I've decided to do a skill level 5 kit from Estes. Apparently there must be someone at Estes that builds balsa planes who designed this very exotic rocket.

 Instructions are skimpy as always for a skill level 5 but they are complete sans tips.

I'm not going to cover the motor mount and the J1-3 tube assembly as that is fairly straightforward. How's that for a level 5 build review? The real challenge on this baby is the fin assembly. First up is an initial coating of aero gloss filler on these sheets. This was probably premature as there are plenty of chances later to fill and seal.

If you think you are going to put this kit together over the weekend think again. This rocket needs to be crafted and will take time and patience to complete properly. This step starts with taping the two sides of the lower fin together with a brace. TIP: Use clear scotch tape. It gives a nice snappy action to close the fins on the brace.

There is a middle brace for the upcoming pieces that needs to be beveled and glued in. The bevels in this kit can be very slight or absurdly extreme. Test fitting reveals which one you need. The braces here need a very slight bevel if at all.

This step involves placing upper sides to the fin assembly and are probably crucial to the flight stabilty of this craft. While it is not specified in the instructions I employed the scotch tape procedure on these pieces as well with excellent results.

OK all done. It looks kind of goofy but there is much sanding, filling and sealing to be done.

This step is the same as the lower fin assembly but easier. Two sides and the middle brace. Scotch tape again makes it easy.

These fin assemblies are crazy looking. Brushed on Aero Gloss filler 3X sanded and finished with Aero Gloss sanding sealer 1X

This is where you can really screw this thing up if you are not paying attention. This step requires you to sand the fin assemblies against the body tube upon which you have taped sandpaper. (i used 220) Keep it straight.....forward and backward. Finally and most importantly check the angle of the fin when test fitting it on the tube. Measure the distance from the tube to the bottom end of the support. All three lower fins should be the same. Two of mine were 4 1/2". If they are different you are going to have problems later.

The lower and upper fins need to be mated in the next step.Yeah....too steep an angle so I resanded and got it to fit.

There are 27 fins from card stock to be installed as well as the main fin assemblies. The awesome "G" part helps with alignment.

The kit is supplied with 3/16" launch lugs. I opted for 1/4" since this thing is kind of a monster.

There are 9 strips of 1/8" balsa that needs to be cut at each end to 45 degree angle and then shaped to a point. They are then mounted on the upper body tube.

Drilled 1/8" holes in the top of the coupler and then thought better of it as it didn't seem to let much air through. So I widened them to 3/16. Then it was glued to the upper body tube.

Now the fun part begins.

Get out your sanding sticks with this one. Lots of nooks and crannies. I can't imagine how much fun this would be with balsa fins instead of the 27 cardstock ones.

First some white.   Then some really dark gray.

  No grain visible.

Painted with black lacquer after the humidity finally dropped. I am going to attempt a mid-coat when the humidity drops again. 9.3 oz. right now.

I decided to put a prism metallic mid coat clear on it because it was just begging for it. It's very subtle until the light hits it. 9.6 oz. right now

The decals are pretty tough. I had no real problems other than truly thinking this thing out. The finish is a bit flat awaiting the final clear coats. 9.65 oz. now.

Applied 6 coats of clear lacquer. I then sanded and polished most of it down to a nice glossy finish. I used an acrylic floor finish on the 27 cardboard fins which not only provided a good clear but strengthened their structure.

The finish on this beast was originally an idea I had for a guitar project. I thought I would try it out on this rocket first. The finish looks very deep and it is almost impossible to photograph. The guitar will be a walk in the park now. The transition was seamless until I began wet sanding upon which both joints broke. I was testing some glues at the time I put this together and I used Loctite's Go2 glue for the transition. Well the Go2 can Go2 the round file. The Black Star Voyager is a great kit from Estes. I had my doubts but I have increased my skills to a much greater degree after doing this project. How does it fly? Heck if I know. It would be like launching a violin in some respects. I will build another in flat black and report back.