Estes Pro Series II Mega Der Red Max Build

Ok, this is going to be my first build thread. I've built a few LPR and MPR since getting back into rocketry so I thought it would be good practice to start a build thread in the event I ever decide to shoot for a level 2 certification. Currently my only thoughts are to get my level 1 cert this spring or summer and have a couple of options for which rocket I may decide to use for that effort. I really loved the looks of the Estes Pro Series II Mega Der Red Max and when I found it for a really good price I jumped on it. Here's the unpacking:



Thanks John for the photo help. I'll add more pics when I get home.

So far I glued the 12 separate Balsa sheets into the 6 panels from which the fin skins will be cut. I will use wood glue for attaching the balsa skins to the ply fins but will use 30 minute epoxy for the rest of the build.



I attached the middle CR to the MMT after giving the MMT a quick roughing up with sandpaper. Also attached an eyebolt for shock cord anchor in the forward CR. I'll be using 4' of Kevlar 900lb tensile 1/8" braided cord attached to the eyebolt to which I'll attach about 15' of 1/2" polyester elastic for the rest of the shock cord.



That's it for now. I only get to work on the hobby for a couple of hours every few days. Any advice will be welcome.

Consider using epoxy for the fin layups. I spoke with Estes directly on this and their recommendation is to use epoxy. The reason is that the water in wood glue increases the likelihood of fin warping during the layup process. Epoxy does not introduce this issue to the materials.

Awesome rocket, love to MDRM. Looking forward to your build.

Crash-n-Burn said:

Consider using epoxy for the fin layups. I spoke with Estes directly on this and their recommendation is to use epoxy. The reason is that the water in wood glue increases the likelihood of fin warping during the layup process. Epoxy does not introduce this issue to the materials.

Awesome rocket, love to MDRM. Looking forward to your build.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. Makes sense and since I'm going with epoxy for the rest I may as well be consistent.

A few things....

First, thanks for doing a build thread on a very popular rocket. If you can make it down to Red Glare next month, we always have an MDRM drag race, with about a dozen of them going up at once. Quite the spectacle!

Second, you are building a great Level 1 cert rocket right now! An H151 will put that baby up to about 1500', which makes for an easy recovery and an easy cert.

Third, about the sideways picture, here's what to do. Today's cameras are able to sense "up." They auto-rotate your pictures so that weather you shoot portrait or landscape, it presents your picture to you the right way up. This also occurs in all modern photo viewing software. However, web browsers don't support this, and thus the pic comes in landscape automatically.

To get it permanently oriented the way you want it, open it in a photo editor. Rotate it 90 deg. right, then 90 deg. left. This will hardcode the orientation into the JPEG. Then upload the resaved image to TRF, and it will be oriented the way you saved it.

Ive built ...well..several of the Mega Max's, all pretty much stock other than adding an eyebolt to the top
c/r to make it easier to swap out new a new shockcord in the future if necessary. I would suggest if you are
going to use a kevlar bridle, then consider keeping it short enough that it cannot reach the top of the body
tube. The estes tubing is not exactly the thickest in the business, although when coupled with the elastic
cord included, one of mine has been zipper free for 44 flights now(almost all H and I motors). Ive seen some others
who replaced the elastic with various forms of nylon and kevlar not have the same longevity... to say the least. Its a nice kit for the money(at the usual sale price) and secretly,, it loves to fly on I-243's.
..and, Mark(stickershock) can hook you up with some custom vinyl if you want to go that route.
Enjoy.

G-Dog said:

Ive built ...well..several of the Mega Max's, all pretty much stock other than adding an eyebolt to the top
c/r to make it easier to swap out new a new shockcord in the future if necessary. I would suggest if you are
going to use a kevlar bridle, then consider keeping it short enough that it cannot reach the top of the body
tube. The estes tubing is not exactly the thickest in the business, although when coupled with the elastic
cord included, one of mine has been zipper free for 44 flights now(almost all H and I motors). Ive seen some others
who replaced the elastic with various forms of nylon and kevlar not have the same longevity... to say the least. Its a nice kit for the money(at the usual sale price) and secretly,, it loves to fly on I-243's.
..and, Mark(stickershock) can hook you up with some custom vinyl if you want to go that route.
Enjoy.

Click to expand...

My plan is to tie the Kevlar as a circular loop just below the top of the body tube so I can rotate it around to check for wear and then just tie the 15' of elastic cord to the Kevlar. A Nomex blanket will be part of the plan as well. Mark will be getting an order shortly from me for the Black Max vinyl. Fits in nicely with our Renaissance Faire pirate ensemble.

I often tie the Kevlar in a loop for exactly the same reason. However, the MDRM is a 4" rocket, so you can easily reach your hand all the way down into the rocket to the eyebolt. You can just attach the shock cord to the eyebolt with a quick link, and unscrew it any time you want. It makes it super easy to inspect it and replace it if necessary. My shock cord is a tubular nylon harness from OneBadHawk, and it has a Kevlar sleeve to protect the end. I really like this setup. If this is your first 4" bird, your going to love the fact you can reach inside it.

ThirstyBarbarian said:

I often tie the Kevlar in a loop for exactly the same reason. However, the MDRM is a 4" rocket, so you can easily reach your hand all the way down into the rocket to the eyebolt. You can just attach the shock cord to the eyebolt with a quick link, and unscrew it any time you want. It makes it super easy to inspect it and replace it if necessary. My shock cord is a tubular nylon harness from OneBadHawk, and it has a Kevlar sleeve to protect the end. I really like this setup. If this is your first 4" bird, your going to love the fact you can reach inside it.

Click to expand...

I was thinking of ordering one OneBadHawk's harnesses but I have quite a bit of Kevlar and elastic cord on hand. I may pick one up down the road after I build my Binder Design Thug which will be my second 4" bird and yes I'm really liking these fat ones.

Got the balsa skins cut out and have started epoxying them under weight. This will take a while since I'm using 30 minute epoxy and have to wait for each side to set up before I can flip it and do the other. I only have room to do one fin at a time on my glass topped desk.

Good things come to those who wait! :wink:

The third and final fin is balsa skinned and under weight.



I cut the balsa fins a little big to make sure I got good epoxy coverage then sanded down the edges after the epoxy set to match the plywood fins. Drum sander on my dremel worked great for that job. Papered the two fins with Avery Label paper and ran a hot iron over them to set the glue. Read that in another thread. After all three fins are complete I'll clamp them together and sand all the edges for uniform fins. Third fin should be ready to work tomorrow and hopefully I'll have time to get it sanded and papered.



Got the MMT epoxied in place.



Also managed to get primer coats on a few builds waiting on warmer weather.

All the fins are papered and beveled. Ran out of CA for the edges so had to quit for the evening. Not as productive as yesterday but then I did have to work all day.

Not too much done on the MDRM tonight. Did get the rest of the fins CA'd and the rail buttons on and epoxied.

Looking good. I'll have to read up on papered fins.
I've been slowly building up a MDRM also. I'm at about the same stage as you with an eyebolt in the upper centering ring and 3/4oz glass on the fin sandwiches. I think the fins will wind up being the time sink on my build. I got my first set ever of rail buttons from apogee yesterday.. and hope to install them shortly. Unfortunately, Ive already glued all the centering rings onto the motor tube.. so I'll have to work something out when I go to mount the lower rail button.

kevinkal said:

Looking good. I'll have to read up on papered fins.
I've been slowly building up a MDRM also. I'm at about the same stage as you with an eyebolt in the upper centering ring and 3/4oz glass on the fin sandwiches. I think the fins will wind up being the time sink on my build. I got my first set ever of rail buttons from apogee yesterday.. and hope to install them shortly. Unfortunately, Ive already glued all the centering rings onto the motor tube.. so I'll have to work something out when I go to mount the lower rail button.

Click to expand...

What I did on my Argent for the aft rail button is to glue a small piece of solid wood (about 1/2" thick) to the topside of the aft CR and contour it to the curve of the CR. I then drilled into it after the MMT was glued into the body tube and screwed the rail button to the aft CR block.

Excellent suggestion. Thank you.

Got the fins on tonight. Hopefully I'll get to do the internal fillets tomorrow.

Looking good!

Internal fillets are done and aft CR is epoxied in place and retainer on with JB Weld. External fillets in the next day or so.

I just gotta get me one of these. Anyone know where the best price is, currently?

Banzai88 said:

I just gotta get me one of these. Anyone know where the best price is, currently?

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ACSUPPLY is usually right there or close to it. https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes/der_red_max_pro.htm


Hmmm... Hobbylinc has them beat. https://www.hobbylinc.com/estes-mega-der-red-max-model-rocket-kit-pro-series-ii-e2x-9705

samb said:

ACSUPPLY is usually right there or close to it. https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes/der_red_max_pro.htm


Hmmm... Hobbylinc has them beat. https://www.hobbylinc.com/estes-mega-der-red-max-model-rocket-kit-pro-series-ii-e2x-9705

Click to expand...

Ordered and on the way!

