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AH-64 Apache 700, I joined the club

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  • AH-64 Apache 700, I joined the club

    Well I finally did it. I bought the open box AH-64 700 ARF kit. I know I got some work to do but I’m looking foreword to this one.
    I recently bought an older wood build kit complete with two sets of mechanics that I’m going to sell now that I got this one.
    my buddy DCORSAIR is giving me a 700mx 450 motor to use which is awesome of him. So I still need to get the servos, ESC, FBL controller and RX.

    not sure how crazy I will get with this build as it’s my first 700. I know I want the rear horizontal stab to actuate. Other than that I’m thinking to just make the fuselage repairs, paint and fly.

    I still have my 450 Apache that I’m working on currently. I’ll finish that up before I build this one.

    man I’m excited about this one.

    ​​​​​​​gravy

  • #2
    Oh yeah Gravy, can't wait for you to start your build, let me know Tuesday when you get it and what you think, hopefully get over there and look at it in person.

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    • #3
      Yeah still got a bunch of stuff to buy for it, but with all this emergency double pay I’m getting now, I should be all set middle of next month.
      hopefully my 450 Apache will be flying by then too.

      gravy

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      • #4
        Got my girl today. Got some stuff to fix before I get to building. This was the open box so I knew I had some stuff to do. Man this thing is huge.
        I still need to decide the full extent of mods I will do ti it. On the confirmed list is:
        change direction of tail rotor.
        change out suspension springs in the gear.
        make new hinge for elevator and add servo to control it.

        Once I get the body stuff fixed and repainted I’ll really god into possible other mods.

        here is to starting off.

        gravy
        Attached Files

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        • #5
          Dang! That's a lot of damage to the fuselage out of the box..... who delivered that... Ace Ventura?!

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          • #6
            It was an open box purchase. Not sure where the damage came from but I knew it was there before o bought it. I got it for a lot less then the listed price. It’s all fixable.

            gravy

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Gravythe clown View Post
              It was an open box purchase. Not sure where the damage came from but I knew it was there before o bought it. I got it for a lot less then the listed price. It’s all fixable.

              gravy
              Ohhhh well then that's understandable!

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              • #8
                Ok so started a little bit on her.

                i glued the cockpit interior together and sealed the holes that light was bleeding out of.

                I cut the intake holes out of the canopy. Next I need to make the Air channel insert for it.

                i want to remove the windows. The front sides need to be reglued anyway, but if I can remove them it will make it easier to work with and repaint the canopy.
                Anyone know what to use the soften and remove the glue they used?

                ordered my strobes for motor pods.

                I reached out to Thisguy65 on RCgroups to see if he can help me out with the same hinge setup for the elevator as he did for RCjetdude. Hope to hear back soon.

                i might not do the spring upgrades, but rather might just add some gas tube just to give it a little more.

                I really don’t want to get to into this build until my 450 is done. That one is getting really close.

                gravy
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                • #9
                  Got to see it in person, looks awesome and will be on my list to have one day, I think you got it for a fair price I would say, with a little work she will be good as new.

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                  • #10
                    Started fixing the cracks. First thing is to add some glass to the inside area. Not easy and really messy. But I got one side done and drying. First I added some glass and resin, then I added a wooden spear in the coroner edge followed by some more resin then a top piece of glass. I think it will be good and strong so I can clean the surface crack up and float some resin in it.

                    Gravy
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                    • #11
                      So one side done and ready for paint. I used Bionic glue pen to fill in the crack and then sand it down. Also uesed it to fill in the big chipped part up on the doghouse. Still working on that.
                      here is a before and after shot.

                      gravy
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                      • #12
                        Ok glassing repair all done. Need to fix the right side skirt next. After that it will get painted. I’m going to use Helo Drab. I really hope it’s a very close match. I don’t want to have to paint all the attachments too.

                        i hope to have all the body work done this week and ready for paint by the weekend.

                        i should have all the Electronics ordered this week too.
                        I’m going with the suggested servos, castle edge 160Hv ESC and the microbeast plus with the Bluetooth adapter.

                        cant wait.

                        gravy

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                        • #13
                          how the helo drab paint went? im going to paint mine, but cant find the right color

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                          • #14
                            I’m supposed to get it today now.
                            I’ll post my results here.

                            Gravy

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                            • #15
                              So Helo Drab is just a tad darker than the Roban factory drab. Oh well no I just have to repaint the whole thing.
                              im going to try a technique a friend of mine showed me a YouTube video of. Black all lines, panel or transition. Sloppy is fine. Then go back and airbrush white over the center and fad over to black lines. Finally paint whole thing with Helo drab.

