is to mount the launch lug and attach the nose cone and nylon parachute, which is already assembled.

Finishing:
Stock paint scheme is all white with a black nose cone. I chose to deviate a bit since I had some silver paint I needed to use up. The fins and nose cone are such high quality, I only needed one coat of sanding sealer to smooth things over. Two coats of primer and three colors later, the rocket was finished. Semroc includes very sturdy waterslide decals that were easy to apply.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
Its only flight of the day was on a D12-5 using the 24mm engine mount. I used four sheets of wadding since I did not want to singe that pretty, bright yellow rip-stop nylon chute. Nice straight boost to about 1000 feet and the rocket was recovered with no damage. I am awaiting some F25 motors to give this rocket a real test. RockSim predicts almost 3600 feet on that motor!

Recovery:
The nylon parachute was just perfect for this rocket.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
Semroc works hard to provide high quality kits at reasonable prices. The SLS line shows their commitment to high standards. The Scorpion flies great as an LPR and I can't wait to fly it as an MPR very soon!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5