ZJWRC 115x 3 inch tootpick frame review

Ever since the HQ3x2 t-mount prop and the more powerful nameless RC 412T FC/ESC board was released I've wanted to build a 3 inch ultra-light 'toothpick' style quad. Since then Speed Racer released the 3" Twig and Kabab has released the TP3. International shipping on these can be a killer though so when there was a frame released on Banggood I opted to give it a try.

The frame I'm reviewing today is the ZJWRC 115x which is available here from Banggood. I haven't heard of the brand before either! The kit I reveived included:

• 3" wheelbase 3mm thick carbon fibre base plate
• TPU canopy
• 4 x m2x20mm steel scres with thread standoffs for mounting board and nuts for fixing canopy.
• Carppy yellow battery strap

Let's take a closer look at the components:

Carbon fibre base plate. I'm impressed, the 3mm thick carbon fibre plate feels sturdy and has very little flex because for the first time in my history of Banggood frames, the carbon fibre weave is in the correct orientation!!! You can see clealy in the pictures the weave follows the orientation of the arms rather than running at 45° to them (which is much easier and cheaper to lay out when cutting). Furthermore there is a cutout for downwards facing USB connectors which most fc boards have, mounting holes for 16mm or 20mm boards as well and slots for a 10mm wide battery strap. Motor protection is good with mounting options for motors with 9mm and 11mm 4xm2 mounting which should cover practically any motor outside of the tri-mounted range (Happymodel and early Amax-Inno). 

Fairly heavy for a toothpick but still light and VERY strong

Cut in correct direction

Plenty of build options with these cut outs.

TPU canopy. Awful, throw it away. I would say I was disappointed when it arrived completely squashed and deformed but I was never planning on using it since the injection moulded canopies from the eachine twig and the happymodel larva-x are much lighter and nearly as strong as even the very best TPU canopy design (which for the record is Dave-C's design here on thingiverse). They'd be better omitting this altogether.

Just... no

Dave C's design in TPU

$3 eachine canopy I now recommend

Hardware and strap. Hardware is practical if not basic and glad to see they have gone with steel screws. Threaded brass spacers are nice too and should make for a very solid mount for your favourite board. Strap is the crappy kind, do yourself a favour and get a proper 10mm micro strap, a build like this deserves it. See my post here on some better options.

Eww gross

Nice to see a slot for a strap here (just don't use this strap)

That's my quick review of the frame. I plan to build this guy up with the following components:

Nameless RC 412T AIO F4 FC and 12a ESC

Eachine 400mw nano vtx or Nameless RC nano vtx

Runcam Nano 2 Camera

Gemfan 3018 propellers or HQ 3x2 propellers

RCInpower 1204 motors or FPV cycle 1303 Amax Inno Motors

GNB 3s 450mah HV batteries

Eachine Twig Canopy

FRSKY XM+ receiver

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