Showcasing a large selection of Scale Model Kits.
$77.98
| Brand | SEOH |
|---|---|
| Theme | Rocket |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 12 x 12 x 18 inches |
| Material | Foam |
| Included Components | Rocket |
| Item Weight | 1.05 pounds |
| Number of Pieces | 1 |
| Product Dimensions | 12 x 12 x 18 inches |
| Item model number | 7360 |
| Manufacturer recommended age | 14 years and up |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Manufacturer | Quest Aerospace, Inc. |
| Date First Available | January 28, 2012 |
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Matthew McCullough –
This product is a great idea, but the implementation is so very awful that my 6 year old daughter suggested some decent engineering changes (stronger plastic, a fixed launch stem, tying in the launch release)
1. The launch platform is of the thinnest, cheapest, most breakable plastic I’ve seen in some time. It’s that kind of plastic that has no give and turns white, then breaks, even with the smallest amount of stress.
2. The nut that holds the rocket vertical keeps becoming loose. We tightened it with a wrench and it isn’t strong enough to even hold a 1 liter bottle, half full of water, though it is supposed to be capable oh holding double that.
3. The hook that connects to the launch release broke after the second launch.
4. The spar for the launch platform was broken upon arrival.
5. The ground spike can barely tolerate being pushed into the ground with your hand, let alone a light mallet. You can almost see through the plastic in some spots.
6 The fins are a very non-durable foam-core material and crack after just 2-3 launches in a soft lawn.
I haven’t been this disappointed in a product’s quality in quite some time. Highly suggested to avoid it, even with an adult using it. It just doesn’t hold up, even for 30 minutes of use.
This could all be corrected by:
1. Making the plastic twice as thick in all places. This might raise the cost by $1.
2. Making the plastic a more durable PVC-like type. This might raise the cost by $2.
3. Having some teeth on the launch stem, so that it doesn’t just fall over with a water-filled bottle on top. This costs nothing other than design.
4. Making the ground spike out of metal. A cheap sprinkler system “tie” would do, and costs 15¢ at Home Depot.
5. Making the fins out of a more flexible material, such as neoprene. This costs $1 at Michael’s Crafts.
sassinoodle –
My 6 year old who is obsessed with anything that flies saved up half the money to buy this and I chipped in the other half. I grew up in the 80’s with the classic small water rockets that actually used to work. The cheap rockets they sell with the hand pumps these days aren’t what they used to be. I saw this water rocket system and showed it to my son and he decided he needed to save up for it. Wow, he and I are glad he did!! Very impressive, it shot at least 300 feet up and we haven’t really pushed it yet on how high we can get it to go. Floats down really slow so it doesn’t get damaged on the way down. The only foreseeable issue is shooting it into some trees because it goes so high and being boys…of coarse we are going to push the limits. The best part is the spare nozzle and fins are really cheap to replace. This is a must buy for anyone who wants to have fun with their kids without a lot of cost like you would have with buying the solid fuel rockets that are so expensive.
T Austin –
As others have noted, the design and implementation on this rocket could use some improvement. The good part is that the bottle nozzle and holder on the launch pad work well. The following parts broke for us – all quite quickly:
– fins, every single one simply from impact with the grass on landing. I used hot glue to repair and they are now holding well
– swivel hook that attaches launch rope to base – way too weak for this application, I just tied it on and left it.
– launcher base leg that connects with stake. This interface doesn’t work and I cracked off the leg twice trying to get the stake free. My fix, I lean over and hold it down while my child launches it. This works best on a warm day, as I get a bit of a bath out of it 🙂
All in all, it’s way too cheaply made for the $38 they ask for it, but a bit of ingenuity and glue get it back working again. After all, this is a STEM toy, right? Learning to engineer by doing, yes? (Still, fix this please, Quest. You make some great products, but this Chinese rocket isn’t among them.)
Ninjabob –
The Good
This is one of the best water bottle launching systems out there. It launches the bottles very high and is a simple, effective system.
THe bad
The plastic nozzles you screw onto the bottom of the bottle are made of very cheap plastic and will crack if you screw them on too tight. Luckily you can order more on amazon.
The launcher lasted for a long time until I let one of my kids pull the string. They pulled it at a poor angle and the entire top busted off. I was able to jimmy rig it so it still works. Just be careful about the angle you pull the string or you will break it.
malberts –
This is an excellent kit. My son is 5 years old and we had a blast. The kit comes with everything you need to launch a rocket within 30 min of opening the box. (Minus the bottle and Bike pump)
Putting the rocket together was easy, although the directions said to use hot glue on the fins and hot glue for the top bumper. I did not use any glue or did any trimming of fins. I just duct tape them up and left it at that. I found tapping fins higher up on the bottle was better. The fins that come with the kit are a little too close to the launch cap, and with big hands it was hard to unscrew the cap. We spray painted everything white and my son added stickers and stuff to personalize the rocket. I made extra fins with cardboard and used an old old pool noodle for extra bumpers.
As for safety, actually launching the rocket is easy, the one thing we noticed after about 10 launches the Styrofoam ring you use to seal the launch cap to the launch pad starts to fail. Easy fix go to a hardware store and buy a rubber washer that matches the Styrofoam washer.
Overall super happy with the product, and has been a blast. I would purchase this again.