Jerc 77

My Feedback: (5)

So, I got bored today and started thinking about turning my CX into a scale model. I looked into Mike Manrow's stuff and thought "Oh yeah, that Apache is going to look sweet!". Then, I started looking at the CX and thought, "That looks pretty close to an Apache." Other than the landing gear, the tail plane, the engine nacells, and the weapons. So I headed to the hobby shop for some supplies. I got some foam, foam safe CA, some balsa, 1/8" piano wire, and some button heads from the AXE CP. When I got home, I ripped all the stickers off the stock fuse so I would be committed to project. Then I pulled off the stock gear and started bending my own out of the 1/8" wire to look somewhat like the Apache. I had to bevel the end to fit in the stock gear hole. I used the AXE head buttons for wheels. To keep them on, I split the end of the axel and then hammered it down to mushroom out the tip. Next I tackled the tail plane. I used a strip of balsa cut to 3 1/4" long. I bevelled the edges to look closer to scale, then I cut into the stock tail of the fuse and jammed it in there. Made the engine nacells, but I am not happy with the way they turned out. I would like to go a different route with them, but I also wanted to be able to remove the fuse for maintenance. I glued on the engine nacells and painted the heli. I am happy with the Krylon but still not happy with the nacells. It will do for now. They are just wood, boxed in with a round servo horn on the front. When I wreck this body, I'll do one that is closer to scale. This was a good experiment with weights and materials. Tomorrow night I will add some armament to the winglets and a chain gun to the nose. I will also print off some decals and slap them on too. I may try to do a TADS sometime too. This was a pretty fun project. It killed a couple nights, only cost about $15, I am happy with the results and like the way it looks (for the amount of effort I put into it).

sportrider_fz6

hows it feel on take offs and landings with no skid?

Jerc 77

My Feedback: (5)

Not bad. Just hold some down elevator until the tail comes up, release the elevator and add some throttle. You have to be a little more carefull on landing. It didn't take long to figure out how to set on the mains and chop the throttle and throw some up elevator at the same time. That plants the tail. I will probably go through a few more charges just doing touch and goes and practicing keeping the nose out of the carpet before I add the TADS and the chain gun to it.

BryFlyGuy67

Very innovative re-production!

Jerc 77

My Feedback: (5)

Thank you. It was fun to work on.

rob737

My Feedback: (3)

that looks great! awesome job. i too have been looking for a scale replacement fuselage for my cx2.....wish i had your abilities to make my own.........rob

eat2muchrice

That looks great. One day I'm planning on making missels out of bottle rockets. I still need to find a mini heat starting coil that I can run off my reciever's 5v 5th channel.

sportrider_fz6

I wonder if an igniter for a model rocket would work?

Jerc 77

My Feedback: (5)

Rob, it really wasn't that hard. All you have to make are the engine nacells and the tail plane. The landing gear is just bent wire, then paint everything. There is no reason anyone can't make this for themselves. Thanks for the compliments though. I hope you guys all try it out.

eat2muchrice

good idea, I'll have to do some research on that. Still have to get some bottle rockets also, I live in California and they are illegal [&o].

againstthedevil

umm pots illegal too, but it's probably easier to find in calif. than bottle rockets...lol. I'd ship them to you but it would probably get caught in the mail, and we'd both go to jail for "national security" reasons.

eat2muchrice

Thanks though

lostNdallas

I've used electric matches (rocket igniters) to fire a bottle rocket off an r/c car. You carefully pull the fuse out of the body then insert the igniter into where the fuse used to be.

The problem is the current draw required to reliably fire the electric match. At a bare minimum of 5 amps depending on the mfr (the Estes igniters require around 12 amps), it might be too much for the rx. I'm not familiar with the electrical specs of the rx so I can't say for sure. If the current is over spec, you would need to run a micro solenoid off the 5th channel (if it can be configured as on/off) or a micro-servo driving a limit switch with a line feed from a splice into the main power supply harness.

