Ever Wonder What A Semroc MMX Mars Lander Would Look Like?

[K'Tesh]

Well, you don't have to any more...

Was told it was ok to share this with everybody thanks to Phil Queen.



The nosecone is 3D printed, and the rocket separates at the bottom of the conic section. There was also some damage to one of the legs during a launch that you can see in the photos. The legs are fixed, but probably could be made to articulate.



Apparently it flies to 50'.

Look forward to this being released soon.

 

[Zeus-cat]

Randy has been bringing this to the outreach events for a while now. We had it at the battlebot event at a local university yesterday. Kids love the Micromax stuff and the Mars Lander is the biggest attention grabber of the MMX fleet.

Wait until you see the Jupiter B. Not a Micromax, but a very interesting interpretation of a certain craft that got lost in space if you know what I mean. Danger Bill Robinson! Danger! Randy tested one a last week and it flew well. He then tried to chad stage it and it didn't work well. But then he tried staging two of them, one on top of the other. Awesome. I told Randy that he needed to market it that way. Our club president saw it launched a few days later and had the exact same reaction. Sell it Bill Robinson! Sell it!

 

[Initiator001]

Randy displayed several new items at NARCON. The MicroMax Jayhawk is a nice looking kit.

 

[cerving]

OMG that's so cool!

 

[Zeus-cat]

Some nose cones fresh off the 3D printer

 

[kuririn]

Have to get me one when it's intro'd. Since I've been putting Randy's kids through college the past few years.

 

[kitbasher99]

This way, you'll help pay for Amanda's wedding!

 

[Tom Zachman]

Go Phil Queen! Wondeful work. Absolutely a must buy!

 

[kitbasher99]

Thanks Tom. Just a few more days.

 

[kuririn]

Now showing in stock at erockets. However, with the tornado damage in the Dayton area and resultant loss of electricity, unclear if orders are being shipped out currently or not. So expect a possible delay in shipping of your order.
EDIT: I placed my order for this and some other items for a scratch build yesterday, and received a shipping notice today. So looks like they are up to speed.

 

[Tom Zachman]

Now showing in stock at erockets. However, with the tornado damage in the Dayton area and resultant loss of electricity, unclear if orders are being shipped out currently or not. So expect a possible delay in shipping of your order.

Already placed my order! The grandchildren will love it!

 

[russell_t]

I ordered two of these today; I'll tuck away one with the KV-54 kit I bought for my grandson last year. Made some good memories flying the Estes Mars Lander with my dad back in 1970. Glad to see this MX Mars Lander available!

 

[Zeus-cat]

Power was restored at eRockets about 24 hours after the storm. Some buildings in the area took serious hits, but eRockets is fine. Looks like a tool and die place just down the road had their roof ripped off and could be condemned. Sheets of corrugated metal on the ground and wrapped around trees throughout the area; from roofs I assume. Trees and branches down in lots of places. Not sure if eRockets will be moving soon as had been planned as I heard the new location took serious damage.

 

[kitbasher99]

First run of 35 kits has already sold out. Gotta get more nose cone printed so we can keep up with demand. It has been brought to our attention that we didn't laser enough foot pads on the basswood sheets, so this will be corrected on the next run of kits. Sorry fellas. Hope you like them though.

 

[kuririn]

Love mine. Assembled it last night. Punched out four extra landing pads with a hole punch. Was going to sand them down to same dia. as the others but I like the step look now. That's my explanation and I'm sticking to it.
Was expecting to have to sand down ridges on the nose cone but not needed. The 3D printed nose cone is quite smooth. Just have to sand off some tics around the shoulder.
I'm considering painting the legs with thin CA to give some additional strength, especially on the thin piston/cylinder top part. Any thoughts on this?
Wondering why nobody makes engine hooks for MMX motors. Friction fit is so stone age.
Laters.
PS Make sure you have tweezers, an emery board, and magnifying glass handy. Not optional.

 

[Zeus-cat]

The nose cones are printed on a resin laser 3-D printer. The guy that does it has printed a few things for me and they are beautiful. The printer lays down a layer of resin and then partially cures it with the laser by bouncing the beam around with mirrors. Once completed the printed parts soak in an alcohol bath for a few hours.

 

[Zeus-cat]

I have been informed that the post processing I described above is incorrect. It starts with a 10 minute alcohol bath, air dry for 30-45 minutes, then a 30 or 60 minute oven cure at 60° C with UV light reflecting on the part.

 

[kuririn]

Either way, it's smooth as a baby's butt.

 

[kuririn]

Finished, waiting for liftoff.

 

[kitbasher99]

Pretty detailed for a MicroMaxx rocket isn't it Kuririn. By the way, Very nice job.

 

[kuririn]

And thank you for bringing this kit to fruition, kitbasher.
Any more? My wallet is itching.

 

[kitbasher99]

I'm not sure why the Jayhawk hasn't been released yet. Been working n something going the other direction currently, so nothing coming MicroMaxx for a while.

 

[kuririn]

Update:
Flew nicely today.
Streamer didn't come out of the nose cone but it's so light that there was no landing damage.
Too much fun!

 

[user 13]

Cool flight! This is a great little rocket, Builds nice, looks nice, fly's nice.

 

[MALBAR 70]

Just getting ready to jump into the build. I was wondering if you guys painted the landing gear before or after assembly?

 

[kuririn]

After assembly, with a brush.
Red, orange and silver.
Only masked the leg root joints with thin tape.

 

[MALBAR 70]

Thanks kuririn!

 

[kuririn]

My pleasure.
I'm following Mach7's build thread looking for tips for his full size Mars Lander.
I have a Semroc version in the build pile.
Also cloned a mini Mars Lander with a balsa cone from Roachwerks (sandman).
Flew wonky so now it's a shelf queen.

 

[user 13]

I spray painted everything on my MMX. I tried to brush the legs, but they didn't look good.
They were easy to mask, but unlike kuririn I left the leg housings white.

I did all the priming and painting after assembly was complete. That works well for the MMX.
If you are building the "full" sized kit (Estes/Semroc/colne) plan on painting the legs before you attach the BT-100/ lander bottom. It's easy to mask things at that stage.

I hope this helps.

kuririn, do you have any photo's of your mini mars lander clone?
I would love to see it!

 

[MALBAR 70]

Thanks Mark! I have built both the Estes and Semroc Mars Landers (and a couple of Outlanders too) and I painted the legs before I attached them. I wasn't sure if it would make it easier on this model too. most likely I'll use a combination of both yours and kuririn's methods.