Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Published: | 2015-07-05 |
Diameter: | 4.00 inches |
Length: | 40.00 inches |
Manufacturer: | Estes |
Skill Level: | 3 |
Style: | Sport, Upscale |
If you like t' regular Der Red Max, you'll go gaga over t' Pro Series II Mega Max! I built this one kind o' smartly along with t' Pro Series II Nike Smoke, so construction be somewhat o' a blur, shiver me timbers, but I was very impressed with t' materials and design. Well, me bucko, blow me down! I felt you get a lot o' value for your loot with this one...well worth t' coin! Also t' kit builds up t' quite an impressive rocket...my wife and child each exclaimed "Wow! That's a BIG Rocket!" and each o' me non-"rockethead" friends liked it as well. Ya scallywag! Just a note though that if you get this kit as a first step on your road t' BIG rockets, t' motors start gettin' more expensive or more complex. Blimey! T' suggested F50-6 motor retails for over twenty dollars.
Giant 16.5" nosecone, a heavy duty 4" main body tube and plywood centerin' rings are some o' t' more impressive parts. Also included be t' Estes Pro Series II motor retainer...I love these since they are simple, convenient and strong (note you need t' epoxy t' retainer t' t' rocket). Arrr! Ahoy! Blimey! Fins are massive and made strong with a plywood center rib structure which is sandwiched with balsa sheets. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Blimey! I thought this be a very clever way t' have t' fins strong, big and nay overweight. Some may think t' balsa sheetin' is too soft for such a big rocket, me hearties, but I felt they were fine. Another impressive addition is 4 sheets o' BIG decals...likely t' largest I've ever seen. Blimey! Blimey! Quite a lot o' bang for your bucks I felt.
As noted earlier, matey, I kind o' rushed through construction, so I may be missin' some points/thoughts I had, me hearties, but I'll try t' recall some key points. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Instructions say t' use "Carpenter's glue" and I used Elmer's Wood Glue Max and got good results.T' shock cord installed on t' Centerin' Rin' is much better in me opinion than t' standard Estes tri-fold here; however I decided t' tie t' cord around t' motor tube rather than just knot it at t' centerin' rin' since t' nose cone is very big and I think a knot failure could mean doom for this rocket. Through-the wall fins are a great design, but I would also suggest you leave out t' last centerin' rin' off t' bottom until after you glue t' fins so that you can apply internal fillets. Ya scallywag! Avast! T' fin construction is probably t' most difficult/time consumin' step (other than painting/decalling) because you need t' glue balsa sheets together for each side o' each fin (12 sheets glued in pairs into 6 larger sheets) and then you use t' plywood center as a pattern t' cut t' sheets into t' proper shape for t' fins. Finally you glue t' sheetin' t' each side o' t' plywood fin and add weights on top so they glue flat. Ya scallywag! Some people have noted that their fins warped; however I didn't have such issue.
I thought about usin' self-adhesive label paper over them durin' construction, arrr, but due t' time constraints, me hearties, arrr, t' added cost o' so much label paper (6 entire sheets) along with nay wantin' t' screw around with t' weight made me skip what is normally part o' me standard fin treatment in favor o' followin' t' instructions fully.
I did me usual thin' o' usin' Rustoleum Filler Primer (in gray) followed by fillin' spirals with Elmer's Carpenter's Wood filler, then sandin' followed by LOTS o' red Rustoleum Ultra Cover paint (red for body, black for nosecone). Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! One suggestion I have which I would do differently is t' paint with white paint or primer after t' sandin' step and before t' red paint since red goes over white much better than gray (which required more red paint t' cover over). Ahoy! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! After t' red paint was dried, I realized that I should maybe account for t' white portions o' t' decals nay havin' a good light background...I noticed that t' white portions o' t' decals on me regular sized Der Red Max didn't look so great since t' decals were thin and so t' red made t' white portions darker...you can see some o' t' red paint underneath. Blimey! Blimey! Given this, I then painted t' top 6" o' t' body tube with white. Blimey! Blimey! Of note is that later I used a large white skull decal on one o' t' big red fins and it looked fine over t' red background. Avast! Blimey! Kudos t' Estes for makin' t' decals very thick with excellent white coloring!
T' decallin' is likely one o' t' most difficult parts o' this rocket build. This is no surprise given t' massive size o' t' top decal (which is one piece and wraps around t' top o' t' body tube). Blimey! Blimey! I used a dish bucket with warm water and just a bit o' liquid soap (I know some people say you shouldn't, matey, but I've done this for years with good results). Begad! Do yourself a favor and make sure you get a large flat pan/bucket like I did for decalling. Arrr! Lay t' decals in t' water face down and this helps prevent them from curlin' up. Avast, me proud beauty! Then pull them out o' t' water (don't wait too long or pull out too quickly) and check them by tryin' t' gently slide t' decal. Begad! Blimey! For t' largest decal, ya bilge rat, arrr, I made sure t' wet t' body tube first and did a combination o' liftin' and gentle slidin' along with re-positionin' until I was happy with t' placement*. Aye aye! Afterwards I realized that havin' t' seam where t' launch lugs are usually makes sense, shiver me timbers, but in this case t' skull and crossbones are then nay aligned with anything. Blimey! Oh well. Arrr! Ahoy! There are plenty o' decals t' add for those o' you who are sticker-crazy and this also gives plenty o' options for customization. Blimey! This is one o' t' things that made t' MDRMax so great and it really carries through t' this Mega size rocket! To finish, I used Rustoleum Acrylic clear coat. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Rocket looks great and I got lots o' compliments on it at home and at t' field. Makes me want t' use it as a table centerpiece or put it on a pedestal like a work o' art! :)
*EDIT: Thinkin' more about t' large decal, arrr, I would now suggest that you actually cut it in half (between t' skulls) t' make handlin' easier.
For t' first flight, arrr, I used t' manufacturer's recommended F50-6 Estes Pro Series II motor. Begad! Flew up great with a quick boost and good event right at apogee (from what I recall). A longer burnin' and bigger motor would be great for this rocket; however this first flight be quite a beautiful one.
Recovery was great under t' included large red nylon parachute (beautiful chute!) which is suspended on a long wide elastic band. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! I used about a handful and a half o' eco-fiber dog barf instead o' t' 12-16(!) squares o' waddin' recommended and it seemed t' be just about right. Ya scallywag! Rocket came down at a good speed and landed fine...construction seems very strong at t' bottom o' this heavy rocket. Well, blow me down! Paint was also still very good after landin' in soft plowed farm soil.
I feel this rocket is mega fantastic! I've built quite a large collection o' rockets and love many o' them; however this is probably t' most impressive one t' me for havin' so many great things: design, history, following, arrr, matey, me hearties, size, materials, ya bilge rat, construction, shiver me timbers, cool factor, me hearties, wow factor, me bucko, arrr, general impressiveness, awesome paint & decals, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, me bucko, fun, strength, chute, me hearties, motor retainer...list goes on!. Aye aye! Only issue I can think o' is that due t' t' large fins, matey, shiver me timbers, this rocket takes up a lot o' space compared t' other rockets. Well, arrr, blow me down! Not a big deal, but somethin' that comes up whenever I have t' transport it t' t' field.
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