Der Red Max decals different

[qquake2k]

I recently purchased a Der Red Max kit, and I just noticed that the decals are different than the old decals. Well, not so much different, as incomplete. What a bummer.

 

[tbzep]

I recently purchased a Der Red Max kit, and I just noticed that the decals are different than the old decals. Well, not so much different, as incomplete. What a bummer.

The missing white decals are available at Excelsior Rocketry.

If you take a look at the archives, we were all happy when the kit came out, but disappointed to find missing bits of decal, and poor decal quality. Estes has now taken care of the decal quality, but it seems they aren't going to bother adding the missing white decals. IIRC the supplemental sheet is about 50 cents.

 

[o1d_dude]

Political correctness strikes again?

Cost savings measure (only one color)?

Only the Shadow knows and he isn't talking.

 

[SCIGS30]

When Estes fixed the quality of their decals, I thought they added the white ones back in. You can call or write Estes and they will send out the correct decal free.,,,,Heck they sent me a stack of Der Red Max decals when they fixed them.

 

[MarkII]

Political correctness strikes again?

Every time I hear it in connection with the Der Red Max, I keep wondering where the "political correctness" connection comes in. Aside from a few octogenarian former SS officers living in Paraguay, are there any folks around who would actually object to a model rocket kit that satirizes the WWII-era Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe? I never knew that German WWII vets had such a powerful lobby here.

Mark K.

 

[rokitflite]

Wow! I never saw one of the new decal sheets! They cut a lot of stuff out! I'll bet the instructions are "corrected" as well. What a shame.

 

[tbzep]

Political correctness strikes again?

Cost savings measure (only one color)?

Only the Shadow knows and he isn't talking.

When they did the new decals, the white decals on the old sheet didn't show up when they were scanned and they just didn't notice them. Evidently the new graphics folks had no history with the classic kit. They were printed in China, so they had a boat load of them to deal with. At least that's what I think I remember them telling us on YORF.

All that's missing is the large "tail number" for the nosecone (8XX2), a white hand with "mitt grabben" written under it, and a white foot with "foot stompin" under it. That's from memory so I'm probably not exactly right on the spelling. It has nothing to do with political correctness because the same hand and foot decals printed in black are still in the new kit. The plain jane instruction sheet might be a different story.

 

[SCIGS30]

I double checked the stack of Der Red Max decals that Estes sent out after they fixed them. The large decal sheet has the white foot and hand decal, and the small decal sheet has the white X882 decal for the nose. If you don't have the correct decal, contact Estes for the new versions. There are also registration color issues with the old set of decals that came out with the first kits.

 

[tbzep]

I double checked the stack of Der Red Max decals that Estes sent out after they fixed them. The large decal sheet has the white foot and hand decal, and the small decal sheet has the white X882 decal for the nose. If you don't have the correct decal, contact Estes for the new versions. There are also registration color issues with the old set of decals that came out with the first kits.

I wonder if any of the fixed decals ever got into the Chinese kits, or if they were just sent out to those of us who asked for them?

 

[Buckaroo]

I bought a DRM kit last week and opened it last night. The decal sheets (there are 2) are complete, and everything says "made in China" so I guess the product improvement process is working... :confused2:

I also looked at the decal sheet from the Mini Max that I bought as well. There are a couple of decals on the sheet that don't have any printing on them (you can see where the transfer film is laid down, but no ink). They look like the shape of the white foot and hand decals... might have to cale the "new" Estes folks and see what they say.

p.s. tried to take pics, but couldn't get the lighting right to see anything

 

[Dseter]

Wow, it really works- just ask Estes, this was the email response I received this morning to my inquiry yesterday for a corrected set of Der Red Max decals-
You guys rock, thanks for the suggestion-

Hello,

We will send you a replacement set of decals, please allow 10 days for shipping.

Thank you,
Christine
-----Original Message-----
From: Estes Rocket [mailto:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 3:04 PM
To: WEBCS
Subject: - From EstesRockets.com

 

[JonathanOtt]

I know this is an old thread...okay, very old...but does anyone have an extra set (or two) of Der Red Max decals?

I'm going to kitbash an Expedition kit to an "Honest Max" an will need some decals.

Thanks,

Jon

 

[Gunstar]

Now the thread is even older but I need some input. I recently got a Red Max kit and I'm ready to put the decals on... but the set with the kit doesn't have the 8XX2 or white hand/foot decals. Did I get a kit that has just been on the self for ages or is this what it is like now? If I ask Estes to send a new set will it include them?

 

[rharshberger]

Now the thread is even older but I need some input. I recently got a Red Max kit and I'm ready to put the decals on... but the set with the kit doesn't have the 8XX2 or white hand/foot decals. Did I get a kit that has just been on the self for ages or is this what it is like now? If I ask Estes to send a new set will it include them?

The newer kits do not have the X882 decals any longer (only the MDRM does). As for the white hand and foot decals iirc they are very hard to see against the backing paper.

 

[Gunstar]

The newer kits do not have the X882 decals any longer (only the MDRM does). As for the white hand and foot decals iirc they are very hard to see against the backing paper.

I don't think the hand and foot are there. The white of the skull is easy to differentiate from the backing but even with bright light and magnification I can't see the hand and foot. Where should they be?

 

[rharshberger]

I don't think the hand and foot are there. The white of the skull is easy to differentiate from the backing but even with bright light and magnification I can't see the hand and foot. Where should they be?

