Brief:
Semroc has reintroduced their 1969 design that takes its design from the Estes Big Bertha. This was also the forerunner to their Goliath. This is a fairly easy 4FNC build with classic styling and flies great.

Construction:
Semroc's components are excellent quality with virtually spiral free tubes, good balsa, and a Kevlar® and elastic shock cord. Their kits are always a good value.

The parts list include:

• BT-60 body tube
• Balsa nose cone
• 4 Laser-cut balsa fins
• 18mm motor mount assembly (metal hook, motor block)
• 20/60 centering rings
• Kevlar®/elastic shock cord
• 12" Plastic chute
• Waterslide decal

As Bill noted in his review, the instructions are clearly written and packed with good notes and tips. I agree with Bill's peeve concerning the tube marking template--I prefer a wrap although in this case, I pulled out my trusty Estes plastic tube marking tool.

The construction is a basic 4 fins and a nose cone and not worth elaborating in a second review. I deviated a little bit though, mounting the lug a bit forward of the fins to make masking a bit easier.

Finishing:
I'm a pretty decent masker/painter and will admit I too found the standard paint scheme a bit intimidating. Rather than try to mask off trim lines around all fin edges, I opted for solid color fins. I'd conservatively say this saved me about 90 minutes of work plus avoided the unpleasant language that would surely have spewed from my mouth when noticing slight inconsistencies in the size of my trim lines.

I wound up using two coats of Plastikote primer, sanding between coats with 200 grit paper. This was enough to completely mask what little spirals on the body tube. I followed up with two coats of Rustoleum gloss white then masked to trim the cherry red nose cone, fins, and body stripe.

There was also a waterslide Vega logo decal, which was great quality as well as easy to apply and the clear is completely invisible.

I was a little surprised though, that there was no decal for the body stripe. Given that there is a decal sheet, I would have thought the stripe would be a cheap/easy addition, compared to the nuisance of painting it.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
For the first flight, I went with a fairly wimpy B4-4. It flew straight then slightly weathercocked to only about 200-300 feet altitude. The 4 second delay was fine and it made it safely back for a repeat flight attempt. I followed up with a C6-5, which was a much better choice. The delay was right on the money and the flight was perfect. You really can't go wrong with this kit.

Recovery:
The 12" plastic chute was fine, but the first flight landed a bit rough right on the tip of the fins. That flight was on soft ground so there was no damage, but on dry, firm ground I'd consider sliding up to 15" chute on this.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5