Official RotorScale B222 Shadow Black 450 Size Helicopter Discussion Thread

[Jaydin56]

I'm wondering about the $170 controller as well, but I am also wondering if an 1800 MaH could be used in this beautiful bird as well.

[CFIT rob]

It appears that the open source flight controller is no longer part of the pnp heli. When first introduced the plan was that you could plug in your 6chan rx and take to the air. I'm guessing something "went south" with the flight controller mfgr. I'm afraid the extra cost and what i assume the hassle of programming a flight controller makes it a no go for me. Looks like a mirage for me this spring instead. Any updates alpha? I know your watching.......your always watching.

[Cyclone 7]

The general consensus of opinion on other forums is that most have a spare 450 airframe + electronics knocking around and would prefer to either buy the fuselage as a 'stand alone', or a bare-bones airframe + fuselage kit. I think that they would sell more in these formats, than they would as a 'complete PnP package'.

[Valkpilot]

The general consensus of opinion on other forums is that most have a spare 450 airframe + electronics knocking around and would prefer to either buy the fuselage as a 'stand alone', or a bare-bones airframe + fuselage kit. I think that they would sell more in these formats, than they would as a 'complete PnP package'.

But not everybody is that mechanically inclined, and they still can do it by just ordering it as parts. Myself, I'm lucky if I can swap out blades. And it was originally pitched as a PNP in this "official" video, starting at the 11 min mark of this video:

[bpjacobsen]

Per the Official RotorScale UH-1A Medic Green 450 Size Helicopter Discussion Thread, It appears MRC has been at the mercy of manufacturing issues and this may or may not happen. No fault of MRC, Per another thread, someone spoke to MRC recently and was told that they have been shelved for the forseeable future due to some issues with the manufacturer. It's certain a bummer but that's life. We can only hope this eventually surfaces. Despite some of the negative comments in the aforementioned thread, MRC is by far one of the best in the business and they back up their products. Though the marketing may have been a bit premature, I still would much rather they didn't release anything until all was kosher. Thanks for all you do to make this hobby most enjoyable MRC.

[bpjacobsen]

OK, so I just had a chat with someone from MRC support online about this. He said the reason for the holdup on these is they would not all perform the same so they have been held back until the new parts arrive for the factory to do an upgrade. They just want the customer to get a good product. He says they will eventually become available but no ETA at this time. To buy something else now or not to buy....that is the question. lol

[F106DeltaDart]

Glad to see the rotoscale line finally available to the public! I’ve been testing out some of these birds for a while, and they are a great addition to Motion’s lineup! If you have had experience with collective pitch 450s, these are a great value for a full fiberglass model with retracts and full electronics package. I’ve been flying the Airwolf for over a year now on an ikon2 FBL unit. Around 6 months ago, I decided to add some extra details, and mods to the wolf. The first one was to change the main rotor rotation to scale direction (CCW). This was done by disassembling the heli, pressing out the one way bearing, and putting it back in upside down. I also flipped the tail rotor over to the left side, fabricated a larger scale-sized V-fin from balsa, extended the side window pieces forward, and replaced the tinkled windshield with a clear windshield. Here are a few photos of the finished bird, and the mod process.

[F106DeltaDart]

And photos of the modding work:

[Alpha]

Hey Delta Dart, do you notice any issues with the larger V-fin, being made of balsa?

[F106DeltaDart]

Hey Delta Dart, do you notice any issues with the larger V-fin, being made of balsa?

No issues so far! I did add a layer of styrene between the airframe and the V-fin to protect it from rubbing and wear. I also used a harder variety balsa than average.

[Scott214]

I received the notification yesterday that the Airwolf was in stock so I ordered it this morning. Looking forward to seeing it.

[bpjacobsen]

Oh man! I had just decided to spend most of my money I had saved up for this on a new 3d plane. Little did I know this was released. Unfortunately, I now need to figure out a way to get some funds together before these are inevitably gone! go figure!

