Brief:
After seein' various Deuce bashes on T' Rocketry Forum and elsewhere: eugenefl's fighter, sandman's DynoSoar, arrr, a super-roc version, and most recently an egg-loft version flown at NARAM, I decided t' build a Deuce-XL5 t' go with me 29mm and MMX Fireball XL5s. Aye aye! My design constraints included keepin' t' Deuce's length and fin pattern for t' side fins. As a result, t' model resembles t' Fireball XL5, arrr, but will nay be t' 'scale'.

Modifications:
I wanted t' use t' leftover Avery sticker material from me A.C.M.E. Ahoy! Spitfire build, me bucko, so I actually started t' project by drawin' t' stickers in Corel 9. Avast, me proud beauty! I used a drawin' o' t' Fireball XL5 and scaled t' fins and other patterns t' t' BT-60 tube. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! After I drew and printed them, I realized that t' scale sizin' would be fine for t' small forward fins on t' nose cone, shiver me timbers, but that side pods and top fin wouldn't look right given t' relatively large Deuce fins. Blimey! Aye aye! As noted in t' intro, arrr, I wanted t' keep t' Deuce fin pattern for t' side fins. Avast, me proud beauty! Usin' me stock Deuce as a guide, I played around with t' pods and top fin patterns until I thought t' looked right.

While I be settlin' on t' final patterns, shiver me timbers, I went ahead and built t' nose cone usin' a spare Deuce-style cone that I had bought for a future project. Well, matey, blow me down! I first sealed t' cone and marked t' positions o' t' fins and 'thruster' pods. I turned two small 'cones' from a dowel. These were split and glued on in betwixt t' fin marks. Avast! T' nose was then painted with Wal-Mart chrome paint. Arrr! I used t' stickers I produced as a template and cut t' forward fins from balsa. As with me 29mm XL5, arrr, I used strips o' colored sticker material t' cover t' leadin' and trailin' edges o' t' fins before I added t' main stickers. Ahoy! Arrr! T' fins were covered with a thin layer o' white glue t' seal t' edges o' t' stickers. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Finally, arrr, I carefully removed some o' t' chrome paint, and glued t' fins on with Liquid Nails Perfect Glue, Type 2.

Shortly after t' cone be complete, me Deuce kit arrived.

For t' body, me bucko, I built and mounted t' motor mounts per t' Deuce's instructions. T' mark t' position o' t' side fins, I used t' template marks for t' launch lugs. Ahoy! Begad! This positions t' fins orthogonal t' t' plane o' t' motors. I be thinkin' that in this orientation, t' possible difference in thrust betwixt t' motors will tend t' tip t' rocket, me hearties, and havin' t' biggest fins workin' against this force would be best.

I then added t' dorsal fin. Avast! Aye aye! When doin' t' planning, arrr, I forgot that this would rest on top o' one o' t' motor pods, me bucko, so I had t' trim t' back end. Aye aye! This will also interfere with t' stickers, which also had t' be modified upon installation.

For t' side fins, I cut t' stock Deuce fins usin' t' provided template. I then formed them into two '3-D' structures usin' a strip o' foam board on t' aft edge and a center support made from a strip o' balsa. T' resultin' fins were sealed with fill-n-finish and glued t' t' body with Perfect Glue. Begad! Fillets were made usin' 5-minute epoxy.

Prior t' priming, ya bilge rat, I wanted t' add some detailin' so I added egg shaped pods, bought pre-made from Michaels, t' t' wings. Begad! I also added 4 lugs around t' base o' t' BT just above t' tail cone. On t' bottom, I added 2 lugs further up t' BT. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! Each o' t' bottom pairs o' lugs are functional. Ya scallywag! I had carved and sanded a cockpit out o' foam, but at t' last minute decided t' leave it off.

I finished t' body and then installed t' side pods usin' Perfect Glue. I learned from experience that these pods will take a beatin' on landin' so they got nice epoxy fillets t' beef-up t' joint t' t' side fins.