Too bad you didn't ask a couple of weeks ago. Hobbylinc had them for $39.99 which is when I ordered mine. They're back up to $48.09. Got the Nike Smoke at the same time for $28.59 and now they're back up to $34.89.

Has anyone upgraded their MDRM nosecone with a bulkhead and eye bolt? I'm thinking this baby is bit bottom heavy and could use a little weight up front. Eventually I would like to set it up with a tracker in the nose cone but that was going to be down the road a ways. Thoughts anyone? Should I modify the nosecone now with just two bulkheads cut as a removable recovery harness mount?

smugglervt said:

Has anyone upgraded their MDRM nosecone with a bulkhead and eye bolt? I'm thinking this baby is bit bottom heavy and could use a little weight up front. Eventually I would like to set it up with a tracker in the nose cone but that was going to be down the road a ways. Thoughts anyone? Should I modify the nosecone now with just two bulkheads cut as a removable recovery harness mount?

Click to expand...

While I haven't yet built my own simulation model for the MDRM... the one's I've found online show that the CP is further back that I would have expected. Those are big fins. (openrocket).

That mod to the nosecone would be good to give some more length to work with in the body tube. Currently, I think my nomex wrapped parachute is going to sit smack on top of the top centering ring / motor tube and take the full brunt of the ejection charge. I don't know if there's enough length in the tube to mount a baffle/shelf or flow diversion system.

How's your weight looking? I'm at 31.5 oz as of last night with all extra gear (eyebolt/swivel/18x18nomex etc), and I have yet to glue the fins, fillet and paint. I'm probably looking at 33 to 34 oz minimum if I don't have to add nose weight.

smugglervt said:

Has anyone upgraded their MDRM nosecone with a bulkhead and eye bolt? I'm thinking this baby is bit bottom heavy and could use a little weight up front. Eventually I would like to set it up with a tracker in the nose cone but that was going to be down the road a ways. Thoughts anyone? Should I modify the nosecone now with just two bulkheads cut as a removable recovery harness mount?

Click to expand...

Mine flies stock on H motors straight up. One of the straightest, truest birds in my flock. No nose weight or mods necessary.

smugglervt said:

Has anyone upgraded their MDRM nosecone with a bulkhead and eye bolt? I'm thinking this baby is bit bottom heavy and could use a little weight up front. Eventually I would like to set it up with a tracker in the nose cone but that was going to be down the road a ways. Thoughts anyone? Should I modify the nosecone now with just two bulkheads cut as a removable recovery harness mount?

Click to expand...

I currently have two that I did just that, cut the bottom of the shoulder off, used a ply bulkhead with some blocks glued to it and ran screws into them from the outside. Important that you use small enough flat head screws that can be slightly countersunk so as not to interfere with ejection. My girlfriend built one and got her L1 on an H151, her and I also bought 4 kits from Hobbylinc when they were on sale.

kevinkal said:

While I haven't yet built my own simulation model for the MDRM... the one's I've found online show that the CP is further back that I would have expected. Those are big fins. (openrocket).

That mod to the nosecone would be good to give some more length to work with in the body tube. Currently, I think my nomex wrapped parachute is going to sit smack on top of the top centering ring / motor tube and take the full brunt of the ejection charge. I don't know if there's enough length in the tube to mount a baffle/shelf or flow diversion system.

How's your weight looking? I'm at 31.5 oz as of last night with all extra gear (eyebolt/swivel/18x18nomex etc), and I have yet to glue the fins, fillet and paint. I'm probably looking at 33 to 34 oz minimum if I don't have to add nose weight.

Click to expand...

Kevin,
Mine weighs in at 32 oz. so far with no paint or external fillets so I'm probably in the same ball park as yours. I'll be using a nomex sheet as well so hopefully there won't be any problem or need for a baffle.

smugglervt said:

...
View attachment 284527

Click to expand...

Really puts in to perspective how big these are! Nice!

View attachment Mega Der Red Max KK.ork

smugglervt said:

Kevin,
Mine weighs in at 32 oz. so far with no paint or external fillets so I'm probably in the same ball park as yours. I'll be using a nomex sheet as well so hopefully there won't be any problem or need for a baffle.

Click to expand...

I worked on an Open Rocket Model tonight. The model matches my build for mass and CG so far, but I have yet to paint the red on the body and fins. I think the weight will go up about 1 oz when I get that paint on. Unfotunately, it would appear that it's in the marginal stability region, less than 1 cal with any motor.

In case anyone is interested, here's my open rocket model: View attachment Mega Der Red Max KK.ork.

And here's a design layout screen shot: