Brief Description:
1/100 scale, single stage, parachute recovery, model of the Gemini Titan. It has a clear fin assembly attachable for flight and a nozzle assembly attachable for display. This kit is a good addition to the fleet of 1/100 scale NASA vehicles provided by various manufacturers. It is a little pricy for the materials provided, but you are paying for the scale model as much as you are paying for a rocket kit, and should expect to pay a little more.

Construction:
The packaging is a zip-loc bag with black and white cardstock cover, and a one-sheet, two-sided instruction sheet with diagrams and brief instructions. All parts were included, and in good shape. I especially liked the thick body tube, which is definitely sturdier than I am used to with Estes kits. The nose cone is made from a heavy resin, instead of balsa or plastic. This eliminates the need to put any weight in the nose cone for stability later. It feels nice and solid! The parachute material is "slicker" than the Estes-type plastic, which initially appears to be a plus, but did create a problem which I will get into in a bit. The instructions were too brief for an inexperienced person, and assume some knowledge of construction techniques. The first decision to make before starting is whether to trust taping the engine for engine retention. I chose not to and added an engine hook to the motor mount in step 1. If you wish to use a Kevlar® shock cord mounted to the engine mount, you might consider that before step 1 as well, and adding it to the engine mount. In step 2, there is a typo that has you putting the motor mount into the 2mm body tube. They mean the 29mm body tube. There are a number of typographical errors throughout the instructions, but none are fatal to understanding the meaning. The resin nose cone does not come close to fitting in the thicker body tube, and must be sanded to fit. This is preferable to being too loose. Do this before step 4 when you paint the nose cone, and install the screw-eye. Postpone step 5 (attaching the shock cord to the nose cone) until after the body wrap decal has been installed in step 8.

Now for the parachute assembly: The tape disks are inadequate in that they do not stick to the parachute material. The shrouds tear the parachute material, and do not give any kind of security that they will hold under the G forces of ejection and recovery. I used an Estes plastic 12" chute for recovery, and it worked fine. I would still like to use these better feeling parachutes provided in the kit, but need to find a better way of attaching the shrouds. In step 7, there is no mention of a swivel hook for attaching the parachute shrouds to the nose cone screw-eye. I seem to remember from my BAR days that Estes instruction used to include them; I certainly wouldn't have thought of it on my own when I was 12, so they must have. Using a swivel hook sure seems to reduce shroud line twisting as the rocket comes down. The down side of a swivel hook is if it fails (i.e. breaks) under G force, although it has not happened to me yet.

In step 8, the body wrap decal is slightly bigger than the external circumference of the body tube, so I would recommend accurately measuring the circumference with a string to reduce some of the overlap, prior to cutting out the decal.

Step 9 and 10 builds the detachable fin assembly. Do not use 5 minute epoxy that the instructions call for. Engine heat during boost melted the epoxy causing failure of the fin assembly. This step was very time consuming as the clear fin material needed to be scored very carefully to allow bending it properly. The instructions do not tell you how to score the plastic, or on which side to do it for which bends. It would be a good idea to poke holes in the fin material for epoxy rivets, just as in step 11 for the launch lug. If you use an engine hook, you need to cut out a little slot on the inside of the 18-24mm ring so it can slide on over the engine hook. Be careful of where you put the slot, as the launch lug needs to be clear of the fins when on the pad and on a launch rod.

In step 11 for the launch lug, the instructions do not specify that the holes are put in the side of the launch lug that will attach to the body. the reason is so that little epoxy rivets will form on the inside of the launch lug forming a more secure bond. The launch lug is clear as to not detract from the appearance of the decal from a distance. It is a good idea. Note that even though the launch lug is sized for a 3/16" launch rod, once the epoxy rivets are inside the lug, it will be too snug for a 3/16" rod.

Finishing:
The only note I would add to finishing, is that it would have been nice to have a few decals for the capsule. Having a detailed body wrap makes the body appear very detailed, but then you have the painted but otherwise naked of detail nose cone. It is shaped very well, but the windows are not obvious from a distance and there is not even a flag or hatch outline. The appearance of the top of the rocket is incongruous with the bottom.

