Spit-Pit for HMD and DCS

Subscribed, really nice build. I hope there will be more DCS WW2 warbirds pit builds like yours… :pilotfly:

Subscribed, really nice build. I hope there will be more DCS WW2 warbirds pit builds like yours… :pilotfly:

I hope so too. Hopefully when the WW2 map is released there will be a bigger uptake. Warbird pits are probably slightly easier to make too - lower switch-count, plans are unclassified, vintage parts available...

Speaking of which, I nabbed another wee bargain on ebay. Got myself a filthy as hell kigass primer for about half the going rate. This thing was black though, looked like it had been knocking about a barn floor for a few decades - probably because it had! :P

Anyway, a spot of elbow-grease with a kitchen sponge and a cocktail stick and it cleaned up nicely. Greased, and moves smoothly. Nice wee surprise too - not only is it marked '1942', but it has the Air Ministry crown stamp on it as well.

Oh, and after a spot of head-scratching I've worked out how to interface it too. I was wondering if I'd have to use pressure switches or diaphragms or some nonsense like that. However once I (non-destructively) removed the valves it became clear that if one added push-rods to suitable switches then the plunger could operate them at the end of the push stroke.

It's going to make starting her all rather good fun!

And another wee update.

Got the first coat on the framework. She's looking a bit less balsa-kit-plane and a little more Spitfire.... :)

Nice looking :)

Looking forward to see the finished cockpit.... those old warbird are so cool...

I have been thinking on doing a Dora some time :)

Looking good. Following your progress with great interest. Will you be able to open that room door once the wings are on? :)

Looking good. Following your progress with great interest. Will you be able to open that room door once the wings are on? :)

Heh heh - believe it or not I've actually not glued the upper and lower sections, so she will (with a bit of wiggling) fit through a normal domestic door. I already did that with the lower frame... seems like *years* ago now.

Wings... forgot them...:doh:

Right, here's a wee update too. Got the frames painted up and added the voltage regulator. It's just window dressing (literally), has a few differences from the authentic model, and will be mostly hidden behind the rear canopy. However, I think you'll agree that it simply wouldn't look the part without those twin cylinders behind the pilot's head.

(Besides, they help me prove to myself that I'm actually making progress on something other than green wood... you know?)

Awesome dude

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More progress. This is a dry-fitting of the dash panel and the head armour. Large grin here as I cut the dash panel according to the original plans while the frame is from a secondary source - and it all fits! Lovely to sit in too...

(Interesting point: I was wondering why the original plans say to glue an L-section of metal to the bottom of the dash panel. Then I pressed when the starter would be... Booooing, as the panel bends inward. Ah, that'll be why. I'll do as they recommend then!)

Also included a wee shot of the workshop/hanger/dispersal room. New workbench makes it a great deal more tidy, and it should look great once I get the WW2 maps and adverts up on the walls. :)

The pit is awesome but I am also liking that stone wall very much!!! :D

Looks great!!

Still here and still beavering away at the dash-panel (almost a separate project in its own right). Here's a wee pic of the landing gear indicator; got a cheap cast from ebay and tarted it up. Interesting spitfire fact: dimming of this indicator was achieved by way of the small roller-blind. Seriously.

Onwards and upwards...

And *this*, Ladies and Gentlemen, is why I am not planning to use a projection system or Big-F-Off-TV...:doh:

Proper update time. Festivities notwithstanding, progress is a bit slow at this time of year as my hands are more buggered than usual (from arthritis). However I got my finger (and my sewing machine) out and got a head pad sewn up from some scraps of p-leather I had lying about. That allowed me to finally get the head "armour" plate mounted. Feels good in the cockpit too. :)

Pics of headrest and wip dash.

Hmmm, been just over a fortnight. Feels like longer.

I had my first real taste of the dreaded Pit-Builder's Funk the other week. To put it mildly, I hated everything I saw and was tempted to take an axe to the lot of it and build a bloody Elite Dangerous "sim"-pit. It's unusual for me to be so self-critical, but it does happen. I blame the following: a stinking head-cold, too much ED and not enough DCS (the latter requires far less deflection of the ol' joystick), a piss-poor frame-rate when playing, and staring too long at the one bit of wood.

My plan was to wire the instrument panel before putting it in place, for ease of wiring. However, one has to balance that with needing to keep the momentum of the build going. It's also a pretty major piece of the cockpit that moves the whole build forward.

Oh, and I have a wee picture. I mounted the 1942 ki-gass primer below the dash. Happy with that. :)

Lookin good man.