[Aros]

Okay folks, the official RotorScale 450 Instruction Manual is now available on the support page of this model or click here for a direct link. Keep in mind this is a working document so check back regularly for any updated information that may be added. We thank you for your patience and understanding.

[Scott214]

Thanks for publishing the Instruction Manual, it's good information.

Since these helis will be shipped with ESC's the Throttle Endpoints will need to be calibrated for each pilots transmitter. Can you tell us who manufactures the ESC and what the calibration process is please?

[Aros]

Since these helis will be shipped with ESC's the Throttle Endpoints will need to be calibrated for each pilots transmitter. Can you tell us who manufactures the ESC and what the calibration process is please?

It's a Hobbywing Platinum Pro 40A. Click here for the manual.

[Scott214]

Excellent, those are very good ESC’s.

BTW, my Shadow was delivered this afternoon!

[Aros]

Sweet! Good luck with it and let us know how it goes!

[Scott214]

When I got home last night the big box from MotionRC had arrived. It was like Christmas morning and I was 11 years old.

What you get is a box within a box. The exterior box has a big red warning label indicating the contents are handmade and to be careful when handling/shipping. Open that box and there's another one inside. The boxes are study so it really minimizes the potential for shipping damage. If you're expecting pretty boxes with pictures of the heli on them you won't see that here, they are just plain brown boxes. That's not a big deal for me because the boxes usually get tossed when they aren't needed.

Inside the interior box is the heli and all components, in my case that includes the fins, main rotor blades and the underbelly cannon set. These are in plastic baggies taped to the sidewalls of the carton. The heli is carefully bubble wrapped and then taped to cardboard formers inside the box. The heli is secure and safe, you shouldn't see any damage unless it's very extreme. There is no Instruction Manual in the box so print out the one that MotionRC just published on the website. At the same time you should download the HobbyWing 40A ESC manual so you can have it available for programming the speed controller

Once you remove the formers and bubble wrap you'll get a close look at the heli. In my case with the Shadow the fuselage and paint really stand out. The fiberglass fuselage is first quality and the paint job was complete and the transitions between the black and white areas were crisp and clean. The cockpit is attached by rare earth magnets and pins to keep it held in place firmly in flight. The mechanicals are attached to the fuselage by four screws on the bottom. The heli frame is carbon fiber and aluminum is used on the rotor head. It's all a fairly common layout among 450-size helis.

So here's where I have a little gripe - the servo wires are bundled up together inside the fuselage. They aren't marked to indicate which leads goes to which servo so I'm going to have to trace them back to figure out exactly which one is which. Not a big deal but if the factory had pre-flown each heli it would be nice of them to label each servo wire for ease of identification. If this isn't your first heli then this shouldn't be a problem. If it is your first heli I'd strongly recommend that you have someone with building experience help you set this heli up. You definitely don't want to accidently connect a servo to the wrong port on your controller.

As expected there's not a lot of room to work with inside the fuselage. This heli will need a 7 channel receiver because you'll need the extra channel to operate the retracts. As a side note, the retracts are aluminum with foamy wheels and are operated by one servo. The linkages are solid and I expect the opening and closing of the retracts will be nice. I plan on adding a delay to the opening and closing so they will operate slowly and more scale-like. Because of the tight spaces inside the fuselage I'll have to get creative in placing the receiver and having the wiring out of the way of the retract servo linkages. There's a flat space at the front of the frame for the FBL controller which will make it easy to access for programming.

So that's as far as I got the first night. I'll try to post more as I go along and include some photos.

[Tron]

It's a Hobbywing Platinum Pro 40A. Click here for the manual.

The link to the esc manual doesn't seem to match the esc that was in my kit (huey).

I found this on Hobbywing's website which appears like it might be closer. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/01...tinum.pdf?1713

[Highfly!]

Does any of you have information as to how many teeth the main gear has and how many the motor pinion? Need to know calculate the gear ratio.

Received mine today and had a short test hover after setting up the swash which was way off mechanically.