Estes Pro Series II Mega Der Red Max Build

After checking all the local sources, I could not find any find any Krylon UV-Resistant Acrylic Clear. So, after some consideration I sprayed a coat of MinWax Clear Semi Gloss Polycrylic over the complete Mega Der Red Max... over the Red Krylon shimmer metallic paint, stock waterslide decals and teh nosecone's black Valspar enamel. The polycrilic required a heavy coat to start sheeting on the Decals and Krylon paint, but black Valspar painted nosecone looked bad like it was on track for a "hammered" black finish. So... I made an executive decision to wipe down the nose cone, and leave the Body tube and fins alone. That turned out to be an excellent move.. because I was able to get the Polycrilic to sheet a thin smooth layer on the nosecone now using just a paper towel! Whew. The decals did not peel up and now the rocket is dry and looks great. I hope it helps keep the decals from chipping/peeling.

I have not started cutting 4" rings to make the nosecone avionics bay mod. I may not get that done before attempting my maiden flight this weekend. I'm betting that due to base drag and proven design, the MDRM will fly fine and stable at less than 1 cal stability margin. I think I"ll be around 0.7 when I have the weight of a chute release and altimeter 3 just below the nose cone.

I have a number of Estes G80-7T, and an AT RMS 29/40-120 reloadable case with the following loads: G53-5FJ, G64-4W and G76-10G (I'll have to drill the delay on that one.) I also have a AT RMS 29/180 with an H128W-M and a G75J-M.. both of which would need delay drilling for this heavy bird... over 34 oz now. The H128W is my L1 cert motor.. which I plan to fly my Leviathan with on Saturday for L1.

Weather sort of cooperated today so I got the first coat of primer on the MDRM.

I've been quietly watching the thread, I had Mega Red Max
But it went ballistic into a pond, its a great flyer especially on the G75 Metalstorms.

I've gotten a new one, I want to fiberglass it.
This time I'm doing a Star Wars theme.

I'll incorporate some of ideas to my future Red Max

cruzsergio said:

I've been quietly watching the thread, I had Mega Red Max
But it went ballistic into a pond, its a great flyer especially on the G75 Metalstorms.

I've gotten a new one, I want to fiberglass it.
This time I'm doing a Star Wars theme.

I'll incorporate some of ideas to my future Red Max

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Have you checked out Stickershock23's StarWars themed MDRM decals? They are awesome, been thinking about building a SW themed one myself.

I managed to maiden my MDRM today at the Snow Ranch, CA LUNAR Launch. I was very impressed/happy with the flights. I was under 1 cal stability, but had confidence given the stubby airframe and anticipated base drag. The maiden flight, and following flight were both on 137 n-s total impulse single use Estes (AeroTech) G80-7T motors. It jumped off the pad, but not too fast.. and accelerated nicely up... straight and true with less than 1 rotation during the 979' ascent. The delay was perfect and the laundry came out nicely right at Apogee. I flew with both a JL Chute Release and a JL Altimeter 3. The Chute release was set to 300' for each flight.. and worked perfectly. (Thanks John!) I had a little trouble getting my Galaxy III Tablet to connect/reconnect to the Altimeter 3, and even seem to have lost the data from the first flight.. but I did capture the data from the 2nd flight.. which peaked at 979 Ft. I may have a video .. but I haven't reviewed what is on the go pro yet.
I really really like this rocket! The one thing I learned today, was that I need to add a swivel between the body/fin section and the Nomex/Nosecone. The Nomex keeps the nosecone from spinning as it falls, but the fins grab lots of air and the body spins at a pretty good rate. My Kevlar shock cord was wound up very tight after both flights. I do have a swivel on the chute, and that worked fine.

Got a second coat of gloss paint on my MDRM today. If the weather holds tomorrow, I hope to do a little sanding and get a third coat on. Next have to get off my butt and order my Stickershock decals.

Quick question, what did you use for the vent holes? I scoured the thread for it and couldn't find it.

I haven't done any vent holes. I'm using a JollyLogic Chute Release so no dual deploy and I haven't invested in an Altimeter yet. If I do eventually get an altimeter it'll go in the nosecone and I'll figure out my vent holes then.