Construction Rating: 3 out of 5

Flight:
If you use an engine hook, you need to install the engine before the fin assembly, as the fin assembly locks down the engine hook. I used a B6-4 for the maiden flight as recommended by the cover card. The rocket was launched in about a 15 kt. variable breeze, and flew well without much wind cock. The rocket flew to about 250 feet (+- 50ft) on this engine. It would have been nice for the manufacturer to provide an estimate of the expected height on the two recommended engines (B6-4 and C6-7). The four second delay on the B engine was about right for ejection near apogee. I have not done a C engine yet as the fin assembly failed on the maiden flight. The 5 minute epoxy recommended by the instructions couldn't stand the heat transmitted from the engine casing clay into the fin assembly cardboard ring. Two of the three fins came off near the end of the flight and were lost during recovery. This also may have been due to scoring the fin material too deeply to allow the bending, but I also applied generous epoxy to all the scored joints, so it is unlikely. Since the pieces were lost, a complete failure mode effect analysis (FEMA) is impossible. The remaining fin did show evidence of melted epoxy at the joints on the cardboard ring.

Recovery:
The 12" chute would be too small for a hard surface landing. It came down a little fast for my taste. It is OK for a sod field, however. A bigger chute would fit in this body tube, so a less breezy day would call for a bigger chute. No other damage was evident from the flight or ejection force. I would consider a Kevlar® cord if you plan on flying this a lot. I don't think that is a good idea with the flimsy fin assembly. Other than the fins, this is a very sturdy rocket.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

SUMMARY:
PRO's: sturdy body tube, sturdy and detailed nose cone, full body wrap decal, and inclusion of engine bells for static display.
CON's: fin assembly construction and material as well as poor instructions on use of 5 minute epoxy, parachute shroud attachment, lack of engine hook, and lack of decals for the capsule.

Some aspects of this kit are very sturdy, well thought out, and above standard, while others are weaker. Because it is 1/100 scale, it is a good addition to a fleet of 1/100 scale models, and a good comparison of relative sizes when all of the fleet are together.

UPDATE 7/99 - As an addendum to my review, I communicated the problem with the fin assembly to the vendor, Discount Rocketry, and they quickly provided replacement parts, as well as a personal note from Jim Neubauer that he had not scored the fin material to enable bending into the proper shape. He has flown the rocket over 20 times with no indication of the problem I had. The jury is still out, so I would recommend not scoring, but use a hardier epoxy anyway. I did see evidence of epoxy melting other than in the scored and bent joints, so it may have been an exceptionally 'hot' motor, or even more unlikely the heat from the exhaust transferring through the non-kit engine hook.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5

The following excerpt is from "Sport Rocketry". The intention is to allow guests to get a basic feeling about a kit. We strongly suggest that you get a copy of the referenced Sport Rocketry and read the entire article. Inside you will find many helpful hints in construction as well as other useful information. For more information, use the two links above.

"The model features a Gemini capsule nose cone molded in solid plastic, and a sturdy thick-walled body tube."
"The kit comes with a self-adhesive full body wrap decal . . ." 
"For display the kit has removable nozzles molded from solid plastic."
"For flight clear plastic fins are added."
"The assembly instructions for the kit consist of two pages of simple drawings and text, which is about right for this easy-to-build rocket."
"The instructions include an addendum on parachute construction (which is good, since the similar parachute in their 1/100 scale Mercury Redstone gave me problems)."
"The parachute material is a slick white plastic which opens reliably without 'chute powder'"
"The only recommended engine for the model is the C6-7 . . . I tested with a B6-4."
"The flight was good (with ejection slightly before apogee) and the parachute deployed fine."
" . . . is a wonderful kit for anyone who loves models of manned space boosters."

The entire article gives the impression is that this is a nice kit for a beginner/intermediate modeler.