Brief:
Relatively tiny for the "Mega" line of Estes upscales, this WAC is a fine looking scale kit and great flyer. An excellent kit in every way even though at $50 list, scale builders on a budget might consider the ASP 24mm version (listing for $20).

Construction:
I ordered this kit online (actually won it on eBay) and the kit arrived Priority Mail 3 days later. Everything was in great shape, though you'll be surprised at how much material comes out of the small triangular box. Parts list includes:

• Resin cast nose cone
• BT-60 body tube
• Balsa fins (laser cut, 1/8" balsa)
• Balsa tunnel/conduit pieces (laser cut)
• 24mm foil-lined motor tube
• motor mount assembly
• sanding jig components
• Nomex® heat shield (9x9)
• 30" rip-stop nylon chute w/swivel
• Kevlar® shock cord

QModeling doesn't skimp on components and all were about the finest quality you'll find. I especially like the foil-lined motor tubes, something not found in very many commercial kits these days.

Instructions were very well illustrated and generally easy to follow, though I did manage a couple of minor goofs (mostly my own fault). The construction is set up in stages with each stage having rough time estimates, so you know what you're in for and whether or not you can get that section done before it's time to turn in for the night.

Having previously built an ASP WAC Corporal, I have to admit I wasn't terribly excited when I heard about QModeling's release. The thing that pushed me over the edge though, is the fin sanding jig that's part of this kit. The WAC has very precisely beveled fins and it is difficult to get the lines sharply pronounced, visible, and even. I really like the anal-retentive design team at QModeling (OK, detail-oriented) and before beginning construction of the WAC, you get to assemble a fin sanding jig to get exactly the right size and angle on the bevels. Fortunately, this is pretty easily done with pre-cut parts simply put together and glued.

Moving on to the motor mount assembly is when I ran into my first "gotcha". If you've never built a QModeling kit before, you'll find the motor mount assembly quite a bit more complex than the basic tube/centering ring approaches out there. This company uses very finely crafted balsa frames tacked onto balsa rings to form a lightweight yet very strong frame. This was at least my 3rd or 4th QModeling kit though, so I blew through this step with a bit too much confidence and didn't pay close enough attention to the detailed instructions. There are 4 rings that form the base of the frame structure. There is one line to mark on the motor tube. I foolishly assumed this is the aft most ring location and tacked mine in place, then started lining up the mating parts. I'm not a total idiot though and decided before gluing the assembly into the body tube that I'd better check the alignment with the through-the-wall fins. Not even close. If I flipped the balsa frames (they're asymmetrical, with a definite forward and aft end) and everything fit fine. I contacted QModeling to alert them to this error, and after a couple of emails and phone calls, we finally figured out that the line marked on the tube is for the SECOND ring, not the aft ring! The instructions noted this but I didn't catch it. Moral of the story: pay attention to the instructions (although QModeling is revising the instructions for clarity). My suggestion would also be to mark all 4 ring lines to eliminate any doubt.

After completing the basic motor mount assembly, the Kevlar® shock cord is attached to the tube just below the forward centering ring. This is a huge improvement over tri-fold paper attachment and a must for a kit of this size and class. The completed assembly is then glued into the body tube, carefully aligned with the fin slots.

Next up is construction of the tunnel/conduit. This is comprised of two side pieces and a top, glued together, then sanded down into a rounded shape. While it would have been easier and cheaper to simply include a balsa half-dowel, this conduit serves a second purpose: it hides the launch lugs.

Mounting the conduit to the body tube is where you'll run into another potential gotcha. Since it contains the launch lugs, the conduit obviously has to be slightly off the fin line, and the instructions clearly note this. The real WAC though has the conduit precisely on the fin line and by moving this offline, you've got something that might look like the Estes kit but just doesn't look quite right. This forces a trade-off--either exposed launch lugs and clean lines or hidden lugs and off center conduit. I opted for off center conduit and think the better move would have been to keep it on the fin line, tuck the lugs against the side of the conduit and fin, and fill in the conduit for a more authentic appearance.

