romeokilo

Just fired this up for the first time. The picture really doesnt do it justice. I am happy. [emoji1] I still have to get some transparent green plastic so i can cut a cover for the OLED. That should tone down its brightness make it match the panels a bit better . Also- The Brightness pot wont be able to dim the OLED, so ill put the push buttons on a different circuit to the panel markings and that pot will dim them separately. The push buttons are all working. No custom PCBs, i just cut some small squares off a prototyping PCB and soldered on a tactile switch and a single LED for each button. I havent interfaced it all with the sim yet and havent got all the switches connected. Still learning about Arduinos...

Backlighting for the SAS Panel Not the best photo but here it is installed. All the sim stuff I'm adding is backlit white to make it stand out a bit. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Cup holder! Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Ignore the canopy defog knob- that ones temporary. I haven't backlit the guages yet but I'll get around to it. I'm contemplating doing them in white instead of green to break it all up a bit. All are separate assemblies and are ready for servos and needles as well.

Solved my lack of rudder pedals. SIMPEDS!

Please tell me those are A10C MFCD's you are doing??! Shut up and take my money!!!

Guess what I just won. And cheaper than a set of saiteks down here in Australia! Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

And backlighting one panel at a time Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Decided to re cut the UFC. Shrunk in size to be a little more realistic.

Cheers lads. :thumbup: Not looking forward to it at all Warhog. I've got a whole bunch of Leo Bodnars and Groovey Game Gear cards that I have had since before Ardunio came on the scene- I am going to utilize them where I can so that should make life a little easier. I am planning out everything now and ordering the last of the switches I need. Before I start wiring I want the panel back light system complete so I'm soldering that up now. Tedious to say the least. :mad: Hard to photograph on my phone but it looks pretty smooth in real life. :thumbup:

I used this 4.3 inch screen. Its obviously a bit larger than the real one so i designed my CDU to suit it. Its VGA so ill be running it as a viewport. The buttons I cut and engraved myself from acrylic. They will sit in front of tactile switches and LED's mounted to a PCB. I have not got into designing the PCB yet... I will definitely post in this thread once I start its construction. I had the same concerns. I don't anymore :music_whistling: The beauty of Helios is that you can move the gauges around and re size them. I overcame the 'tunnel effect' by simply off setting the gauges to where i need them, rather than lining them up with the bezels (if that makes sense). Basically I sat in the cockpit and moved them so that from where I am sitting and viewing them, the gauge it perfectly lined up with the bezel. I'll take some photos to explain once I get it up and running again. For some reason my profile became corrupted when i was trying to get the flaps gauge working :mad: Looks like I'll have to start it from scratch again- I haven't bothered yet. Yes they are cut from vinyl sheet and just peel off, place them where you need them and pull the transfer paper off. My new favorite panel- Got all the holes drilled for the panels and all are mounted. The blanking plates are cut and mounted (all still have their protective paper on at the moment). I also added some carry handles to each end. Both consoles still need to be stripped back down for their final coat of paint. I am in the process of designing the front sections for the Canopy and Seat switches. Its a nightmare...

CMSP Version 2- Excuse the terrible phone pics. I finally found a suitable knob- just needs a coat of paint. And Its younger brother. Artistic licence to suit my 20X2 OLED but it should get the job done. The Radio Stack (more photos once I iron out some bugs...)- After lots of trial and error I ended up paying a local sign writer to cut me the emergency markings for the whole pit. Cost only $30.

Top layer is 3mm Acrylic- Solid White. This one is getting engraved. Middle Layer is 3mm Acrylic- Opaque/transparent White. Acts as a diffuser. Lower layer is 3mm Acrylic- Black. Switches and LED's. 1) Top and middle layer get cut then glued together with solvent cement. This creates one 6mm thick panel with a solid white front and an opaque white rear. Top (Left) and Middle (Right) 2) The above then gets painted completely black. This paint covers the front, the edges and the inside of the switch holes, but the rear still has its protective paper on. The markings then get laser engraved and the paper backing gets removed. After Paint- And the rear after the paper is removed- The front engraved- 3) The top layer then it gets screwed to the black lower layer that has the switches and 3mm LED's installed for back lighting. The lower layer And the rear of it Front bolted on- I'm still experimenting with the back-lighting. I had been flipping over the top layer and engraving pockets into the rear for the LEDS to sit in. I then tried simply sanding the top of the LED's flat. This diffuses them, and also makes them flush with the black panel so no pockets are required. From what i can see it doesn't change the effect at all so i may go this way from now on. Backlit- Also- I did try a few samples of laser max in the early days. I also have a whole bunch of panels in the reverse engraved 1mm clear stuff (which i paid someone an obscene amount of money for before i eventually bought my laser). I decided to go the above route simply because I live in Australia so for me it is MUCH cheaper than using laser max, with what I think are similar (in some cases better) results. Not to mention laser max was more work, requiring careful painting of the edges of the material after cutting/engraving. The only benefit i can see for laser max would be the robustness of the finish, and for me that didn't justify the cost. Realistically this thing will remain very well looked after. It wont be stepped on while climbing in and out or be at 30 odd thousand feet pulling 4G. My opinion only :thumbup:

I am not sure. I opened up Flims files myself in Coreldraw. They opened automatically in Inches- I simply changed the page settings to metric and it automatically converted it for me with no scaling issues. I edited what i wanted and saved the new files in metric format. I sent those to my machinist and he cut them for me. He never asked any questions about scaling, i never had any issues with it and the final product was correct. Also- I just opened my files and checked and the holes are 3.175mm. Sorry I cant really help. I tried an opaque white layer like you are using and had the same issue. I now use a solid white for the top layer. It does make back lighting more difficult but I got around that by simply using brighter LED's (and more of them). I also recommend using a quality paint. The cheaper stuff i tried first never gave me good results. It took me A LOT of trial and error to find the best laser method and settings to get a decent result. I could make an entire second pit from the contents of my scrap bin!:cry:

Its a 20X2 OLED I got from here. Unfortunately it seems that they only have 16X2's in stock at the moment. The 20X2 page has been removed. That site is the actual manufacturer so i would keep checking back there or have a look around eBay for a reseller. I have yet to actually fire it up but other people have used them with no issues. I couldn't find a drawing anywhere- here is one i made measuring mine myself with some calipers. Progress!!! Overall- UFC- Ignore the dust I was sanding the consoles nearby. I made it larger than it is supposed to be so i could fit all the buttons perfectly spaced over 2.4mm pitch prototype board for the switches. The buttons stick out 1.5mm when the tactile switches are behind them. Right Console. Still a few spaces to fill and a few more coats of paint to do. CMSP and Caution Panel CDU Engraved- TACAN- I am cheating and have decided to use a 1602 LCD for this and the ILS. The ILS was cut incorrectly so it is being re done. Oxygen and Environment Panel- Light Panel- This one will be redone later on down the track. You can see a few of the labels have an error in them because my Z axis table rattled loose... COMP- Again- ignore the dust! Left Console- SAS, IFF (Real) and Emergency INTER, Antenna Select, VOL and KY58. Radio designs are still being tweaked and haven't been cut yet. Both consoles are now drying from another coat of paint. I tried some detail painting on the outside and hated it :mad:. Sanded back and starting again.

Outstanding. Thanks mate. I vaugely remember a thread a while back about that but I couldn't find it. I had my yellow markings drawn up wrapping around the JTSN and OFF text, so I'll change that and add those top lines when I make the next one. I've got imitation tops to add on the switches, transparent green plastic ordered for a cover over the 2020 OLED (which looking at your pics I might sit back a few mm from the front). Once I source a knob it should look great. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Cheers Deadman I can't believe I didn't notice that typo. Look like I'm cutting a new one then! I've also left the two lines near the JTSN and BRT buttons off intentionally, as I intend on adding yellow emergency striping around the JTSN button. Not sure if that's realistic or not, but I am sure I remember seeing a picture of a real one like that somewhere. Also- it's not in the photo but the buttons actually stick out about 1.5 mm from the panel when the tactile switches are installed behind them. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Quick update just to show this off. CMSP Note that I have got leds in there for the knob back lighting, I have just decided to not engrave the circles for them on all the panels until I can find suitable knobs. Once I finally find some I'll just put the panels back in the laser. I am really happy with how my engraving is coming out! The contrast is perfect. I am currently soldering all the back lighting leds.

It's alive! Buttons for this, the UFC and CMSP are all cut, painted and about to be engraved. Faceplates are all cut and about to be painted. Next photo update should be a big one!

Outstanding! Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

I'm about to start detail painting the outside skin. Anybody know what the three black stripe markings under the canopy frame designate? I've seen pics of hogs with and without them. Are they on both sides? I'm guessing some sort of centre of gravity marking for crane lifting? Or a cut here in emergency marking?

