This is a great little rocket to add to your collection. No suprises here - it was pretty much as I expected. Not hard to build - the most difficult thing was applying the decals only because there are tons of them - but that what makes this so great looking. I used a white gloss paint over the entire rocket. It comes with a little clay/putty that you push into the nose cone. I suspect this is for CG purposes. You'll need something much slimmer than a pencil that the instructions show. I used the end of a coat hanger but you could also use a launch rail. This is a beauty and I think you'll enjoy making it