Complete A-10C Cockpit Interest?

Further i would like to show some Pictures of how the Lights are assembled with the room for an LED.

And also from the Head.

And Together.

Dont mind the White stuff on the buttom there, thats just some glue residue from the 3D Printer Table.

I also have these 2 of the gauge Rings.

The gaugerings can be printed longer, so it goes all the way to the Screen.

Good overall work lynx. But I just can't help it, i feel disgusted every time I see unfinished 3d printed parts. Sand them, or paint with filling paint , or do so something. It can't stay like this.

I agree with you 100%, but imagine what that would cost?

If we Shall keep prices low for the community, Then you need to be realistic.

That means that pieces placed where you cant see Them closeup dont nessesary have to shine.

Yes i can print Them at higher quality or paint Them, but Then it takes longer, and cost the buyer more money. I could also vapor treat Them, but Then you end up with a glossy object that dosnt fit the design.

The pictures you see here are taken really Close, that Way you Will obviously see more details than normal, we have done that so people see what they get, we wont hide anything. But when you see the items from normal range you cant see the difrence.

With this Said, of Course people can make another finish to those objects if they want, but as they are placed on this panels, the visible top finish are smooth, the sides are a little rough, but again, not visible.

When we make the rotary switches they of Course need some kind og surface treatmen , since they are bigger objects, and more detailed

I could easy make these things better.... But i doubt people would pay for it.

I could be wrong, but allready now can i say that this panel Will be one of the most expensive we Will offer, and that is because of All the 3D objects, which people can choose to buy the panel without.

A Little more info:

The Gauge Rings and Light are printet in 0,15mm layers, and are also gonna be available seperately, for those who wanna make the panel themself, and just want some accesories.

The AHCP Panel are we still working on the background installation, so it looks just right. And that panel will be available as DIY kits, but also as a complete pack.

So you can choose to buy the panel alone, with or without Aluminum Backplate.

And with the possibility for choosing an allready assembled backlight module, or the DIY backlight KIT, where you get the PCB and the component, that you have to solder yourself.

This way people can choose for themself how much they want to spent, and how much "DIY" they want.

Right now we are talking about selling them in packs like this, the AHCP as an examble:

AHCP Panel:

Painted and engraved Acrylic, with screws for Mount. Backlight ready.

AHCP Panel Backplate:

Painted Aluminum, With Screws for Mounting.

AHCP Backlight Pack:

Pre Soldered PCB board, with screws for mounting.

AHCP Backlight DIY Kit:

Precut PCB Board, with all components and screws for mounting.

This panel have to be soldered together.

AHCP DIY Switch Tops:

Switch tops to be glued on top of normal toggle switches, to make them look like original switches.

Later on we plan on Selling Switches, with and without Switch Tops. And Arduino DIY Kits, to use with Helios and DCS-BIOS.

I know you are still waiting for prices, but as we dont have a complete finished product ready, i cant tell you precise. Alltho, we are doing everything we can to keep prices low, so everyone can affort it. As soon as we have prices i will post it.

Tell me what you Guys think.

Tell me what you Guys think.

I really like what you are doing, and will be interested in the outcome

I think the vapor smoothing is an idea to lesson the visibility of construction lines , maybe if a purchaser decided a lite touch with steel-wool or the like would be enough to break the glossy look

Randy

It is true that specially the Gauge Rings have a Little glossy effect at them, but that will just be even worse if i vapor treatet them.

Note that since we have taking high resolution Pictures, in outside sun light, and close up Pictures, the lines in the prints are very very easy to see.

But when you put them 50-60cm away from you, like when you sit in the cockpit... you practically cant see them, it is only 0,15mm lines. And another thing is, that the lighting in the cockpit when you play, probably isnt direct sunlight :)

That of course dosnt change the fact that they are visible when you look at it close, and yes we could do something about it, but Again takes time which Means more Money. I have tryed to do it as cheap as possible, and ended up with this look, since they are hard to see at distance, and the Price for one guage ring as they are now, is 1,30$.

Its pretty easy for anyone who wanna purchase them, to do whatever finish they would like. It took me aprox. 1 hour to paint the top of the gauges red, green and yellow. The final product wont be painted either, Again, to save you Guys Money. I will however provide a schematic guide, so that everyone can paint them, to they fit the gauges in Helios, like i did.

And the panel is going to be shipped with Loose gauge rings, and light, so the buyer has the choose to install LED's if he want, and can paint the rings, before attaching them to the panel.

If people want to pay for it, then of course we can surface treat and paint them. Maybe as another option?.

I am working on the Front plate where all the gauges are to be mounted, so as soon thats done i will post Pictures with Helios running behind.