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Been a looooooooooooooong time... and quite an "interesting" one too.

I'd got most of the instrument panel in situ when my junkie-scumbag neighbour flooded me out. Aye. The bedroom and the spitfire room are basically gone (see pic of the damage). Fortunately I painted the spitfire with Cuprinol and used exterior grade ply! :lol:

Seriously though, I'd have been "very annoyed" to the point of doing physical damage to said neighbour if a year's worth of project had been junked due to his stupidity. I am also please that I designed her to split in two (after removing a few screws) along the datum longeron, thus fitting through a normal domestic doorway. I know some of the A-10 "experts" expressed doubts over the necessity for this, but I would (regrettably now from experience) recommend any cockpit design can easily be redeployed from room-to-room (or even residence to residence). There is a wee pic of her in her temporary hanger in my gym. I even pat her occasionally like one would an old war-horse...

Insurance are dealing with the damage, but my schedule has been put back maybe 6 months. My workbench is now in storage and my tools are... over there somewhere. That said, I got my labeller just as this all happened and I have been able to start getting the labels on the instrument panel. They aren't engraved brass, but do fine for the 3ft test - which is fine for me.

So, yeah... I'm still here, and so is she. Getting that itch to maybe start on the rudder pedals or the control column. Just need to find a place to work!:music_whistling:

That's looking immaculate cripple. Sad to hear about the damage. Look at the bright side. This gives you more time to sort out the little things. Seems that EDs spit is coming soon so you should have plenty of time to finalize everything. Keep up the good work it gives us inspiration for our own projects.

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That's looking immaculate cripple. Sad to hear about the damage. Look at the bright side. This gives you more time to sort out the little things. Seems that EDs spit is coming soon so you should have plenty of time to finalize everything. Keep up the good work it gives us inspiration for our own projects.

 

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Thanks. :-)

To be honest, the inspiration thing works both ways... if it wasn't for the forum and posting of one's progress (and seeing that of others), it would be more tempting to shelve the project at times.

I noticed that the ED Spitfire is coming along, and Normandy too... :-D

Wow, that's sucks. You should be allowed to beat him like a drum for being stupid. And it's not like the Insurance company can pay for "heart and sweat" that goes into projects like this. Sorry, bud! But the pit does look nice.

Looks fantastic, looking forward to more updates!

Evening all,

Thanks for the support. Would you believe I've been at this for a year now? Anyway, here is another wee update as I've finished up the dash panel. Not bad for window-dressing. :P

(Apologies for the crappy phone pics...)

Great work Cripple!

That is so impressive Cripple. I just love those old analog gauges. Are they originals or replicas? How are you interfacing them with DCS? Could you talk a little more on building this part of your cockpit.

I can surely sympathize with you and your comments about the arthritis. I'm dealing with that as well as having had three hearts attacks between Christmas and March. It can really put a damper on building. I had to laugh when you talked about trashing it all. I was just telling (fsf)Ian last week that I was thinking of packing it all in and selling everything. On the flip side, I was looking at some of my first panels and was so unhappy with the quality of my work that I actually rebuilt a bunch of them. I guess what I'm saying is your not alone in these feelings and frustrations. It looks like we all go through something similar at different stages of the build. My attitude is to persevere until you can,t and then take a break and do something entirely different until the motivation returns...and it does return, at least it has for me.

Keep up the posts Cripple. They are really great inspiration.:thumbup:

John

+1 what John said.

My project tends to progress slowly because I jump around a lot and work on different things. That's also what helps keep it interesting. So far the drive always returns.

Keep going. I've been quietly watching and enjoying your progress pics.

Dave.

My project tends to progress slowly because I jump around a lot and work on different things. That's also what helps keep it interesting.

Dave.

That's exactly how I work. Also, if I get to a particularly difficult part and I'm just not up to dealing with it at that point in time, I move on to something easier and totally unrelated. When I'm ready, I go back and tackle it and its always never as hard as I had previously thought. But for the most part its as you say Dave, it keeps it interesting.:thumbup:

Cripple mentioned hes been doing this for a year now and I've been building for almost 2 years. Deadman has been at this forever (not really sure but along time). Someone (I don't know how) should put up a sticky, like a poll, where we could place our name, our build and when we started building. It would calculate and show how many months/years each cockpit builder has been active. It could keep updating itself as time goes on. The Join date on the side of our posts doesn't do much as I didn't start building until 12 months after I joined.

It would be an interesting stat to display as a bar graph or whatever..

Just a thought...