450 2nd hand gift = money pit?

[Zaphod69]

My Mrs very proudly recently handed me a 2nd hand Blade 400 that she bought off Facebook. The seller told her it flies great, all new parts etc.

I've looked it over and decided to strip it down as there were a few oddities. Turning the main rotor by hand was difficult and the servos looked different.

Stripped it down and found:

Main gear is stripped
Elevator servo - Eflite
Aileron servo - Tower Pro
Pitch servo - no idea
Tail servo - Walkera
Canopy is a bit bashed, cracked etc
ESC - beeps but doesn't appear to power the motor.
Gyro is original Eflite
Main shaft bearings appear to be seizing

I prefer FBL and have on hand:

Tarot FBL head (direct fit)
K- bar FBL gyro
Skyartec X303V FBL gyro
KDS N290 digital, metal geared servos
Spektrum rx

I'm concerned that the cost of rebuilding this bird may turn into a money pit. If I strip off the crap and put decent gear on it will it be fine or will this turn into one of these birds that constantly require money? Also the age of the bird and lack of Trex450 compatible parts are also a worry.

Any thoughts?

 

[murankar]

Hard to tell at this point. I don't follow blade all that much so I can't say what the availability of part is.

If you don't fix and fly it the Mrs might think wrong thing. I would fix it up and see how it goes then decide later.

That 400 line of helis have been out for a long time and I am not sure if blade still supports the model. You maybe able to find spares through third party.

Sent from my LG-E980 using Forum Runner

 

[Admiral]

Hi Zaphod69, I have two Blade 400s converted to FBL and they both fly great so it is worth the effort only you can decide if it's worth the cost. The only mod I had to do was grind about .5mm off the top of the main shaft to get the Jesus bolt through. The first on has Tarot Head, HiTec65 cyclic servos and Align 420 Tail servo with CopterX Gyro, the second has Tarot Head Align DS416 cyclic servos JR GS3400 tail servo and 3GX Gyro. Both have original motors the first has original ESC and the second has a Turnigy 40A. the first on is in a scale Agusta body and the second I used a FG canopy with B400 decals.



The first one prior to the scale body.

PS> only other mod is Blade 450X landing gear.

 

[Lee]

Depending on when she bought it, first i'd try to get my money back.
That was sold to her as a "flies great heli" ??? Sounds like a rip off merchant.
But if thats not possible, then, I don't know. Its an old model. Parts are going to be harder to find.
Good luck.

 

[Zaphod69]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

The guy who sold it is what I'd describe as "dodgy" but as it's a gift from my amazing wife I feel I do need to get it sorted. Who knows - she may come home with a Goblin next time

The pain in the bum part is the main gear. The trex450 gear won't fit and neither does the Blade 450 gear which makes me rely on the parts availability.

Admiral - thanks for the details on yours. Love that canopy but have no idea what and "FG canopy is". Can you please point me in the right direction?

Cheers

 

[Admiral]

Hi Zaphod69, Currently plenty of parts available, especially for you as the Australian distributor for Blade is in Adelaide but other than that there is heaps available on Ebay. A FG canopy is just a Fiber Glass Canopy from Hobby King I think about $8.

 

[Zaphod69]

Hey Admiral,

I've just got off the phone to Modelflight and they can get me the parts so happy with that.

Fg =fibreglass. Well don't I feel like a derrrrr lol thanks