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  • Lucky 13!

    We’re excited to announce that we’ve kicked off production of the two major structural components of the Quadshot, namely the injection mold tooling for the plastic parts (e.g., center electronics box, lids, and reinforcing ‘skeletons’ for the pylons) and the mold tooling for all the EPP foam parts! Huzzah! And there was much rejoicing.

    As we said in the previous update, we chose an American plastic injection-molding company that specializes in fast turnaround and runs of less than 10,000 parts, so the mold machining and first sample plastic parts will only take 2 weeks or so to arrive. Once we check that everything looks good, the balance of the parts will follow quickly after. This short turnaround time is critical since the pylon skeletons have to be sent to the EPP molder to be covered in foam. We chose a durable nylon in Piotr’s favorite color* for the box and lids; the pylon skeletons will either be the same color ABS-polycarbonate blend or clear polycarbonate, depending on which has better performance.

    We also signed contracts to start machining the mold tools for the EPP foam wing, winglets, and pylons in China. This is a big undertaking, as the EPP mold tool is made of two slabs of sand-cast 750mm x 1250mm (~30”x 49”) alumin(i)um, each of which is fitted with 12 CNC-machined and polished cavities - one for each part. Unfortunately, the tooling company had to increase their turnaround time estimate to 60 days because of both the 2012 new year and lunar new year holidays. However, once the mold tool is done, it should not take very long to mold the parts.

     

     

    To ease personalization, we went with white EPP foam for all of the parts. We are also happy to announce that the pylons and winglets will be in a higher density grade of foam than the wing, which increases overall durability without adding too much weight.

    In other manufacturing news, we now have quotes for nearly all of the nearly 50 other major and minor Quadshot components, and will be placing those orders ASAP so everything is ready to go when the foam parts are done.

    Finally, we added Quadshots to our web store at http://thequadshot.comto allow pre-orders, which will help us gauge demand and thus order the correct amounts of components going forward. So, if you have friends that missed out on our Kickstarter campaign, please let them know!

    Thank you again for all of your generous support and patience. If you have questions or comments please leave them here, or (even better!) post them on the forum at http://forum.thequadshot.com. We are working hard and can’t wait for you to get your Quadshot!

    Cheers and happy holidays,

    Chris, Jeff, Piotr, and Pranay


    * Black, preferably dark black.
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