This skill level 2 kit is recommended for modelers over 10 years old, with adult supervision for rocketeers under the age of twelve. The kit is easy to build, the balsa pieces are pre-cut and the body tube is pre-marked. The hardest part is gluing the fin rudders to the wing fins at a 90 degree angle. If you can handle that, you'll have no trouble building this flying model rocket Starlight kit. The instructions for the Super Tiger are easy-to-follow and come complete with hand-drawn illustrations to make things even easier. The different wing and fin configuration make it an interesting model rocket which will draw attention.

Parts List

The kit comes with the parts listed below, which are sufficient to build your own Super Tiger model rocket.

- body tube (10")
- balsa nose cone with screw eye
- motor tube, thrust ring, centering rings and motor clip
- 2 balsa wing fins with rudders
- balsa main rudder
- shock cord with mount
- launch lug
- 12" Mylar parachute assembly
- decals
- instructions

To build this flying model rocket, you'll need a pencil, ruler, hobby knife, glue, and finishing supplies.

Construction

First is the engine mount, which is created in the usual fashion. Measure 1/4" on the motor tube and cut a 1/8" slit for the engine hook. Insert the engine hook. Glue the thrust ring in place, against the engine hook. Glue the centering rings to the motor tube.

Insert the screw eye into the shoulder of the nose cone. Remove it, apply glue to the screw eye and re-insert. Glue the wing rudders to the wing fins, at a 90 degree angle.

The body tube comes pre-marked with locations for both fin types and launch lug in different colors. While this is nice, the lines weren't quite long enough. The lines were extended with pencil lines.

Install the motor mount in the rocket's airframe tube. Next, glue the wing fins, main rudder, and launch lug to marked areas on the body tube. Let the glue dry.

Attach the shock cord to the shock cord mount and glue it into the airframe tube. Tie the other end to the screw eye in the nose cone. Assemble the Mylar parachute and attach it to the screw eye also.

Instructions say to apply sanding sealer to the balsa fins at this point. As I find it easier to fill fins before attaching them to the rocket, the fins had already been filled with watered-down Elmer's Wood Filler.

Measurements

The Super Tiger is 12.625" long and has a 1" diameter. According to the face card, it can reach altitudes of over 1,000 feet.

Finishing

The instructions suggest painting the model rocket with light or medium blue.

The rocket was given a coat of gray automotive primer (Rust-Oleum) and sanded. Next, it was given a coat of white primer (Krylon) and it was sanded again. The color used was sapphire blue metal flake (Testors #1639) spray paint.

This color complements the interesting wing/fin configuration, however I wasn't too sure the decals would work well with this paint, so they were not used.

Flight Data

Starlight recommends that you fly the Super Tiger on A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, or C6-5 model rocket motors.

A C6-5 was used for the first launch. It shot off the launch pad and started spiraling up, up and up some more. The ejection charge popped and the parachute didn't fully deploy. While this was a bit of a blessing (less drift), it didn't help enough, the rocket still landed in a tree.