Brief:
HPR Der Red Max, me bucko, 2.458X upscale. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! 48" parachute recovery.
Construction:
All materials are PML. Arrr! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! I used 4" Quantum tubing, arrr, cut and slotted for me by
PML. Begad! Avast! T' body tube be cut t' 20.8 inches, while t' fin slots were 4.6 inches
long, 3/8" from t' end o' t' tube. Blimey! T' fins and centerin' rings were
made from 3/16" ply. Avast, me proud beauty! T' fins were fiberglassed for extra strength. The
rocket has a 29mm phenolic motor tube that was cut t' 12". Avast, me proud beauty! A PML motor
retainer be also used. Begad! T' nosecone is a PML PNC 3.9. Recovery is via 12' of
tubular nylon with a 48" PML parachute.
This was a fairly easy rocket t' build. Avast! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! It makes a good scratch project for a newbie. (like me!) Construction proceeded usin' standard HPR techniques. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I built a special shish-ka-bob rack for construction and painting. Arrr! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! This rack allowed me t' work t' fin fillets without havin' t' fuss about t' position of the rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I could rotate t' rocket anyway I needed t' have it. Internal and external fin fillets were both 30 min. Begad! Blimey! epoxy. After about 10 days o' sanding and fillin' o' t' fins and fillets, me bucko, it be finally ready for primer. Blimey! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I laid on 3 coats o' Rustoleum sandable auto primer, shiver me timbers, sandin' in betwixt each coat. Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Next, I laid on 3 coats o' Krylon Banner Red Gloss. Aye aye! Blimey! After dryin' for 24 hrs. I masked off and painted t' black stripe around t' top on t' body tube with Krylon Gloss Black. Begad! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!
After allowin' sufficient time
for t' paint t' dry, I applied t' decals. Blimey! I had Tom Prestia o' Tango Papa
decals make t' 2.458X upscale decals for me in self-adhesive vinyl. Arrr! Blimey! Tom's
decals are excellent! Applyin' them was easy. Avast, me proud beauty! After all t' decals were on, I
applied 2 coats o' Rustoleum Crystal Clear Gloss. Arrr! Blimey! T' clear does nay react with
this type o' decal at all, and gives t' model a nice glossy coat. Well, blow me down! Blimey!
Flight:
Well, matey, I planned t' fly this model on G-40 and G-80 motors. Begad! Ya scallywag! I smartly found out
that "Big Red" be just too heavy for that. Avast! I believe that this
"heavy weight" condition is due t' t' heavier PML airframe and the
fact t' DRM has HUGE fins. I also used 3/16" ply for t' fins, so that
did nay help either. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! I have nay flown this rocket yet due t' motors being
unavailable. I plan t' fly it on a H-128 with 4 sec delay.
Summary:
Pros:
Cons:
![]() |
![]() |