Dark Mode Off / On
Building Board

Utter Madness

Another Building Board post; it is winter and lockdown after all!

This time round I thought I would share a few pictures on a model that I had been restoring and converting to electric. This was inspired by seeing one in Steve’s workshop, which I think is Ade’s.

It’s also took me back a few years as I bought my first Madness in 2007! Back then it had a YS 63 up front, which was way too much power (is there such a thing?) but a lot of fun! You could potter around on 3rd throttle or less.

Here’s a photo taken in 2008.

So the hunt for a Madness had started.

First some background for you! The Madness was designed by triple F3A world champion and TOC winner Christophe Paysant Le Roux. I think he is actually now 9 times FAI F3A World Champion, according to this he is anyway. It was distributed by ZN Line. I bought my first one from Pro-Build UK. It’s worth noting that they went on to produce a MK II and an Electric version of the model, which was called Madness EP.

In April 2020 I managed to find a rather used (and abused) one on BMFA classifies, from memory I paid around £80. There’s actually a new Madness MK II on BMFA for £250 at the moment. Bargain!

Here’s a few pictures taken when I picked it up.

It wasn’t exactly in A1 condition but I thought it was worth the money and would be a good lockdown project.

I decided to strip down the majority of the covering as most of it had fuel over it, had been damaged or had a sticker covering up more damage.

I’m pretty please I decided to strip the model down as most of the hinges fell out and some had glue over the hing joint! Shown in this clip:

Unfortunately I then left the model for some time. This was mainly due to being allowed to fly again and not really having the space to work on it. I’ve since moved house, kitted out a workshop and continued!

Here’s a photo showing the new covering on the fuzz and the new battery hatch. Although I will admit I had to redo the battery hatch as I didn’t allow for the canopy! Don’t tell anyone!

 

Fast forward to Jan 2021, house move is complete, new workshop is kitted out, Eek has been built, another lockdown, so time to get back onto the Madness!

A fairly quick correction to the battery hatch to start off with. There’s just enough room in there for a 5s. I’ve also used magnets to keep the hatch in place. The battery will be strapped in of course.

The cowling had been previously cut out for a YS, so lucky Steve offered to make a new one! Or did I just badger him until he offered?!?

Next up was fitting the motor. I opted for a Turnigy 670KV, I don’t really recall why, probably due to the price and it should have enough poke! A few measurements to make sure the new mount holes are in the right place.

Re-hinging all of the control surfaces took longer than expected due to parts of broken hinges being left in. Each one had to be carefully removed.

Next up I needed to spray and fit the cowling and cut out some holes for cooling.

At this stage the model is almost ready. I did however recently decide I want to cut back the motor standoffs by 8mm as they are too long as shown below:

There is also a small matter of the missing Madness stickers. Which I will address in a later post!

If you are a club member and have a project on the building board please email me so we can share it on our website.

Cheers, Matt

1 Comment

Leave a Reply to We will fly again! 25th March, save the date! – Lee Bees Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *