Brief:
I won my Sunward Star Watcher kit at the 2005 NSL. It's an interesting small low power rocket with futuristic styling. If you've got basic rocket building skills, this kit should be no problem.

Construction:
The quality of the components are great. The tubes seemed slightly more solid than the typical Estes or Quest tubes. The nose cone is Sunward's signature canopy design. The balsa was firm and good quality and the fins came laser cut which made the build go quickly. Sunward uses a different style engine hook from the standard spring clip. They use a L-shaped screw-in style hook that is inserted through the rear centering ring. I like this hook because it seemed much more solid without adding a ton of weight.

The instructions, as noted in the previous review come in English and French since Sunward is a Canadian company, eh. It didn't bother me having the extra language, but it was somewhat distracting that the steps alternated in each language. Possibly they might be easier to read if each language was presented in its own column. The illustrations were helpful and presented in a well laid out pattern.

The kit can be built in either a standard, equally spaced fin configuration, or a more racy "X-wing" configuration. I decided to go with the "X-wing" pattern as the previous reviewer used the standard. The instructions clearly state that a model built this way must be swingtested before flying. I had to add several ounces of clay to the nose to get the model to swing in a stable fashion.

The only confusion that I had with the kit was the direction in which the fins were supposed to be attached. The previous reviewer had attached the fins in the reversed direction. I missed the comment at the bottom of the review from Angelo at Sunward stating this. After a quick email that was promptly answered, I was set to go!

Finishing:
Instead of recommending glue fillets, Sunward has a clever system for reinforcing their fins with paper tabs. I was concerned about being able to get a nice, smooth finish over the paper tabs. With a little bit of care and a couple of coats of Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish and Kilz primer, the tabs blended well into the body tube and fins. I was so pleased with the look that I risked silver paint, which shows just about any defect in surface preparation.

The kit doesn't come with decals so the sky's the limit on finishing. I went with simple pinstriping tape over the silver paint. Sunward gives helpful hints on how to paint the nose cone canopy.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
For the first flight of this rocket, I wanted to use a very low power motor for purposes of this review. The smallest motor in my range box was an Estes A8-5. Even without the extra nose weight, I wouldn't recommend this motor. The ejection was very late, coming just after the rocket bounced off the ground... It was completely my fault that the rocket crashed, since I used a much longer than recommended delay. The paper reinforcements held the fins on tight with only a small crack in the paint on one fin which was easily super glued back to flight condition in seconds.

The next flight on a B4-4 was much more successful although I missed it entirely. I was busy chatting with another rocketeer, waiting for my turn at the launch controller when an accidental drag race occurred when someone flipped several toggle switches on the controller instead of just their rocket!

On a C6-5, the Star Watcher really gets up and moves. It's a reasonably small rocket to fly on this class of motor but with the extra nose weight needed for the X-wing configuration, it won't fly out of sight.

Recovery:
I was concerned about recovering the model with the extra nose weight on a streamer so I substituted an eight inch parachute I had in my parts box. My decision seems to have been a good one, as I got safe recoveries on each flight that deployed. The shock cord is nice and long and anchored with a standard folded paper attachment. Nothing fancy, but more than adequate for a small rocket. It might be nice if a parachute was standard in the kit.

The engine hook proved easy to use and secured the motors tightly. I used a small amount of dog barf wadding for each flight which protected the recovery system well.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of this kit. I liked its futuristic star fighter look with the formed canopy. I like the paper fin reinforcements, which I thought I would hate. This is a stylish and fun little kit that I would recommend for those from who only have built 1 or 2 kits under your belt up to those who have been flying for years.

There were no real CONs to the kit as long as you follow the motor recommendations.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5