Brief:
I don't think anyone would argue that t' Saturn V be t' Cadillac o' rockets. Blimey! Well, arrr, me bucko, that bein' t' case, arrr, then t' Mercury Atlas has t' be t' Corvette. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! T' rocket is a stunnin' piece o' American engineerin' and a critical piece o' American space flight history. Avast! T' Sheri's Hot Rocket version o' t' Mercury Atlas is equally stunnin' a model rocket as t' original one. Arrr! T' build through flight proved t' be a rewardin' experience that culminated in a beautiful flight.

Construction:
T' kit arrived at me doorstep about a month after ordering. Well, blow me down! Arrr! Up front, me hearties, arrr, Sheri will tell you that these kits are custom made and that you are t' expect some length o' delivery time. Begad! When t' kit arrived, arrr, it was packed tightly in a pretty small box. I was amazed that it all fit, me bucko, but everythin' was packed neatly and well protected. Well, blow me down! T' kit included:

• 5.00" x 26" main body tube
• 5.00" coupler
• 3.125" x 7.5" support tube
• 29mm motor tube (19-3/8" long)
• 3 ¼" plywood centerin' rings
• heavy-duty nylon shock cord
• Lexan fins (pre-cut)
• Styrene corrugation panels
• Styrene strips and tubing
• Resin-cast capsule
• 3 Resin nozzles
• Parts for Escape tower (tubing, me hearties, plywood and resin)
• Styrofoam pieces for equipment pods
• Assorted hardware, shiver me timbers, arrr, (fin attachment and Lugs)
• Waterslide decals
• Monokote Mylar Chrome Trim sheets
• Large hand-drawn blueprint and instructions

Probably me favorite thin' about this kit is that Sheri provides is a full size set o' plans for this rocket. Well, blow me down! T' drawings are clear and make a great reference when buildin' this rocket. Blimey! I would also add that if you are interested in a great reference, me hearties, me bucko, thar be none better than t' drawings available from David Weeks.

Construction begins on t' main booster. Ahoy! T' lower centerin' rin' (CR) is ¼" ply with lobs that form t' lower nacelle/booster fairin' bulkhead. Begad! I call them "mouse ears". Avast, me proud beauty! I prepped t' lower CR per t' instructions by addin' blind nuts for attachin' t' fins. T' fins are attached via ¼-20 nuts and bolts along with "L" brackets. Ya scallywag! At this point, I knew this thin' needed t' lose some weight so I added t' 5/32" blind nuts t' hold t' outboard nozzles. T' main BT is a U-Line shippin' tube. Well, blow me down! U-Line tubes have a wall thickness just shy o' ¼ inch. Begad! Arrr! Additionally, they have pretty heavy grooves and that could be a nightmare t' try and finish, me bucko, however, me hearties, what I smartly found out be that Sheri provides a way t' get a smooth finish on this tube. Avast! Begad! It is wrapped completely in 0.10" sheet styrene. Avast! This flawless surface is needed t' get t' smooth finish for t' trademark Mercury Atlas polished finish. What did worry me be t' weight o' t' tube. Well, blow me down! Begad! That will come into play for t' flight o' this rocket.

Small cutouts are made in t' base o' t' BT t' accept t' lower CR. Begad! Once that is in, ya bilge rat, it is now time t' add t' framework, resin pieces, me hearties, and sheet styrene that form t' nacelles/booster fairing. Avast, me proud beauty! If you follow t' instructions, shiver me timbers, arrr, this works very well t' produce a convincin' lower BT section. Ya scallywag! After completin' that, it's time t' add t' 0.10" sheet styrene wraps. Arrr! This can be very frustratin' (ready any review on t' Estes Saturn V about t' vacuform wraps!) but if done correctly, matey, t' finish is remarkable. Begad! Avast! T' joints line up under other details t' totally hide t' seams. Avast! One frustratin' part be t' pre-cut corrugated styrene pieces on t' lower booster section were t' wrong shape. A better option would have been t' leave them long and let t' modeler cut t' shape. Ahoy! I realize this would make t' build a little more difficult, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, however, matey, no modeler buildin' this rocket would find it hard.

At this point, it's time t' add t' equipment pods. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey! These are t' two nacelles on opposite sides o' t' main BT that are capped by resin triangle shaped cones. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! T' pods are made from hot wired shaped Styrofoam plugs. Well, blow me down! Begad! Blimey! These are also covered in 0.10" sheet styrene. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Blimey! One word o' caution, arrr, you have t' use special glue for Styrofoam otherwise either t' styrene won't stick or t' foam will melt. Well, blow me down! Avast! Blimey! T' instructions provide a recommended brand. Well, blow me down! Begad! Blimey! After t' equipment pods are completed, shiver me timbers, it is time t' t' final details for t' booster.

When addin' t' upper equipment fairings (nose cone type pieces) and t' Vernier rocket pods, I took a sheet o' sandpaper and a 4" piece o' PVC pipe and shaped t' back o' t' parts t' create a better fit t' t' main BT. Begad! Additionally, matey, I drilled 1/16" holes in t' resin pieces and pinned them t' t' BT for added strength.

Now t' fun part! Addin' t' Monokote Chrome trim sheets. Begad! Aye aye! This gives t' Atlas t' distinctive finish. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! T' sheets are 4" wide. Begad! Begad! T' real Atlas booster has 16 stainless steel tank sections on t' lower portion o' t' booster. Arrr! If you go with t' Monokote trim sheets, you'll get 5 with a small piece left over. Aye aye! I went somewhere in t' middle with 8 sections for a more realistic look. Begad! Ahoy! If you have done a reasonably good job on t' styrene, me bucko, you can produce a nice finish with t' Monokote sheets.

