I finished building my 3" Armattan Japalura this morning, and I decided to write a build log while it was all fresh in my memory.  I've never done a build log before, and hopefully this won't be too boring.  This is my second build, the first being a 5" Armattan Rooster.  Here are the components I used:

Frame: Armattan Japalura
Motors: Armattan Oomph Titan Mini 1407/3650 KV
ESCs: Armattan DShot 20 amp BLHeli S
Flight controller: Holybro Kakute F7 AIO, Betaflight 3.5.3
Receiver: FrSky R-XSR
Camera: Foxeer Predator Mini
VTX: Holybro Atlatl HV V2
Batteries: Tattu R-Line 4S 850 mAh
Props: Lumenier 3x4x3 V2

Weight: 199 grams without battery, 301 grams with battery.

The frame kit was packaged nicely by Armattan:



At  first I assumed the bottom plate of the frame was perfectly symmetrical.  Later I realized that the holes for the side pieces are closer to the front edge than they are to the rear edge.  Of course I had to find this out by doing it wrong.  After that, I put a piece of blue tape on the front to remind myself.

I purchased the flight controller and VTX as a prepackaged stack.  It fit fine in the frame as it was.  However, I decided to mount the R-XSR receiver underneath the flight controller, and there wasn't quite enough room for that.  So I had to rebuild the stack using slightly different standoffs to provide enough room beneath it while still keeping below the stack height limit.  This was just barely possible:





Once I was sure this was all going to work out, I used an Exacto knife to trim off the extra threads from the top set of standoffs.  I put a nut on each one before trimming it so that removing the nut would repair any thread damage.

Before mounting the receiver, I worked out a position for it that would leave the bind button exposed.  However, I connected it to a 5V power supply and bound it to my Taranis before I mounted it in the frame.



I considered removing the connector from the R-XSR and hard-wiring it.  But in the end, I kept the connector and covered it with some extra heatshrink tubing.  I will also cover the openings in the bottom of the frame with electrical tape to help keep moisture out.



I had to cut the motor wires very short to fit the ESCs on the arms, but I did leave a little slack.  The ESCs came with heatshrink covering everything but the motor pads.  After connecting the motors, I put on more heatshrink so that all connections were covered.  The pieces of large-diameter heatshrink shown here were for attaching the ESCs to the arms.  More on that below.



To mount the ESCs on the arms I put foam two-sided tape (the "weak" kind of tape) under each ESC.  This was more to provide padding and insulation under the ESCs than to hold them in place.  Then, rather than using cable ties, I used 0.75" diameter heatshrink to secure each ESC.  I really like the way this came out:



The receiver is mounted with "permanent" two-sided tape, and I used cable ties covered with heatshrink to position and protect the antennas:



I used a tiny active buzzer and mounted it directly to the flight controller.  I checked the loudness of the buzzer first by connecting it to a 5V power supply.  I had bought a set of five small and five larger buzzers on Amazon.  Strangely, the smaller buzzers are louder.



The camera mounts nicely in the Japalura frame, and the tilt angle can be adjusted over a very wide range.



The VTX supports SmartAudio, and I wired up the camera control as well.  Both of these features work fine, as does the SmartPort telemetry.

Once everything was wired up, I removed the motor bolts one at a time and applied LocTite.  I prefer the purple LocTite 222, which is weaker than the blue LocTite and is more suitable for small machine screws.  In this photo you can also see the nifty tilting video antenna mount of the Japalura frame.



For now I'm using a stubby antenna, but I'll probably try some others as well:



Here it is with the props and battery mounted:



Wow -- there is very little clearance between the front props and the camera screws!  I'll have to keep an eye on that when I try different props.



I did a quick test flight (more of a hover test, really) over my back deck, and it seems to perform flawlessly.  The motors stayed nice and cool using the default Betaflight 3.5.3 PIDs.  As soon as the weather cooperates, I'm looking forward to going to the big field where I can fly it for real.

Nice job. Tell me what you think of the Titan motors. I have the purple Oomph motors and can't find replacements because Armattan decided to quit making them.

