The face card shows this model rocket kit as a skill level 4 kit. This is no exaggeration. You cut your own fins and create your own boattail. A shroud has to be formed to make the tip of the nose cone. The forward fins have a balsa skeleton and paper skins. The aft fins extend onto the boattail. As you can see, there are quite a few challenges to building this kit. The reward of completing the model are well worth the effort. And building the rocket is but the beginning. Painting is not without challenges either. There are plenty of colors to be applied and lots of areas to mask off. As is the case with most TLP kits, if you take the time and effort to do it right, you end up with a great looking mid-power model rocket.

Parts List

This Gabriel III/AS model rocket kit is sold in a clear plastic bag with a great looking face card.

- plastic nose cone (with paper shroud)
- 2 body tubes (BT-80) with coupler
- balsa fin stock sheets and strips
- 1/4" wood dowel
- fin templates and fin wrap templates
- motor tube, engine hook and centering rings
- shock cord, launch lug, Mylar parachute
- assembly instructions

No special tools are required to build this The Launch Pad rocket. Sharp hobby knife, glue, and decent building skills come in handy.

Construction

The boattail is formed with a paper shroud. I replaced the material with a slightly heavier cardstock. The balsa fins were laminated with label paper to add strength. The instructions suggesting using CA to strengthen the fins, I prefer paper lamination.

The fins sit on the boattail itself which gives the aft end of this flying model rocket a pretty cool look. The template provided with the model rocket kit was accurate and the fins fit nicely into place.

Another paper shroud is formed and glued on top of the nose cone. This is done to keep the look of the rocket closer to scale. This part is actually trickier than it looks.

The forward fin set is interesting and challenging to create. First, a balsa skeleton is assembled. This is done to form pretty thick (and nicely shaped) fins that are very lightweight.

The cardstock cover is cut out and glued onto the frame. This is done for each fin. This part was actually easier than I thought. The fins didn't come out perfect, but they'll do OK.

The ends of the conduit strip were rounded and it was attached to the Gabriel's airframe. The antenna is made from sections of 1/4" wood dowel. Once assembled, it too is attached to the rocket's airframe.

Measurements

The TLP Gabriel flying model rocket measures 30.25" long and is based on BT-80 (2.6") body tubes.

Finishing

After coats of gray and white automotive primer, it was time to paint the rockets. There's quite a bit of detail in the paint-job, which means lots of masking. First, Titanium white was applied to the areas which would be white. Next, those areas were masked off, as shown in the picture on the right. The blue (Baby Blue) was applied at this time. After some more masking, the red (Tomato Red) was applied. The red, white, and blue were all Americana acrylic colors. The last color, black was Licorice black by FolkArt. Finally, a few coats of Future floor polish were applied to act as a clear coat on the model rocket.

Flight Data

Recommended motors are the Estes D12-5 and Aerotech E15-7. When building the model, I had an F24 in mind.