Post by bobsp12 on Oct 4, 2012 7:03:19 GMT -4
Hi all....wow..it has been an eternity since I was last able to post here. Work and family commitments have kept me from helis for over half a year. I have only flown my bigger helis once in six months and rarely I get to whiz the mcpx around the back yard to keep my hand in. I have ordered a nano cpx to maybe just hover and do a few circuits inside to keep some sort of heli fitness going.
Way back when Cliff ran the scale comp here on the lounge, he offered the 500 size AH-1 in the desert scheme as the prize....it looked so good that I bought one from him with a black widow and it has sat untouched for too long...just like all my helis...I charge their batteries in hope that I can get some time out with them but it hasn't happened.
I just checked and it was April when I bought it.
I have been able to sneak a little time here and there in the evenings to build it and it is now almost ready...the mechanics are all built and setup and I have ground run it with a temporary battery and landing gear setup to test fly before it goes into the fuse. Just waiting for a decent day and some spare time to fly it.
The fuse is finished as well and is ready for the mechanics once they are sorted.
A few thoughts about the kit:
As usual, the fuse is beautiful..well made, strong, no creaking and cracking when it is being handled.
It is true and square and the canopy is well glued and clear.
The wood is well glued for the mechanic supports and the supplied frame and gears are nice.
The paint is very tough, no scratches or marks when handled either.
A couple of problems with the tail setup though...to use the supplied angled gear box, requires the tail boom to be slid out of the main boom block a few mm for the torque tube to engage...the locating pin in the gear box is not really in the right spot. Also the supplied short boom extension is a quite loose fit in the angled gearbox and tail rotor gearbox. the rod ends for the extension boom and the pivot at the angled gearbox are also quite soft and a bit oversized and do not inspire a lot of confidence as to their ability to stay connected on the pushrod wire...a loss of rudder would be a disaster.
I purchased the Align angled gearbox and boom extension...they came with the wire and rod ends and I fitted those. This was not a direct replacement as the internal pin in the gearbox to lock into the tail boom is on the opposite side to the kits. The Align Cobras have their boom block/auto rotation gear box inverted compared to the RCA's kit. I just cut the tail boom slot at the front of the boom on the opposite side and it fitted fine. Even though the angled gear box and extension tubes are slighty different lengths between Align and RCA, they both line up perfectly in the fuse.
It sounds like a lot of work, but it only took a few minutes once I got my head around how to sort out the problems and the Align bits were suprisingly cheap, so no real harm in the exercise at all. Typical scale fiddling around.
The scale cockpit required a small amount of work, mostly the crew figures. They are a couple of generic figures and as such, their arms were not aimed at any of the controls. I cut their arms off and sliced them up at the elbows and wrists and a bit of epoxy later....brilliant..they look really good. The rear crew member is set too high and doesn't fit inside the canopy, but a few mm sliced off his rear end lowered him in the seat and a we have a great fit. The Align crew setup also has this issue, so I have read. Also, a bit of the front of the the frame will need to be dremelled off when the mechanics are fitted to allow the cockpit to fit, also an issue with the Align version of the 500 Cobra. The crew come in a green camo...a bit of desert beige paint and they look the part.
For the mechanics, it was a straight forward setup...the Black Widow was suprisingly easy to setup...I have a couple of Align 3GX's and a Micro Beast in helis and this is by far the easiest to setup....Huge kudos to whoever wrote the English instructions and tips for it...they are the best I have seen...just what a person setting one up needs....a brilliant job....not sure if it was Ghostflyer or not who did them....Dr Evil may be able to answer that, but they are real good.
The kit comes with a lighting set, the instructions just show the upper and lower red beacon install, I fitted the nav lights into the stub wing tips, strobes into the tail and landing lights in the nose bulges that come molded in the fit fuse. An easy and neat install and they work very well...
