NextD Rave 450 Build

CeeveeSiN · 11-07-2008, 10:12 AM

Ok guys.. Its here.. finally..

I was able to pick up my kit 1 night early due to some trust I've built up with the owner of my LHS. He allowed me to take my kit home even though I had not finished paying off my balance.

anyway as I promised Gino here is the build so far.

Packaging: Kit came wonderfully packaged and organized every step has its own bag with hardware separated by step as well.

Materials: A+ on mats very high quality machining and very nice screws and bearings for a 450 kit far surpassing the quality of Align so far.
All frame hardware is all hex heads and the hardware itself feels of very high quality.

Manual: this is a work of art in itself. the manual is amazing and I see why now they are charging for replacements as alot of work went into the manual.
It's full color with full pages and multiple angles of pics for each step that takes you from unpacking the model all the way to blade tracking and everything in between in great detail.

Note! there is a full color Addendum inserted into the manual and anyone that gets a Rave needs to read it it features some corrections and a few suggested alternate way of doing things as well as some early kit bug fixes are all listed in the same exhausting detail as the rest of the manual.

Build: So far I have my frame built and the Head was finished late last night and I forgot to load the pics of the head construction into my thumb drive so we have at least the packaging and the frame pics so far.

1 thing to note.. this is a longer build like the Furion very very few pieces were pre-assembled. even the swash needs every ball link and set screw installed.

This kit will take at least 6 hours to build and that seemed to be moving at a pretty good speed.

The frame was consists of 2 pieces of carbon fiber with a plastic support becoming the lower gyro/electronics tray.

as well as 2 aluminum motor mounts 1 being used as the motor mount the other being used as the battery tray platform.
yes you read that right to keep the parts count down they are actually using some of the same pieces for multiple functions.
this also gives you a built in spare of sorts.

The 2 main shaft supports are aluminum as well same part in both upper and lower support locations just flipped again to minimize parts count.

The landing gear is an a odd design 1 piece but seems pretty sturdy.
the Canopy uses it as a mounting point and a pivot point that's what the screw covered by the fuel tubing hanging down is.
it will be clipped to ideal size during one of the last steps in the build.

The main gear assembly as well required a metal machined hub that is much larger and lighter than its counterparts to be screwed in before the one Way bearing setup could be installed.
Not sure how the spare part for this assembly will come but that will add an extra 5 mins on a MG replacement.
You can see that step on the photo with the manual open.

The head was pretty slow going and took me some time. All ball links had to be installed and locktited on every head piece its a very unique design.
1 thing to note and this was highlighted in the manual that these ball links are not final yet they are not presized at all and this kit requires a ball link tool and some time and patience sizing the links.
they did note that this should be rectified soon with links being a little closer to sized with later runs of the kit.

More to come will upload head pics tonight and continue the build.

CeeveeSiN · 11-07-2008, 10:12 AM

reserved for build night 2

CeeveeSiN · 11-07-2008, 10:13 AM

reserved for build night 3 or other info.

Kinger · 11-24-2008, 10:15 AM

Any further along in the build? Flight reports maybe? Are you using a 3S or 4S setup?

Buzzin Brian · 11-24-2008, 02:14 PM

"The main gear assembly as well required a metal machined hub that is much larger and lighter than its counterparts to be screwed in before the one Way bearing setup could be installed.
Not sure how the spare part for this assembly will come but that will add an extra 5 mins on a MG replacement. You can see that step on the photo with the manual open."

I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is you are saying here. The auto hub has 5 screws that hold it to the main gear, much like every other 450 heli on the market. So I am a little confused about this. The one way bearing is factory installed, so I am not sure where this part is you are having to screw into the main gear before you install it. If you are reffering to partially installing the lower jesus bolt to hold the parts together this is explained in the manual to help make the instalation easier. It should be pretty straight forward, and replacement is no different than any other heli that I have noticed. If you have any problems feel free to contact me, I will help if I can.

As for the kit requiring a complete assembly, as an expert builder I preffer a kit that way, as does Curtis. There are many reasons to pack a kit this way, and the key one to note is making sure a propper amount of loctite is used where needed. I have NEVER trusted someone else whom I have never even met to build my heli correctly for me. And if you watch our build videos on the Rave I actaully say not to trust that the arms that are installed on the washout base and the seesaw cage are propperly loctited. So in short, the kit will likely stay in all parts form. Having factories assemble things like this can create serious issues long term with parts comming loose. So we chose to have the kit be mostly assembled by the end user. I hope this makes sense.