Got the final gloss coats on today and have ordered my decals from Mark at Stickershock. I'll post pics after I get the decals on, probably some time this coming week. Hoping to fly it next month for my level 1 Cert.

Agatheron said:

Quick question, what did you use for the vent holes? I scoured the thread for it and couldn't find it.

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I did put in vent holes on my ~new Mega Der Red Max. I placed three vent holes 120 degrees apart and 6.5 inches below the body tube forward edge. I placed the holes there since they will not interfere with the rather large black decal that wraps the top of the body tube. The hole diameter I used is 5/32". This setup works very well for me, no premature nosecone separation and the Altimeter 3 shows excellent flight data. Here's shots of all 3 vent holes in my MDRM:


Aside, I've had 3 nice launches and recoveries so far with the Jolly Logic Chute Release. The two launches that I was able to get data from my Altimeter 3, showed 970 and 943 ft altitude using a G80-7T (137 N-s). It's a great flyer! Here's a few shots from flight/landing and also the a plot from my Jolly Logic Altimeter 3.

On the pad at Snow Ranch, CA.


Landing scene after successful maiden flight to 970 ft.


Altimeter 3 data from last week's flight at Helm, CA. Notice how slowly it falls before even the Jolly Logic Chute Release Opens the Chute down below 200 ft. It tends to spin like a windmill falling without the chute being opened... so a swivel on the body tube ejection cord is a must when using the chute release with this setup.

smugglervt said:

Got the final gloss coats on today and have ordered my decals from Mark at Stickershock. I'll post pics after I get the decals on, probably some time this coming week. Hoping to fly it next month for my level 1 Cert.

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Looking very nice! What motors are you thinking of for your Level 1 with the MDRM?

rharshberger said:

Have you checked out Stickershock23's StarWars themed MDRM decals? They are awesome, been thinking about building a SW themed one myself.

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Yes I have!
They're great!
I've made my own version of his stars wars theme.

kevinkal said:

I did put in vent holes on my ~new Mega Der Red Max. I placed three vent holes 120 degrees apart and 6.5 inches below the body tube forward edge. I placed the holes there since they will not interfere with the rather large black decal that wraps the top of the body tube. The hole diameter I used is 5/32". This setup works very well for me, no premature nosecone separation and the Altimeter 3 shows excellent flight data. Here's shots of all 3 vent holes in my MDRM:
View attachment 289102View attachment 289103View attachment 289104

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So when you did these holes, did you just drill them, or did you put something to reinforce the edge of the hole? When I first saw these pics I thought I saw a hollow rivet type setup, now I'm not so sure. Did you simply drill a 5/32" hole? Did you reinforce it with CA?

Agatheron said:

So when you did these holes, did you just drill them, or did you put something to reinforce the edge of the hole? When I first saw these pics I thought I saw a hollow rivet type setup, now I'm not so sure. Did you simply drill a 5/32" hole? Did you reinforce it with CA?

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Good question. The cardboard does't drill well.. and likes to make thick "fuzz" around the edge of the hole. So, what I've been doing, right or wrong, is to start drilling with a small 1/16" pilot hole, then very carefully increase bit size until I'm at what I'm after. At this point, the hole has a lip and fuzz. However, at this point, I use 30 minute epoxy or thin CA to saturate the fuzzy cardboard lip around the holes.. my objective is to make the perimeter material around the hole become hard and easily cut without turning into fuzz. After the glue has hardened.. I then either carefully drill again, or use an exacto blade to cut the lip down. It's a bit of artwork.. but seemed to end in good results. As a final step after cutting/drilling, I again soak the perimeter of the hole with 30 min epoxy.. or CA seems to work too. The idea is the increase the strength around the hole by impregnating the carboard with something that will make it strong. The reason I used 30 min epoxy over faster cure epoxy.. is that it soaks into the carboard much better than 5 or 15 minute epoxy. It takes time to do, but its something you can do and put aside for an hour or two while you work on something else.
Hope that helps.

I've had good luck with using the back end of the drill bit as a mandrel when cutting off hole fuzz from cardboard. You take the back end of the drill bit, put it in the hole, then use it as a backer when you cut the fuzz off with your hobby knife.

