Vario Baby Lama Build

The first two steps are as simple as they get. Be careful to align the aluminum servo plates and servo spline correctly inside the plates. Those are the only gotchas in this section of the build.

I love the machined aluminum design of this drive hub. It’s rock solid and there is no inefficiencies in design.

Read the instructions carefully when determining orientation of certain pieces. The video highlights the important ones.

This is pure fun so far (because it’s mechanics 😬)

This part of the build is straightforward.
- You may need to enlarge the holes in the printed scale shaft housing to fit the swash anchor.
- Lube the swash anchor with a drop of oil to relieve friction
- When mounting the motor, partially seat the grub screws on the pinion gear before sliding it onto the motor shaft. Once in place, you will need a round-tip hex wrench to tighten the grubs with the pinion aligned properly with the main drive gear. A straight hex won’t clear the aluminum housing.
- Make sure your gear mesh is not too loose and not too tight. I use a piece of paper to test. See the picture below.

This is the last step before mounting the rotorhead. Nothing terribly difficult but take a look at the video for some gotchas.

I plan to chat with Vario about using 3D printed drive gears. I want to know why that material is superior to Delrin or metal.

Go ahead and say the chapter title 3 times fast...

PUSHRODS

The 134mm main pushrods to the swash plate called for in the instructions must be an error. I found that 124mm was correct. Watch the video for details. Make sure you have a handy die tool in order to thread the pushrods after you cut them. I submitted this to Vario but have not heard back yet. In my experience, the 124mm works properly.

BEARING BLOCK

The bearing block for the tail drive simply doesn't fit into the aluminum base plate. A Dremel and 5 minutes handled things. Watch the video for details.

ALUMINUM HEAD

What a great touch! The Batman black aluminum head is badass. No more to say.

FOLLOWER IS TIGHT

As mentioned in the video, the follower was not reamed properly. Someone should be reamed for this. As a result, rotating the follower for precise mechanical phasing is a bit of a hand workout.

The tank gave me mental fits. This is just the first chapter looking at why.

1. The instructions make it look like you need to CUT the tank shell into two but then on the following 3 pages make it look like you SHOULD NOT cut the tank shell in two pieces.

2. Vario has confirmed that you SHOULD cut the tank in two pieces.

3. The next chapter will really go into the final look and placement of the two tank shell halves. If you are building this model, you MUST watch this and the next chapter to save your head from being beaten against your work bench.

This chapter looks at the modifications needed to properly fit the mechanics into the frame with the faux tanks. The fit is extraordinarily tight and requires modifications to the tanks in order to preserve friction-free rotation of the main gear.

1. I have been in touch with Vario about what I believe is a major design problem with this model. All for the sake of fake fuel tanks (which are important, but not at the cost of function), this design leaves a paper-width's clearance for the main gear.

2. Be prepared to modify the cuts in the back and front of each tank half. The rear portion of the tank half must be carved to allow the "horn" mounts on the mechanics to actually pass by the tank on its way to the mounting tabs on the frame. This is a gross oversight that modelers can cope with but should not have to. It's possible that I am clueless but I had Matthias Strupf of HeliClassics look at this directly while he was in my shop and his conclusions were the same.

3. The aluminum mechanics main platform is a work of art, to be sure. But, when sliding them into the frame, that piece collides with two vertical struts in the frame. A bit of Dremel work fixed the issue, but this should have been addressed at the CNC stage.

4. The video explores all of these issues in detail.

In this chapter, I go over a possible OOPS when installing the torque tube. I'll also give a look at the scale bits that make up the skid assembly and head supports.

When working with these seemingly durable 3D printed parts, you will need a pin vise or small drill to bore out the holes.

I also include a picture of the instructions showing how to attach the bottom triangle plate. The trouble here is that the mounting tab for the plate IS MISSING! It simply is not welded onto the frame. I had to rig a clamp to hold mine in place.

It has been a bit since my last chapter but I did get some detail work done on the canopy.
1. Pre-drilled and screwed in the glass pieces, but NOT ALL OF THEM. I left off the four front pieces so I can get my hands inside easily.
2. Got the doors installed with hinges and latches. Pre-drilling is essential
3. Programmed the Kontronik Kolibri 90 for a 12 second slow start.
4. Ready to test hover after connecting the Axon!

I really enjoy laying out and tidying cables. The photos show that I placed the ESC and receiver below deck and the gyro on the main metal mechanics plate to ensure limited — if any — vibration.

Once you mount the gyro, it’s unreachable unless you remove the canopy. For that reason, I stubbed in the computer cable so I can easily connect the cable during the tuning phase without have to mess with the canopy.

This video gives you a look at how the finished electronics install will look before we add the fun stuff (seats, console, etc.).

I recommend the Admiral 6S 5000 mAh battery from MotionRC.

It’s a bit of comedy when I try scale detailing…

Don't worry, the helicopter is in great shape. See why I had to tear the entire thing apart before I try again. 😡

After fiddling around over weeks to determine why the ESC was causing the gyro to lurch up (collective), I finally bought a Castle 90 Talon ESC to test the final variable in the puzzle. I had disconnected the power from the ESC to the receiver, installed a separate receiver battery/switch, wrapped the ESC in aluminum foil and swapped gyros. Nothing worked until last night when I installed the Castle.

Today, in 22 mph winds, I hovered the Baby Lama! It still needs some gyro tweaks but overall I was amazed at how smooth it is. ZERO and I mean turbine-quality ZERO vibrations. It lifts off so nicely and is a stable platform. I'm running 1,600 constant head speed and using Castle's specific RPM setting system to maintain that. Here are the specs:

- 121-tooth main gear
- 16-tooth pinion
- Pyro 650 65 - 10-pole motor
- 6s battery

I do think the price on the Baby Lama may keep some buyers away, but if you are not daunted by the cost, I believe the Lama is a fantastic looking 600-sized bird that is super convenient to transport and a unique bird in that size category.