Brief:
TLP's Indigo SAM is a 1/2.95 scale model of a short-range anti-aircraft missile manufactured by Contraves Italiana and Sistel. It is a single stage, mid-power model rocket recovered by an 18" parachute.

Construction:
Since there wasn't a previously posted review for this particular rocket, I thought this might be helpful for anyone wishing to build a really cool looking scale model of this Italian SAM. The kit comes in the familiar plastic bag, typical of TLP kits. Included are two 2.6" diameter body tubes, tube coupler, a 3" x 24mm engine tube, engine clip, 2 centering rings (for engine tube), plastic nose cone, clay (for nose weight), 2 narrow centering rings (for exhaust tube), 1 centering ring with 1" hole (for the parachute compartment), 2 sheets of 1/8" thick balsa stock, 4 balsa strips, a sheet of heavy cardstock, a 1/4" dowel rod, 1/4" shock cord, shroud line, 18" mylar parachute, cardstock shock cord mount, and brass barrel and snap swivels.

The instructions are pretty easy to follow for anyone who has built a few model rockets. The engine assembly went together quickly. Simply cut a slot in the engine tube 2.5" from the end of the engine tube, insert the clip, wrap with tape, and glue the centering rings 1/4" from the ends. The rings fit well, no sanding needed. One centering ring is slotted for the engine clip which makes changing motors a snap.

Next up was cutting out and forming the tail cone from the cardstock. Not too difficult, but I found that forming the tail cone over a steaming cup of hot water made things a lot easier. This was followed by inserting the exhaust tube into the tail cone and gluing the narrow centering rings. The tail cone assembly was then painted with CA glue to toughen it up.

Like other TLP kits, this one calls for a pointy nosecone extension made from the supplied cardstock. Once again, this is not too difficult but do take your time to make sure it's aligned correctly before committing to glue. I formed the extension first and then tacked in place with masking tape. Once the nosecone extension was glued, I followed up with Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler to fill in the seams.

Next step was to insert and glue the centering ring with 1" hole for the parachute compartment. Since this has to wind up 6" from the forward end of the body tube, I taped off a piece of dowel rod 6" from the end, spread some aliphatic resin along the inside of the body tube, and carefully poked the centering ring into place. Once the wood glue was dry, I added a few drops of CA glue to secure the centering ring.

The second body tube was joined to the first with the supplied coupler and glued into place. To make sure both tubes were aligned, I rolled the joined tubes on a flat surface before the glue set.

The conduit strips were then sanded, shaped, and glued to the body tube. The fins were cut out of the supplied balsa stock using the patterns provided. The balsa was pretty flimsy but strengthening with thin CA glue and laminating with printer paper resulted in very smooth and tough fins.

Final details include cutting and shaping the 1/4" dowel rod into the aft fin antennae. Pretty simple, just cut with a razor saw, shape with an emery board, and glue to the aft fins.

Mount the aft fins in a cruciform pattern. I used an Estes fin alignment guide to do this. In spite of my best efforts, one fin was misaligned and had to be reattached. I aligned the forward wings using two aluminum yardsticks and clothespins to make sure they lined up with the aft fins.

Glue fillets were made using aliphatic resin along the seams for the fins and conduit strips. All of the fin joints seemed pretty sturdy with the exception of the one reattached fin. CA glue and Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Filler were used to finish the fillets.

Finishing:
Finishing this model was a lot of fun. TLP suggests a simple two-tone blue and white paint scheme to replicate the real thing. This particular rocket doesn't require any special graphics, and as with other kits from TLP, decals are not included. The nice thing about not including decals is that it presents the builder with more choices and challenges. You can either make your own decals with your PC or do what I did and go with your own theme.

With college football season approaching, I thought it might be fun to go with a yellow, green, and black paint scheme to match the football uniforms worn by the University of Oregon Ducks.

The entire rocket was primed using Kilz Original and sanded with 600 grit sandpaper, twice. A base coat of Krylon Sun Yellow was then applied followed by Hunter Green stripes on the nosecone, mid-body, and aft fins. Gloss Black was then applied to the forward wings, nosecone, and tail cone. Finishing touches were made using a diamond plate pattern cut from Frisket masking film on the forward wings and painted Gray Pewter. Next step was to cut out the University of Oregon athletics logo from Frisket film, apply the stencil to the forward part of the rocket, and paint Hunter Green.

Finally, the green, yellow, and black bands were separated with chrome mylar pinstriping tape purchased from an auto parts store. The end result is a stunning looking rocket that has since received a lot of positive feedback from everyone who has seen it.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
I've only flown this rocket once. A D12-3 was the motor of choice for the maiden flight. A 4 foot long, 3/16" launch rod was used as the 3' Estes rod seemed a little short for a large rocket like this. 5 sheets of wadding was used to protect the mylar parachute. Liftoff was slow and realistic. Because this is a heavy rocket for a D12 motor, it struggled to get aloft and altitude was only about 250'. Next flight will use an E15-4 engine.

Recovery:
Three seconds doesn't seem like a long time for a delay, but it can seem like an eternity when there's not a whole lot of space between your rocket and terra firma. The chute deployed just in time but she came down hard, breaking off a fin and the pointy nosecone extension. Flight damage has since been repaired and will fly again. Nice comments from the spectators present made this flight worthwhile. I plan on going with a 24" parachute and an E15-4 motor next time out.

Flight Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary:
I really enjoyed building and finishing this rocket. The challenge of making nose and tail cone extensions along with aligning multiple sets of fins made this a fun kit to build. The first con is that while D motors work well for smaller TLP rockets (Anubis, Bolo, Perseus), this particular model needs to fly on an E motor or higher. The other con is that an 18" parachute will help to bring it down near the launchpad, just don't expect a soft landing. I don't know if epoxy is really necessary, just make sure you do a good job on the aft fin joints before flying this model.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5