Hellenicopter: 2014

Agusta-Bell 206B RC Helicopter in Scale 1:5.7 of the Greek Army Aviation

Introduction

I have started this blog as an english-text alternative to a thread that I have opened in modelclub.gr (modelclub forum in greek) regarding my project to build an RC scale model of an Agusta-Bell 206B Jet Ranger II of the Hellenic Army (see unofficial site).

Now a few words about the project itself. The model is based on the fuselage provided by Vario (model 1004) in scale 1:5.7. There are very little differences between a Jet Ranger III (model kit) and an Agusta-Bell AB-206B Jet Ranger II that I needed for the project, so I decided to get the kit from Vario. The kit has been bought from one of the best specialists and professionals in the field, Mr Thomas Baumann who has helped me with making my choice of the model and its accessories (Helikopter Baumann). Thanks Thomas! I would also like to thank the team of eflight for their professional support not only for this construction but for all my RC models and accessories. In addition, I would like to thank the team from Innoflyer and especially Mr. Christophe Raible for the help with the lighting system and for letting me test a new CPL model before its official launch. I would like to add here the biwix.com RC helicopter store and Johnny Trolliet at my hometown Renens for his exceptional service, availability and prices!

The particularity of this project is that the mechanism that I fit in the fuselage is not the one from Vario but a modified Align T-Rex 700E (Align RC Helicopters). I will give here details on the way that this is done with diagrams, photos, tips and tricks. This will cover the first part. The flight tests of the modified T-REX 700E have been conducted at the RC model field in Dizy, Switzerland that belongs to the Dizy RC Modelling Group (GAM Dizy). Big THANKS to all the members of the Club for the great friendliness since the first day I started there and for their help with advice and tips!

The second part will be dedicated to the scale model itself. Some photos of the Greek AB-206B can be found on the internet but they do not cover all the details. More photos of the aircraft with the Greek colors may be requested in the forum of modelclub.gr where I have gotten most of them thanks to the team spirit and great friendliness of the members (THANKS^1000 dsamba!!!). In order to complete the photographic part of the project I managed to get my own photos of a Jet Ranger III. This has been made possible thanks to the courtesy of the people from Heli-Lausanne (Heli-Lausanne) who have immediately accepted my request to get there and take as many photos as I needed. A big THANKS to them too!!!

At the last phase of construction, I have got invaluable help for the dimensions of the AB-206B landing gear from Iraklis Karailidis. Many-many thanks to you Iraklis!

So after this short introduction I will start publishing the steps I have already taken and will take during this quite challenging project (at least for me, it is my first scale RC helicopter).

I hope that you will find this blog helpful if you have a similar (or the same) project as mine and you will enjoy it as much as I do!

Welcome!
Hellenicopter

26/12/2014

Upper cable cutter made with mUVe 3D DLP

The work goes on with the 3D printer and the latest piece that came out successfully is the upper cable cutter of the Jet Ranger. Based once again exclusively on available photos a 3D CAD model has been made from scratch and finally printed with mUVe 3D DLP. The new z-axis paid off as the details that are reproduced with the printer are extraordinary for an amateur modeller like me. Here are some photos of the new piece still in red resin as I didn't have time to correctly adjust the pigment concentration and the exposure time for the white resin.

21/12/2014

Innoflyer light setup on Vario Jet Ranger (1004)

Hi All,

After a request from a friend I have sketched the setup I have made for the lights on my Vario Jet Ranger. The lighting system comes from innoflyer.ch and there is absolutely no soldering required to connect the light sources to the controllers. The light intensity is spectacular and the visibility of the navigation lights is guaranteed at daylight.

On the right column of the blog you can find the pdf file regarding the lighting system.

In a previous article you can see the efficiency of the lights in daylight and you can also check my youtube videos here and here.

Cheers,
Hellenicopter

09/12/2014

Some new printouts

After a relatively long time of experimenting with the new mechanics of my mUVe DLP and fine-tuning the system is back and running and the results are outstanding. I am still using the red SubG+ resin from MakerJuice as I haven't found a good recipe for the white resin. The resolution with the red resin is really good. The new mechanics give an exceptional stability and repeatability to the printer.

You can see below some pictures of the latest printout,which is the lower cable cutter of my Jet-Ranger, as good as I managed to design it from scratch using photos and the pdf documents I found on the subject (you can find the links on the right-hand side of the blog).

More to come soon.

Cheers,
Hellenicopter

25/11/2014

New Z-axis for my mUVe DLP system

There was no new modelling activity during the last month because I have recently started the upgrade of the mechanics of my mUVe DLP 3D printer. I have chosen two linear drives from Igus with preloaded screws and a total displacement of 300mm. The axes come pre-assembled and they fit perfectly into the mUVe chassis with minor changes. The old axis is completely removed. Now I have to add the vat supports from the old microrax chassis and the mechanical endstop. I have switched my RAMPS 1.4 board to 1/16 stepping and now the most noisy part of the printer is its... cooling fan. I am planning to resume printing this week and I will post my new parts in a while.

Until then cheers,
Hellenicopter

19/10/2014

Update on the 3D printing of the heli's instrument panel. This time I have used the Makerjuice SubG+ resin and the result is nice. All switches have been printed nicely. This part is the most demanding in terms of definition and I had to very carefully adjust the focal point of the DLP projector. It paid off!

I am really happy with the mUVe DLP system and soon I will get the upgrade for the mechanics and then the results will be really outstanding. More CAD files are on the works for the exterior parts and combined with the Cubify 3D Scanner they should fit like a glove to the curves of the Jet Ranger.

More to come soon. If you search a dealer for the 3D printer in Europe try CADPrint in Switzerland (where I bought it).

And a reference photo of the cockpit from Jerry Gunner (find on Flickr).

Cheers,
Hellenicopter

15/10/2014

Some new test structures built with my SLA 3D printer. Gradually the process is stabilized and the results get better. Here the target layer thickness has been set to 50 micrometers.

More to come soon...

All CAD files are made from scratch based on photos. This one for the instrument panel is not finished yet and some dimensions need to be corrected.

Cheers,
Hellenicopter

06/10/2014

Finally seeing some progress there...

After a long period waiting for the Cubify Cube 3 I finally cancelled it and went in the stereophotolithography solution (SLA) from mUVe.

I am still a bit experimenting but not far away from the optimized settings. I have started to build some test parts beginning from the pedals of the heli.

Still not 100% to scale but close, you can see the base of the pedals below. All CAD parts are made from scratch using photos like the one below. I don't show you yet the pedals themselves as the "AGUSTA BELL" extrusion on them is written mirrored due to a false setting in the printing setup.

The part shown here is ~3.5cm long, the top holes ~1.4mm in diameter and the lateral ones ~1.8mm in diameter. The thickness of each layer of resin is 100μm and I will test the 50μm in a few days. The quality of the printout is quite acceptable and there is room for improvement as the setup (both mechanics and optics) are not fully optimized yet (getting there fast).

I hope that now things will move faster for this project.

Cheers,
Hellenicopter

23/09/2014

Hi All,

I have seen that someone has sited my blog on rc-heli.de. Thanks!
If you have any questions on the floats, please, leave a message on the blog, I will be happy to help you.

Cheers,
Hellenicopter

P.S.: Klappt's auch auf Deutsch... ;)