Helicopter PHOTO Gallery and Discussion: Post Yours

Thanks Yada ...

Now I should be so lucky that some BIG Corp rip-off my stuff so I can hit em up for some BIG money, LOL

I generally don't like using 'filters' in my edits but this time I had an idea

     

The "idea" I got from this guys work ...

Thanks for Looking   
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Hey, that's cool wOOd.

Thanks Bill,
... LOL, it certainly is different

Here's another "HOT off the Press"
... my TRex 450
... w/ it's FANCY CANOMOD CANOPY

   


Enhanced, original ...

   


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Nice Photoshoping w00d.  I am missing your indoor flying videos though. 

I've finally began the repairs to the MD500 that I dumb thumbed into the ground last spring.
Much of the damage will be easily repaired just by replacing parts. Some of it a little more challenging such as repairing "in place" the busted up interior wood framework of the fuse and repairing and hiding chips and cracks in the fiberglass. I'm not a detail painter so I think the nice red/white paint scheme will be replaced with military OD green.


What she used to look like.

Nooooooooooooo, don't do it LMAO, just kidding, sort of
... but it might be an option worth investigating?

Take a trip over to HeliFreak and find yourself someone who is able to paint. I know there are a number of pro-painters that would be able to do the work. The only question would be cost and is this cost feasible ... cost's nothing to ask

It would be a shame to loose the heli's (for lack of a better word) original beauty ...

Only saying it out loud brother
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I know. 

The biggest issue is the hairline cracks. Without doing some serious epoxy/glass work, they will show. With a flat darker color, probably not so much.
It's not a done deal yet and I'll give it some more thought. I suppose if I give it a go and screw it up I can still always do the OD green easy way out.

A few photos of the fuse damage.


The interior framework pulled apart and cracked.




Interior landing strut bracing broke loose and allowed strut to damage fuse.




Many more chips and cracks.

She sure was a beauty Bill.  I hope you can get her back like new.

Regarding the fiberglass and wood: That looks more like airplane guy stuff so maybe some airplane guys have some ideas for you.

The wood is no problem.
The fiberglass on the other hand is, for me any way.
I'll likely do most the repairs with epoxy with a good shot of microballoons to help with sanding and keep the weight down a little.

Hey Bill I didn't realize there was so much structural damage ...

Yup, I too find fiberglass work a PIA and would also do all my repairs using epoxy. I use the epoxy so much I buy the it in large amounts. Depending on how strong I need the repair I will sometimes use cloth embedded in the epoxy ... It don't look the best but when using epoxy on the inside where it's unlikely to bee seen it serves my purpose. My canopy repairs are structurally better than original especially on the canopy's edges where I see the most cracking. Whenever I get a new canopy I will beef up the edges before it has a chance to develop any cracking ... I do this because I've found simply removing and installing the canopy's is enough to stress it's edges to the point where they will crack

Anyhow, yup EPOXY rules!

Let's see, I now have all three cyclic servos rebuilt and back on, the feathering shafts (bolts) in the head replaced, a set of bearings in one blade grip needed replaced, several ball link ends replaced. New main shaft and both main shaft bearings, main gear and tail drive gear. Tail boom and torque tube need replaced as well as the gears for the TT in the tail boom case.
I hadn't noticed the tail boom being bent until I pulled it off today to change the gears in the boom case. I had one on hand but not the torque tube. Don't have a main gear either and the LHS that was opened today didn't stock either one. 

Sounds like you're off to a good start of your repairs.  The dilema with helicopter parts is having so many on hand do you save them for repairs or build another helicopter...

Boy don't I know that. It is part of the reason I built this heli in the first place.

It certainly is a 'dilemma' and one we will or have faced at one time or another.
... I feel Bill's pain, do I repair this body or do I simply buy another !?!

For what my opinion is worth, it's an option?
... If she or when she is mechanically sound (?) maybe that is teh time to invest in a NEW Skin?

LMAO, well I CAN contribute $100usd toward that end ... in a manner of speaking
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Patching her up is coming along but I think my original plan to paint with a flat OD is going to happen.
The hair line cracks are not going away even when I open the bigger ones up as much as possible and squeegee epoxy into them. With the smaller ones, there is nothing to be done I guess and will show through any paint job.
I have a couple days more of patching and sanding, then I'll give the whole thing a coat of primer. I should be able to see then how badly they show through flat paint. I'll post a couple more pix to show my progress.
A new fuse isn't out of the question but we'll see how well this turns out first. 
I had to order the two parts I needed online, once there here and installed all that's left to do is set up the swash for level again and the mechanical part is done.


How's your project coming along wOOd?

Waiting on the main gear and tail boom yet but she's still coming along.
The fuse is ready for paint and the wood bits too.
The smoke color skylight window you see just in front of the frame is all that's left after the crash, the other went missing. I'm going to have to get creative for window covers. Nylon window screen?


Tape on the windows protected them from sand paper but will come off and be replaced with liquid mask inside and out before painting.



I built the wiglets of wood this time, the thin plastic easily broke even without a crash. The longer battery tray I beefed up a little this time also.

Bill, I don't know about you, but it's around this point in a repair that I start to say to myself "Yeah, I got this."