TomVR Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 (edited) So this incredibly rare and overpriced tom cat ACM panel just popped on on Ebay. Also don't buy it because I understand it's currently illegal to even sell F-14 parts anywhere. It's asking price is obscene, but on the other hand is the best closeup reference I've been able to find of the panel itself. I would love to recreate and 3D print it, but I can't find any specific information about it's dimensions anywhere. The F-14B natops that is floating around online has an incredibly blurry panel fold out image so it's pretty useless to find its dimensions. Wanted to post this thread for brainstorming ideas, and it have a place where these reference photos can easily be found in the future. If I could find an accurate measurement of some dimension of the panel, it would go a very long way to modeling all of it. Also the F-14 panels use a different font that pre-dates the standardization of military cockpit panel fonts. Also seeing the real steel makes me appreciate how much work heatblur did to make the cockpit look like total shit, because the real tom cat avionics look like they were built with a hammer, chisel and paste. Edited May 19, 2019 by TomVR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomVR Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 (edited) Seems that the switches on the panel could be similar to Korry switches used today. I found a switch in their catalog that has two indicator lights are 1x1 inch, but it seems buried down they also have a 5/8s inch model. I guess I will try both dimensions and see which looks more correct. For figuring out the dimensions of the panel. Back in the 70s I imagine they might have had a different switch provider though. http://www.esterline.com/controlsystems/KORRY/OtherSwitchesIndicators/433Switch.aspx Edited May 19, 2019 by TomVR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomVR Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 (edited) So I straightened out the image, and going by the square switches being 1x1 inch, the resulting length appears to be 13-3/4 inch (specifically 13.76, which is pretty close, and I'm guessing the aircraft was designed in imperial units) This seems a bit large for the panel width. Edited May 24, 2019 by TomVR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomVR Posted May 23, 2019 Author Share Posted May 23, 2019 (edited) Waiting on someone who might be able to measure a museum cockpit for me, but cruising around google image search I came across this line drawing. Going off of that makes it think the square buttons are actually 5/8 inch, putting the panel around 8-1/5 inches wide, which seems more reasonable. Could be very useful for making other panels as well. Edited May 24, 2019 by TomVR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSYKOnz Posted October 21, 2020 Share Posted October 21, 2020 Did you get anywhere with measurements of a museum panel? Tomcat, Tomcat über allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomVR Posted October 21, 2020 Author Share Posted October 21, 2020 (edited) Did you get anywhere with measurements of a museum panel? This thread is a good resource. There is even a 3d file from the heatblur cockpit there as an .obj https://forums.eagle.ru/forum/englis...ent-dimensions Edit: direct link to file: http://media.heatblur.se/F-14_B_Cockpit_Dimensions.rar Edited October 21, 2020 by TomVR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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