romeokilo

MFD looks great Lynx. Planning on the electronics for it as well? Also- any plans on a 3D printed Fuel RCVR handle knob? I've just tried carving my own and it was.... unacceptable. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Great work. I can't see the update either though... Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

I just finished listening to the podcast. Great stuff guys. P. S. I had no idea you made that segment display for the tacan yourself. Awesome work. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Not Germany- I am in Australia. Your lamps look great, however I have gone for a 'non- realistic' approach and the lamps are designed into my panels. The 3mm LEDs used for them are mounted in the same panel that the switches and the back light LED's are in. Without re cutting my panels I wouldn't be able to mount them. Also, don't worry about thread hijacking- I learn a lot reading other peoples discussion. That is what makes these forums great! Yep I know. That 1602 LCD was included in the Arduino Starter Kit I got to experiment with. Its not going in the pit, I was just trying my first ever sketch! :thumbup: I have two I2C 20X2 OLEDs to use in the the two CM Panels. I paid about 140 AUD for it (not including shipping), which is about 110 US. It is in fantastic condition. I wasn't going to bother, but considering that I paid 40 AUD for a cutler hammer in much worse condition i figured it was a bargain. Making an IFF panel myself and using mil spec switches alone would cost me much more than that. As for the rant- yes I feel you. "Classified" is a cop out really, considering you can buy these things on eBay, find the tech manual in 30 seconds of googling and read how it actually works on Wikipedia... If this thing is still really classified to any level whatsoever someone seriously failed at OPSEC! I will integrate it all eventually, but it is right on the end of my to do list. For now I'll just convert the 28V red back light to 12V green LED and integrate the on/off switch. The rest can wait. Progress- Here is the left console panels being cut. I still need to re do all my engraving files for that side :mad: The panel directly behind the throttle is my own doing- its for the F1-12 buttons for the Views and the Comm Menu. It will be engraved and dressed up like some sort of radio panel. Should blend in hopefully, but If not ill put it directly behind the CDU. With the same size and color buttons only an A-10 nut would notice it. Also- the radio's in this pic are my old design and will be replaced with ones that are slightly less realistic but much simpler to make (with no custom PCB's for the 7 segments required). I am also still messing around with the console structure. I wasn't going to skin the outside of the consoles but i have now decided i will. It will look better in the end, will protect the wiring from my son's little fingers and will mean i don't have to paint the inside of everything (to any good standard). Access will be from the bottom and the inside panels will be bolted not glued. The rest will be permanently attached with glue and countersunk screws, filled, sanded, dressed up with upholstery nails and painted. Here is a quick look just to get the vibe of the thing. The Obutto seat will soon go (and return to sim racing duties) and be replaced with an ACES type seat I will build. I'm also thinking I will make a floor for the whole pit- maybe 6 odd inches high to make the realistic drop in the foot well area. That will also incorporate the 6 way electric seat rails I've just picked up out of a wrecked new model Ford. End result- the seat up and down toggle will actually be a four way hat that will raise the ACES up and down and move it forward and back :)

One of my ebay purchases just arrived and I'm very happy!

Right console taking shape

So i have basically decided to re make every panel I have done so far :huh: I've tweaked my design so that the top layer is solid white and the middle is an opaque white. Those two layers get glued together with a solvent cement, then painted black and engraved. The bottom layer is black acrylic, with 3mm LEDs for back light and the switches mounted. Gluing the top layers together and painting them in one hit results in zero bleeding of light around the switches and edges, and saves me having to paint edges after the engraving is done. Once i have finished one I'll break it down and take some good pics to explain.. For now I am cutting them all- then will paint the tops in black in one big hit and start engraving. Here is the final (maybe...) design of my landing gear panel. Deleted some of my changes to make it more realistic. Also changed to suit one of Lynx's 3D printed light posts for the flaps gauge. OF NOTE- I did make one massive error. I accidentally clicked delete on every panel i had done for the left console. It was saved to network storage so i couldn't recover it from the recycle bin either. I lost hours and hours, if not days and weeks of work. :mad: Safe to say I was angry at myself for a few days. I had already cut the stuff in the pics above, but now have to re design everything so I can engrave them. Tip for everyone- Make BACKUPS! Side consoles have been cut and finally in my hands! I know I am going to regret gluing and assembling it before painting the ribs but i just couldn't wait any longer... Here is the left one taking shape-

Mate thats a fantastic idea recyling old lcd tvs from the tip. Cant wait to see how it turns out. Well done! Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

And so it begins...

