Reviews : Estes Nike Smoke PS Model Rocket Kit

I just got my Nike Smoke from the wife for my birthday (14 years and she finally gets me) It's a great looking kit with some very cool features. First the fins - they're plastic - but not the blow-molded kind like the old Maxi Brute Honest John - these are heavy, perfectly molded, scale fins that come in two parts and glue together seamlessly. Second, the sturdy 3 inch body tube comes pre-slotted and is also cut with great precision. Lastly, he nosecone has some cool scale details like rivets and access panels molded in and is really really nice Very strait forward assembly, the kit is so simple it's hard to screw up I agree with the previous reviewer about swapping out the typical 3 paper folds and glue shock cord mount for the Quest style which is braided kevlar inside the tube tied to an equal length of elastic cord outside making the shock cord twice as long as Estes supplies. Also, If you are a power junkie (like me) you may want to leave the supplied motor block out so that extended 29mm reload cases will fit (high power certification required for H motors). I will let you all know if the Nike Smoke can stand up to the H238T Worth the 50 plus just for the cool factor alone.

This is an easy kit to build. One change I made was to drill a small hole in the forward centering ring and threaded through a length of kevlar. This was tied around the motor tube and fastened with CA. At the forward end of the kevlar I tied a small loop so that it was about 1 below the forward edge of the body tube. I CA'd the loop and tied the length of shock cord to the loop. This helps keep the elastic away from the ejection charge flash. I also use super thin CA and apply a thin layer to the inside of the forward end of the BT (about 1.5) to reduce zippering. I flew this recently on an Aerotech E18-4 reloadable-altitude was approx. 450' and it flew straight as an arrow!

This is a very nice kit except for one major flaw. The design of the plastic fins is terrible. Estes, for whatever reason, makes each fin in halves, and you have to super glue each half together. This is okay, except in the amount of time it takes to apply super glue too all the required surfaces, the glue has already dried in some places before you can mate the two halves together. Why not just make a solid fin? The weight difference would be negligible.

This kit is really a nice kit. The kit has a lot of good details in the nose cone and the fins. Instructions were easy to read. The one item that I did not like was the shock cord. The kit has an elastic cord. I did not use the one that was in the kit. I used a normal kevlar tubular cord and attached the kevlar to the motor mount. My first flight was with a F motor and it was a great flight. I would suggest everyone to buy this kit......

Great kit. Price from Hobbylinc is the best around. Plastic through the wall fins makes for an easy build. Highly detailed nose cone with access hatches and detailed flare. Easy to substitute your own Kevlar shock cord for the elastic and paper shock cord mount. Completes my Nike Smoke family. Will upload a picture soon.

i love this kit. The plastic fins make for easy and fast construction and the plastic nose cone has a good amount of detail. The parts are very good quality, although I would rather see rip-stop nylon used for the parachute rather than the normal nylon used in this kit.

working on construction right now. only gave it 4 stars because the shock cord isnt,imo, strong enough. im upgrading to a 1/4 dia shock cord mounted(epoxied) right to the mmt. fins and nc have awesome detail great price and ive always loved the nike

I hear lots of good reviews on the Nike Smoke on rocketry forums and the flights are fantastic at ROC launch events. Mine arrived in clean and crisp packaging that I like as a collector. Thank you