Roban AH-1W Cobra 700 Size Scale Helicopter

[sfcfury]

Looks good Delta! I like the fpv idea ... your the type we need in here lol... with all the actual skills! I just used some mirrored tape on my nose... and while I had definitely thought about make the gun turret rotate, didn't really trying to sync them up.

[OV10]

The only one out there that I know of is this, and its been out of stock for over 6 months now: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-...-switch-1.html

I snagged about half dozen a couple years ago at about $5/pc and have 1 left in inventory. Too bad that HK can't get their purchasing management act together because these are really good devices.

[PawPaw]

Another Cobra question: My skid’s mounting holes are off & won’t line up with the predrilled ones in the fuselage. Not a big deal & easy to redrill the skids, but want to get the skid width dimension right. I’m pretty sure there’s a stop inside the fuse that limits how far each one can be inserted but curious what the width measurement is for the Cobras that fit originally? Thanks!

[sfcfury]

Another Cobra question: My skid’s mounting holes are off & won’t line up with the predrilled ones in the fuselage. Not a big deal & easy to redrill the skids, but want to get the skid width dimension right. I’m pretty sure there’s a stop inside the fuse that limits how far each one can be inserted but curious what the width measurement is for the Cobras that fit originally? Thanks!

Really... are you talking about the holes inside the fuselage to secure the skids, or the ones on the side of the fuselage that the skids go into? I know pushed my skids in till the stopped... it felt like i was gonna break something b/c the scraping sounds as they kept going in further... but finally they hit the stop.

[PawPaw]

No, the holes predrilled in the skids for the mounting screws. They’re off about 1 screw diameter & don’t match the mounting block holes inside the fuselage. I think my best option will be to JB Weld the old holes & redrill. I could make it fit by trimming the inside ends of the skids but I don’t think they’ll push in any farther to get the existing holes aligned.

[PawPaw]

Yellow dot is where the hole needs to be with skid pushed in against the stop.

[sfcfury]

Gotcha... well if your skids were anything like mine, I would have to do something very dramatic (pretty much catastrophic) in order for them jokers to move... in fact I almost forgot to put the screws in b/c I had it 'dry fitted' so long lol...

[PawPaw]

No, they don’t like sliding in or out for sure, do they? Got ‘em installed & tightened down. Been struggling w/my common sense today & resisted getting out to buy some wood for a test bed ( copy yours, of course). Mechanics are ready & FBL is programmed correctly, I think. Didn’t really plan to start detailing it out yet but this Corona virus keeping my 68 y/o butt indoors. So, detailing it will be.

[PawPaw]

Saw a AH 1W video that had a pair of flashing strobes on the tail. Is that scale? Looks good but won’t do it if not.

[sfcfury]

I have yet to see a video of a AH 1W with strobes back there... but steady on lights I am attaching a link to a video. There's are several lights on that cluster as well, IR lights for sure, but can't tell if any would be strobes.

[PawPaw]

Thanks sfcfury.....it appears those tail lights begin to blink after the Cobra landed. Not strobes, but looked like they did blink on and off?
Speaking of lights, had my first Dremel job on this AH today. Was fitting the stub wings to the fuse after installing the lights & pylons when I discovered the stub wing “socket” on the port side was molded wrong, or either the port side stub wing is supposed to be thinner & shorter than the starboard side. Had to Dremel the inner edge of the wing 1/8” all around to get a tight fit in the socket. I recessed this “ledge” about 1/8” also so it doesn’t show. Was good exercise, but that’s a pretty big defect in the kit engineering! I wouldn’t even mention it & am accustomed to minor fitting, but this thing wasn’t even close!

[F106DeltaDart]

Thanks sfcfury.....it appears those tail lights begin to blink after the Cobra landed. Not strobes, but looked like they did blink on and off?
Speaking of lights, had my first Dremel job on this AH today. Was fitting the stub wings to the fuse after installing the lights & pylons when I discovered the stub wing “socket” on the port side was molded wrong, or either the port side stub wing is supposed to be thinner & shorter than the starboard side. Had to Dremel the inner edge of the wing 1/8” all around to get a tight fit in the socket. I recessed this “ledge” about 1/8” also so it doesn’t show. Was good exercise, but that’s a pretty big defect in the kit engineering! I wouldn’t even mention it & am accustomed to minor fitting, but this thing wasn’t even close!

Here is the lightning layout from the Flight Manual. The nav lights have 3 settings, flash-Off-Steady. So both flashing or steady would technically be scale.

[sfcfury]

Yea it seems like a lot of the navigation lights on aircraft have multi function positions... Yea I feel like I've eaten away most of the inside of mine with the dremel... and I think that's basically the issue I ran into with the tail push rod... the mechanics were aligned properly as I could get them, but once I put the vertical boom into the tail, the push rod rubbed the side... really seems like the control arm should be a few mm longer anyways...

[F106DeltaDart]

I got the servos installed today as well as the helical gear upgrade. The 2 outer servos needed an 1/8” plywood shim, and the center required a 1/4” shim to fit properly. As discussed on the last few pages, I’m also wondering whether metal arms are needed. Any recommendations for a metal arm for the MKS 665 would be greatly appreciated.

I also received the tiny whoop camera from GetFPV. I didn’t realize just how small this thing was! It will fit in the FLIR with plenty of room to spare, and is actually very close to scale with the real FLIR camera!

[DCORSAIR]

One thing about these Roban kits, you can't be afraid to use a dremel, they become more of a custom fit than and ARF kit...........

[DCORSAIR]

I got the servos installed today as well as the helical gear upgrade. The 2 outer servos needed an 1/8” plywood shim, and the center required a 1/4” shim to fit properly. As discussed on the last few pages, I’m also wondering whether metal arms are needed. Any recommendations for a metal arm for the MKS 665 would be greatly appreciated.

I also received the tiny whoop camera from GetFPV. I didn’t realize just how small this thing was! It will fit in the FLIR with plenty of room to spare, and is actually very close to scale with the real FLIR camera!

Looks great, I used the small servo wheels on my 500 and it was plenty of throw, you going to 3D that thing with those giant servo wheels?

[F106DeltaDart]

Looks great, I used the small servo wheels on my 500 and it was plenty of throw, you going to 3D that thing with those giant servo wheels?

Good to know, I’ve only adjusted the pushrod lengths so far. Haven’t really looked at throw much yet.

[PawPaw]

F106, I have the MKS servos & they have the same arm spline count as Futaba, if that helps. Did the new gears require taller standoffs? Just when I thought my CC would get a break now I gotta order a camera. 🙂

[sfcfury]

Delta, yours came with the Helical gears as well? The FPV camera, are you going to tuck inside the flir? Was that pic just to show the size? I'm really liking that idea, maybe not to get so far as to make it traverse, but just as a fixed point camera, and that it looks pretty realistic. I had never even thought about replacing the servo arms till it came up as a topic in here... so I ordered some align ones just to see. The stock ones that came with the OMG servos are just so big and hefty feeling, that I can fathom in scale flight the way come close to breaking etc. With that being said, I have reconfigured my tail servo setup... as it was bottoming out when getting the mechanics fitted, and it was almost impossible to get it pulled back out. So I flipped it upside down, and using a flex rod to the elbow. That's were I actually put one of the align servo arms. Crazy you had to shim the servo's...

[F106DeltaDart]

F106, I have the MKS servos & they have the same arm spline count as Futaba, if that helps. Did the new gears require taller standoffs? Just when I thought my CC would get a break now I gotta order a camera. 🙂

Good to know! The helical gear is a drop-in fit. No standoff changes needed!