D-Day themed Der Big Red Max builds...

[BEC]

It looks like Callie did her usual great job creating the graphics for you.

 

[James Duffy]

It looks like Callie did her usual great job creating the graphics for you.

Absolutely, I'm really impressed with the quality of the printing and cutting that they did on the vinyl for this project, and I look forward to using more of their stuff.

James

 

[Bruiser]

I like the bumper max the best. I wish I could see that one fly. Should be awesome!

-Bob

 

[James Duffy]

I like the bumper max the best. I wish I could see that one fly. Should be awesome!

Here you go!

 

[Bruiser]

Nice launch! I must have missed it in the build but how did you ignite the second stage?

-Bob

 

[James Duffy]

I must have missed it in the build but how did you ignite the second stage?

The sustainer is ignited by a PerfectFlite miniTimer4 in the nose cone of the booster. The setup also uses a piston assembly to reduce the possibility of motor damage to the nose. I'll cover the assembly of the electronics sled and piston base when the parts arrive, but the assembly and operation will be very similar to the setup used in my Bumper WAC several years ago, and detailed starting in this post: https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/revisiting-the-estes-maxi-brute-v-2.140236/page-2#post-1692064

James

 

[James Duffy]

The Mustang Max flew successfully today!



More later,
James

 

[Cape Byron]

Sweet flight for a sweet bird.

 

[hball55]

I received some V2 decals from Stickershock that had some swastika decals. I was about to use them on my 4” Der Red Max because many of my waterslide decals tore when I tried to apply them. Thinking twice stopped me from using them, as I figured my club might not let me fly a rocket with swastikas on it.

 

[James Duffy]

Received a cool package in the mail today, a custom 24" parachute that I can swap between the two models. Steve Riegel of Front Range Rocket Recovery suggested a custom black/white radial design that would mimic the invasion stripes of both the Mustang Max and Dakota Max rockets. This, I thought, was a fantastic idea. Take my money, please!

Can't wait to fly these with this great chute!

James

 

[James Duffy]

The laser-cut bits for the piston staging mount arrived yesterday from Mike Nowak at Galactic Manufacturing. Fit on the parts was flawless, so you should contact him immediately and buy several.

Here's a view of the parts pre-assembly:


...and a view of the mount assembled with epoxy.


A pair of 1/2" square pecanpineoakspuce blocks were glued to the interior surface of the nose cone to serve as mount points for the piston base. Small mounting screws will engage with holes drilled into the endgrain.


A PerfectFlite miniTimer4 is mounted onto the piston base, and the wiring for the switch and power (a 9v battery) is installed. The battery will be installed on an inside surface of the nose cone using velcro.


Scrap lengths of BT-5 and BT-20 tubing are nested to create the piston, which will engage with the piston base at the aft end, and an A3-4T motor in the second stage at the forward end. A Q2G2 igniter is soldered to lengths of wire wrap wire, which will connect to the timer and extend up the length of the piston tube.


The piston, base, and igniter all integrate together for use. The piston gets really funky after use and needs to be replaced after each flight, but does a great job of protecting the nose of the booster.


Here's how the piston base looks when installed in the aft end of the nose cone.


I plan on flying this at our next AARG club launch in early May, and will be sure to grab photos of the prep process at that time.

James

 

[TALON]

Outstanding, I did a Big Bertha B-17 theme, and I am now working on a Estes Executioner with the same livery.

 

[James Duffy]

The P-51 Max flew again yesterday at the Austin Area Rocketry Group launch.



The field is 600 acres+, and I had to land on the one !^&*(^ road on the whole thing. Damn...

BTW, there is a Israeli F-16 Big Red Max (Der Sand-Colored Mentsch?) on the workbench right now. More photos soon as that project moves along.

James

 

[modeltrains]

Thai is a nice little detail.

I'm especially pleased with how the fuel filler markings worked around the rail buttons.

 

[James Duffy]

The Der Big Red Max armada at this dojo has grown again, with the addition of an Israeli F-16 themed reinterpretation. Vinyl for this one also came from Callie Graphics.



