so ive been lurking here for like 6 months finally pulling the trigger on a 5 inch freestyle build. going with a TBS Source One v5 frame which i know is pretty standard but i wanted something with good arm replacability since im definitely gonna crash a lot starting out.

my issue is im not 100% sure the motors and esc im getting play nice together. picked up some Xing2 2207 1855kv motors and a Mamba F405 stack with the 50A ESC. the guy at the shop said it should be fine but he also tried to sell me a prebuilt so i dont fully trust him. running 4S by the way, wasnt sure if i should go 6S but figured id start conservative.

also just want to ask about soldering ? i have basically zero experience. watched probably 30 hours of youtube but actually doing it is terrifying me. the XT60 connector especially, people say you need a decent iron, ive got a hakko 888d coming. is there anything that absolutely trips up beginners that i should know before i touch anything

that stack and motor combo is totally fine on 4S, dont stress it. Mamba stacks are pretty bulletproof for a first build honestly. the 50A ESC is overkill for those motors which just means you have headroom, thats a good thing not a bad thing.

for the XT60 ? get your iron up to like 380-400c for that, way hotter than you think you need. the connector soaks up heat like crazy and if you dont get it hot enough fast enough your solder joint looks ok but its actually cold and itll fail eventually. tin both surfaces first, then join them. and for the love of everything use flux, the stuff that comes on solder isnt enough when youre learning. liquid flux or paste flux, apply it, then solder, your joints will look completely different.

Source One is a solid choice btw, grabbed extra arms when you order, they snap kind of easy in a bad crash but thats the design tradeoff for the price

im basically in the same boat as you, built my first one about 3 months ago. the soldering thing ? honestly just practice on some old wire before you touch your actual components. i ruined a pad on my FC first build trying to rush it and had to order another board which sucked. just go slow