450 trex clone

[Leongordon234]

hi there , in advance thank you for taking your time to read this and reply.

I have been looking for a 450 heli for awhile now after mastering my cx2 and now want to move to the 450
i have seen the likes of the blade 450 3d which is £329 rtf with dx6i etc and the trex 450 for alot more

but i have now come across a trex clone complete rtf with dx6i ,turnigy 30a speed controller , typhoon 2215 brushless motor , headlock gyro for £190 which i think is not a bad price , what are your thoughts is it worth it ?
Is this a good clone as im sure i have seen people use this kit in various build threads

i would rather buy this and have a few crashes than buy a brand spanking new heli and crash that

[BenScoobert]

If you are going to go this route then read the thread I started.
http://www.rcheliaddict.co.uk/t-rex-...e-trainer.html

You can build the newer model of this for £110 and get a dx6i for £65
They will never be a trex, but a good building and setup lesson can be had, when you stack it nose into the floor, repair bill will be no more than £110

That one for sale is the old version, new one has cf frame

[paulsouthport]

In my opinion, no. DX6i is worth £50 - £60 second hand. That 450 is a old metal framed, plastic headed HK, they were selling the kits for $9.99 at one time. The servos are el cheapo SG90 or similar, there's even one on the tail! The gyro is a HK401 - terrible piece of junk.

[Leongordon234]

thanks for the reply guys, yeah i have read through you thread before Ben and its really interesting , and i have just found out the dx6i is version 2 which on ebay are going for more than £50 -£60 paul ?, i think i might just buy the blade 450 3d then i know its not going to fail on me as you two are saying as the servos and gyro are crap :/ ..cant they just be replaced ?
i dont mind paying abit more buying from the uk then i know im not going incurr any charges along the way
hmm decisions decisions

[paulsouthport]

DX6i's sell for around that mark on BMFA classified and the for sale section here. Sometimes they go for more, it's a easy device to sell, and sometimes they come with a receiver which adds to the price.

The servos can be swapped easily, and you would need to, on the cyclic they'd struggle to survive, on the tail it'd have no chance.

There are other routes - get a kit and self build, it may look daunting but it's really not that hard. Or as you say, get the Blade 450, it's reported to be an excellent RTF.

[cjcj1949]

Have they put better servos in the Blade 450? The Blade 400 and Twister Storm servos were 1kg nylon gears on the tail as well. They did work though.
I've just seen the Turnigy 3 Axis gyro for £35.

[Boomer]

The servo's can be replaced, and the new align servo's are very good value for money. If you do get this, or any other second hand heli, you will need to strip it down and re-build it, so you will need thead lock, tools and plenty of time. Personaly i think this would serve you well, but be prepared to replace feathering shafts, worn gears, espaecialy the tail pully as on the cheap clones these can wear out. At the end of the day its down to what you can afford and what you want out of the hobby, i personally enjoy building as much as flying but some just want to 'bind and fly'.

[Leongordon234]

thanks for all the advice , if i was to buy the trex clone what servos and gyro would you guys reccomend ?

[Boomer]

Ds415 cyclic, ds425 tail, and the gp750, these can be found for around 35 second hand, or there are some good deals on the spartans. the electrics on a heli are mucho important so be sure to get the v best you can afford

[Biffa]

Have they put better servos in the Blade 450? The Blade 400 and Twister Storm servos were 1kg nylon gears on the tail as well. They did work though.
I've just seen the Turnigy 3 Axis gyro for £35.

Different servos but there have been plenty of reports of them failing. I would be inclined to swap them out if I bought one.

[BenScoobert]

thanks for the reply guys, yeah i have read through you thread before Ben and its really interesting , and i have just found out the dx6i is version 2 which on ebay are going for more than £50 -£60 paul ?, i think i might just buy the blade 450 3d then i know its not going to fail on me as you two are saying as the servos and gyro are crap :/ ..cant they just be replaced ?
i dont mind paying abit more buying from the uk then i know im not going incurr any charges along the way
hmm decisions decisions

dx6i new £70
Al's Hobbies - Spektrum DX6i DSMX 2.4Ghz 6 Channel Transmitter Only

thanks for all the advice , if i was to buy the trex clone what servos and gyro would you guys reccomend ?

