Brief:
The Love Bug is one of Excelsior's Original lines of plans but unlike most of them which are based on bashing the Baby Bertha kit, this one utilizes the Big Bertha as an origin. The Love Bug kit comes packaged in a heavy, plastic sleeve and contains instructions, fin templates, and a sheet of decals to replace those parts of the Bertha kit.

Construction:
The Love Bug goes together exactly as the Big Bertha instructions direct with the exception of the fins. The Love Bug has only three fins, so the builder is left with the task of making his own marking template for the fin locations. The fin shape is also dramatically different from those of the Bertha. Excelsior supplies the template for marking and cutting these. I added a length of Kevlar to the kit supplied elastic just because we all know those kit cords are just too short.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Finishing:
The final finishing is ultimately up to the builder, but in keeping with the theme of the plan set, pink would be the obvious color of choice. Other possible choices might be white or maybe a light blue. The decal sheet contains various markings in red, white, silver, and pink. Included are two "wraps" which fit PERFECTLY around the BT-60. I think this is the first time that I ever see a wrap type decal or sticker that fits this well, there is NO overlap. To me, that is one signal of quality. The remaining markings consist of one larger "love bug", four smaller ones, and many hearts of different colors. The instructions advise coating the sheet with a thin layer of Micro Scale Liquid Decal Film. I wasn't aware of this requirement until I had the rocket painted and ready for decals. Luckily I had a bottle of this from my plastic model building interest. The decals went on very smoothly and I applied a coat of Future, as directed by the instructions, over the entire rocket after the decals were completely dried.

Flight:
My idea was to have my wife prep the rocket from step 1. Unfortunately, my 3-year old did not agree with that idea, so I did the prepping but let her perform the actual launch which she handled with much expertise. The Love Bug lifted off on a C6-5 and flew straight up with a perfect ejection at apogee and then slowly drifted down to within 50' of the pad. Can't ask for much better.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Overall:
Overall, I can't think of any reason to give this kit a complete "thumbs up". The "parts" are of great quality and the instructions are easily followed. It is well worth the price. Besides, at least when I showed my wife this rocket, she got a little smile on her face.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5