Buzzin Brian · 11-24-2008, 04:43 PM

FYI, there is a set of build videos I did right before the kit came out on our website. Follow the link below if you want to watch the videos before building your heli. This might help answer some of the questions people have. If not feel free to contact me and I will help in any way I can.

http://www.curtisyoungblood.com/products_view.php?id=35

Brian Butler
Technical Director
Curtisyoungblood.com
tech@curtisyoungblood.com

Finless · 11-25-2008, 05:41 PM

Just watched your vids Brian. Nice Job!

Bob

Buzzin Brian · 11-26-2008, 12:28 AM

Thanks a lot man.

LITHIUMSTATIC · 11-26-2008, 12:30 AM

Yep. Very organized for sure. Great for newbs!

Kinger · 11-26-2008, 09:33 AM

Brian - Will there be more vids forthcoming? Watched a few of them last night and they sure did look good.

Buzzin Brian · 11-26-2008, 01:15 PM

What types of videos are you looking for? If its flight videos I will see what we can come up with after Thanksgiving. If its more build videos let me know what you are wanting to see and I will see what I can do. Always here to help if I can.

Brian

Kinger · 11-26-2008, 02:51 PM

Sorry Brian, I must have missed the vid with head assembly and tail assembly. See them now

Sorry about that.

Some flying vids on 3S would be nice

CeeveeSiN · 11-27-2008, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buzzin Brian

"The main gear assembly as well required a metal machined hub that is much larger and lighter than its counterparts to be screwed in before the one Way bearing setup could be installed.
Not sure how the spare part for this assembly will come but that will add an extra 5 mins on a MG replacement. You can see that step on the photo with the manual open."

I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is you are saying here. The auto hub has 5 screws that hold it to the main gear, much like every other 450 heli on the market. So I am a little confused about this. The one way bearing is factory installed, so I am not sure where this part is you are having to screw into the main gear before you install it. If you are reffering to partially installing the lower jesus bolt to hold the parts together this is explained in the manual to help make the instalation easier. It should be pretty straight forward, and replacement is no different than any other heli that I have noticed. If you have any problems feel free to contact me, I will help if I can.

Brian.. I have built 2x Trex 450 SE V2s A MT E325, a Compy 300 a King2 a G200 and a G550 and never once have I had to assemble the gear and the hub together as on your kit.. In my limited experience building helis this was just something I noted for my build log nothing to take defence about.
The replacements for all the above helis are 100% assembled when you take them out of the package.

Sorry that's just been my experience with Align, TT, and Esky and Gaui.
So yes it was different enough for me to mention it.
as for the rest of this build the pics are screwed up and I've lost alot of the steps of photos that I had taken.

The kit was fantastic I think you are reading a little too far into things.

11-07-2008, 10:12 AM	#1
CeeveeSiN Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Texas	NextD Rave 450 Build Ok guys.. Its here.. finally.. I was able to pick up my kit 1 night early due to some trust I've built up with the owner of my LHS. He allowed me to take my kit home even though I had not finished paying off my balance. anyway as I promised Gino here is the build so far. Packaging: Kit came wonderfully packaged and organized every step has its own bag with hardware separated by step as well. Materials: A+ on mats very high quality machining and very nice screws and bearings for a 450 kit far surpassing the quality of Align so far. All frame hardware is all hex heads and the hardware itself feels of very high quality. Manual: this is a work of art in itself. the manual is amazing and I see why now they are charging for replacements as alot of work went into the manual. It's full color with full pages and multiple angles of pics for each step that takes you from unpacking the model all the way to blade tracking and everything in between in great detail. Note! there is a full color Addendum inserted into the manual and anyone that gets a Rave needs to read it it features some corrections and a few suggested alternate way of doing things as well as some early kit bug fixes are all listed in the same exhausting detail as the rest of the manual. Build: So far I have my frame built and the Head was finished late last night and I forgot to load the pics of the head construction into my thumb drive so we have at least the packaging and the frame pics so far. 1 thing to note.. this is a longer build like the Furion very very few pieces were pre-assembled. even the swash needs every ball link and set screw installed. This kit will take at least 6 hours to build and that seemed to be moving at a pretty good speed. The frame was consists of 2 pieces of carbon fiber with a plastic support becoming the lower gyro/electronics tray. as well as 2 aluminum motor mounts 1 being used as the motor mount the other being used as the battery tray platform. yes you read that right to keep the parts count down they are actually using some of the same pieces for multiple functions. this also gives you a built in spare of sorts. The 2 main shaft supports are aluminum as well same part in both upper and lower support locations just flipped again to minimize parts count. The landing gear is an a odd design 1 piece but seems pretty sturdy. the Canopy uses it as a mounting point and a pivot point that's what the screw covered by the fuel tubing hanging down is. it will be clipped to ideal size during one of the last steps in the build. The main gear assembly as well required a metal machined hub that is much larger and lighter than its counterparts to be screwed in before the one Way bearing setup could be installed. Not sure how the spare part for this assembly will come but that will add an extra 5 mins on a MG replacement. You can see that step on the photo with the manual open. The head was pretty slow going and took me some time. All ball links had to be installed and locktited on every head piece its a very unique design. 1 thing to note and this was highlighted in the manual that these ball links are not final yet they are not presized at all and this kit requires a ball link tool and some time and patience sizing the links. they did note that this should be rectified soon with links being a little closer to sized with later runs of the kit. More to come will upload head pics tonight and continue the build. Attached Thumbnails