That sounds like an excellent method for cutting the fuzz.

kevinkal said:

Looking very nice! What motors are you thinking of for your Level 1 with the MDRM?

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I've got an order in with Wildman for a couple of H128 and H165.

kevinkal said:

Good question. The cardboard does't drill well.. and likes to make thick "fuzz" around the edge of the hole. So, what I've been doing, right or wrong, is to start drilling with a small 1/16" pilot hole, then very carefully increase bit size until I'm at what I'm after. At this point, the hole has a lip and fuzz. However, at this point, I use 30 minute epoxy or thin CA to saturate the fuzzy cardboard lip around the holes.. my objective is to make the perimeter material around the hole become hard and easily cut without turning into fuzz. After the glue has hardened.. I then either carefully drill again, or use an exacto blade to cut the lip down. It's a bit of artwork.. but seemed to end in good results. As a final step after cutting/drilling, I again soak the perimeter of the hole with 30 min epoxy.. or CA seems to work too. The idea is the increase the strength around the hole by impregnating the carboard with something that will make it strong. The reason I used 30 min epoxy over faster cure epoxy.. is that it soaks into the carboard much better than 5 or 15 minute epoxy. It takes time to do, but its something you can do and put aside for an hour or two while you work on something else.
Hope that helps.

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Probably would work better prior to primer and paint. This way you don't risk damaging your paint finish.

Kevin,

It looks like the decals must be reasonably thick, or at least very opaque, on the Mega DRM. I built a Mini Der Red Max (actually, a Double MDRM, it's a two stage), and the skulls have a slight pinkish tint from the red paint affecting the white color. I thought on future build I'd need to keep that area white so the skulls look pure white. Apparently not an issue with the Mega DRM.

I'm currently building a DRM clone using Excelsior decals, and wonder if I should keep those areas white.

Decided to put the three vent holes in the body and repair the paint. Stickershocked her today and now only have to seal it and she's ready for her maiden flight. Not perfect but I'm not a perfectionist. Hopefully she'll get me my Level 1 Cert in a couple of weeks.

Looks great! Good luck with your cert flight. I can't see the vent holes. What size did you go with?
One thing I noticed when flying this one, the black nosecone tends to heat up fast in the sun, I think my larger black "skull wrap" waterslide decal on the upper body tube also heats up. The net result is variation in how tight the nosecone fits. For each of my flights, I felt the nosecone fit was too tight after sitting on the launch pad for a few minutes.. (after installing igniter on the pad).. and I had to remove some masking tape for the "right" fit. I think this one had lots of base and fin drag.. so the cone needs to be on well enough to avoid drag separation, but not too tight that the laundry won't come out.

I did 3 small 1/8" holes about 6 1/2" down from the top of the body tube. Hopefully that will be enough for a future altimeter. I'll keep an eye out for the nosecone. Thanks for the heads up.

I just found a video of my last MDRM flight from Will Ferry's video collection. This was on an Estes(AT) G80-7T. The video captures how the fin can spins during free fall before the JL Chute Release lets the chute open. I put in a swivel to cope with the spinning:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=OWszTmJlSGVZeVBaQTFlUnFheV95Q1ppZ1RzQXdR

I have a swivel on the chute, should I put one on the harness anchor point as well? Also going with a 36" dinochute.

It is my opinion that if you need a swivel in the body tube section of the shock cord if your flying with a chute release. The body/fincan spins a lot and will wind up the shock cord pretty quickly. I suspect that the body/fincan would also spin coming down under the main, but I've only had my main open 200 to 300 ft AGL, so I haven't personally witness the fin can spinning under the main chute. I have a swivel both on the chute and on the shock cord just inside the body tube. If I had to guess, I'd guess that you could get away just fine having just the swivel in the body tube.. since that's where all the rotation is coming from.

Got my Level 1 certification with my MDRM on an AT H128W today.



[video]https://youtu.be/Jm98liUqzoI[/video]

Congratulations, welcome to L1 and beyond!

congrats!!

Congrats on L1...

Onward and Upward!

Congrats! I also did my L1 yesterday on a stretched Estes Leviathan. Same motor too!

Nice job on the MDRM! I've got one in the build pile I need to get started