450 clone?

[stevek32]

hi all
Just a quick one 450 clones are they any good? just bumped into somebody flying heli's he had 5 in total and he recommended clones especially from hobby king swears by them!,
he said based on the trex but sometimes better built?, also said to use belt drive tail and not tube in case i have a tail touch, made sense i guess, now i know i would need motor, servos, gyro, esc, etc but looking at some of the china imports with the alloy heads and tails and full carbon fibre frames and all that for £50 posted seems like a bargain? does anyone know what to avoid when getting one or does anyone recommend a particular model or better still does any have one they no longer need?........,
I was looking at the blade 400 but now having seen the clones flying im swaying towards getting one of those instead purely because of parts availability and its slightly bigger and far cheaper i seen one go on fleabay hk-450 frame and servos for just over £30,
any help again guys and girls




many thanx
steve

[johnsandywhite]

Hi steve. You could even think about a Twister 3D Storm which is a direct copy of the Blade 400 at half the price. I learned all the basics with mine and recommend them.

BTW. Clones are NOT better built than the Trex. I have both. Having said that, they are pretty good for the money.

[tiddler]

Have just built a 450 Pro clone and found no quality issues at all. Flies superbly as well

[noddyflyer]

copter x aint bad ,bearings are crap but the rest is fine ,tarrot seem to get good reveiws (their spares are nice quality).....mick

[stevek32]

Carbon Frame Metal Upgrade Trex 450 V2 RC Helicopter | eBay

dont know if link works? new to this so its a guess!!!

but what do you think of this?

[tiddler]

That looks pretty good, as long as you don't get stung with import duties.
Personally, I prefer to pay a little more and buy from the UK. But that's just me.

[stevek32]

That looks pretty good, as long as you don't get stung with import duties.
Personally, I prefer to pay a little more and buy from the UK. But that's just me.

import duties?...... is that not the p&p?

[tiddler]

import duties?...... is that not the p&p?

Think it depends on luck. Sometimes UK customs can slap import tax on items. Its a bit hit and miss as I understand it, and many times you get away with it. But there is a chance you'll get charged

[stevek32]

oh right thanks for the up i didnt realise if u dont mind me asking where did you get yours from graham?

thanx
steve

[tiddler]

I bought this one from eBay seller "Helis from devon" >>> Align TRex 450 Pro clone KIT CNC/ CARBON .IN UK on eBay (end time 18-Jun-11 20:37:58 BST)
I asked him a couple of questions, and he ended up chucking in some carbon blades and some canopy nuts I needed for my 500 FOC.
Super quick delivery as well. It came by special delivery and arrived the next day
As I said a bit dearer but a very helpful seller and UK based.


Think there out of stock of that one now but here's a link to his eBay shop >>> HELIS FROM DEVON R.C HELICOPTERS items - Get great deals on 500 Parts, 450 Parts items on eBay Stores!

[pgkevet]

If you haven't built and flown helis before than be cautious about the clones. They are excellent value but sometimes need a little fettling and awareness where parts fit is dubious. Unless you ahve local help or are already an understanding modeller then they may give you grief before you get them right. Beyond that they are an very good economical way of playing with toy helis.
Check out leadershobby.com for clones and spares too.

[tiddler]

If you haven't built and flown helis before than be cautious about the clones. They are excellent value but sometimes need a little fettling and awareness where parts fit is dubious. Unless you ahve local help or are already an understanding modeller then they may give you grief before you get them right. Beyond that they are an very good economical way of playing with toy helis.
Check out leadershobby.com for clones and spares too.

Well I haven't had the build experience that you've had Pete, but with that particular Pro kit (which you've seen fly) I had no quality issues at all and everything fitted exactly as it should. Was quite impressed with it actually

[cjcj1949]

Things change very quickly with helis. There is a lot to learn. One important thing to find out is how much do the spares cost and how available are they. Clone parts vary a lot in price and quality. At the top end you can use Trex parts. Twister Storm/Blade 400 parts are mainly interchangeable and metal upgrades are available. The metal upgrades cost about the same as Trex and are similar quality. You can also use many Trex 450 parts on Twister Storm/Blade400 and vice versa. Parts like servos and gyros are copletely interchangeable. Buying a complete heli second hand can be good or you can be buying something that someone else has given up on.

Sorry to be so vague, but general information is very difficult. There is quite a bit of past advice on the forum about cheap stuff that works. For instance you can either pay over £30 for Twister Storm Carbons or £3 for clone fibreglass, and for initial flights there is not much difference. Also some £5 servos seem more reliable than some £20 ones.

Bits from Giant Cod come next day. You could start by downloading Trex 450 manuals and studying them.

Chris

[stevek32]

I bought this one from eBay seller "Helis from devon" >>> Align TRex 450 Pro clone KIT CNC/ CARBON .IN UK on eBay (end time 18-Jun-11 20:37:58 BST)
I asked him a couple of questions, and he ended up chucking in some carbon blades and some canopy nuts I needed for my 500 FOC.
Super quick delivery as well. It came by special delivery and arrived the next day
As I said a bit dearer but a very helpful seller and UK based.


Think there out of stock of that one now but here's a link to his eBay shop >>> HELIS FROM DEVON R.C HELICOPTERS items - Get great deals on 500 Parts, 450 Parts items on eBay Stores!

Many thanks graham i have just spoken to steve from helis from devon and now bought this....
Trex 450se v2 clone kit.Gootch, Top Quality UK supplier | eBay

really nice chap as you said and he swears by this heli,
insidently i also purchased this....
Brushless motor and 50A ESC for TRex 450 & copterX | eBay
i hope this will be ok for the above heli?

[tiddler]

That looks good m8, and if its anything like the Pro kit I bought from him, you wont be disappointed.
Had mine out again today and I really like the way it flies. No hard 3D, but tons of loops, flips, tic tocs and so on. Even managed to get it down into a good low inverted hover and trim some of the ground foliage. Its a great heli

Don't know about the ESC / motor combo you've got there, but I'm sure somebody here will know about them