Maybe they were not in my kit as well, I sent an email to Estes customer service and they sent me what the gentleman said was proobably the last sheet of old DRM decals they had in a box of loose decal sheets. At this point Stickershock23 vinyl might be the only source or Tango Papa Decals may make some waterslides.

 

[rharshberger]

Just checked my completed DRM, the kits original decals nor the ones having the X882 have the white hands and feet decals.

 

[K'Tesh]

I was working on this issue not all that long ago...

See post number 5 in this thread...

Perhaps it's time we altogether send Estes a request to bring back the missing decals. Perhaps they'll fix the decal sheet (like they did recently with the Citation Patriot reissue) if enough of us ask.

I'm heading to their FB page now.... Well... An open message on NAR, Tripoli, and a few other rocketry groups might be even better.

 

[K'Tesh]

Here's what I sent:

Dear Estes Rockets

You fixed the Citation Patriot's decals (to get the logo right on the fin decals). Thanks for that.

I love the Der Red Max, in all it's variations (Citation Red Max (KM-2), Der Big Red Max (1403), Mega Der Red Max (9705), and the Mini Max (2445)). But in the current release, there's a few things missing. The white nosecone X882 decal, and the white "NICHT STOMPIN" and "MITT GRABBEN" decals.

I'm not the only person who's noticed this. There are several threads on both TRF and YORF, and a number of times this has been posted on FB.

Isn't it time to bring those decals back too? Perhaps you could even sell sets of just those decals (for all sized variants) for those of us who want to "fix" our kits that are missing them.

Thanks!

 

[Steve Shannon]

Here's what I sent:

You might want to share your Facebook post publicly. I couldn’t see it. It had the usual blurb about being unavailable to me.

 

[Philip Tiberius D.]

Give Mark Hayes at www.stickershock23.com a shout, he’s made up a bunch of decals for me and has DRM stickers - even made up some for a SPAD VIII Rocket I built (a DRM in different paint scheme) - Nemesis of the Fokker D1

 

[K'Tesh]

Where did you look... I've already got a reply from someone (not from Estes) over on the NAR FB page.

 

[K'Tesh]

Give Mark Hayes at www.stickershock23.com a shout, he’s made up a bunch of decals for me and has DRM stickers - even made up some for a SPAD VIII Rocket I built (a DRM in different paint scheme) - Nemesis of the Fokker D1

Thanks... I've used StickerShock in the past... What I'm hoping to do is to get Estes to step up and restore those decals to the kits by default.

 

[Philip Tiberius D.]

Thanks... I've used StickerShock in the past... What I'm hoping to do is to get Estes to step up and restore those decals to the kits by default.

I'd like that as well and ensure they're good quality. If you want to start a "Movement" you could post your Point of Contact at Estes and we could try a Mass Mailing... just a thought.

 

[Steve Shannon]

Where did you look... I've already got a reply from someone (not from Estes) over on the NAR FB page.

The Tripoli Facebook group:

 

[K'Tesh]

[EDIT] You might want to skip down to post 28 right about now[/EDIT]

Ok... Just got off the horn with JumpJet... He said that the decals were fixed on the second run. From the fact that this thread is 9 years old and we're still talking about it, I suspect he's wrong on that (I'm guessing that he mixed up the Der Red Max with the Citation Patriot). He also implied that this was the "new look"... That said, he was distracted, as there were people in his office when I called.

Does anyone have a recently purchased DRM (0651) that we can verify if or not the decals are missing? It's important to note the date stamped on the decals, we're looking for something produced recently, and not 9 years ago. I'm tired, and I don't have any time to do much research this right now, but does the Mini Max (2445) have this issue too? I just checked my 2016 catalog, and the OOP MDRM on page 69 does show the nosecone decal (but not the white hand or foot decals). The DRM didn't have any of the decals in question, nor did the Mini Max in that catalog. In checking the 2018 and 2019 catalogs... the Mini Max is apparently OOP, and the DRM still doesn't have the missing decals.

 

[K'Tesh]

The Tripoli Facebook group:
View attachment 385747

Thanks for that... Perhaps you could do a public message on the FB page, and I'll "like" it... I can't figure out why FB did that to me, and I'm really tired right now.

 

[K'Tesh]

I just got an email from John...

Jim,



I just checked on the decal and the issue was fixed back in 2012. There are several possible things going on here. It’s possible China printed a TON of the old decals and decided to keep using them longer then they should have. People might still be purchasing older kits containing the old decal. Also the decal that goes on the nose cone and the two that go on the body tube are printed in all white, and are on an all-white background. There was suppose to be a black outline around these three decals but I don’t believe it was used. It’s possible the three decals in question are on the sheet but you simply can’t see them. In any case we are checking with China to see what artwork they are currently using for the decals, and NO we won’t be creating a separate decal sheet with these three missing decals.



John Boren

Estes Industries

R&D Department

Thanks for the update John!!!

Have an Awesome Day!!!

 

[Steve Shannon]

Thanks for that... Perhaps you could do a pubic message on the FB page, and I'll "like" it... I can't figure out why FB did that to me, and I'm really tired right now.

No, no PUBIC messages!
Don’t sweat it. I’m happy to post a public message

 

[Steve Shannon]

Thanks for that... Perhaps you could do a pubic message on the FB page, and I'll "like" it... I can't figure out why FB did that to me, and I'm really tired right now.

I suspect it’s the privacy settings related to me because I cannot see the post on the NAR group also. I’ll try friending you.