Once the conduit has been mounted, it's time to start working on the fins. I spent hours on my ASP kit and did a decent but not great job on the bevels. Thanks to the sanding jig on this kit, it only took about 30 minutes to do a great job on all 3 fins. This was a huge time-saver and is by far the best feature of this kit. Once sanded, the fins are then glued into place and filleted.

All in all, this was a very easy build. Excluding the time spent on finishing and paint prep, most builders could have this put together in about 3 hours.

Finishing:
I tend to do most of the "finishing" work at the beginning of a construction project, filling tube spirals and balsa grain is a heck of a lot easier before things get glued together and in the way. With visions of perfectly beveled fins dancing through my head, I went over the top on the prep and fill, figuring this could be a NARAM scale entry (the offline conduit shot down that idea, unfortunately).

The tube spirals are typical, and easily filled with Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish. One application takes care of about 90% of the problems and the rest is covered by a couple of coats of Plasti-Kote primer.

I used 3 coats AeroGloss balsa sealer for the fins. This doesn't build up like Elmer's, and penetrates more than it covers. For the beveled fins, I thought this was fairly important, as Elmer's might change the angles a bit. I hate the fumes and the cost but have to admit it does a great job.

After a couple of primer coats, I then applied three light coats of Krylon gloss white. After allowing a couple of days for drying (if it smells like paint, it's not dry), I then masked off to paint the "primary" fin silver and then followed up a day later with the black stripes and sections. Masking and painting this rocket is challenging--the stripe goes over the conduit and there is a very small white band at the top that gets masked off.

The finished product is well worth the work.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
The recommended motors for this are a D12-3 and an E9-4. It's only 28" long but pretty heavy (mine weighed in at just under 6 ounces), so I think the D12 is more for backyard flying...

I chose the E9-4 (the long, slow burn of the Estes E9's are in my opinion the best bang for the buck in the hobby). The rocket weathercocked slightly in the 8-10mph winds, arched over, and popped the chute just past apogee. My chute got tangled a bit in the miles of Kevlar®, and wound up taking 5-6 seconds to open. When it did though, it was a magnificent sight. The bright orange 30" chute really fills the sky. It's also overkill for this rocket and even though I only hit about 400-500 feet, I had a long walk for recovery. Considering the heavy-duty components, I think a 24" chute could bring this down without any damage.

The Nomex® is also a very nice feature with this kit and makes flight prep virtually no work at all. The 9x9, like the chute, is a bit overkill, as a 6x6 square would be more than enough protection in a BT-60 tube.

Now to try to pick up a couple of Econojets and kick this up on an F...

Recovery:
After needling QModeling about the flimsy Mylar chute in my first kit from them, they have really come back with the best recovery package I've ever seen in modrocs. The Top Flite chute and Nomex®, plus the Kevlar® shock cord are fantastic and you'll want to use these in every rocket you've got. You can afford to--they're built for the long run.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
I'm a huge fan of QModeling in general and believe they make great kits, using the top materials available, and have sophisticated designs that are a pleasure to build. This kit, being the baby of their fleet, is a bit overpriced. If you're looking for a WAC, try the ASP. If you're looking for a great kit and nice build project, pick this one up.

The pros include the sanding jig, components that fit perfectly, outstanding recovery system and fantastic quality. I also have to say this is about as good as you'll ever get on customer service. When I mentioned my motor mount dimension/alignment problem, Tom Quinn went well above and beyond to make sure I not only got it worked out, but to kick around ideas on how the kit could be improved to prevent anyone else from making my mistake. I'm sure there are companies out there that would just point to the instructions and say "Duh. The instructions are right, so it's your problem not ours." QModeling however, truly cares about customers and feedback.

