Build Log The Modified LAMA 400D. CF blades Page 6

[KCV6]

I quite like the look of the CB180Q will be interested to see some more specs on it.

I am really tempted to take one of the motors into work and de-solder the interface PCB so I can take a decent look at the brushes. With my old and failing eyes the arms do appear to be quite thick solid copper, hopefully something like 101 and fairly hard. I'll see how I feel in the morning, I have a MK II Cooper S timing cover to strip and paint during my lunch break tomorrow (the things we do for siblings) and a whole heap of Dauphin instruments to mod and return to a customer for certification. It may have to wait till next week.

Cheers.. Mark

[KCV6]

I guess the tail rotor that runs whenever the lower blades are powered past about 1/4 throttle will be the usual point of debate. Personally I like it on the Dauphin and EC135 scale versions of the Lama 400 as it makes it look scale. Having it on the 400D isn't really my cup of tea so i de-soldered the wiring loom and removed the whole thing from my setup.

The brass weight inside the tail boom is a good 50mm long and fairly hefty. It is necessary to help smooth out the tail yaw motion. I tried it without it fitted and any slight twitching in the tail was now quite obvious. I did however cut the boom short by 40mm shortening the overall helos length. This may need to be played with a bit along with altering the balance weight position and/or size.

I trimmed the brass flybar weights so along with the plastic covers they are about 1.5 grams lighter coming in at 5.5 grams each. As for flybar length, I have a second on order and don't want to cut it up until I have a fallback should I go to far.

No more flying for a few days on 400D as I speared it in from about 30 feet at a reasonable speed. Not the helos fault, all mine got too cocky doing runs between trees and other solid features. The good news is the only damage was a minor paint crack in the canopy and two broken blades. The 450 skids did exactly what they should have done.. they flexed and absorbed a lot of the impact. If nothing else the T-Rex 450ME/AE/SE plastic skids are worth doing.

The cam got detached and flung over a meter on the grass and is also perfectly un-damaged. If you are looking for a cam I'd recommend the Flycamone2 or the MD80, just depends on your preference on size and the need for a pivoting head. Picture quality is very good on both. I like the flycamone2 due to the way the mount works. Don't listen too the bad reports about upgrade firmware not working. Look on the back of the camera head. If there is a Chinese character and a small sticker with "A" and a number you need to get the correct download version directly from the flycamone European site. Also remember to remove the blue plastic protector from the lens. Don't laugh I have read reviews where people have said the pic is dark and bitched and moaned about the money they wasted blah blah blah. When informed about the plastic it's funny how they just disappear and not another word is said

I'm still finishing the airbrushing on the canopy to soften up the features and will probably shamelessly ghost the walkera "W" in a pale color either side and put a couple of flycam logos on it as well. Other than that it's time for more tweaking and fine tuning (when my blades turn up). Feel free to add to this thread.

I'm stoked with this CX, it is just plain good fun to fly and looking pretty durable. I had a look at the brushes on the motors and they are not thin foil and appear to actually have carbon blocks. I will eventually confirm this.

So it's back to the CF replacement upper and lower frame for the 5#10 for now to stop that pretty shiny aluminum from bending and chewing out gears.

[Chrissy47]

I would absolutely love one painted aubergine and blue......i can't wait to have the ability to fly something like the 400D....in the meantime it can quite happily sit on my mantlepiece LOL

[KCV6]

Hey chris.. The Lama 2 bits are on the way we shall have Lama wars Get practicing Woman! I ordered a second canopy so I'll repair and airbrush the purple one for ya. What colour bloodshot eyes do ya want in the rubbery skull sockets dude?

Actually if I do blue "gas" flames the blue CopterX struts would look ok. hmmmmmmm.. I can feel my finger hovering over the checkout button. LOL

[Chrissy47]

My lama2 is currently laying stuck behind my fridge....lmfao....(don't ask!!).....so may need to add to that order when i drag it out and check it over and noooooo i don't want bloodshot eyes!

[KCV6]

awwwww. lucky I ordered almost one of everything.... I feel it's time I took ya weee beastie and gave it a re-build and tune up. Oh and you would be able to fly the 400 no problems blokie. give us a hoy when you want a crack at the 5#10.

PS where's my Bearcat? I guess I'll have you flying fixed wing next....

[Chrissy47]

There's one thing you can teach me to do, next time i'm flying outside, i want to learn how to miss my car, the dog, the huge garden pot, the postman, the neighbours cat and the loungroom window. You know.....just like you managed to do as you were crashing last weekend lmao!! Don't feel bad, that all took skill to miss them all, and you even managed to capture the moment on flycam hahahaha..............

PS your Bearcat is being held hostage over the Pacific Ocean, along with my airbrush..........

[KCV6]

Guess I had that coming. LOL. Anyway might need you to give me a hand with some video of the 400D. I'm not game to stand down the park with a the Flycam stuck to a headband on my head while I'm flying it. LOL if you know what I mean.

[Chrissy47]

Now that's a vision i don't need LOL

[KCV6]

The crash chrissy is talking about.... Possibly flicked the 720 grams right a tad too hard.

Well at least no one can accuse me of not pushing it hard to find it's limits.

[Chrissy47]

LOL it's a pity u couldn't add the voiceover i heard at the time of crashing......

[KCV6]

In the light of day I have had a good look over the 380SH motors. They are slot vented top and bottom and also have decent slots in the sides. They need to be run a couple of times to bed in the nice fat brush blocks they have... Yes you heard me right. The brushes consist of nice 1mm + thick copper arms with decent sized copper/carbon brush blocks making plenty of surface contact with the commutator. By the end of a 10 minute + flight the motors are no warmer than the LiPo.

Mark

[KCV6]

I wonder if anyone will bring out a set of tuff blades to suit. If anyone hears of any, let us know

[kodak_jack]

Originally Posted by KCV6

I wonder if anyone will bring out a set of tuff blades to suit. If anyone hears of any, let us know

If they're pivoting blades, the FP heli's have a TON of blades you could try. There are so many that the micro section has a thread specifically for that.

[erdnuckel2]

Originally Posted by KCV6

I wonder if anyone will bring out a set of tuff blades to suit. If anyone hears of any, let us know

The ones on the Lama 400D are the tuffest ones on the market right now (and the only {CoAx}-blades in this size anyway - or why else would I have started cutting them down to fit my Esky Big Lama?

Only thing that would resemble what you are talking about (IMHO anyway) would be someone finally coming out with "real" carbon fiber blades ....

Sven