That does look a complete tank as others have already said before  I never actually looked into the fine  details of this frame and didn't realise they took a full size 30.5mm x 30.5mm stack which give you a ton of options. I'm in the process of gathering all the parts for a Acrobrat build but these really do look the bees knees and I might be tempted to build either one of these or a Gecko after my Acrobrat 

Thanks for posting and sharing such a great and detailed build log

Good luck with the first proper maiden flight

What an awesome build! I have flown mine since March of this year and aside from rounded off a the edges of the arm tips environmentally, it has been a true beast. I believe you will love yours

I belly slung my battery as it helps the little aircraft handle the way I like. Top mounted, it just did not behave the way I wanted. I am powering mine with 700mah 4S Lumenier graphene packs...they really rock on this craft. I can manage about a 3 minute hard flight and they are super light.

Hey Snow, the Japalura frame will accommodate either 30.5mm or 20mm spaced PCB's. It is truly a great and versatile frame!

(30-Nov-2018, 09:41 PM)voodoo614 Wrote: Nice job. Tell me what you think of the Titan motors. I have the purple Oomph motors and can't find replacements because Armattan decided to quit making them.

Yes, that's too bad.  They used to make purple metal parts for the frames (for the Rooster, I think), but those aren't offered anymore, either.  Too bad -- I liked them.

I'll definitely report on the Titan motors after I have some real flights.  I'm a fairly new pilot, though, and I only have one other build under my belt -- so my impressions might not be very useful.

(30-Nov-2018, 09:42 PM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: That does look a complete tank as others have already said before  I never actually looked into the fine  details of this frame and didn't realise they took a full size 30.5mm x 30.5mm stack which give you a ton of options. I'm in the process of gathering all the parts for a Acrobrat build but these really do look the bees knees and I might be tempted to build either one of these or a Gecko after my Acrobrat 

Thanks for posting and sharing such a great and detailed build log

Good luck with the first proper maiden flight

The Japalura is a cool frame because it can mount either a 20x20 or 30.5x30.5 stack.  The Gecko looks pretty awesome, too.  As a new pilot, I have done things to my Rooster that are almost criminal.  But it has sustained zero damage beyond bent props and one torn foam landing pad.  The Armattan frames are tough!

(01-Dec-2018, 12:09 AM)kaitylynn Wrote: What an awesome build!  I have flown mine since March of this year and aside from rounded off a the edges of the arm tips environmentally, it has been a true beast.  I believe you will love yours

I belly slung my battery as it helps the little aircraft handle the way I like.  Top mounted, it just did not behave the way I wanted.  I am powering mine with 700mah 4S Lumenier graphene packs...they really rock on this craft.  I can manage about a 3 minute hard flight and they are super light.

Hey Snow, the Japalura frame will accommodate either 30.5mm or 20mm spaced PCB's.  It is truly a great and versatile frame!

Thank you, Kaity!  I'm really excited to fly it for real.  The weather forecast looks good in a day or two.

Where did you mount the receiver on your Japalura build?  You would not believe how much time I spent staring at the frame trying to figure out where to put it.  The same thing happened with my earlier Rooster build.

You may notice I'm trying your #1 prop recommendation first.  

Can you describe how it flies differently with a bottom-mount battery vs. top-mount?  It looks like I could probably try it both ways, if I can slip my battery strap underneath the wiring down below.

Also (sorry for all the questions), what is the deal about graphene batteries?  Is it a totally different technology?  I've only seen them mentioned a couple of times, and all I know about them is that they're kind of pricey.

Great build log! Japalura is in my builds bucket list so this will come in handy later as an inspiration

(01-Dec-2018, 02:55 AM)SJChannel Wrote: Thank you, Kaity!  I'm really excited to fly it for real.  The weather forecast looks good in a day or two.

Where did you mount the receiver on your Japalura build?  You would not believe how much time I spent staring at the frame trying to figure out where to put it.  The same thing happened with my earlier Rooster build.

You may notice I'm trying your #1 prop recommendation first.  

Can you describe how it flies differently with a bottom-mount battery vs. top-mount?  It looks like I could probably try it both ways, if I can slip my battery strap underneath the wiring down below.

Also (sorry for all the questions), what is the deal about graphene batteries?  Is it a totally different technology?  I've only seen them mentioned a couple of times, and all I know about them is that they're kind of pricey.

I mounted my XM+ under the top plate.  The antenna "guide" is directly over the RX which is encased in the green shrink tube.  This provides it protection and it is tucked out of the way.



My FC and VTX are mounted like yours as well.  I like having the VTX mounted solidly in the frame with space to breath.  It is the hottest component in my build.  After the original Eachine VTX-03 quit working, I installed a RunCam TX-200, but it turned out to have heating issues and it has been  replaced with a Lumenier TX5GS that will push 500mw.