It is my first 500 size heli, I have a couple of 450's, a couple of 600's and a 700. The 500 seems to be a good size for scale...big enough, good detail and not so big that it takes up too much space.
I will be looking at more of RCA's 500 scalers once I get back in the swing of things, I highly recommend this kit.
Way back when Cliff ran the scale comp here on the lounge, he offered the 500 size AH-1 in the desert scheme as the prize....it looked so good that I bought one from him with a black widow and it has sat untouched for too long...just like all my helis...I charge their batteries in hope that I can get some time out with them but it hasn't happened.
I just checked and it was April when I bought it.
I have been able to sneak a little time here and there in the evenings to build it and it is now almost ready...the mechanics are all built and setup and I have ground run it with a temporary battery and landing gear setup to test fly before it goes into the fuse. Just waiting for a decent day and some spare time to fly it.
The fuse is finished as well and is ready for the mechanics once they are sorted.
A few thoughts about the kit:
As usual, the fuse is beautiful..well made, strong, no creaking and cracking when it is being handled.
It is true and square and the canopy is well glued and clear.
The wood is well glued for the mechanic supports and the supplied frame and gears are nice.
The paint is very tough, no scratches or marks when handled either.
A couple of problems with the tail setup though...to use the supplied angled gear box, requires the tail boom to be slid out of the main boom block a few mm for the torque tube to engage...the locating pin in the gear box is not really in the right spot. Also the supplied short boom extension is a quite loose fit in the angled gearbox and tail rotor gearbox. the rod ends for the extension boom and the pivot at the angled gearbox are also quite soft and a bit oversized and do not inspire a lot of confidence as to their ability to stay connected on the pushrod wire...a loss of rudder would be a disaster.
I purchased the Align angled gearbox and boom extension...they came with the wire and rod ends and I fitted those. This was not a direct replacement as the internal pin in the gearbox to lock into the tail boom is on the opposite side to the kits. The Align Cobras have their boom block/auto rotation gear box inverted compared to the RCA's kit. I just cut the tail boom slot at the front of the boom on the opposite side and it fitted fine. Even though the angled gear box and extension tubes are slighty different lengths between Align and RCA, they both line up perfectly in the fuse.
It sounds like a lot of work, but it only took a few minutes once I got my head around how to sort out the problems and the Align bits were suprisingly cheap, so no real harm in the exercise at all. Typical scale fiddling around.
The scale cockpit required a small amount of work, mostly the crew figures. They are a couple of generic figures and as such, their arms were not aimed at any of the controls. I cut their arms off and sliced them up at the elbows and wrists and a bit of epoxy later....brilliant..they look really good. The rear crew member is set too high and doesn't fit inside the canopy, but a few mm sliced off his rear end lowered him in the seat and a we have a great fit. The Align crew setup also has this issue, so I have read. Also, a bit of the front of the the frame will need to be dremelled off when the mechanics are fitted to allow the cockpit to fit, also an issue with the Align version of the 500 Cobra. The crew come in a green camo...a bit of desert beige paint and they look the part.
For the mechanics, it was a straight forward setup...the Black Widow was suprisingly easy to setup...I have a couple of Align 3GX's and a Micro Beast in helis and this is by far the easiest to setup....Huge kudos to whoever wrote the English instructions and tips for it...they are the best I have seen...just what a person setting one up needs....a brilliant job....not sure if it was Ghostflyer or not who did them....Dr Evil may be able to answer that, but they are real good.
The kit comes with a lighting set, the instructions just show the upper and lower red beacon install, I fitted the nav lights into the stub wing tips, strobes into the tail and landing lights in the nose bulges that come molded in the fit fuse. An easy and neat install and they work very well...
It is my first 500 size heli, I have a couple of 450's, a couple of 600's and a 700. The 500 seems to be a good size for scale...big enough, good detail and not so big that it takes up too much space.
I will be looking at more of RCA's 500 scalers once I get back in the swing of things, I highly recommend this kit.