Doing a pre-assembly helps to give you a good idea of how things go together. It will also give you ideas on how to make improvements. When I say improvements I don't mean there are mistakes with the Blackout quad as supplied, like everything it is built to a price and it just depends on how much extra you want to spend during the build. The kit contains all the hardware required to assemble the frame, there are a number of M3 nylon bolts used to fix the stand-offs to the top and bottom plates. These are very light and will be sacrificial in the event of an impact (good design). There are sixteen M3 x 10mm black steel bolts and sixteen M3 nyloc steel nuts, these are used to attach the CF arms, four for each arm.
You can see how the arms attach in the above pic. My suggested upgrade is to replace these bolts, nylon would be an option but the guys at Blackout used steel for a reason, I assume for strength but at the expense of extra weight. Take a look at the next pic, it's one of the stock nuts and bolts from the kit.
Now take a look at the next pic.
Less than half the weight!! This is a titanium M3 x 10mm bolt with a M3 aluminium nyloc bolt. Remember there are sixteen bolts used to secure the motor arms so a weight saving of 8.48g.
I got the nuts off ebay, 20 for £9 delivered and the titanium bolts from
Apex models for about £20 delivered. Not cheap but I think a worthwhile upgrade.
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