11-24-2008, 10:15 AM	#4
Kinger Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Columbus, OH	Any further along in the build? Flight reports maybe? Are you using a 3S or 4S setup? __________________ T-Rex 700 with Align 91HZ, Funtech, Rail 696's, Rail 106 tails, Beast X on the DX8.

11-25-2008, 05:41 PM	#7
Finless Team Taco VP My HF Map location Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Stanton, Ca. USA	Just watched your vids Brian. Nice Job! Bob __________________ "Don't Taco My Pack Dude!" To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.* *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.* *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.* *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.*

11-26-2008, 12:30 AM	#9
LITHIUMSTATIC Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: May 2006 Location: Tyler, TX	Yep. Very organized for sure. Great for newbs! __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

11-26-2008, 09:33 AM	#10
Kinger Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Columbus, OH	Brian - Will there be more vids forthcoming? Watched a few of them last night and they sure did look good. __________________ T-Rex 700 with Align 91HZ, Funtech, Rail 696's, Rail 106 tails, Beast X on the DX8.

11-07-2008, 10:12 AM	#2
CeeveeSiN Registered Users Thread Starter My HF Map location Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Texas	reserved for build night 2

11-07-2008, 10:13 AM	#3
CeeveeSiN Registered Users Thread Starter My HF Map location Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Texas	reserved for build night 3 or other info.

11-24-2008, 02:14 PM	#5
Buzzin Brian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: College Station, Texas	"The main gear assembly as well required a metal machined hub that is much larger and lighter than its counterparts to be screwed in before the one Way bearing setup could be installed. Not sure how the spare part for this assembly will come but that will add an extra 5 mins on a MG replacement. You can see that step on the photo with the manual open." I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is you are saying here. The auto hub has 5 screws that hold it to the main gear, much like every other 450 heli on the market. So I am a little confused about this. The one way bearing is factory installed, so I am not sure where this part is you are having to screw into the main gear before you install it. If you are reffering to partially installing the lower jesus bolt to hold the parts together this is explained in the manual to help make the instalation easier. It should be pretty straight forward, and replacement is no different than any other heli that I have noticed. If you have any problems feel free to contact me, I will help if I can. As for the kit requiring a complete assembly, as an expert builder I preffer a kit that way, as does Curtis. There are many reasons to pack a kit this way, and the key one to note is making sure a propper amount of loctite is used where needed. I have NEVER trusted someone else whom I have never even met to build my heli correctly for me. And if you watch our build videos on the Rave I actaully say not to trust that the arms that are installed on the washout base and the seesaw cage are propperly loctited. So in short, the kit will likely stay in all parts form. Having factories assemble things like this can create serious issues long term with parts comming loose. So we chose to have the kit be mostly assembled by the end user. I hope this makes sense.

11-24-2008, 04:43 PM	#6
Buzzin Brian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: College Station, Texas	FYI, there is a set of build videos I did right before the kit came out on our website. Follow the link below if you want to watch the videos before building your heli. This might help answer some of the questions people have. If not feel free to contact me and I will help in any way I can. http://www.curtisyoungblood.com/products_view.php?id=35 Brian Butler Technical Director Curtisyoungblood.com tech@curtisyoungblood.com

11-26-2008, 12:28 AM	#8
Buzzin Brian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: College Station, Texas	Thanks a lot man.

11-26-2008, 01:15 PM	#11
Buzzin Brian Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: College Station, Texas	What types of videos are you looking for? If its flight videos I will see what we can come up with after Thanksgiving. If its more build videos let me know what you are wanting to see and I will see what I can do. Always here to help if I can. Brian

11-26-2008, 02:51 PM	#12
Kinger Registered Users My HF Map location Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Columbus, OH	Sorry Brian, I must have missed the vid with head assembly and tail assembly. See them now Sorry about that. Some flying vids on 3S would be nice __________________ T-Rex 700 with Align 91HZ, Funtech, Rail 696's, Rail 106 tails, Beast X on the DX8.

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