Cons are hard to find on this kit. Maybe with better dimensional marking of the motor tube, and a slightly smaller chute (bringing down the price a couple bucks?) and a true scale conduit approach it would rate a perfect score.

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Brief:
Mid power scale model upscaled from the Estes WAC Corporal.

Construction:
The model is based on the BT-60 and has a 24mm 'E' length engine mount which makes the kit over 28 inches tall. The nose cone is injection molded of a soft plastic with a laser cut wooden plug that also serves as a screw eye mount. The fins, TTW fin mount braces, and fuel transfer conduit/tunnel are all laser cut balsa. The top centering ring is laser cut wood, and the bottom ring is heavy laser cut cardstock. Included is a 5 piece laser cut jig that combines fin sanding unit, and a fuel transfer conduit shape pattern.

First off, I was pleased with the quality of the parts, many of which are produced 'in house' at Q Modeling. The nose cone is crisply molded, requiring only minor finish sanding, and the 3 light balsa fins and other laser cut parts fit perfectly. The engine hook is a hefty 1/8" wide and is of heavier gauge than those in most kits. It is also long enough to hold not only the motor, but also the engine block. (I make them this way when I bend my own hooks, so I am very impressed.) The shock chord is a 9' piece of heavy duty Kevlar®, and is securely mounted to the top of the engine tube coming through the top centering ring.

Despite the beveled fins and conduit, the kit is a solid skill level two in regards to assembly. I am impressed by the 18(!) pages of historical info, general rocketry modeling tips, great illustrations, painting instructions (three pages alone), launch tips, NAR safety code, and even instructions to build a 24mm spacer to fly the rocket on a D engine. Oh yeah, they also tell you, in very detailed and descriptive terms, how to build the kit. The instructions are clear and often point out common mistakes so that you can avoid them. It is obvious that the gang at Q Modeling know their rockets. One thing I really like is that each assembly section has a estimated time so that you can decide when to stop for the night.

The parts all go together smoothly, thanks to precise laser cutting, and clear instructions. On the first night, I assembled and installed the motor mount with integral TTW fin mounts. The structure is strong and surprisingly light. I was pleased to see the foil lined engine mount tube as this kit is begging for AT power!! (F21?) The next night I assembled, installed, and sanded the fuel conduit and assembled the nose cone. I am now in the process of fin sanding and the included fin sanding jig prevents this from being a nightmare although it does take some time.

As an aside, I am someone who finds it almost impossible to leave a design alone. I change engine mounts, recovery mounts, etc. on almost every kit I build, however, I am pleased to say that the only change I will be making to this kit is to add 1/4" elastic to the stock Kevlar®-shock chord. The kit contains 9' of heavy duty Kevlar®, but I just like having the extra spring of some elastic.

I only needed standard model rocket tools and supplies to assemble this kit: X-acto knife, sandpaper, Aliphatic Resin glue (yellow glue), medium CA, a pencil and a ruler.

Finishing:
The rocket is not yet finished. However, the straightforward 3FNC design, plastic nose cone and three pages of finishing instructions should make finishing a breeze.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
The model has not yet flown. The manufacturer advises the following approximate flight altitudes: 500’ D12-3, 850’ E9-4. Motor retention is via a heavy duty motor hook. After flying with the E9. I plan on trying some AT E and F motors.

With the TTW design, I expect a straight flight.

Recovery:
The model has not yet flown. The recovery system is every bit as you expect from Top Flight Recovery: very light and strong. It includes a Top Flight Recovery 30" Octagon, Thin Mil, Ripstop Nylon Parachute with sewn in 24" Nylon shroud lines, and a Nomex® Heat Shield.

Summary:
I was pleased with this kit in just about every way. The directions were clear and the laser cut parts made assembly enjoyable. The sanding jig is a great idea, making sanding actually palatable. Due to it's good looks and simple, low power style construction, I would recommend this kit for anyone who would like to try mid power.

Overview

The MRS-WAC Corporal is part of QModeling’s Mega-Retro Series, up-scaled versions of Estes classics built with very high quality components.

Kit Specifications (from the QModeling web site)

•  Height: 28.0"
•  Weight: 5.8 oz  (with recovery system)
•  Fin Span Diameter: 6.88"
•  Main Body Tube Diameter: 1.637"
•  Engines: D or E (Recommended D12-3, E9-4)
•  Average Altitudes: 500’ D12-3, 850’ E9-4

About the Company: QModeling is not the typical mom-and-pop hobby rocket company. As their "day job" they do custom engineering services, product design and prototyping, and small-scale manufacturing for industrial customers. About a year ago they entered the upscale model rocket market with their MRS-Vega, an upgrade from the classic Estes Starship Vega, and their product line has now grown to seven models.

With their industrial background, they have the ability to do their own laser cutting and resin casting without relying on outside vendors. Their custom engineering background is obvious in the level of detail in the instruction manuals and the quality of the components. Their laser-cut parts go together like precision machinery.

During construction of this kit, I exchanged over two dozen e-mails with the president, Tom Quinn. Talk about customer service! Tom was very helpful in answering my questions and actively solicited critical feedback to improve the product. He has already changed the manuals based on feedback from me and other customers.

CONSTRUCTION:

This kit was a prize I won in the EMRR Mars Endurance Base writing contest. Within a few hours of sending them the prize request, I received a USPS shipping confirmation notice and a personal e-mail from the president of the company. Two and a half days later, the kit arrived in a triangular USPS Priority Mail carton. The carton was packed quite snugly, but no parts were damaged. The kit was packed in a standard clear plastic bag with hang tag. Subassemblies are packaged inside their own smaller plastic bags, and the hang tag has a check-list that is filled out by QModeling before the kit leaves their factory to ensure quality control.

Chan Stevens has already provided a list of components in his review, so I won’t repeat them.

The instruction manual is 18 pages long, and was obviously written by someone familiar with manufacturing engineering. The text is quite detailed (with occasional humorous notes thrown in) and the illustrations are all professional-grade.

The assembly process is broken down into six major sections, each of which has an estimated completion time listed. I always took WAY more than the estimated time, but then I’m quite nit-picky when I build. If you want to do the sections out of order, the instructions give suggestions on what steps can be done out of order. (For example, shaping the launch conduit can be done while the glue is drying on the engine mount.)

The first section involves building a fin sanding block assembly from laser-cut parts provided. This is a slick piece of tooling that enables even a fat-fingered klutz like me to make fin bevels that are flat, smooth, and consistent. The company’s manufacturing engineering background clearly shows in the design of this fixture. Not many rocketry companies would put so much effort on a part that never even leaves the ground.

Fin preparation is supposed to be the fourth section, but I was so excited by the sanding block assembly that I decided to skip ahead and do the fin shaping right away. The fins are laser-scribed on one side to show the exact edge of the bevel.

The sanding fixture worked great, although it took a lot of time to sand away that much balsa. After spending more than 30 minutes on the first fin, I reached for my Master Airscrew razor plane. This handy little contraption allowed me to quickly shave away the bulk of the wood in a minute or two, and then switch to the sanding fixture for the final shaping. I was able to finish both the second and third fins combined in less time than I spent on the first.

When they are all done, these fins are truly beautiful, with nice crisp edges on the bevels.

The second section is the engine mount assembly. A QModeling exclusive, the engine mount assembly is laser-cut from thick balsa and goes together like a jig-saw puzzle. Pay attention to the directions, as there are several steps when parts are attached temporarily to align other parts, and it is important that they not be glued into place prematurely. When completed, the assembly provides a very strong mounting and alignment site for the through-the-wall fins, while still remaining fairly light weight.

The thrust ring is positioned to use standard Estes E engines. Shorter 24mm D and C engines can also be used with a spacer that can be built using the provided instructions.

