Estes0651 Der Red Max Rocket-Building Kit, Intermediate Flying-Rocket-Model Kit for Ages 10+

Interesting kit - haven't yet built it, but it's pretty standard Estes's stuff..

Have been building rockets for about 50 years now. I have an original Der Red Max from about 40 yrs ago that has been repainted way to many times. Saw this one go in a discounted price so grabbed it up. Perfect for the beginner builder. Rocketry is a fantastic hobby and time well spent with any kid, young or old! Building model cars is good but actually fly. I never get tired of launching rockets.

Love it, I have built at least 30 of this model since about 1972. It has been one of my childhood favorites and this one is getting some custom decals. On a B engine it climbs nice and slow to about 150-200 feet then glides down on a parachute. This build season is just starting, and I think next, I will do the Big Red Max upscale. Don't let the review posted somewhere on here complaining about getting a toilet paper roll and some wood. That is not a toilet paper roll, and that wood is laser cut balsa that you sand and prime when you build the kit. Total time over about 3 weeks (stuff has to dry, and sanding don't count) is about 3 to 5 hours, so yes you can go on with life.

The rocket kit comes compete with everything but your normal hobby building tools like: knife, glue, sandpaper, scissors, and paint, and of course the eventually motors and launch equipment (pad, rod, and launch control). I found Estes Kits to be very complete and with detailed directions. It was very easy to assemble but then I have built many of these Estes and Mid powered rockets. Just please pay attention to the instructions. There are a few places that are easy to do wrong: 1) put the fins on the rocket the wrong way. This doesn't harm the flight much but the wood grain direction on the fins when oriented parallel to the body tube makes it very easy to snap the fins accidentally, and 2) not placing the shock cord mount far enough into the tube that the nosecone does not fit. and overall 3) not waiting until the glue has ample time to set up before shoving things into the rocket body i.e. 1hr should suffice for a thin layer.I painted mine like the photo and it came out great. This one was for me. I made the smaller Mini Max for my 3 y.o. son who selected it because he loves rockets and loves 'pirates' (Disneyland ride) and which he calls anything that looks like the poison skull and crossbones symbol. I added about two or three layers of glue fillets to the fin/body interface that made the fins super strong. We plan to fly both for the first time this weekend! I really like that it comes with a nice black and decorated 'pirate' parachute. I am excited to launch these rockets with my son! Maybe I'll get the large version Estes makes if these go well.

Typical rocket. You get what you expect. As with my other reviews, I'm not sure what the actual definition of Skill level 1 is, but you need to glue each of the fins on separately. That's probably the hardest part of this. Pretty simple rocket, easy for an adult to do. Kids will have trouble with the fins unless you buy the jig for attaching fins. These come with the decals that need to be put in water and transferred... I HATE these decals

ALMOST exactly the same as I remember from the 80's. It's been upgraded slightly:Parachute now has a skull motif and it arrives ready to go, with the guy lines already connected to the chute (no more applying the little sticky dots yourself..).This is the classic small rocket that can pack a big engine (C6-5), with a cool set of decals and an easy to paint color scheme (fins are same color as body), the nosecone comes black or can be painted glossy black. Applying the decals is probably the most difficult aspect of the job, there are a lot of them! We painted it red/black and applied about 4 layers of gloss enamel after the decals were dry. It's solid as a rock.. see below.With a stout rocket such as the Red Max, you won't have lots of room in the tube for recovery wadding, parachute, shock cord and nose cone, so you'll have to pack carefully, and don't skimp on that wadding. First flight B engine, perfect. My son skimped a bit on the recovery wadding on it's 2nd flight with a C6-5, perfect launch, at apex...poof...no parachute. So the charge melted the parachute and the nose cone popped off, but no chute deployed. Falling/tumbling down from ~600 feet onto grass, with no parachute: zero damage sustained to rocket (other than the parachute..).A must have for any collection.

Just for the heck of it, I got this excellent rocket for my college-age daughter. She likes arts and crafts and I figured that she would enjoy building it.It's an easy rocket to build, but the decals are a challenge. They're big and they like to stick down hard before you have them in place, and they tear easy. They will require all your childhood decal powers to apply. Just keep them wet and you'll be OK.PRO-TIP : Go to the auto parts store and get a spray can of Rustoleum "high build" auto body primer paint. Hose your rocket body down with it and it'll fill in all those imperfections and the body tube seams and the pores in the balsa fins.Also, cut a big vent hole in the center of your chute and that way the rocket won't drift over into the next county while it's coming down. You don't need a big chute to keep a rocket in one piece, they are sturdy.