MPC Red Giant Build, Finished

Even though the box says "Ready To Fly In One Hour" I doubt it. It would take most people 20 minutes to assemble the parachute alone.
I also doubt the claim of 230 feet altitude with a C engine. It should go higher, we'll see. A C6-5 is the only recommended engine.
With the weight near 3.5 oz. it should be okay as a schoolyard rocket with a B6-2. It's nice to have a few you don't have to worry about after a hard landing.

MPC Red Giant Build, Part 5, Parachute

That 18" diameter parachute is way to big for this rocket. The older I get the less I like to chase down drifting rockets.
I'll cut it down to 12". Set a ruler down, find your center and cut six smaller sides.

The tape disks are transparent and a little harder to visually place.
These instructions were old school, simply laying a shroud line and pressing a sticky dot over it. I prefer tying the shroud lines to the chute.
After these were set down holes were made using the rotary punch.

When cut down, you end up with a BIG MPC logo!
I didn't like the looks of the big logo and will install a 12" Odd'l parachute instead.

I rarely use a tri-fold shock cord mount. I was concerned about the "X" brace at the top of the adapter, the obvious place to tie on some Kevlar. The Kevlar might break through the thin plastic. Heck, the heat of the ejection charge could melt the "cross hair" brace in the adapter.

A tri-fold mount was cut out of 110 lb. cardstock and glued into the plastic tube using the Beacon Fabri-Tac glue. I don't think white glue would adhere the the plastic tube.

MPC Red Giant Build, Part 4, Fins and Adapter

The stick-on fin decor is best done off the model where it's easier to line them up.

The inset picture shows vertical pencil lines to help line up the RG-1 sticker. The pencil line on the right lines up the root edge of the fin, The line to the left lines up the left side of the sticker.

The fins are slipped into the fin can slots dry - no glue yet.

A drop of thin CA is set on the back and runs inside the root edge.
(That drop of CA in the picture is pretty big, use a smaller amount of glue. The drop grew too large as I was trying to get the picture.)

The wider end of the black adapter was loose in the lower tube.
The narrower top was too tight in the upper tube. The edges were rounded off and the fit was then about right for gluing.

MPC Red Giant Build, Part 3, Assembly and Launch Lugs

Before gluing everything together, really look at the print wraps on the body tubes. The names on the upper and lower tubes should line up and center between two fins.

TIP: The kit instructions have you put glue on the adapter and fin can shoulders. Instead, put a glue line around the inside of the body tubes so the glue won't squeeze out onto the outside of the model.
I used the Beacon Fabri-Tac glue again with good success.

Here's how the print on the lower tube lines up with the center area between two fins. Look close to see the pencil lines to the right of my thumb. I would have thought the vertical black line would be the center.

TIP: When you have to line up parts and printed tubes, it helps to do a dry fit, pre-marking the center alignment points with pencil.

I decided to put the lugs just to the side of a fin instead of centered between two fins, Mark the locations and span of the lugs with pencil. Scrape away some of the print ink for better adhesion.

MPC Red Giant Build, Part 2, Engine Mount

I had to make a decision whether to go with the 18mm or upgrade to a 24mm engine. The rocket is 29" tall and close to a BT-55 tube size. If it were a BT-60 and this tall I might have gone with the larger engine.

The mount is unusual, the engine sits between four internal plastic centering ribs. No motor mount tube or engine block, the top of the ribs overhang the top of the engine.
I'll install an ST-7 tube to insulate a hot engine from the plastic ribs.

By itself, the engine easily slides in between the ribs and butts up against the overhang tops.
The ST-7 tube has a wider outside diameter. The ribs were shaved back by scraping them down with the top (not the sharp blade) of my break-off blade knife. The top of the knife blade is used like a cabinet scraper taking off a little plastic with each pass.
When the fit was close the rough sides were smoothed with some 100 grit wrapped around a painting wand casing.

Even without an engine in place the retaining ring would not twist and lock into the fin can. The locking tabs were a hair too long.

I had to shave off small bits to get the tabs to fit and lock. Cut off a little, check then cut a little more. After three tries the turn-to-lock retaining ring did fit and locked the engine casing in place.

MPC Red Giant Build, Part 1, Parts

All the parts are clean. The body tubes are wrapped with bright decor.

The Estes style tri-fold shock cord anchor is printed on 20 lb. paper, way too thin. (Replace)
The launch lugs seem to be rolled from sheet plastic or a plastic impregnated paper.
There is only three peel and stick fin pieces.
The 1/8" wide elastic shock cord is pretty short. (Replace)

This is the lower, larger body tube.
These Chinese made tubes are like the launch lugs, not spiral wound. I believe the term is "convoluted". Imagine you are rolling a tube from a sheet of paper.
Enlarge the picture and you will see the interior white "plastic" wrap

Here's the parachute print.
It's 18" wide, probably too big for this model. I'll switch out for a 12" chute and a long shock cord.







Also in the box is the NAR Safety Code and a NAR promotional flyer. MPC got this part right!

MPC Red Giant Build, Background

I had terrible luck with the MPC Duck Dodgers Cadet Cruiser. I couldn't get it to fly stable even after adding nose weight. Since then I've seen a few MPC Enterprise rockets fly fine.

So, I've assembled and flown the Porky Pig Cadet Cruiser and built the Star Trek Enterprise. I refuse to get any of the MPC KISS branded models. I can't tolerate Gene Simmons and won't send any money his way.

This series of re-branded Chinese Sky model rockets didn't sell well for MPC. They are being cleared out by many vendors. I picked this one up for $5.00 in a parts order.

I mentioned this one looked a lot like the Estes Black Diamond. For some reason I like the design. I don't usually go for ARTF models, but for $5.00, how could you go wrong?

29" tall and only flys only with C engines? The rocket weight is just over 3 oz. According to the engine charts, you can launch a 4 oz. rocket with a B6-4. This might be a good small field rocket with a B.
I doubt the folks at MPC / Round 2 tested this one with a Quest C6-5.

The only thing that resembles the original MPC kits is the model name font and the line art parts illustrations on the back.