Some of mine have a 3mm rear, 4mm spacer and 2mm front which seemed to give the best results. However to keep things simple I now use 3mm for every layer. Makes it easier to buy materials and easier to cut and engrave because I almost never have to adjust my Z axis. And the results are just as good. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Outstanding! Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Thanks everyone. Holidays are over and I am back at work so progress has slowed, however; The side consoles have been ordered and are being cut from Ply and MDF. I should have then in a couple of weeks. I have just ordered one of those cheap Arduino Uno kits from eBay to start experimenting with DCS-BIOS. I've also ordered a Mega2560R3 and a whole bunch of diodes in order to make one of overpro's HID controllers which will run the CDU and UFC. I'm playing around in diptrace and designing a matrix PCB for them. I will get those manufactured by an online service rather than making it myself. Here is the prototype flaps guage. The needle is temporary- the end product will be back lit and much nicer. I've had a Phidgets single servo controller for ages and am trying to get it running via Helios now- not working so far but ill keep at it.

Paint done! Painted with a roller and brush. Color is 'Moxa' from the Dulux 'Wash and Wear' line in Australia. 4 coats, sanded in between and the final coat through an airbrush. Then I masked it all up, and the Glaresheild was sprayed with a Rustoleum matte black can. I may break out the airbrush and do some shading and weathering later one down the track. Monitor fitted- And all the panels on. I had to move the monitor slightly to the right so it would clear the rear of the landing gear lever mechanism. Because of that ill need to route a new path in the rear of the MIP to run the USB cable for the right thrustmaster, hence why its hanging out in the pics. I mirrored the HARS fast erect switch to do a sim pause button. Plan is to hide a lot of the DCS controls in panels that are not used (TISL, the Monitor Test on the SAS panel etc etc). All sim stuff with be back lit in white rather than green to make it easy to identify. I haven't wired up any of the panels yet- but i started up a profile in Helios to get it running- I was worried about the thick bezel spacing from the monitor to some of my panels- I'm not now. I'm happy :thumbup: Still lots to do though...

Pulled apart ready for paint- First Coat. I'll probably do about five coats. Bought a new Orbital Sander and a whole heap of 240 grit paper. And I couldn't resist- an Aircraft interior style green in the hidden parts. I figured it would keep the dust levels down on Electronics better than raw MDF, and it was also a color test for the green I had intended to use on the exposed ribs of the side consoles. I am not really happy with it so I think I will use a plain white on the ribs instead.

Thanks for the link. :thumbup: I ordered two and changed up my MFD brackets to suit. Painted as well. Oh and the NMSP is a two position toggle- Its just the angle of the photo. Thanks! No disrespect shown or taken mate. As I said in my first post- I left the MFD holes in the MIP full size for a reason- I Intend to make my own MFD's! Its on my to do list- but very far down it. My main issue is PCB's- I don't know how to design or build them. I will learn, but it will take me a while. And when I do- CMSP, UFC and CDU (in that order). MFD's will probably be the last thing in the pit, because I have the thrustmasters that do the job almost perfectly. And that is if I don't just forget about it and dive straight into an F/A-18C build.... (or did somebody say TOMCAT!!) I've got lots to learn with Arduino, matrixes etc etc.:book: I opened up the thrustmasters with intent to put the guts of them into my own design- and immediately realized why nobody else has done it. The PCB and electronics inside are flimsy to say the least. Hacking them up like I planned would almost certainly result in their failure. I screwed them back together and went back to the drawing board. Thanks Warhog- coming from you that means a lot. Of note- the only reason I am building my own flaps, fuel and hyd guages are because of the results I have seen you were able to achieve! A lot of my panels and back lighting was designed after looking at yours. I haven't tried, but I doubt Reactor1's panels will just bolt up. It is very easy to open up Flims DXF files and edit them to fit your own panel designs. That's what I did. I am happy to release them if anybody wants them, but they are certainly not replica A-10 stuff so I'm not sure why anybody would. Great work on that console as well. I made some changes but it was mostly cosmetic. I've got the side consoles to do- and i anticipate the purchasing the seat later on down the track :thumbup: Onto the progress- Simple Fire handle mechanisms done. Still working on adding a spring clip to give it a distinct 'click' into position. Also, sanding down the sharp edges, paint and switches. Right now its all broken down for paint. Second coat is done and drying overnight. Sand and re-paint again a few more times before re-assembly in the coming days. I'll put some pics up of painting progress tomorrow. :thumbup:

