This was my first high-powered rocket and used to achieve my NAR L1 Cert.  I constructed the kit entirely as documented, including using the 2-part expanding foam to cement the through-wall fins.  It is extremely solid and pretty hard to mess up: it's an excellent L1 kit.

I finished with gold paint, black stripes, and a somewhat unique finish of mixing gold mica powder with West Systems 2-part boat epoxy. This was pretty messy and didn't really give me the results I wanted: it dripped a bit and I had a hard time sanding it to a glossy finish.  Also, the finish didn't adhere to the spray paint as much as I expected, so I ended up with some cracks in the finish after my first launch.