Kraton 1:5 scale servo in a 1:7 custom Kraton?

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Yeah John at PM is on top of his game. Probably would not reply.
But I will send the link to John anyway, so he knows how crappy Promodeler "supposedly" is. :LOL:


>>>I just sent the Link to Promodeler.;)
He responded yesterday. I took your cue and sent him the link. His response is in post #30. 👍
 
Hey the more the merrier.
#30 TY.
I'm slow today. Need more 🍷
 
Someone emailed asking what I meant about sales channels (in reference to the Amazon comment, above) and about our defense business. Let me explain.

You can't put the cart ahead of the horse. What this means is the professional UAS industry is what created demand for MIL-STD servos instead of MIL-STD creating the UAS market. Why? Because unlike modelers, defense contractors and project engineers are speccing mission critical unmanned systems. You and I? We're used to model airplanes, boats, and trucks in the $500-2000 range, right? They're dealing with systems ranging in cost from $100K to $1M . . . or more.

The fundamental difference being modelers are intent on a day of fun while pros have in mind diverse missions. Ones ranging from a UAS serving as eyes in the skies for infantry, or maybe delivering ammo to a unit under fire, even missions like clearing land mines ahead of an assault, or maybe toting munitions to sink a ship, etc. Missions with more than fun on the line, lives! The lives of soldiers and marines, our fellow countrymen. And allies.

Major point being, servos like ours are built to MIL-STDS for a reason, tu capisci? Honestly? That you can get them for a price competitive with consumer servos is 100% down to a better business model. You see, dealing direct means you're eliminating middlemen. And then - and this is the important bit - we're actually spending the middleman's cut on making a better product! So how much is the cut?

Well, a servo you buy in a hobby shop gets there via the traditional hobby product distribution where about 80% of what you pay goes to middlemen? This pencils out to a $100 servo had to be made for 20 bucks! And it shows. Here's how it works . . . an importer takes 15% for buying it in Asia and bringing it to America and selling to a distributor. His distributor’s cut amounts to another 25% when he sells it to a hobby shop. Then there's the hobby shop's cut (or mail order dealer) who takes another 40% . . . so 15%+25%+40% adds up to 80%, so no, I'm not kidding when I tell you maybe 20 bucks is what actually gets spent making that $100 servo in the hobby shop.

Naturally, this explains why professional engineers consider consumer grade servos (whether from a hobby shop or included with an RTR) as basically one step removed from junk. Harsh? Maybe, but when 80% of the price of consumer grade servos amounts to beak wetting, it inevitably shows in what you get, agreed?

Here's just one example of many, the gears. Gears rotate on shafts, right? Well, if the gear shafts bores are set directly in plastic (or soft metal like aluminum), then they distort pretty easily in a crash. ProModeler? We set the shafts within hardpoints - and instead of putting them straight in aluminum, we reinforce our cases with brass, steel, and even bearings. And no question, this makes the gear train stronger.

What's also important about this? It means gearsets can be replaced without also replacing the case. Or hadn't you realized the gotcha of el cheapo servos is the servo is cheap, and so are replacement gears (if they're available at all), but the repair doesn't last because the bores are damaged (because they'll never mesh within tolerance again). And since they don't sell you the case (but if they did, the price of gears and case make the repair cost prohibitive) then the repair won't pencil out (basically saying it's just cheaper to throw it away and buy another).

And as sure as God made little green apples, there are guys who proudly do just that. Buy them and throw them away when they fail. Of course what they don't mention is another broken servo means they're stuck watching while others keep driving and having fun. Funny thing is, they'll defend this practice. Then again, some folks never learn. Add to it, because those servo designs are inherently weaker (mechanically since they lack hardpoints), they break more easily! So tell me . . . how many servos you wanna toss instead of buy once, cry once?

Finally, regarding alternative sales channels (since Amazon was mentioned), do you realize it's not much different in terms of how much can be spent making the servo? For example, that $60 servo you buy on Amazon . . . did you realize Amazon take 50% of the sale. Review the article in the link to learn more because it's true.

So what this means as a practical matter is this; that $60 no-name some modelers favor (remember, where Amazon takes half), leaves just 30 bucks for the guy who sold it to you. Thing is, that's not what it cost him! Since he imported it from Asia, this means what really gets spent on making the servo is $15-20 - maybe. And while that level of quality is fine for some, the guys buying ProModeler tend to have a different expectation. These guys know what they want and are willing to pay a bit more for the level of quality we offer. Moreover, instead of thumping their chest about being cheapskates, they quietly go about the serious business of having fun!

And guess what, cheap shows up throughout the product - and you don't even need to be an project engineer to see what gets left out compared to ProModeler. All you need is a set of eyes because what you don't get are things like;
  • MIL-STDS . . . ka-ching!
  • Cooling fins . . . ka-ching!
  • Million-cycle potentiometer . . . ka-ching!
  • 10-bolt case . . . ka-ching!
  • Case bore hardpoints . . . ka-ching!
  • PCB potting compound . . . ka-ching!
  • 13 o-ring seals . . . ka-ching!
Note; I say ka-ching because we take every dime we would have spent for the services of the various middleman (their cut), and spend it on making better servos! And 'this' is why for the same money, ProModeler gives you more bang for the buck. Look, servos aren’t rocket science. Better parts. Better servos. The formula is simple.
 
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