                              from what I saw the technique had fantastic end result.
                              so I’m going to give it a go.

                              ordered my Barbie and ken Stars and Stripes, so all I need is the helmets.
                              all my electronics are here and I just used the code to order the arming lockout harness. Figured it would be good add to a big bird like this.

                              i also made up one of two of my white strobes with lens. I used a pice of styrene to get the shape and drilled a hole for the LED dome to pop out. Then I used Bondic Uv glue to build it up. Came out great.

                              Got a long way to go, but progress is moving forward.

                              Gravy
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                              • #16
                                So I built a test bed today so I can get the mechanics dialed in before stuffing the bird. This will also work for any future 700 / 800 builds.

                                I also got the canopy screwed to the cockpit. I used popsicle sticks on the inside lip of the canopy. They end up at the level with the magnets. I then predrilked screw holes. Finally a over sized drilled just the fiberglass lip so the screws sir flush. Worked out great and now I don’t have to decide right away if u want pilots or night.

                                next I need to get the elevator hinge and install that and it’s workings. Then I can concentrate on painting and decals.

                                side note. I’m so used to clock wise rotation while setting up pitch and installing blades I kept getting things backwards. Totally trick on the mind I tell you.

                                Gravy
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                                • #17
                                  So I took her out to spool up and maybe hover today, just the mechanics. Any not really sure what happened but when I plugged in the 2nd 6s battery. I fried the Receiver.
                                  not sure how and have since replaced the receiver and all is good.
                                  Im running servos, microbeast pluse, receiver Andre ESC fan off a CC pro bec set at 6.4v using a 3s pack for power.
                                  I have a CC Phoenix Edge 160HV, there is no BEC in that ESC.
                                  im using SBUS between the microbeast and the receiver. Both leads off the CC pro go directly to the microbeast.

                                  only thing I can figure is I must have had something backwards only receiver, because all is good again.

                                  I guess I’ll have to wait until next Saturday is to try again to test fly her.

                                  gravy

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                                  • #18
                                    Started working on the paint. Got her primed white. Also filled the tail to fuse seam gap. Next after a couple days I’ll sand the gap and throw some primer over it.
                                    When that’s all dry, maybe next weekend, I’ll start airbrushing all the panel lines, curves and edges with black. Then finally Airbrush the whole thing Helo Green.

                                    There is a part of me that’s wants to do a Arctic Apache now though after seeing her primer white.

                                    if the wind stops I should be testing flying the mechanics tomorrow morning.

                                    Gravy
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                                    • #19
                                      Got mine test hovered today. 1st thing, I’m glad I bought a 510kv to stick in her, because I don’t like how she is on 450kv. At 95% throttle she will hover but any thing less than 90% is no good. She’ll get in the air but protest the whole time. Tail is on the ragged edge also.
                                      I didn’t even bother to spend time trying to dial her in as I’ll wait until the 510 is installed. If I had to guess I would say 500 kv would be the sweet spot.

                                      she was a nothing exciting which is good , just again INHO just under powered.

                                      two things that I did notice was the tail riser tube is to tall or the tail riser shaft to to small by about 4mm. So I cut her the tube down by 4mm. I’ll most likely have to make some minor adjustments to the tail rotor hole as well. We’ll see.
                                      what I was getting was excessive slip in the whole tail gear/shaft rotation. The shafts army seated enough into the umbrella gears. I know they need to float some but this was beyond floating. The main tail rotor shaft to the riser is just as bad. I’m going to wait until the next time I dry fit things again to see if I can shorten that one by 2-4mm as well.

                                      so still messing with it but at least she flew today.

                                      Gravy

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                                      • #20
                                        Interesting that you say that about the float in the gears and adjusting the tail boom.... b/c I have some as well. Then I noticed when I put a 700 tail assembly on (the portion that slides over the tube is slightly shorter) that I didn't have any play in the gears. Out of curiosity (b/c you already cut lol), was there any more room to push the tail assembly down? I know right now on my AH1, I noticed the same thing when I have everything lined up with the pre drill holed in the vertical tube... but there's still a little room in the assembly to push if further down on the tube, and I was thinking of just drill another hole to put the securing screw in. I've have also thought about using Align 600 size TT gears/shaft in the tail as well.
                                        On the motor, I don't have a 4 blade heli in this size, but imho i rather have a little room on the top to play with... 500-515kv seems like the sweet spot for them... I know with my 515kv, trying to govern down to 1000 rpm is just a little to low for the CC 120 to be happy... but 1100 - 1450 is wide open to play with... but again just my 2 cents worth, and I'm armed with just enough knowledge to be dangerous!

                                        Keep on keeping on!

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