This model rocket was given to me as part of a Christmas present from my son Max. He knew I'd been looking at this kit at the local craft store. The fins always got my attention but as we already had more than enough low power kits around for me to spend my own money on another, I never picked it up. The Guardian kit is pretty fun and easy to build. Overall quality of the parts was good. The larger fin set was slightly warped. While this is unfortunate, it should be bad enough have too much of an effect on flight. The paint scheme on the face card is a bit more complex than what I ended up with. As as often the case, I wanted it to be ready for our next club launch and went with a slightly easier paint job. The colors used are fairly similar to those in the face card.

Parts List

The packaging for this flying model rocket kit is the usual Estes plastic bag with blue print.

- plastic nose cone and transition
- upper and lower body tubes
- motor mount tube, centering rings and engine hook
- launch lug
- elastic shock cord and assembled parachute
- instruction booklet

No special tools are required to build this model rocket. A hobby knife, white glue and plastic cement is all you need.

Construction

First, the motor mount was assembled, follow by the upper section of the Guardian.

This pictures shows the completed motor mount, the assembled upper section, the marked body tube and the filled fins. The fins were filled with watered-down wood filler and sanded smooth. Next, the motor mount was glued into the lower body tube and the fins were glued into place.

The instructions say to recess the motor mount into the body tube. As there is a chance this rocket may fly on 18mm RMS reloads, I didn't want to recess the motor mount. This would only make it harder to remove the motor hardware after flight.

The fins attached to the upper and lower body tube, while lining them up with each other. The launch lug and shock cord mount are glued in place. To complete the building process, glue fillets were added to fins and launch lug.

Finishing

As mentioned earlier, I didn't quite go with the paint scheme on the Estes face card. What I did was somewhat similar with the following colors : antique white, charcoal grey and royal blue.

The decals are of the stick-and-peel variety.

Measurements

This low power model rocket is 19.13" long, with a 1.33" diameter. The face card lists the weight as 2.4oz. The one built for review came out slightly heavier.

Flight Data

The recommended motors for the Guardian are Estes motors A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, B6-6, and C6-5.

The first flight used a C6-5 which is a great motor for this rocket. Great flight with a fairly slow boost and ejection slightly after it arched over.