The next step is to assemble the Bottom Plate, Skid Mounts and Landing Skids, in the photo it shows 3 screws and washers used to secure the Landing Skids to the Skid Mounts, the washers are found in the small parts bag labeled 450HB18A Pay attention to the longer screws, the photos shows from left to right = front to rear...

A photo of the parts needed in the next step(less 3 washers)...

Ken

Here's a photo of the completed Bottom Plate sub assembly, also a photo of the parts needed in the next step...

Next I'll be preparing the servo horns and servos for mounting,,,

Ken

Provided with the Align DS415M servos are some nice glass filled plastic servo horns, we've all seen the white nylon ones split after force threading link balls into them, the way around this is to tap the holes in the servo horns, a great item to have in your tool box is a set of small metric taps...

I've prepared my servo horns, first by tapping the holes with a 2mm tap, then threading the link balls into those tapped holes, next I'll use a tooth pick to apply some threadlocker very sparingly to the nuts and secure them from the back side, you can see in the photos there are not a whole lot of threads protruding from the backside of the servo horns...

A couple photos...

Ken

I've prepared all of the servo horns, organized all of the parts for mounting the servos into the frame...
You will find all of the washers in the bag labeled 450HZ19 but only four of the servo mounting screws are in that bag, the other two screws were pre-installed in the pockets machined out for the elevator servo, locate those two screws and you're all set to start the next step of assembly...

A couple photos...

Ken

It's during this portion of the assembly that the quality of this kit really starts to show, the fit and finish is excellent, Everything just fits, and fits well, little details in the engineering like the reliefs for the washers and some which are provided for tool clearance...

Also the fit between aluminum components is very high quality to very close tolerances, a lot of thought went into the design of this kit, cutouts in the frame for zip ties etc... I am very pleased with my purchase so far...

I've got my swashplate servos installed, at this point I'm doing a dry assembly, I will go back and apply threadlocker to all the screws when all of the assembly details are sorted out, mainly the electronics installation and wire routing are the reasons I'm waiting to apply threadlocker, again you will find some of the screws needed were pre-installed in the aluminum components...

Some photos of the assembly...

Ken

Next up in the assembly is the tail boom mount, you'll find this in the bag labeled 450HT7, in your kit this will be completely assembled... I've disassembled mine to show all of the parts of this assembly and to make certain the bearings are lubricated...

A photo...

Ken

I mentioned tools in the thread title, so here's a couple more I can't do without in my shop...

The first one I want to talk about is called a Bench Block... It's made from cast iron, the top is approximately 3/4" thick and ground flat(mine needs a new surface on it), it's quite heavy for it's size, it also has various sized holes bored through the top surface and a "V" groove across the center of the top, you can use it as a mini anvil, for clamping irregular shaped workpieces, etc... More uses than I could ever list, jewelers use them, machinists use them... You may be able to get one at HF, any machinist supply house or jewelery makers supply shop...

I had mine out to help press the gears on to the Long Umbrella Gear, so, I figured it's a good time to show it in use...

Another thing I could not get by without in the shop is a decent set of small files, I'd recommend round, triangle and flat profiles at a minimum...

A couple photos...

Ken

The assembly of the Tail Boom Mount is very straight forward, one thing that might save some time is knowing the bearing spacing on the Long Umbrella Gear... Put the four Hexagonal Bolts in one half of the Tail Boom Mount... Next place the Long Umbrella Gear in position and the Torque Tube Drive Gear Assembly, next place the other half of the Tail Boom Mount squarely onto the four Hexagonal Bolts and press together with the other half,,,

The photos show this assembly very well,,, Next up; the Metal Tail Unit...

Ken

It's time to take the Metal Tail Unit Set apart and make certain everything is correctly assembled and properly lubricated... It's located in a bag labeled 450HT15, it's completely assembled in the bag, there are quite a few very small parts to this assembly...

I use small parts boxes with dividers and other small containers for keeping these small parts clean and organized, also to prevent them from getting damaged or lost... You can get them at any harware store or home improvement store...

A couple photos...

Ken

I understand with this level of a kit most builders have a lot of experience building, I still hope there is some useful information for all builders... I learn something each time I build a kit... I do hope the members here find this build thread useful... Back to the build...

The Bearings for the Long Umbrella Gear located in the Metal Tail Unit Set are a light press fit, these parts come pre-assembled, rather than risk damaging any of these parts just to show them individually, I am going to leave them assembled and lubricate the bearings in place... Additionally the gear on the Tail Rotor Shaft Assembly is a press fit, I will leave it assembled also...

All that is needed for this step is to apply some threadlocker to the screws and assemble the components again...

A couple photos...

Ken

This is the first time during the assembly that I've come across Phillips or Cross head screws, they are used on the Pitch Control Links and T Type Arm, also on the Tail Blade Grips...

I'm going to break this part of the assembly into a couple separate sub components for simplicity...

I'm going to start with the T Type Arm/Pitch Slider and Tail Pitch Bellcrank Assembly...

I've broken the major assembly down, in the photos you can see the Phillips head screws...

A couple photos...

The Tail Pitch Bellcrank Mount has two shoulder type bearings in it, I've removed them to show in the photo, but they can be lubricated them in place, they are a light press fit into the Tail Pitch Bellcrank Mount...

The Tail Pitch Bellcrank has four smaller shoulder type bearings in it, they are very small and rather than risk damaging the races or balls pressing them out, I will lubricate them in place... All of these bearings have the shoulders to the inside of the "fork" portions of their respective parts...

A few photos...

Ken

Just like my T-Rex 250PRO DFC the Slide Shaft was a tight fit on the Tail Output Shaft... Just to check the fit I flipped it around and it slipped on, it went easily all the way to the end of the Tail Output Shaft where it bound up tight on the shaft...

I have another tool similar to a my Dubro Body Reamer, it's used in machining, it's called a deburring tool, it's extremely sharp and unlike my Dubro Body Reamer it's designed to cut steel, specifically, to take sharp edges off freshly machined work pieces...

I used it just like my body reamer on the Slide Shaft bore at the end where it got stuck, now it can slide off the Tail Output Shaft under its own weight... On my T-Rex 250 I actually used a Chucking Reamer to do the entire bore of the Slide Shaft...

Another note about the Slide Shaft, this is the only part it appears the factory put threadlocker on, it would not budge with proper tools... I did not try applying heat, I just left it in place rather than damage it...

A couple photos, in the last one you can see the small bevel the deburring tool cut in the Slide Shaft, you can also see the scratches where my wrench slipped...

Ken

Back to it... I'm going to work my way out from the tail gearbox, starting with the Tail Pitch Bellcrank Mount, the second photo shows the parts needed...

Prior to mounting the Tail Pitch Bellcrank Mount I'm going to lubricate the two bearings, the method I use with these small bearings is to place them on a folded piece of paper towel, apply a drop or two of tri-flow, let the lube flow through to the other side of the bearing, then wipe off any excess before installing...

A couple photos...

Ken

The bearings get installed with the shoulders on the inside of the "fork" of the Tail Pitch Bellcrank Mount, the mount is then secured with two M2X4 Button Head Screws to the "arm" on the Metal Plate(R), one from the top and one installed from the bottom, apply a small amount of threadlocker to the two screws(or the "arm" first), being careful not to get any in the small bearings...

A couple photos...

Ken