Just something to think about.

eat2muchrice

yes thats a lot to think about. one day i'll give it all a try. If anyone else figures out how to launch a missle bottle rocket from their reciever PLEASE! let us know. I'm already imaginating firing 4 missles from each side .

evdreamer

I think the people at IndyHelis has a missle setup for their apache. http://www.indyhelis.com/movie.htm

goldslinger

Just use Estes Nichrome igniters. You just need the nichrome, not the match part; wrap around fuse and use the channel 5 knob on hi to ignite; may take a couple of seconds, but I bet THEY WILL ignite.


You will need this for the channel 5 switching whether it's for a floodlight, rockets, gear, or whatever.

http://www.hansenhobbies.com/products/onboardacc/ners/

Drewed

Get the relay as well, and you could hook a 9 volt up to the ignitor and not have any firing problems.

eat2muchrice

It all seems SO possible, but i still don't have and can't get bottle rockets [&o]. I think someone else out of California is going to have to do this project .
I figure if its going to work then it would need.
1. Firing/launch tube(s) (short aluminun tube to hold and guide the missle)
2. Blash shield (Piece of sheet metal to protect the heli from from missle launch)
3. Ignitor wired up the the 5th channel.
4. Bottle rockets!!
Agg its all possible! but I can't get missles.(legally)[:@]

Drewed

Not all that hard...

1. I've taped straws to the skids and launched rockets from there ( manual light, then take off---bad idea, but fun! ) but the blast from the rocket did no damage to the straw, so a small tube of AL would be great. However what would happen if I taped the rockets in? Instant speed boost? or instant blade clack?
2. Don't think you will need the blast shield, the rockets will rotate under their own weight away from the wings. Just mount the tubes underneath the wings and not above!
3. This could be trouble. I wonder if the signal from the reciver is strong enough to light the igniter on its own...
4. Well, yeah, rockets are needed. I can get them ( from my basement! lol ) but that won't help you out too much.

I need to do a little configuring ( and get rid of the damn TBE - going to try stock blades and grips next! ) then I'll have to give this a shot!

wings 540

get a peice of 9mm pencil lead and wrap a electric wire around it (carefully as not to break the lead) then attatck those wires to a 9V battery. after a minute or two the lead should glow white hot. just wrap the fuse in the wire and your set! I DO NOT know if this works at all, I read it on the internet.

good luck, love the apache body![8D]

Jerc 77

My Feedback: (5)

Had to rebuild the fuse today. I took the Apache outside last weekend to fly in the cul-de-sac. I just got it out of ground effect when the wind caught it. It was headed for my truck so I added some throttle and was headed up over the topper nicely. I made it over my truck, but couldn't fit between the nieghbor's conversion van and the tree it was parked under. The heli fell from about 12' down onto the asphalt. Interestingly, adding paint to the stock fuse makes it more brittle and a lot less flexible. So this morning I meded the fuse, resecured the engine nacells (which I am still going to replace with a more scale looking set), and then proceeded to add the rocket pods and guns. The rocket pods are just the handles of two paint brushes that I cut off and painted black. The winglet guns are just pieces of the stock landing gear that I cut down and CAd on. The chain gun is also just the tip of one of the skids. I cut it off with some pliers and CAd it on too. I did get lazy during the repainting process and fail to tape the windows. As a result there is OD green overspray on them.

eat2muchrice

looks sweet. The rocket pods under the wing look good and I like the chain gun in front.
I would recommend using some expanding foam in the tail section to keep it from breaking again. It works very good, but does add some weight to it. Just cut out as much extra as possible.

Jerc 77

My Feedback: (5)

Actually, I never hurt the tail boom at all. It seems to have come straight down on the nose. No matter, it's all fixed up flies like a champ again. Anyhow, I am on to my next project: an Esky Belt CP with an Apache fuse from Darthdrk.4t.com. Should be $500 for everything to complete it. It will be fun too.