I'm happy with the 919mg
HobbyKing R/C Hobby Store : Corona 919MG Metal Gear Servo 1.7kg/ 12.5g/ 0.06sec
fast enough for any learner and metal gears for durability on the cyclic

9257 on tail, a little oversize but on top of the job
HobbyKing R/C Hobby Store : HKS-9257 High Speed Servo 4.5kg/ 25g/ 0.07sec

I've gone with a GA250 gyro, it seems OK to me, I'm not doing crazy 3D and it hasn't malfunctioned
HobbyKing R/C Hobby Store : HobbyKing GA-250 MINI-MEMS Gyro

a brief shopping list

	OK	GA-250 - HobbyKing GA-250 MINI-MEMS Gyro	GBP6.19	45
	OK	HKS9257 - HKS-9257 High Speed Servo 4.5kg/ 25g/ 0...	GBP5.57	43
	OK	DS919MG - Corona 919MG Metal Gear Servo 1.7kg/ 12...	GBP10.97	105
	OK	TY2215-3550 - Turnigy Typhoon 450H 2215H Heli Motor 35..	GBP8.71	85
	OK	TAE-45A - Turnigy AE-45A Brushless ESC	GBP12.69	59
	OK	R610 - OrangeRx R610 Spektrum DSM2 6Ch 2.4Ghz R..	GBP3.71	39
	OK	V2-150 - HK450V2 Pinion Gear 3.17mm 11T/13T (Alig..	GBP1.83	17
TOTAL: GBP49.68				393g

[cjcj1949]

As an electronic engineer I feel amazed at the GA250 gyro especially considering how bad the £30-£50 gyros were a few years ago. I've just remembered seeing some still for sale... They have come down in price and gone up in performance amazingly.

[MarkG_R1]

I spent way more than originally planned but glad I did

Gp750
Ds520
Align 450mx motor
Savox 0257 on cyclic
Align ESC
Gens Ace 2200 40c packs

Was awesome until I made it flybarless

Then it became even better

My justification for spending more on better cyclic servo's was I knew i was going to FBL it

[BavarianRob]

I'm expecting some 'feedback' for this (of the flame variety but here goes).

If you read about all the clones, they generally cost very little, they also often have parts missing or broken and if ordering a kit from China it's likely to take two weeks and will probably arrive on different days as its been shipped from different warehouses. They are cheap, no question. But every clone thread mentions something to be wrong or missing. I personally don't find this a bonus; you get what you pay for at the end of the day.

Instead of spending £180 on a clone my advice would be to buy a 450 from the for sale section on this forum. I got a 450 Pro bind n fly for exactly that figure and it has been faultless (apart from me crashing it). Parts are cheap; average crash cost £20-£30 and parts arrive next day.

A new 450 Pro will cost £430 ish. So I reckon that's not a bad deal.

Now don't get me wrong, a lot of guys love their clones and really rate them and I'm not saying clones are rubbish as many people successfully build and fly them 3D with no problems. My opinion is if you can get something better for the same money then why not? I personally think if you can get a good second hand one from this forum, you'll usually get a good un as these guys know their stuff (don't go on eBay, there's some right dodgy examples on there!).

Fire extinguisher at the ready........

[cjcj1949]

I don't think it's that simple. Clones have got better and the better ones have good reports. I couldn't fault the flasher I bought recently or the carbon blades from HobbyKing or the the TowerPro cheap servos. Trex heads are available second hand as people go flybarless and are very good. Gyros are now very cheap and good. Some second hand helis will be good value but others will have faults that are the reason for sale or they will be worn out. Even bad clones still fly well enough for a first heli and can be improved. You do learn a lot finding the bits that need fixing and fixing them and get more satisfaction than just buying something with no problems. If I had more money I'd spend it on new Trex mechanics. Not sure about the servos though. I've used a DS520 for a few years and it is very good. DS410s on the other hand have mixed reports whereas Savox 257s seem ok, even though they seem to be the same.

I think if you go for any heli you can have problems as quality isn't as good as it could be. After some sorting out you will end up with a good heli and it definately helps if you can find someone who has been through it before.