So, whether it is all true or not...Graphene infused LiPo packs will produce higher outputs.  I doubt my build is getting even close to the rated amp draw though.  They are also reported to be able to handle more cycles before starting to wane.  Again, I have not actually "worn out" any of my standard CNHL 650 LiPo's, so nothing solid on the truth of more cycles.

I tried mounting the pack on top with I first built and found that without air enabled, the little craft wanted to flip over in freefall.  I did not like this behavior, so slung the pack under.  Now the craft is weighted to "right" itself as a default...hope that makes sense.  I used to think that top mounting the pack would protect it, but that has not worked out too well for me.  ALL of the packs that I have had ruined in crashes (a fair few) have been top mounted and not ONE when mounted low.  I suppose this could just be my luck  

Good choice on the props...they are all I fly on my Japalura now.

I cannot wait for you to be able to get yours out for some serious break in flight!  This is my favorite quad I have built out of the 5 I fly regularly.  I have had mine out to about 500 meters with the 500mw VTX.  The XM+ held a steady lock with my QX7 the whole time.  Thought about installing an R-XSR so I could have telemetry, but honestly the XM+ has never let me down in over 8 months so I stick with it.  Not sure if you saw my build log, http://intofpv.com/t-armattan-japalura-3-build or not.

Great build log, mate!

Kaitylynn, thanks for the informative reply!

I almost mounted my R-XSR under the top plate, too.  One nice thing about this frame is that you could fit the receiver up there and it would still be out of the way of the battery strap for a top-mounted battery.  There is enough space between the strap and the top plate for that.

Your remarks about top- vs. bottom-mounted batteries make a lot of sense.  With a top-mounted battery (the only kind I've tried so far), my Rooster crashes upside-down more often than not.  And I nearly had a heart attack when I unknowingly left air mode off and tried some rolls and flips.  As soon as I cut the throttle the thing pitched forward and was facing straight down, and I had no idea why.  (The Rooster has a GoPro mounted on the front.)  I'm probably going to take air mode off of a switch and just enable it permanently, and I'll just deal with the bounciness on landing.

With the Japalura I should be able to try both top- and bottom-mounted batteries.  We'll see which one I like better.

The graphene batteries definitely sound like they're worth a try.  I also like the idea of going down to 700 mAh for the batteries to save some weight.

I hadn't seen your build log, but I read it this evening and it's great.

Thanks again!

We had a beautiful fall day here in the Pacific Northwest, so I finally got to take the Japalura out to my friend's farm to stretch its wings (props?).  Wow -- I'm really happy with it!  I flew five LiPos (all I have at the moment) and had a blast.  It really handles well and has plenty of power.  I'm still running just the default Betaflight PIDs and rates, but I'll get that all sorted out in the coming weeks.

I did find one small blunder in my build.  The way I mounted the beeper, it covers up the SD card slot on the flight controller.  Oops!  No blackbox for me until I fix that.

I like the Foxeer Predator Mini camera a lot.  My previous camera was a Runcam Swift Mini 2, and the Foxeer has a much clearer picture.

The Atlatl VTX has a built-in microphone which is kind of cool for hearing the motors.  The audio via the radio link has quite a bit of static, but still I like the feature.

This little quad is going to be a lot of fun!

Great to hear. Jalpalura are fun.

Who needs Blackbox anyway. I haven't even bother with log for a long time. BF flies so well, small tuning can easily be tune without BB.

(03-Dec-2018, 07:39 AM)voodoo614 Wrote: Who needs Blackbox anyway. I haven't even bother with log for a long time. BF flies so well, small tuning can easily be tune without BB.

Yep, I can't argue with that, but I'll probably fix it anyway.  Otherwise it will bother me every time I look at it.  If I'm careful, I think I might simply be able to bend the buzzer up out of the way.

(04-Dec-2018, 01:30 AM)SJChannel Wrote: Yep, I can't argue with that, but I'll probably fix it anyway.  Otherwise it will bother me every time I look at it.  If I'm careful, I think I might simply be able to bend the buzzer up out of the way.

With my over-active OCD that sort of thing would bug the hell out of me as well, so it would have to be fixed  If not for tuning, blackbox logs could still prove useful in an unexplained crash so I think it's still worth having the ability to use that feature if you want to.