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GenReaper
05-20-2008, 06:40 AM
Here is some info and pictures of the Blade 400 i modified.

First thing i did was rip out the stock servos and replaced them with Hitec HS65MG servos. Best thing i did IMO.
Then i ripped out that crappy Gyro and put in a Hitec HS500 Gyro servo combo.
Second Best thing i did IMO.

I fitted a set of Align 325mm Woodies which is a great thing to do.
Then changed the Rear tail rotors to KB Neon Blades and bough a set of UV Blades and a UV led for indoor and night flying.

I also fitted a set of Align Trex 450 Fibreglass tail stabilizers which needed some modification on the mounting holes, very minimal, basicaly had to elongate one hole by 1 mm to make them fit. Gave better tail rotor clearance too
Modified the frame to fit the rear Gyro servo so that its mounted flush and not cocked up and it has a dead straight shot down the boom.

Then i fitted a Turnigy 7.5A UBEC underneath that battery inside the frame, i mounted it with a piece of foam on top to soak up any vibrations and fitted it with a single zip tie.
I pulled out the ESC red wire from the reciever and put the UBEC wires into the reciever instead. This setup works very well and neither the ESC or the UBEC get even slightly warm.
I am running Flight Power 2100 Prolite EVO V2 batterys and they provide awsome run time and grunt.Fitted Deans connectors to these batterys.

Have fitted Align Trex 500 landing gear which is about 25mm wider than stock and promotes easy landings. Fitted one of these backwards to hang more weight over the rear of the chopper to balance it out. Very little weight difference from stock, only slightly heavier.
Fitted a Trex 450 fibreglass canopy, these are very strong, better aerodynamics and have venting in the front lower section on the bottom side. Great canopy, no mods required to clear swash plate linkages or anything else.

In the photos provided you can see the mounting bar i made to fit the canopy snug.
Used the standard Mounting carbon shaft, got a piece of electrical wire, stripped it off the copper wire and used the outer plastic insulator and a non slip mount, it rests on top where the rear servos mount and does NOT budge a single bit. I then pulled the rubber grommets out of the standard blade canopy and fitted them onto the mount bar so it hold the canopy out away from the swash linkages, i glued them in place and then fitted the canopy and its very snug, theres no way this canopy is going anywhere mid flight.

So now this chopper owes me a fair bit but it looks sweet and flys realy good, well i am only a newb but ill give it a good thrashing soon enough.

Just bought a Trex 500 CF EP so i guess the Blade is now the crash test dummy, pitty cause its looking mighty fine atm.

If you have any questions about the chopper or the Mods i have done, feel free to ask, i dont bite. :smokin:

Regards, Brad.

GenReaper
05-20-2008, 06:43 AM
Here is the assembled Helli pic.

GenReaper
05-20-2008, 06:56 AM
Oh and here is one showing the canopy mount and grommet setup fitted to the chopper.

Redfire SVT
05-20-2008, 01:44 PM
I agree with the servos, best thing I've done so far too. The stock gyro is doing a good job in forward flight, no 3d yet.

Your heli looks real nice. I don't mind the stock Blade 400 look.

Kirkgang
05-20-2008, 06:32 PM
What servo comes with the HS500 combo? Most that I have seem are using the Futaba GY401/9650 combo? Also what kind of mods. did you have to do to the frame to mount the rudder servo? Last do you have to install the ubec or is it just bling? Your bird looks and should fly real nice.

GenReaper
05-21-2008, 03:02 AM
The tail servo is a HSG-5083MG Digital The mods i did to the frame was get a dremel, ground down the frame mount to half thickness so the servo mount allows the servo to sit flush in the middle so that when the tail servo linkage push rod is mounted it has a straight shot down the boom with no cocking. The rear servo mount i put on backwards to offset the rear of the servo parralel with the front mount. This way the arm clears the frame nice and there is no binding.

The UBEC is not paramount to install but i would rather my reciever get 6 volts, and i used a step down cable to the tail servo to give it 5.1 volts as its a super fast servo at that voltage anyway. The speed controller then doesnt use the internal BEC therefore doesnt get as hot and because the standard BEC is linear it uses more power, the Turnigy UBEC is switched and uses less power, provides a steady voltage to the reciever and servos with also gets me extra flight time with my batterys. So no it aint just bling i get to fly longer, with more powerfull servos, that was the main aim and also to not overload the standard ESC/BEC and had droppouts resulting in a crashed hell.

Thank you.

jl449
05-21-2008, 12:26 PM
The tail servo is a HSG-5083MG Digital The mods i did to the frame was get a dremel, ground down the frame mount to half thickness so the servo mount allows the servo to sit flush in the middle so that when the tail servo linkage push rod is mounted it has a straight shot down the boom with no cocking. The rear servo mount i put on backwards to offset the rear of the servo parralel with the front mount. This way the arm clears the frame nice and there is no binding.

The UBEC is not paramount to install but i would rather my reciever get 6 volts, and i used a step down cable to the tail servo to give it 5.1 volts as its a super fast servo at that voltage anyway. The speed controller then doesnt use the internal BEC therefore doesnt get as hot and because the standard BEC is linear it uses more power, the Turnigy UBEC is switched and uses less power, provides a steady voltage to the reciever and servos with also gets me extra flight time with my batterys. So no it aint just bling i get to fly longer, with more powerfull servos, that was the main aim and also to not overload the standard ESC/BEC and had droppouts resulting in a crashed hell.

Thank you.

Mr. Reaper,
Dig your heli... Grueat job... I was wondering if you can take a close up picture on the tail servo. I'm looking to upgrade my tail servo first than upgrade the gyro... Yeah I know -- I got to do it this way... I'm on a budget.
Changing careers and taking a hit in the wallet for the first year!!

GenReaper
05-23-2008, 03:50 AM
Mr. Reaper,
Dig your heli... Grueat job... I was wondering if you can take a close up picture on the tail servo. I'm looking to upgrade my tail servo first than upgrade the gyro... Yeah I know -- I got to do it this way... I'm on a budget.
Changing careers and taking a hit in the wallet for the first year!!

Sure mate, ill pull it apart and show you some photos, i dont mind.
Note where i ground the front servo mount on the frame down with a dremel as to get it to sit flush and clear the arm etc. Because the rear of the servo mount now uses the lowest mounting screw i took off the servo horn and moved it one spline towards the front of the helli as to keep it 90 degrees with the tail. Moving the rear of the servo down to the lowest mount give a slight bit more clearance up the front for the arm cause of the angle.

Also note the custom ground washers i used to mount the servo front and rear.
I also dropped the rear servo mount down one hole on the tail boom, lowest screw hole.

You can also turn the servo around and have the servo horn towards the rear of the chopper and just reverse your tail servo in the transmitter, but i wanted it pointing the front so i could get the most adjustment out of my servo pushrod that mounts on the tail slider and also keep any weight towards the middle of the chopper being metal gears and all.

Most important thing is to make sure the servo arm clears the frame and will not snag itself and cause a crash.

Here are the pictures and also links to my FTP with full size pictures so you can see it better.

http://www.users.on.net/~danzig/Blade400servo%20001.jpg (http://www.users.on.net/%7Edanzig/Blade400servo%20001.jpg)
http://www.users.on.net/~danzig/Blade400servo%20003.jpg (http://www.users.on.net/%7Edanzig/Blade400servo%20003.jpg)
http://www.users.on.net/~danzig/Blade400servo%20005.jpg (http://www.users.on.net/%7Edanzig/Blade400servo%20005.jpg)
http://www.users.on.net/~danzig/Blade400servo%20009.jpg (http://www.users.on.net/%7Edanzig/Blade400servo%20009.jpg)
http://www.users.on.net/~danzig/Blade400servo%20010.jpg (http://www.users.on.net/%7Edanzig/Blade400servo%20010.jpg)

My new toy :thumbup:
http://www.users.on.net/~danzig/Blade400servo11.jpg (http://www.users.on.net/%7Edanzig/Blade400servo11.jpg)

theone2007
07-05-2008, 10:42 PM
Hi, your mods looks awsome! Don't mind if this new guy asked a few questions?

1."Turnigy 7.5A UBEC" <--- what is it and what does it do?

2."pulled out the ESC red wire from the reciever and put the UBEC wires into the reciever instead" <---- is this an easy process and does soldering involved in this process.

My B400 after an 8 minutes flight stock ESC gets incredibly hot and so does the battery. Do I have to change out the stock connectors to Deans connector to do your mod? Can I still use stock battery for this mod?


A youtube tutorial on your mods will be great for us noobs...Thanks !