I built a RockSim 7 model o' t' Deuce-XL5 t' help verify t' CG/CP relationship. Blimey! Blimey! Despite t' new features in RockSim, ya bilge rat, I still had t' emulate t' side pods. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! This model roughly agrees with t' field-proven relationship on me 29mm Fireball, arrr, so I used that as a basis for addin' nose weight. I bored a 1/2" hole in t' cone and added lead shot until t' CG was 2 inches ahead o' t' predicted CP. Begad! Blimey! This shot, arrr, and a loop o' Keelhaul®©™® strin' were epoxied into t' cone.

As with me other Deuce, I added a section o' Keelhaul®©™® thread t' t' motor mount. Aye aye! Begad! An elastic cord is tied t' this leader and t' t' loop in t' cone. I used some thicker elastic since t' model is fairly heavy. Aye aye! I elected t' use a chute from me range box, and have nay built t' stock FlisKits chute.

Construction:
Parts

1. One FlisKits Deuce's Wild! kit
2. Nose cone fins: 1/16" balsa
3. Top dorsal fin and side pods: 1/4" balsa
4. Side fins: stock Deuce fin stock, me bucko, 3/16" foam board strips for t' aft edge, me bucko, 1/8" balsa center support strut
5. Tail cone: short piece o' BT-50; transition and centerin' rings from Estes Designer's Special
6. Misc dowels, wood, me hearties, and extra lugs, me hearties, etc.
7. Avery 5265 full page stickers (3 ea.)
8. Keelhaul®©™ twine for a shock cord leader and nose cone strap

I primed t' assembled body (less pods) with Painter Touch sandable primer. Blimey! Aye aye! When I added me 3rd coat o' primer, matey, matey, about 1/3 o' t' top o' t' BT started t' develop spider web-like crackles. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! Either I didn't wait long enough betwixt coats and/or it was too humid. Blimey! Begad! After a day, arrr, I sanded t' crackles and they seemed t' flatten just fine. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! In me previous experience, shiver me timbers, me hearties, t' crackles stayed gooey and took a lot o' clean up, so this was better than expected. Well, blow me down! When I laid on t' chrome metallic paint, they did come out slightly but nay too bad. Ya scallywag! After light sandin' and a second coat o' paint, they are harder t' see than t' growin' number o' fingerprints.

As you have seen, arrr, matey, I discussed t' stickers throughout t' construction review, since t' full-sized fin stickers were integral t' t' design/construction process. I learned a lot about workin' with t' full page stickers: what works t' seal an edge may nay be best for a large area, testin' sealers on stickers with a backin' doesn't tell you how they will react when on a model, and a sealant which smears t' colors may really work t' best. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Blimey! I found Elmers' glue didn't smear t' ink, shiver me timbers, but would bubble a sticker that was applied t' t' balsa; MinWax Polycrylic did smear t' ink, but be easier t' apply and gave a better surface. Blimey! T' latter also did nay bubble t' sticker (neither bubbled t' stickers, shiver me timbers, o' course, arrr, when t' backin' was still on - so much for me testing). Avast! Begad! Blimey! On t' side pods, arrr, I did one with Elmer's and one with Polycrylic. Ya scallywag! Blimey! When usin' Polycrylic, I did a quick application where t' colors met, shiver me timbers, and then did t' yellow by itself, then t' red, etc. This eliminated t' visible smearing, save one spot where I was all thumbs and touched t' wet pod. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I used Polycrylic on all t' remainin' stickers.

Flight:
I prepped t' recovery system by formin' a plug with some Estes waddin' filled with dog barf wadding. Begad! I used an 18" Mylar chute. T' two C6-3 motors were held in with tape, ya bilge rat, and I used Estes' igniters that I dipped in Magnelite pyrogen for extra insurance. T' rocket flew great, ya bilge rat, me hearties, with a low archin' flight that resembled that o' me Shrox SHX-15. Blimey! Ejection was at apogee and t' rocket recovered without even a crack in t' fin joints. Aye aye! Perfect! I thought about tryin' two B6s, but decided I should stick with C6-3's.

Summary:
This be a satisfyin' project that let me merge one o' me favorite scratch rockets, ya bilge rat, t' Fireball XL5, with one o' me favorite kits, t' Deuce's Wild. Avast, me proud beauty! (I also got t' chance t' join t' ranks o' t' Deuce-aholics kit bash group.) T' rocket was stable and had a neat flight profile. Avast! I am very happy with it and it gathered many good comments at t' field, ya bilge rat, matey, from young and old alike.