FruitBat

This is currently my favorite build.

It's a 5 inch dEmiBot from the Ummagawd company and one of the strongest true X frames that's commercially available.

I started this build by sanding all the parts with various grits of sandpaper. To start I usually use a, what I would consider rough grit at around 100. What's important with the rougher grit sizes on the carbon is to not use too much pressure, since that kind of gouges the frame material. I follow with 150 grit, then something at around 300, and a fine sponge with 400 grit to finish. I try making sure to hit all 6 sides of the frame pieces, but I also don't spend all day on this. A medium sized frame like this one should take about 30 minutes to sand. After sanding I give the pieces a quick rinse and then dry them. One last visual inspection looking that no shiny surfaces are left before putting on the primer.

When it comes to choosing colors, I just envision some type of scheme...I like fruit based schemes, but usually stick to bright colors. Cyberpunk and neon themes are also high on my list.

My stencils are a mix of store bought and self made exacto blade to paper when needed. I also make use of fade techniques and mixing different types of lacquer for surface texture effects. Sometimes I also sand in between the layers to achieve a particular worn look or bring out a fade like on this builds top plate.

So yeah...most of my rigs building time is spent on painting. This is the first time I tried the hobby wing stack, which I combined with the Xing2 motors, which have been pretty solid so far, only broke one of these to date.

Camera system is the HDZero freestyle 1 Watt transmitter with which I'm pretty happy with.

Total build time is probably around 3 hours, but because of the time it takes to dry, and just because I'm not rushing these anymore, I'll finish this over a week or two

And yeah...here's a list of the boring stuff:

- receiver is elRs with the ceramic antenna

- batteries are 4S cause no GoPro

- props are ethiX

- radio is a boxer

- goggles are HDZero

Prints are on thingyverse, just search "demibot"...and those motor guards can get stuck after a crash, so I don't actually recommend them... thinking about something else for my next one, even though they look really cool