The third section is the launch lug conduit assembly. On the real WAC Corporal, the transfer conduit is aligned with the black fin. The QModeling kit, like the classic Estes kit it is based on, fudges the scale accuracy a bit by offsetting the conduit a little bit away from the fin and then hiding the launch lug inside it. For scale aficionados, the ends of the conduit could be filled with balsa and shaped, while the launch lugs could go on the back side opposite the conduit.

The conduit is built from three pieces of laser-cut balsa that fit together like a jig-saw puzzle. The resulting rectangular conduit then must be shaped into a circular cross-section. The fin-sanding assembly contains a feature that makes it easy to get the correct shape consistently along the length of the conduit. When completed, it is hard to tell that the conduit is actually made from three separate pieces.

The final two sections are Final Assembly and Finishing. Final assembly consists of attaching the fins, filleting the conduit, and attaching the recovery system and nose cone.

The recovery system is darn-near bulletproof, and consists of about 9 feet of Kevlar shock cord, a Nomex Heat Shield, and a really nice 30" Top Flight thin-mill nylon parachute. The 30" chute is standard on all QModeling kits, many of which are quite a bit heavier or more fragile than the WAC Corporal. I think 30" is too big for a 6 oz rocket with TTW fins like this, and that 18" would be a more appropriate size. Tom and I had much discussion about the size of this chute, and he finally convinced me to try the 30" chute with a knot in the shroud lines to keep it from fully inflating.

The nose cone is made of a heavy cast resin. It had almost no seam lines, but the surface had many tiny voids due to bubbles in the resin. Four layers of primer and a bunch of wet-sanding took care of them nicely. A single coat of Rustoleum Painter’s Choice Gloss Black left a nice smooth finish.

For the fins, I applied a thin coat of Fill-n-Finish, sanded smooth with #320 grit. Next, five coats of alternating white and gray primer with lots of sanding in between. I could have saved two or three coats of primer if my wedding ring hadn’t dug into two of the fins while I was sanding them.

The final finish on one fin was a coat of Rustoleum Painter’s Choice Flat Black, followed by a coat of Rustoleum Painter’s Choice Gloss Black. The other two fins had three coats of Rustoleum Silver Metallic. I should have used plain silver, but I was out of it and didn’t realize how sparkly the metallic paint would be. It looks nice, just not historically accurate. Two coats of Future acrylic floor polish really bring out the depth and luster of the metallic paint.

For the body tube spirals, I used four coats of Rustoleum Painter’s Choice sandable primer, alternating between white and gray with each layer, and sanding most of the primer off between coats. It probably would have been faster to use Elmer’s Fill-n-Finish first , but the spirals were quite small so I thought I’d try using just primer this time.

The body was finished with a single coat of Rustoleum Painter’s Choice Gloss White. After masking off the lower body and two stripes, a single coat of Gloss Black was the final painting step.

At last I attached the fins to the body using 5-minute epoxy. They fit beautifully into the slots in the jig-saw engine mount.

My final finishing step was to apply fillets of 30-minute epoxy. By rights, the painting should all be done after the fins are attached and filleted so the epoxy can penetrate the fins and the body for added strength. By applying the fillets after the paint I am sacrificing a lot of strength, but still getting the aerodynamic and appearance benefits. On a kit of this size, the strength isn’t critical, but I don’t recommend this technique on big birds where bond strength is essential.

No decals are provided on this kit. The Estes classic kit had no decals, and the full-scale WACC had very few markings, so the decals aren’t really missed.

Overall, this kit was an absolute pleasure to build. The sanding fixture and the jig-saw engine mount really add a unique flavor to the build process and yield outstanding results.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

QModeling recommends the D12-3 and E9-4 engines for this kit and predicts altitudes of 500 and 850 feet respectively. My RockSim model shows that this kit has better performance than these guys are letting on, and it should be able to also use a C11-3, D12-5, E9-6, or even an F21-8.

The recommended engines are good choices for angled flights or if there is much wind. When flying straight up on a calm day, it should be possible to use the next-longer delay.

*= Recommended by Manufacturer

Pre-flight preparation instructions seem pretty easy (yet I still managed to screw it up the first time).

• Tuck most of Kevlar shock cord into body tube.
• Insert Nomex Heat Shield.
• Fold and insert parachute.
• Tuck rest of shock cord into body tube.
• Attach nose cone.
• Insert engine and igniter.

The Heat Shield eliminates the need for wadding when used properly.

On the day of the maiden flight, the day started with brisk winds and intermittent rains. By the end of the launch session, the rain had stopped but the wind was still higher than I would have liked. I decided to knot the shroud lines about 8 inches from the swivel to keep the chute from inflating too far, angle the rod 20 degrees into the wind, and cross my fingers. With the strong horizontal flight component lowering the apogee, I decided to use the shorter delay of a D12-3 instead of the D12-5 that RockSim recommended for straight vertical flights.

Takeoff was nice and straight, arcing over near apogee, then POP the recovery system spewed out. After several seconds of falling, still no chute. It landed hard, snapping off one of the silver fins. When I got to the crash site I found that the shroud lines were still tightly wrapped around the chute which never unfurled. I also discovered some scorch marks where hot gas had gotten around the Heat Shield. The scorches did not contribute to the hard landing, but they still concerned me.

Upon re-reading the directions, it appeared I had done everything as directed. Why hadn’t it worked?

After sending crash photos to QModeling, Tom Quinn sent me back fold-by-fold directions on the best way to pack the chute. The new way involved wrapping the shroud lines around the chute lengthwise instead of wrapping them around the circumference. This looks like a bulkier package but it easily unrolls under its own weight. Then instead of packing the chute on top of the Heat Shield where it can be damaged by any hot gas that leaks past, the Heat Shield is tightly wrapped around the chute and shrouds. The first time I tried folding with this method, I couldn’t even get the bundle to fit into the tube, but after a few tries I was able to wrap a nice tight package that easily slid in and out. I hope they update the instructions with this packing technique because it works great.

I re-attached the broken fin and applied an extra-generous epoxy fillet. A week later I was ready to attempt a second flight. The wind was much calmer, so I decided to shoot straight up and use the longer delay D12-5.

Once again the boost was nice and straight with a gentle arc-over at apogee. Ejection occurred at least a second past apogee and this time the chute inflated perfectly. Descent was agonizingly slow even with the shrouds shortened by 8 inches. The modeled drifted to a gentle landing near the south edge of my field.

I decided to press my luck and move up to an E9-4. To counteract the drift I shortened the shroud lines another two inches and angled the launcher about 10 degrees upwind and to the north. This time the boost was long and slow into the wind with another perfect deployment. It drifted for a long time and finally landed near the far eastern edge of the field, about 15 feet from the blacktop. The shroud line got a little tangled in the long Kevlar shock cord. Good thing, too, or it might have drifted even further.

I plan to order a smaller nylon chute for this, either an 18" octagon or a 24" cross-form, to cut down on the drift.

• Flight Rating: 5 out of 5
• Recovery Rating: 3½ out of 5

OVERALL:

A really solid model backed up by a great company. Barring a complete screw-up with the parachute (like I had on my first flight), this kit should hold up well to repeated flights. I am really looking forward to future QModeling releases.

PROS:

• Sanding fixture for consistently good bevels.
• Should be very durable with its foil-lined engine tube, Nomex Heat Shield, Kevlar shock cord, Nylon parachute, and TTW fins.
• Jig-saw engine mount assembly is strong and precise without weight penalty.
• Detailed instructions.
• Outstanding customer support.

CONS:

• I still think the 30" parachute is too large for this kit.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5