The grey on the belly and nose cone were done with Tamiya spray lacquer, as was the light sand base on the upper side. The green and dark brown bits were they airbrushed with Tamiya acrylics, after which a clear lacquer overcoat was applied to protect the paint. If the winds aren't too bad it will fly at the Austin Area Rocketry Group launch tomorrow.

I have another DBRM in primer, and had originally planned a Texas ANG F-16 scheme for that one. That may change to a "Ghost of Kyiv" MiG 29 version, though.

 

[dpower]

How many DBRM does this make for you? Let's see the complete line up!

 

[GuyNoir]

LOVE the scorpion tail marking!

 

[James Duffy]

How many DBRM does this make for you? Let's see the complete line up!

Not as many as one might think. Two 4" versions (Der Bumper Max, Hello Kitty Max) and three 3" examples (C-47/CG-4 Max, P-51 Max, and Israeli F-16 Max/Mentsch). There is one more 3" in primer and two kits on the shelf thanks to the recent Amazon sale.

I'll try to line them all up for a photo soon.

James

 

[James Duffy]

LOVE the scorpion tail marking!

There are all sort of cool options to choose from on the Callie Graphics site:

https://callie-graphics.com

 

[James Duffy]

During painting and finishing of the Israeli F-16 Max I snapped a few photos that may be of interest. The first shows the painted airframe before the vinyl bits were applied.

The nose cone was painted with Tamiya AS-7 Neutral Gray (USAAF) lacquer, while the belly was sprayed using TS-32 Haze Gray lacquer. The belly was then masked off and the topside of the airframe was sprayed with TS-46 Light Sand. After studying some photos of real IAF F-16s, it seemed that hard mask lines would be inappropriate, so I decided to freehand these with acrylics and an airbrush, using XF-21 Sky (a light green) and XF-52 Flat Earth for the brown. Finally, the belly masking was removed.

Anticipating that the acrylics would be more prone to damage and scratching than the lacquers, the whole thing was sprayed with TS-13 Clear lacquer.



Next, the vinyl was applied. For the scorpion tail art tiny tape flags were applied to the edges of the fin as alignment guides.



The refueling guide marks were applied in line with vertical stabilizer fin, and tape flags with hash marks were used to assure alignment.

This was a really fun, low pressure project, and only took about 6 hours total to complete.

 

[burkefj]

This is almost as bad as me trying to see how many different century series r/c rocket gliders I could make out of cosmic interceptor kits

 

[James Duffy]

Finished up another DBRM yesterday, using a set of F-16 vinyl from Callie Graphics. This scheme is an homage to a Texas ANG fighter painted to look like one of the Jenny trainers the unit used post-WWI. Here's a photo stolen from the web:

..and here are a pair of views of the model.

This should fly at the Austin Area Rocketry Group launch this weekend.

I still have a pair of unbuilt DBRM kits on the shelf. Ideas?

James

 

[GuyNoir]

I still have a pair of unbuilt DBRM kits on the shelf. Ideas?

Something British from the Battle of Britian.

 

[Pepe Le Pew]

Awesome work James!

 

[James Duffy]

Something British from the Battle of Britain.

Ask, and ye shall receive.



Tune in to my Virtual NARCON session next weekend and you can see the whole project come together.

https://www.accelevents.com/e/narcon2023
James

 

[dpower]

Beautiful! I bet you spent more on finishing supplies than the kit.

 

[bjphoenix]

I visited the National Museum of World War II a couple of weeks ago and when I saw this Douglas Skyraider I immediately thought about this thread. I highly recommend this museum if you have an interest in WWII aircraft.


I happened across this photo on facebook.

 

[bjphoenix]

Here is another aircraft that I photographed because I like the combination of silver/red/yellow, I will try to use this as inspiration for a future build.


And a model with silver/yellow/green:

 

[bjphoenix]

And if you like orange and white:

 

[SolarYellow]

I like these concepts. Might have to start off with the classic Stearman yellow and blue.