Brief:
When one o' me rocketry buddies decided t' hold a buildin' session, I was scramblin' t' decide what t' work on. Begad! Blimey! I decided t' use a 50% off Michael's coupon t' grab an Estes SS1 kit for bashing. I turned it into a retro-styled spaceship with more conventional fins and wing-tip pods. Ahoy! Blimey! I also converted it for 24mm motors. Ya scallywag! Blimey!

Modifications:
T' two major mods are t' conversion t' 24mm and t' replacement o' t' stock win' with fins/pods. T' SS1 comes with a plastic tail cone. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! One o' t' first steps on t' stock kit is t' cut t' end o' this off, leavin' t' scale engine bell. Aye aye! I wasn't sure how much o' t' stock bell would remain after I added t' larger motor tube, so I left this on. Blimey! That was a good call since thar isn't much o' t' bell section left after it was modified. Avast! Avast! I started by cutting the tail cone at its thinnest part and then expandin' each piece until t' motor tube fit. Arrr! Avast! When I was done, matey, ya bilge rat, I left the back most part o' t' tail cone, me bucko, which is a ~1/8” tubular section. Blimey! This can be better understood me lookin' at the photos.

I expanded t' provided centerin' "rings" and mounted t' motor mount pretty much as in t' stock kit.

I came upon a set o' unused Fat Boy fins in me junk box and decided these would work just fine. Ya scallywag! I slotted the tail cone in betwixt t' centerin' rings and modified t' through-the-wall tabs on t' fins pretty much by trial and error. Begad! Avast! T' positions were such that thar are two side "wings" and a "stabilizer fin". Blimey! Since the tail cone is nay ovate, these sit at different heights.

Construction:
Parts list:

• One Estes SS1 (the original, smaller version)
• Fin set from an Estes Fat Boy kit
• 24mm motor tube
• Keelhaul®©™® twine
• Three and a half plastic Christmas ornaments
• Lead shot
• 3/16” launch lug

Flight:
I flew t' 'Sqrt(-1)' on a D12-5 at MDRA's Red Glare IV. Ahoy! Blimey! It flew great and t' delay appeared right. Prep consisted of packin' dog barf in t' tail cone and clippin' on a 12" nylon chute. Arrr! Blimey! T' motor was friction fit.

Summary:
T' SS1 provided t' basis o' a nice retro-styled spaceship. Aye aye! It flies so much better than t' stock kit, shiver me timbers, for fairly obvious reasons (hint: it's basically a 3FNC rocket). Blimey! Yeah, matey, t' some o' t' big dawgs o' MDRA liked it...but thought it need t' be upscaled.