I agree with your approach - you could make it simple - here is the price straight off the printer, here is the price paying my Mexican friend $30 per hour to sand the things...

(oh wait your European, make that your Albanian Gypsy friend)....

Im more function so a few lines dont worry me.

There are a numer of ways to make post lights that would cost less than your present method. Your focus on an easy to use, yet not fully developed technology coupled with your inexperience in manufacturing precludes you from finding a cost effective way to make these parts in a form acceptable to most cockpit builders. Offering crude reproductions and suggesting they are acceptable because they are hard to see is a ridiculous statement. It also goes toward defining your credibility as not being able to produce anything that one would buy with confidence.

In my mind you need to spend a lot more time researching different methods of manufacturing before you even attempt to present a product. I can think of at least one of several methods you could employ with ease that could generate 10 light posts every 5 minutes. And that's using a method requiring no special tools or skills. And it would be an exact replica with even the correct color.

There is no magic "make everything tool", an attribute you seam to associate with 3d printing and laser/cnc cutting. Manufacturing a product such as this community would value requires employing multiple processes that you apparently are unaware of. If you plan on having any success in this endevour I strongly suggest you build one complete cockpit before you even think of selling anything. And I mean building it to a level that any one part would be hard to tell from the real thing. At the same time, think about and research "how could i make 10 of these to look exactly like this one". By the time your finished you will have an appreciation of what's required to make this project of yours work. And you will have learned so much that you will look back on your beginnings and realize what a noob you were and thank goodness I followed that guys advice or..... continue on in a fog and produce junk that would be by most standards, embarrassing to be associated with.

Please understand, I am not trying to be a shit or be mean. You have presented yourselves in such a way as to demonstrate your lack of knowledge and ability. If you truly wish to be successful with this project then you need to rethink your entire approach and research, research, research!

And thats pretty much my beef with all the 3dprint hype. Yes, those machines present possibilities and can be very useful. But it bothers me a lot that to many people are the under impression that those machines produce finished parts.

3d printers (at least the ply ones) produce frozen pizza. Yes it is a product, but in order to be of any use pizza needs to go to oven first.

Anyone else notcie that the font used for lettering is wrong?

The Lettering has been sorted out, so its the real Font now.

Here is a Little pic of the DZUS'es we are working on.

They are going to be real cheap. And atm im looking for the right Screws.

Im hoping to find both Bolts and Screws, so everyone can use them.

Painted Black of course.

Fake Dzus connectors are all ready widely available on the net imperial size * 32 screws or M4 metric screws are used with aluminum sleeves for very reasonable prices.

Yea, you are right...

But the reasonable priced at still pretty high...

I belive i can make them cheaper... something like 0,30 US Dollers. with screws... and u dont need to paint.

I might be wrong tho....

Aluminum collar versus a printed plastic collar ya get what ya pay for ...

Agreed :)

Aint saying its better, but its cheaper and you dont have to paint.

If you want Cheep no paint and fast just get some Socket Head Cap Screws the F-16 guys use them all the time

Except, they dont look like the real deal :)

Anyway, we are making them for our Cockpits, so if anyone would be interested, we can easily make more :)

So more pics of that will come when we get the real screws, and bolts.

Another Little update.

Here is a couple of Pictures of the first prototype of the Ext. Store Jettison panel housing.

Here its in blue because its a prototype, it will eventually be printed in Black and painted Black also. With a Backlit panel inside the housing with the Switch guard and switch.

Again a Little Picture of what we are currently working on.

This is the first engraved prototype, and we know that the + , - and STEER in the left need to go more left. Also the arrows above and under PG isnt high enough.

The buttons and aluminum casing are also on the way, hopefully i can show you the essembled model very soon.

I'm so wet from excitement! Great job!

I am curious as to why you went with cast aluminum instead of a back lit light plate?

I am curious as to why you went with cast aluminum instead of a back lit light plate?

This isnt aluminum, its Acrylic, as you can see here its going to be fully backlit, with a light dimmer on the left side of the casing.

And as you can see here, the casing are not going to be placed around the ufc.

We have made a Little edge so the casing fits nicely on the back.

Not that this is the prototype, the final UFC will have nice rounded edges, both on the panel front, and on the aluminum casing.

Very nice sorry I had misunderstood and thought you were casting the face plate from aluminum. Now just one more question it looks like your using the old panel font on it MS33558 are you planing on using the correct font for the UFC?

Well as its sitting there on the table i can see it looks like cast aluminum :)

You are right that im using the old MS33558 Font, simply because i havent been able to find the original font. Have searched around, and found that this font is used on most panels. Alltho im well aware that its abit wider than the one on the Original UFC.

Maybe you can help me with an original font?