The face card reads "A blast from the prehistoric past" and "looks like it's chiseled from stone". That pretty much sums up what makes this flying model rocket special. The fins are each shaped differently, which is nice as it adds to the rock-like look. The nose cone is shaped like a piece of rock which also adds to the look. This model rocket kit is a skill level 2 kit. I'm not sure why it isn't listed as a level 1 kit. During the course of the review, nothing difficult to do was encountered. Building this model rocket isn't challenging in the slightest. In fact, it is very quick and easy to build. The pieces fit together easily. The instructions are clear and have plenty of illustrations to help avoid mistakes during construction of this flying model rocket. The kit was not built stock. Pretty much anything that is BT-80 based just screams out "I want to fly on composite motors" in my opinion. The Estes Rock It was no exception. As you'll see in this review, the motor mount was modified to be stronger, to house a motor retainer and to serve as shock cord mount.

Parts List

This Estes flying model rocket kit comes complete with instructions and all parts required to assemble your very own Rock It.

- plastic nose cone
- body tube (BT-80)
- 3 laser-cut balsa fins
- engine mount tube with yellow spacer tube
- engine block ring, engine hook and hook retainer
- 2 cardstock centering rings
- rubber shock cord
- 18" assembled parachute
- tube marking guide and shock cord mount
- decal sheet
- instruction booklet

The usual hobby supplies are needed to build the kit : glue, pencil, ruler and hobby knife.

Construction

The cardstock centering rings were replaced with plywood centering rings. This was done so a CDI PMR motor retainer could be added to the aft centering ring. The shock cord was replaced with Kevlar cord which was attached to the forward centering ring. The picture on the right shows the upgrade motor mount assembly with empty RMS motor hardware installed.

The motor mount assembly was recessed into the body tube slightly, to hide the motor retainer plate from view.

The nose cone was also modified slightly. The eyelet appears to be the same as the one used on the nose cone for the Fat Boy. As that eyelet broke on the first flight, an upgrade was in order. An eye-bolt (for shock cord attachment) was placed into the nose cone and secured with some epoxy. Some nose weight was also added to make up for the added weight of the composite motors which will be used.

To complete the model rocket, the fins and launch lug (upgraded to 1/4") were glued into place.

Finishing

After applying primer to the entire rocket, the choice of paint was easy to make. The rocket needs to look like a rock. The paint used to achieve this goal was Soapstone Fleck Stone paint by Plasti-Kote.

This paint is very easy to use. It is also super-sticky. Be sure to either use it outdoors or to cover up anything in your painting area. It will stick to anything and will smear if you try to clean it up while wet.

The great thing about this paint is that it covers very, very well. No need to worry about filling spirals, smooth fillets or filling fins.

Next was a layer of clear coat, followed by the decals and a final application of clear coat.

Measurements

The Rock It model rocket has a length of 19.25" listed on the face card, with a 2.6" diameter (BT-80 tube). The face card lists the weight as 5.3 oz (150g) with a maximum altitude of 540 ft (165 m).

Flight Data

Estes recommends using C11-3, D12-3 and D12-5 model rocket engines to fly the Rock It. While those engines may well be great fun, the model built for review will be flying on composite Aerotech RMS reloads.

For the first flight, an F24-4 RMS reload was selected. While I was expecting quite a performance on that motor, it actually went quite a bit higher than expected. The parachute didn't deploy on the way down, due to the beeper locator loop tangling with shroud lines. Luckily the rocket was recovered after an extensive search with no damage at all. The Rock It is a fun model rocket to fly on 24mm RMS reloads.

It also performs very well on the motors it was intended to fly. The D12-5 deployed the parachute right at apogee.

Videos : E18 RMS - F24 RMS - D12-3 Flight