Yesterday I made a post in the Welcome board because I finally became the proud owner of a new E5 kit! I cant tell you all how excited I am to be working on this project. I have been very impressed with the information on this forum and realize that the forum is only as good as the people on it, so I felt I needed to contribute the best I could as a new guy. So my plan was to start a thread that will be a kind of a build log for this project. One of the things I didnt know going in what what kind of time frame to expect, so Im going to try and keep a time line of the work Ive done to give other new builders an idea what to expect. Ill also try and document any head scratchers I run into. And along the way if I have questions Ill throw them up.
A little back ground to give you a base line for my experience. Helicopters were my first introduction into RC and I have been flying since fathers day last year. This is my first ground up heli build. Ive got a couple other bird that came bind and fly that Ive done lots of maintenance/upgrades on. I do have a mechanical mind so to speak, while not a mechanic by trade, I'm absolutely a DIY kind of guy so I know my way around a tool box and work bench. I've also watched Chris Sexton's videos a few times so I had a good idea what to do while following the manual.
As far as components go this is somewhat of a budget build. I realize that you get what you pay for and I usually buy the top of the line stuff to start with. But as you know the in this hobby that can be pretty darn high price to pay. So between what I had on hand and some deals I couldn't pass up here is the component list:
ESC: Hobby Wing 100a Platinum
BEC: CC BEC Pro
Cyclic servos: Align DS615
Tail Servo: Align DS655
FBL Controller: AR7200x (beastx)
Lipos: Nano-tech 4500mah 45-70c
Motor: Turnigy Heli-Drive SK3 4956-1100KV
I know the Turnigy motor is a big deviation from the standard Scorpion, but Im not sure if I'll keep this 6s or bump it to 12s and/or stretch it later. Plus I had a gift cert that made it almost free so I thought Id give it a try and can upgrade or replace down the road once i know for sure. Kind of a gamble I know, if you have any thoughts on this let me know.
On to the build!
So last night I started assembly. I worked for about three hours and the first half was with some regular interruptions trying to get my daughter to bed and stuff. In that time I was able to get the frame edges sanded and sealed with CA. And everything installed on the two frame halves, so they are ready to go together. Well, almost... Everything went together seamlessly, the quality of the kit is really astounding, everything lined up perfect. The only problem I ran into that stopped me from getting the two halves joined was the screws that hold the tail and elevator servos to the frame were too long. I dont think this was an issue with the kit, I think it had to do with the thickness of the tabs on the servos. Either way I tried the screws one set (either the once from the out side of the frame in or the servo side out) extended just a couple threads too far through the aluminum mounting block and prevented the block for sitting flat against the frame or the servo tab. Three options for a simple solution that I can see. 1. I think a single small washer on the inside will take up the space needed, two at the most. 2. Buy shorter screws 3. Bust out the Dremel and make the screws shorter. 1 or 2 seems like the easiest so Im gonna hit the store today and see what I can find.
This morning I got the head stripped down, cleaned up, greased and reassembled. Very straight forward part of the build no issues here. This took about 45 minutes. It is so strange working on parts this big when you are used to an MCPX and a Blade 450.
One tip I have realized is to make sure you invest in a good set of hex drivers, I had a cheap set and a good set sitting there and I could tell the difference in the two. The cheap set always felt sloppy like it was going to strip the heads as you put that final tension in the bolt. The good ones felt fine.
I did have a question if anyone know the answer. I have located the extra holes drilled in the frame vertically near the end of the front battery tray that I read can be used as a battery stop so to speak when your running 6s. I also figured out which crosspiece at the lower back side would fit there. Can that just simply be moved to the other location or are guys ordering another piece to put there? It looks that there at least has to be a cross bar at that location bc that's where the tail boom supports connect right?
Well thats about it for now, stay tuned!