Now comes t' more difficult part o' t' build: t' upper booster section and transition t' t' capsule. Ya scallywag! Avast! T' distinctive taper on t' Atlas is made from a very basic set o' parts. A piece o' 3.125" tubin' is glued t' t' upper CR and a transition is formed with a piece o' pre-cut styrene. Blimey! Three quick steps and you have a transition. Ya scallywag! Avast! T' capsule is then glued t' that transition. Blimey! There is about 3" o' BT showin' so you cover that with corrugated sheet styrene. Blimey! Very fast and convincing. T' complete this portion, shiver me timbers, Sheri has you build a coupler out o' a piece o' main BT. Begad! This is easy but can be troublesome if it is nay lined up correctly.

At this point, me bucko, you have a very convincin' Mercury Atlas! Now comes what I considered t' most difficult part o' t' build. Arrr! Figurin' out how t' wrap t' transition with Monokote. Nay hard but cumbersome t' get right. Ahoy! I smartly decided that I would make paper patterns usin' t' "Robert Blaske's Shroud Calculator" found in t' tools section o' EMRR! This required a beam compass due t' t' lengths involved. Avast! This worked perfectly and created t' perfect effect. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! One comment on t' capsule: paint does nay like t' stick t' this thin' (or any o' t' resin for that matter). Begad! I scrubbed and bleached and did all sorts o' things t' get paint t' stick, but in t' end, I basically used self-etchin' auto primer for a base coat and that worked. Begad! Your mileage may vary.

T' Escape Tower be next. Begad! Arrr! T' construction was unremarkable except that I pinned all joints at t' tip and base o' t' tower in an effort t' improve t' strength. Avast, me proud beauty! This will prove t' be a good thin' durin' t' first flight.

After decals are added and t' screw-eye launch lugs (yes, ya bilge rat, matey, screw-eyes), me hearties, t' rocket is basically complete. Avast! Time t' fly!

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
I loaded up t' rocket with a 60" nylon parachute (recommended) and placed it on t' pad at Red Glare VI. T' button was pushed and t' rocket boosted into t' sky. I was a beautiful sight. Ahoy! Very realistic. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! T' only casualty was t' Escape Tower. Begad! Blimey! While preppin' for t' flight, shiver me timbers, I discussed with Foose4strin' what I thought would happen t' t' tower on t' flight. Arrr! I knew t' escape tower was a goner before I even launched. Sure enough, me bucko, it made it through ejection, me hearties, then sheared off like we thought. Ya scallywag! I be able t' recover t' parts so it will be rebuilt!

This is where me love-hate view o' this rocket comes into play. Avast, me proud beauty! I constructed this rocket exactly by t' plans. Ya scallywag! No added extras. Avast! In fact, ya bilge rat, I actually drilled out t' outboard solid rocket nozzles (Engines No. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! 1 and 2) in an effort t' reduce weight. This thin' weights a ton! 5.4 pounds ready t' fly without a motor! In me opinion, arrr, in order t' get a safe altitude, shiver me timbers, I had t' fly this on a 29mm H128. I simmed this every way I could but couldn't get a good balance betwixt altitude and launch rod speed at liftoff. Ahoy! With t' H128 t' rocket flew t' about 430 feet and t' short delay was about 2.5-3.0 seconds too long. Avast, me proud beauty! If I fly it again, matey, I'm goin' with at least an H180.

Recovery:
T' boost and glide phase o' t' flight was spectacular. Avast, me proud beauty! T' delay grain was t' "short" provided by AeroTech but that be too long. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! T' rocket was clearly in a nose down attitude when t' parachute deployed. This caused t' capsule t' snap t' an upright position and t' recovery lanyard sheared off t' escape tower. Avast! Arrr! In t' pictures o' t' launch, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, you can clearly see t' tower separate. Begad! T' 60" chute proved t' be about right. I used a homemade 60" hemispherical chute that I thought might be a little overkill, but it brought t' rocket down smoothly. Blimey! Well, blow me down! I be hopin' for that "original orange and white" recovery look. It was spot on! Once on t' ground, t' rocket dragged a little in t' field. Blimey! This caused scratches on t' Monokote. Be forewarned, arrr, t' scratches are inevitable.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
I will say this about t' flight. Ahoy! T' glide phase was about as realistic as it gets. Avast! It be a beautiful thin' t' see. Arrr! I was happy that t' flight be just what I expected. Begad! T' main drawback o' this kit be t' weight. Well, blow me down! In order t' get this thin' t' fly on a G motor, you'll need t' make it as light as possible. T' me that means basically rebuildin' all t' components with lighter materials. Then, what would be t' point o' t' kit?! I think Sheri's design o' t' Mercury Atlas kit is spot on. Aye aye! I don't see a better way t' do this model in terms o' design. Begad! If I were t' rebuild this model, arrr, I'd use a different BT, smaller CRs and hollow out t' resin components as much as possible. Arrr! T' fact that t' BT is wrapped in styrene gives it enough strength. Arrr! T' U-line BT is too heavy. Blimey! Avast! I would nay fly this on a G.

Many thanks t' Peter Abresch for capturin' t' flight.

PROs: Design. Aye aye! Well thought out construction. Begad! LOOKS!

CONs: Too heavy. Large components.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5