DJI Phantom 425mm Shell ??

[IIVII]

Have ya guys seen this 425mm shell ?

it sure looks interesting specially for those who want to keep the stock look , but with slower motors / bigger props and batt .. which means more payload and longer flight time .. i wonder if the plastic used for molding is as durable as the original DJI shell .

http://youtu.be/oOJoNA8o1iA

more info:
http://www.infinity-hobby.com/main/prod ... s_id=11015

 

[aartsf]

Haven't seen this before. Looks interresting. Keep us posted on the form. For now, thanks for the tip my friend

 

[gDallasK]

Have ya guys seen this 425mm shell ?

it sure looks interesting specially for those who want to keep the stock look , but with slower motors / bigger props and batt .. which means more payload and longer flight time .. i wonder if the plastic used for molding is as durable as the original DJI shell .

http://youtu.be/oOJoNA8o1iA

more info:
http://www.infinity-hobby.com/main/prod ... s_id=11015

I bought one of these from China (advertised on Ebay in the UK). I'm about half way through the build. I would have finished it yesterday but ran out of bullet connectors for the motors. I'm away from home on business right now but extra bullet connectors are already in the mail so with a bit of luck I'll get it finished next weekend.

A few observations :

- the plastic is of noticeably inferior quality to the DJI Phantom bodies. I've never crashed either of my Phantoms heavily (so far) but so far as the 425 is concerned I doubt that it would survive a drop from height without possibly irreparable damage to the body.
- it has slightly pinkish colour to it when held up to the light - which I don't particularly like;
- it's heavier than the standard DJI body - maybe 100 gr or so. But not as much as you'd think because it is a thinner moulding;
- don't think for one minute that you can just take your Phantom components and a screwdriver and build a bigger Phantom. There are quite a few differences between the 425 and either the Phantom 1 or 2 bodies. The Phantom ESCs can't easily be fitted. The mountings and fuselage apertures are completely different. I'm using a set of 30 amp ESCs flashed with SimonK firmware which I had lying around;
- inside the body there is a power distribution board upon which you can mount your Naza, receiver, etc. It is actually quite a neat installation and there is a lot more room inside for all the wiring. You could also accommodate additional components such as an FPV transmitter, data link, etc quite easily.

If the above seems a bit negative its not meant to be. I'm actually quite excited about getting the 425 flying - having cannibalised my Phantom 2 bodied "spare parts special" to build it. I'm particularly keen to see how much more stable it will be in flight given the greater "wingspan". And I'll be trying out some bigger batteries (and maybe a 4S one too - if the Anti-gravity motors will take the higher current).

I'll report back on progress in due course.

 

[gDallasK]

Finally finished putting the Phantom 425 together this afternoon. Test flew it successfully in the garden just as it was going dark. The supplied strips of LED are very bright - even brighter than DJI's ESC mounted lights. However, the mounting for the coloured lenses is extremely poor so I ended up hot gluing them in place to avoid the prospect of losing them.

It is very, very stable in the hover - seeming less nervous than a standard sized Phantom - as might be expected since it is significantly bigger. Performance seems pretty good too. So far I've only tried it with a 3S battery. Next weekend I'll maybe try it with a 4S - there is plenty of room in the battery compartment.

I'm still rather concerned about the lack of robustness of the frame. The plastic feels as though it could easily shatter and the landing skids give no confidence at all (but then the standard Phantom ones are not the last word in quality either).

 

[KMW]

Did you use the same motors, or something different? How is the flight time?

 

[Carlo Napoli]

Was it very easy to do
What about the circle indicator for GPS and Battery warnings I noticed that the shell doesn't have that circle cutter out or am I missing something how are easy was it to assemble did everything go to plan is there any doubts on the show what's the gain of the shell performance please do let me know as I might be interested in give myself one
Do all the standard motor from the Phantom FC 40 fit this shell

 

[syotr]

I bought one of these and installed some t-motor MN2312 950 kv motors and 20A ESC's. It is designed to fit the bolt pattern and motor size of the Phantom motors. It worked fine with the T-motors as well. I used a NAZA Lite controller, PMU, LED and such along with a phantom receiver. Installation was easy. There was no window provided for the LED/USB module. I just cut a hole in the shell next to the battery door in mine and glued the board to the inside of the shell. I built mine reversed with the battery door facing backwards. I raised the PDB and flight controller slightly to allow thicker batteries. I tried to use the compass and GPS antenna from an old Phantom but got too much interference. The Landing gear leg was too thick for the compass mount from the Phantom. I ended up using an external compass/GPS module mounted on top with a fold down post.
I also mounted a 3 axis GLB gimbal and got it working fine. The bird flew pretty well but was a bit heavy. I tried 9" 10" and 11" props. I used a 4s 5200Mah battery which barley fit. Flight time was about 18 minutes without the gimbal and camera. Motors were a bit warmer than I would like.
I bought some Sunnysky 720 kv motors and made some 3d printed mounts to attach them above the arms instead of recessed down in. This worked really well and allowed 11" T style props which would have otherwise hit the shell. These props would not balance well so I bought some different ones that mounted on a regular 6mm shaft. On the second flight with these, one prop came off and the bird crashed, destroying the shell.
The only advantage I can see to this shell is that there is room inside for bigger batteries and addition equipment. It would not do well with the Phantom motors because it is too heavy. The plastic is not as durable as the Phantom shell although nothing would have survived the crash I had. Fortunately little else was hurt in the crash and I can use the parts on another build.

 

[Carlo Napoli]

Ok cheers mate