Ok, now I got you. So the swashplate, with no linkage attached to it, swivels around just fine, but when you bolt the rotor head on and connect the linkages to the swash plate, the swashplate tilts with a lot of friction, right?

Disconnect the linkages between the swashplate and the rotor head. Make sure that each and every point of rotation or pivot in the various rotor head assembly is very very loose. It sounds like you have already done this.

Check to make sure all of the ball link shanks, plastic female parts which snap onto the ball links and thread onto the various pushrod links, rotate very freely on the balls. These are often too tight. On method is to snap the shank over a ball and squeeze the plastic around the ball with a pair of pliers. The manual says to do this gently but I have always found quite a bit of force is required to loosen the fit up. A second, possibly better, method is to put a ball on a screw and chuck the whole thing up in a drill/dremel. Snap the shank over the ball and hold on while you fire up the dremel. After a few seconds the shank should turn very freely on the ball. A surprising amount of drag can be created by all of the ball links involved in the main rotor head. These should be loose enough that they will flop straight down under their own weight and dangle freely from the ball. Of course don’t go so loose you have slop

If all the balls turn like silk in their shanks, it is time to check the lengths of the linkages between the main rotor head and the swashplate. First off is the short link between the follower arm and the subrotor. This should probably be done with the rotor off the heli, but whatever is convenient for you. Just make sure the follower arm and the subrotor are parallel. It may help to put a short metal ruler or level on the parts to make sure they are parallel. Once they are parallel, bolt the main rotor assembly onto the shaft. Snap the short follower link onto the swashplate. Now adjust the height of the main rotor shaft by loosening and moving the shaft collars above and below the main shaft bearing blocks as necessary. Adjust this height until the follower arm is parallel to the swashplate. Again, a couple of short metal straight edges may help. Once everything is lined up, secure the shaft collars. Snap the subrotor push rod ball shanks onto the swashplate. These may need length adjustment if they push down or pull up on the swashplate. They should be just long enough to hold the swashplate down in place. The instruction manual provides lengths for all of these linkages, and they are very close. I have found that sometimes the I need to adjust the length of my linkages a small amount to get everything level and to not push up or down on the swashplate too much. Sometimes the lengths can be difficult to measure accurately and these length readings are affected by how much flash may or may not be on each part.

That is about all I can think of, and ideally should give you a silky smooth setup. Most likely you have already done all of this. It has been my experience that the linkages do loosen up somewhat during the first few flights. I would recommend, as you have suggested, running a few tanks/batteries through the works without actually lifting the heli off the ground. After doing so check the linkage again. You will defiantly not want to fly with excessive drag or sloppiness in these linkages as the control will be exceedingly poor and definitely not suitable for learning. Regardless of if this is your first heli or not, I would strongly recommend building a set of training gear out of two dowel rods and some ping pong balls as the manual recommends. These are incredibly helpful in not tipping over the first couple of hops when you are getting the controls trimmed in. If this is indeed your first heli, follow the excellent flight instruction manual just as you have the building manual and don’t rush things. There are plenty of things to feel uncomfortable with and learn at each step of the process. You will be hovering around in no time.

Let us know if you get the swashplate to loosen up, or if you discover something else.

For what it is worth,
Spiro