Build guide
Build an F450 Quadcopter: Parts List, Wiring and Real Cost
The F450 is the frame most people in India build their first drone on — a 450 mm plastic-arm quad that flies on 1000KV motors, 10-inch props and a 3S pack, and takes a Pixhawk when you want GPS and autonomous flight. Here is the complete parts list with today’s prices, the wiring, and an honest answer to “how much does a DIY drone cost?”.
Published 24 September 2026 · by the Fioparts team, Gurugram
Why the F450 is still the first build
The DJI Flame Wheel F450 came out in 2011 and its shape — four plastic arms bolted to two PCB plates, 450 mm motor to motor — has been cloned ever since. The arms flex in a crash instead of snapping, the bottom plate is a power distribution board so there is no wiring harness to make, and it takes cheap 2212-class motors on 10″ props. It is what most engineering-college drone projects and most first ArduPilot builds in India fly on. The S500 is the same idea with 480 mm arms, a longer body and room for a gimbal; everything below applies to both. F450 / S500 DIY frames.
The parts list, at today’s prices
These are the exact parts, priced live from our stock — the total updates as prices change. Out-of-stock lines show their last price and stay out of the total.
| Part | Qty | Price |
|---|---|---|
Frame F450 / Q450 Quadcopter Frame + Plastic Landing Gear Combo Kit450 mm, arms + PCB plates + landing gear In Stock | ×1 | ₹899 |
Motors A2212 1000KV Brushless Motor1000KV, 3S, 10″ props In Stock | ×4 | ₹499 |
ESCs SimonK 30A BLDC ESC with BEC30 A with 5 V BEC — one per motor In Stock | ×4 | ₹399 |
Propellers 1045(10X4.5) ABS DJI Black 1CW+1CCW - 1 pairTwo pairs = 2 CW + 2 CCW; buy spares In Stock | ×2 | ₹143 |
Flight controller Pixhawk 2.4.8 PX4 32-Bit Autopilot Flight ControllerArduPilot / PX4 autopilot In Stock | ×1 | ₹7,799 |
GPS + compass M10 GPS Module with Compass for PixhawkNeeded for loiter, RTL and missions In Stock | ×1 | ₹3,299 |
Radio + receiver FlySky FS-i6 2.4GHz 6CH Transmitter with FS-iA6B Receiver6-channel, iBus to the Pixhawk In Stock | ×1 | ₹6,599 |
Battery GNB 2200mAh 3S 110C LiPo Battery3S 2200 mAh — 6–8 min; a 5200 mAh pack roughly doubles it In Stock | ×1 | ₹3,349 |
| Total for the 8 parts in stock today Live prices, incl. GST. Out-of-stock lines are left out of the total. | ₹25,823 | |
Add to that: an XT60 battery lead if the frame’s PCB doesn’t include one, a power module for the Pixhawk (some Pixhawk 2.4.8 kits bundle one), a balance charger, zip ties and a battery strap. If you want first-person video, an analog camera, VTX and goggles bolt on later without changing anything above.
What a DIY drone really costs
Searches for “drone kit under ₹1,000” or “under ₹5,000” find toy quadcopters or bare frames. A real quadcopter that lifts itself and holds position — the list above — lands in the low tens of thousands of rupees, most of it in the autopilot and GPS. Skip GPS and fly a simple flight controller in manual mode and you can trim a third off; add a camera gimbal and you go the other way. Whatever the number is today, it is on the table above, and it is the honest one.
Alternatives that change the build
- Motors: the T-Motor Air Gear 450 combo (AIR2216 880KV motors, 20 A ESCs and 1045 props in one box) is the better-made drop-in; on 4S it lifts more.
- Flight controller: a Pixhawk 6C or a modern H743 FPV board running ArduPilot is faster and better supported than the 2.4.8; a Betaflight F405 board is the budget manual-flight option. Which flight controller?
- Battery: a 3S 5200 mAh pack roughly doubles the flight time of a 2200 mAh for another 250 g; 4S needs the 880–920KV motors. 3S LiPo batteries.
- Hexacopter: the F550 / Q550 is the six-arm version of the same frame — two more motors, ESCs and props, and a Pixhawk configured for a hexa.
Wiring it up
- Frame: bolt the arms to the bottom PCB plate, then the motors to the arm ends (M3, threadlocker). Two arms of one colour face forward.
- ESCs: solder each ESC’s red and black power leads to the + and − pads at the arm root on the PCB. Solder the three motor wires to the ESC’s three wires (bullet connectors or direct); swap any two later to reverse a motor.
- Battery lead: XT60 pigtail to the main + and − pads. Most F450 PCBs have them marked; add the power module in line so the Pixhawk reads voltage and current.
- Pixhawk: mount on the top plate on the supplied foam, arrow forward. Plug the power module into POWER, GPS into GPS and its compass lead into I2C, buzzer and safety switch into their ports, the receiver’s iBus/PPM output into RC IN. ESC signal leads go to MAIN OUT 1–4 in ArduPilot’s quad-X order: front-right, rear-left, front-left, rear-right.
- Props last. 1045 props: the two CW props on motors 3 and 4, the CCW pair on 1 and 2 (per ArduPilot’s X diagram); nut tightened firmly, then checked again after the first flight.
Setting up ArduPilot
- Install Mission Planner, connect the Pixhawk by USB, install the latest Copter firmware.
- Frame type: Quad, X.
- Mandatory hardware: accelerometer calibration (all six orientations), compass calibration outdoors, radio calibration, flight modes (Stabilize, Alt Hold, Loiter, RTL on a switch), failsafe (RTL on radio loss, land on low battery).
- ESC calibration through Mission Planner (see ESC beep codes & calibration) — props off.
- Motor test from the Setup menu: each motor spins in the right order and direction.
- Battery monitor: set the power module type and check the voltage on screen matches your multimeter.
First flight in Stabilize, in a field, with a GPS lock (solid LED) even if you don’t use it yet — it makes the RTL switch a real escape hatch. Once it hovers cleanly, run Autotune in Alt Hold and the F450 turns from wobbly to locked-in.
Upgrades that make sense on this frame
Carbon-fibre landing gear or longer legs for a gimbal; a better GPS for tighter loiter; a telemetry radio so Mission Planner follows the drone from the ground; and eventually the Indian-made autopilots that run ArduPilot with current hardware. When you outgrow it, the kit builder configures the 5″ or 7″ FPV build that usually comes next.