This build is an ImpulseRC Micro Alien:

https://impulserc.com/products/micro-alien-fpv-frame

It’s gonna be a two-fer: a light cruiser with 3” arms & significantly more power with 4” arms. Motors will have connectors so that I can change between the two by just unplugging & removing 4 bolts.


This was my second attempt at hydro dipping a frame- it came out much better than my first attempt. Hydro dipping is going to be an ongoing experiment for me. It’s fun. It started with me seeing those vinyl quad wrap stickers and thinking, “hey, I wonder if I could…” Yup, I can. Maybe sort of. I’m really hoping that it doesn’t start to flake off- I won’t know until I start handling the frame and flying and crashing the frame. I’ve tried a few different types of clear coats on hidden areas and I don’t seem to have one that doesn’t act as a solvent and start smearing or removing the paint.

Anyhow, here are my chosen bits for this build:

JHEMCU GHF420AIO 35a Flight Controller/ESC
NameLessRC Nano400vtx
Foxeer Toothless 2 Micro camera
Happymodel 2.4Ghz EP1 ELRS receiver 
VTX Antenna- undecided, whatever seems to fit best or whatever I grab first from my bag o’ antennas.
HGRLC 3” Propeller Guards 

Motors:
3” arms- HGLRC Flame 1105 6000kv
4” arms- Diatone Mamba Toka 1408 4100kv

I’m not 100% sure that I won’t have to do some minor surgery on the prop guards to make them fit on the 3” arms. We’ll find out together.

I’m impatiently waiting for the 4” arms to arrive from Australia, and for the cam and vtx to arrive from California.

I splurged $20 on a micro connector crimper, it should make the motor connectors easier. Given my other hobbies, I’m surprised that I didn’t already have one.

More to come.

I should have used more opaque colors or applied a light colored base coat to make the colors pop more.

I’m trying out a variety of top coats on each part of the frame, some are working better than others but nothing is working well. I joined the ImpulseRC Facebook group in hopes of getting some suggestions on top coats (okay, yeah, I mainly just joined to show off what I’ve done so far ‘cause I think it looks pretty good. If I honestly wanted help I would have joined some type of crafting or painting group.)

I’m hearing geese flying south overhead- I guess that means summer is officially over.

The 3” prop guards that I have will not fit on this frame without major modification- so if I want prop guards I will have to use the 2.5” ones on the 3” arms and the 3” ones on the 4” arms.

But… acro mode finally clicked in my brain. So as long as I don’t fly near my head or vehicles, I think I might be comfortable enough to fly without prop guards. I’ve got a ridiculous amount of spare props for most of my quads, but maybe I should buy some more before I fly without guards.

My biggest concern isn’t breaking props- it’s making sure that if they break I can find the broken bits cause I don’t want my puppies to eat them and potentially choke on them or end up with perforated intestines.

So, maybe prop guards for a bit longer until I’m confident that I won’t be slamming into a wall/ground/car/etc.

Nice.

Once you get acro down it is so much fun! I wouldn't worry too much about pieces of props flying around. I've actually never had one break apart, only bend or get chewed up and then I replace them. But you could get bright colored props, to make it easier to spot pieces if any do break apart. Like bright pink, red, yellow stands out.

Agree, with the newer generation of pros unless they failed at the hub (only a set I had recently from Gemfam 3016 Triblades), I never broke them during a crash. Usually they just get bent or chewed up as MrSolo mentioned.

Good to know, thank you! That’s one less thing for me to stress about.

In 3 years of flying I've only ever broken 2 prop blades. As for the comment that kafie made about Gemfan props breaking at the hub, Gemfan recently released a batch of defective 5" props that were badly manufactured that were doing the same and which they owned up to and compensated any customers for, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were similar issues in some of their other props which may explain that particular unusual failure.

The 4” arms came out significantly better than the 3” arms. The main difference was doing a white base coat first, it made the red and blue much more opaque rather than only being visible in the right light. I also added some yellow so it won’t match the body, but this entire build and paint thing were intended as an experiment so I don’t really care.

Also, Mod Podge Gloss (or matte) works very well as a top coat- but it’s a bit thick so be prepared to do some sanding and filing if you’re like me and were too lazy to mask off your holes.

I’m currently trying to decide which connectors I want to use for the motors- a standard servo/DuPont style connector would be the easiest, but a blade & squigy bit (pretty sure that’s the technical name ) would provide a much better connection and be able to handle much more amperage.

Hi Lemonyleprosy,

Personally, I have never had any issues using the standard servo connectors.

It will be interesting to see what you end up with.

In the (not too distant) future, I will be testing the various motor connection options to see if there is
any REAL WORLD difference. Since all of my quads fly fine and get very long Fly Times, I believe that
any "mathematical" or "technical" differences between the connection types might actually be negligible
in practical application. So, I will build a quad and test the various motor connections:

Servo connectors just as they come.
Servo connector pins without the housing.
Direct Solder.
(maybe other connectors)

If you decide to try different connectors, let me know and I will test them as well.

(02-Sep-2021, 10:24 PM)MrSolo Wrote: Nice.

Once you get acro down it is so much fun!  I wouldn't worry too much about pieces of props flying around.  I've actually never had one break apart, only bend or get chewed up and then I replace them.  But you could get bright colored props, to make it easier to spot pieces if any do break apart. Like bright pink, red, yellow  stands out.

This is the kind of thing I regularly deal with even with prop guards- but, my property is a combination of grass & tall weeds, trees & bushes, and 5/8th” gravel.

It’s the rocks that get me, especially if I crash upside down before I manage to disarm.

At PyroDrone, you get a discount for buying 10 sets of props at a time.
Maybe a consideration.

I have decided that motor connectors are more trouble than they’re worth. Every other time I crash it’s a broken motor wire connector that I need to repair.

I’ve got a good desoldering gun, and I’ve got enough experience with a soldering iron to solder or desolder a wire without damaging a board.

So, this build is no longer going to be easily convertible between 3” and 4” arms. It’s gonna have 4” arms with 3” props and prop guards and 1408 motors.

The 1105 motors will be saved for another build, or used on the 3” arms if I break enough 4” arms that I don’t have 4 left.

Hi Lemonyleprosy,

This is very interesting. I have never had a connector break or come loose on any of my quads. 
I use servo connectors except for whoop builds where I have very little space and small motors.

What type of connector? Was it a JST or a servo connector?  Do you have a picture of the broken connection/connector?

What ever works best for you. We each have our own journey.

(09-Sep-2021, 12:53 PM)iFly4rotors Wrote: Hi Lemonyleprosy,

This is very interesting. I have never had a connector break or come loose on any of my quads. 
I use servo connectors except for whoop builds where I have very little space and small motors.

What type of connector? Was it a JST or a servo connector?  Do you have a picture of the broken connection/connector?

What ever works best for you. We each have our own journey.

This isn’t on this build, my decision just also applies to this build. Most flying nights start out with me repairing motor wires on two quads and flying then until more wires break, then setting them aside and working on another build. They’re jst connectors and it’s not the connectors themselves that are the problem- it’s the crappy brittle wires attached to them.

I have silicone wire in a variety of gauges and a micro connector crimper, but as I was stripping and crimping 12 wires and looking at 24 more that need the same, I realized that I wasn’t enjoying it.

But, I’ll probably still end up using connectors. Since I’m making my own this build shouldn’t have the same wire breakage issues my other quads do.

Making slow progress on this build.

I had to file down the toothless 2 cam to get it to fit between the front stand-offs, but permanent marker helped hide it.