Intro:
The AGM-3500 Peregrine is a pseudo-scale model of a hypothetical air to ground missile (AGM) for the US Military. It is 14.4 inches long, just under 1" in diameter, and uses standard 13mm motors.
Construction Rating: 4 out of 5
The kit arrived from Rogue in a US postal service hard express mail box. I was rather impressed with the speed in which it arrived. Inside the box was a clear plastic bag that contained the model kit. All of the parts were present and in good condition. The kit includes: a body tube, motor mount materials, Kevlar® tether, Balsa fin stock, Balsa nose cone, Perma-wadding, 12" nylon parachute, decals, and instructions. Part of the reason for purchasing the kit was the balsa nose cone and the perma-wadding, the nylon parachute was an extra incentive.
The instructions come printed on three 8.5x11 sheets of paper. They are the first instructions in a long time that I actually followed. Normally I re-arrange several steps to suit my personal building preferences, however I found the instructions to be the most logical method to assemble the kit. The instructions are fairly easy to follow. There are only five diagrams to illustrate the 14 steps that have 1-6 sub steps. These are instructions to read, and re-read, then build. The instructions are written well, however it helps if you have some rocketry experience, and are familiar with common rocketry terms. There is a template sheet that includes the fin location wrap, and the templates for the fins. The kit assembles easily. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. the only alignment issue is making sure that the finlets are in the same line as the fins. This should not be a problem for anyone. The completed rocket is as sturdy as any balsa and paper rocket. There are no special tools needed.
Step 13 of the instructions covers the finishing of the rocket, paint it white. Pretty simple. Included in the kit is a large (8x5) sheet of all sorts of decals, stripes, warning labels, numbers, and letters. They also have USAF and US Navy marking for your preferred military service. There is no way to use up all of the decals on this model, so save the rest for other rockets. There is a small instruction sheet that covers the application of the decals. The water slide decals are very thin and tear easily. I had to use extra caution to keep the decals from tearing when I applied them to the model. They also suggest a "light" (their emphasis) coat of clear finish to protect the decals once they are dry. My decals bubbled and crazed when I used Krylon (TM) clear acrylic. I was rather surprised since I have had no previous problems using this finish on my models. Other than the slightly crazy decals, this is a sharp looking model when completed.
Flight Rating: 4 out of 5
The recovery system in this rocket is rather unique. First the tether is a Kevlar® string. The second unique item is the inclusion of a square of "perma-wadding" which is essentially a section of flameproof fabric, with a grommet in it. The last interesting item is the parachute. This kit comes with a very high quality nylon parachute. this chute should last for years of use and abuse with it's large diameter shroud lines. No flimsy plastic, tape and thread parachutes here. The instructions describe a method of attaching the perma-wadding so that it can be removed and used on other rockets. This can only be done with rockets that use a Kevlar® shock cord, since the shock cord will be between the motor and the wadding. The instructions also say to place the parachute in the middle of the perma-wadding, and to push it into the body tube. This would work if the body tube was larger, in this kit, the perma-wadding barely fits by itself, leaving the parachute to be placed on top of the wadding in a more traditional manner. I ended up cutting the perma-wadding in half to allow an easier fit into the body tube. The Peregrine has a metal motor clip for a quick release motor mount. The recommended motors are: A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, and C6-5. The first and only flight so far on this rocket used an A8-3. The boost was fast and straight with the ejection just before apogee. The parachute opened just fine and the perma-wadding did a great job of keeping the parachute in pristine condition. All that would be required would be to push the recovery system back into the body tube, and add a motor for the next flight.
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Everything considered this is as near perfect as a rocket kit can get. Good materials, good instructions, easy construction, and a good flier. Add in the very nice nylon parachute and perma- wadding and you cannot beat the value of this kit for the money. The two problems, decals crazing and perma-wadding too big, are very minor, considering that the other option would be that the perma-wadding would be too small, not something that I would like. And any kit that has a balsa nose cone is good in my book.
