Estes 7243 Black Brant II Rocket-Building Kit, Advanced Dual-Body Flying-Rocket-Model Kit for Ages 10+

A nice rocket to build, but the water decals are challenging and a little confusing.

Nice kit. Moderate build. Challenging decals. Arrived in a box, not a bag (good job, Amazon) The shock cord cap for the nose cone assembly is loose in the coupler. Don’t forget to wrap tape around its shoulder as described in the instructions. One of the roll bar decals runs down the middle of a fin. A relief will need to be measured and cut out from a decal to accomplish this. (Referenced in pictures) I used the following mods: - traded rubber stock shock cord for elastic - beveled the leading and trailing edges of the fins. Instructions also show a template to produce a more pronounced bevel to keep it true to scale - I always use superglue to initially attach fins to body tube on my rockets, followed by several applications of wood glue to create fillets - all plastic-to-paper joints were done with two part epoxy - the plastic transition near the tail cone leaves a triangle shaped gaps along along the root edge of the fins. I used scrap balsa to form little triangles by sanding to fill these gaps - used Micro-Sol setting solution to give decals a painted on look This is not a “beginner” kit. Takes moderate modeling skills to get it done correctly. Looks very nice when completed.

Rocket kit, as expected. Easy to build and provides great family fun.

Fun to build.Took time to review paint scheme, and made adjustments that suited me. Really looking forward to launching this. May use streamer instead of parachute for recovery since this flies high.

I bought this rocket 30 years ago and it blew up on its first flight (never knew why). Now I'm wanting to introduce the hobby to my son and I saw the Black Brant rocket here on Amazon and I couldn't resist! I enjoyed every minute of this build. It really brought back some good memories and I hope my son will take to the hobby like I did and enjoy it for years. Here's to better luck on it's maiden flight!