Cheers guys. I've seen the great reviews on the MFG's, but down here in Oz it would cost me $700. I'm not THAT keen- maybe if they were exact A10C replicas. I will probably hack up and improve some Saiteks- or build my own later on. It actually not that super expensive if you build things yourself. I've dropped around $1500 AU on the pit itself (not including the 'investment' i made in tools). Plus I could of saved $500 odd if i had of cut the ply myself, which is easily doable with a $30 jigsaw and a steady hand. I just wanted it done quick! The cost of electronics has dropped massively now we don't have to use Bodnars/Phidgets/GGG/etc etc using cheap Arduino boards with DCS-BIOS. Plus switches, rotaries and pots bought in bulk from China are cheap. For example- I could pay about .80c per tactile switch for the UFC, CMSP CDU if i bought locally- I just ordered 500 of the same thing from China for $8.50 total. Although every now and then I troll through eBay and buy the odd mil spec switch just to liven it up a bit. :smilewink: Also- when you consider that $1500 I have spent on the pit is the cost of one projector (of which i plan to eventually have three), and only half the RRP of the gaming PC I built to run the damn thing anyway, the pit itself is probably the cheapest thing of the lot! That is an issue. I haven't flown in over a year, partly because the gaming PC is not set up and is in the garage as a test bed for the pit, but mostly because I don't have the time. The only flying I do is a quick start mission I set up. Start in the air at 20k ft on AP in a circle while i play around with Helios, switches and displays. :cry: But really- i get more enjoyment out of building this thing and the little victories when a panel actually works than I do flying anyway! Once its finished that will change I hope- I haven't bought Nevada yet. I have decided I'll do that only when the pit is complete (or relatively flyable..) to give me something to look forward to and have fun in. And then I'll start a Hornet pit... (but don't tell my wife) Oops- too late! Nah I knew that. I just did the green because i like the look of it. It breaks up all the grey I think- plus none of it will actually be visible anyway! Happy to share- but I wont take credit for other peoples work. I bought and used Flims plans for the pit-click here to buy I only really edited his main front panel to suit my specific needs. The dimensions of my edits were made up using my MK1 eyeball. They are NOT accurate and will NOT fit real instruments (unless I absolutely fluked it!) I used Lar's excellent work as a base for my panels- click here to download the .DXF files I kept Lar's external panel dimensions (which are correct DZUS size) but I re-drew all of his text and moved the switch holes to suit my needs. Mine are now similar to an A-10 in appearance only and are not accurate. I don't have any .STL files to share- I use .DXF for the laser. It did. I didn't make any changes and had it cut direct from your plans with no issues. Well, one minor issue caused only buy me mounting the top canopy edge piece incorrectly. :doh: I fixed that with copious sanding and filler. And one of my lower wood pieces was warped as well. If i made them again I would change only some minor things -I would of CNC cut a hole in each internal bulkhead rib just below the panels to enable a straight length of wood or aluminium to run through console. It would make cabling easier to run if i had something that travels the full length to zip tie it to. No big issue- I will drill a hole by hand. -I would make the side consoles maybe an inch wider. The inside of the console trim is flush up against the edge of my outboard panels. I have overcome this by cutting up the large trim piece, setting it outboard by about an inch and having the ribs exposed. That gives me the room to make a canopy disengage lever in the right console. I think it actually looks better this way anyway! Hard to explain but ill take some pics to show what i mean once the paint is done. Two more coats to go. Progress- No photos yet- but soon :smilewink: -My upholstery tack 'rivets' arrived so I'm planning out the external paint details now. Still sanding, filling and painting the consoles. -I've got all the parts and started building the CMSP. -I've started designing the UFC. -I've ordered a 4.3inch VGA LCD for the CDU and started designing that. Because of the cheapness of the 4.3 inch (a third the cost of a 3.5 inch) the CDU design is a little less realistic. I decided I might as well have the F1-F12 buttons I had on that custom panel designed into it as well. The CDU is also going to be a HID USB run from a separate Arduino so i can use it across many sims for many aircraft. -I've re built the Caution box. Same insides, but it is now much sexier than the Obutto console version.

It is slowly taking shape! Side Consoles have had the outer skins done. The interior trim is going to be bolt on and painted white for now- I haven't cut that yet. I am looking at getting a padded green canvass covering for them as well- Not sure if that is realistic but it should look the part. I am also making my own Grimes style cockpit lights heads from acrylic tube with green LED strip installed to attach to it as well. The panels are slowly being done as well- Here are the electric seat rails. I've got a 30 amp 12V DC Power supply to run it- it works great. The six way rail means i can adjust forward-back, up-down, and tilt as well. I bought Flims Aces Plans and I am currently modifying them to suit the rail. It is currently drying from a coat of paint- This is just a base coat. Ive got a whole bunch of upholstery tacks ordered to do some rivet detail on the outside, before it gets sprayed in a slightly darker grey. I am contemplating doing some warthog teeth along the outside.... One thing I haven't sorted yet is pedals. My CH Pro's do not fit so are on eBay. I am hoping Thrustmaster will come out with something great in the upcoming product release. I like heel on the floor style rudders so I may end up splashing out on the Slaw Devices Viper's.