Finished the Thrustmaster MFD brackets. I can not find a small 3 position rotary for the off, night, day switch anywhere! Anyone got any links? I'm hunting something reasonably priced- no need for mil-spec. I decided to leave them off for now- I'll put normal size rotary's on my sim-specific panel which is going on the lower pedestal. The AHCP spacer is on. You can see why I'm doing another LG Handle with less of a bend in it. I'm also not happy with the smoothness of the mechanism so back to the drawing board. Version one of my fire handles. Still designing the pull mechanism so they are just jammed in the glare shield for the pic. Back-lit with two orange 3mm LEDs each. HARS fast erect switch. AHCP spacer hides it completely from view, so I may make a spacer for it as well or move it completely. That and the fine engraving came out terrible- will be re done. NMSP. You can also see in that pic how I plan on putting red back-lit OFF labels in place of the flags- I got that idea of someone in the forum (cant remember who or where I saw that).

Thanks! The cockpit was CNC cut for my by these guys- Branchflowers CNC. The panels are done by me on the laser. All K40's are essentially the same design. I bought the cheapest one I could on eBay and modified/upgraded it. I'm working with that size bed- it's big enough to do all the A-10 panels one piece at a time. It was yours! Updated the first post. Plus- considering Helios is the whole basis of this pit- I wouldn't of even attempted a pit without your input! Thanks! :thumbup: Interesting idea. I'll see if I can get a cheap one and experiment. Trial fitting everything today- The AHCP spacer is not fitted in the pic- Managed to squeeze a few more mm out of it by snapping off the solder tabs on each switch and soldering direct to them instead- so I am making another slightly thinner one. Once everything is trial fitted I am going to route a path for the cables behind the MIP so it can be as flush to the monitor as possible. Also working on suitable brackets for the thrustmasters. I also have realized I've made a mistake on the glare shield- the center spacers are not supposed to be as tall as the sides where the stores jettison button is (if that makes sense). Still deciding if I will re-do it or leave as is. Here is my fuel panel broken down- Trial fitted It will be re-done because I'm not happy with the engraving. You can see the center dots in the 4's are not good at all. Its only a hole filler for now anyway- I don't plan on working on the actual mechanical gauge side of it until the side consoles are completed. I want to get it flyable!

This thread is basically retired, and the project now has its own website www.thewarthogproject.com Hi all, For the last couple of years I have been intermittently working on the pit in this thread- Obutto Console Project During that build I bought a cheap Chinese K40 laser cutter and the build slowly turned away from the Obutto consoles and all my funds and time went into the tools rather than the pit. After many hours (and dollars) I am now pretty happy with what I can turn out with the laser. Still not 100% perfect and I'm still learning- but acceptable to me. With all the time (and dollars) I've invested into tools I decided to bin the Obutto consoles idea and build a full A-10 pit. I am still using some artistic licence here and there on the panels and changing a few things (mostly cosmetic) to fit, but its going to be much more of an A-10 style cockpit than the Obutto ever could be. The three monitors are gone. For now its one projector thrown on the wall, but a triple projector curved screen build is planned for when I'm in my new home toward the end of this year. Until then its into the pit. I bought Flims front console plans (I got the side consoles aswell but I haven't even looked at them yet) and modified them to fit my panels and monitor. I also added a whole bunch of slots and tabs, basically so it would fit together like a big jigsaw puzzle. I then had them CNC cut from 6mm and 12mm MDF. Here it is slotted together after I had just picked it up. No glue or screws- This is how I intend to build up the gauges. Not a replica of an A-10 but it gets the job done. I am not sure how its going to look with some of the bezels over 30mm from the monitor though. Middle one is 12mm thick, the other two are 6mm. Today I started gluing and bolting it all together. I was worried about how the MDF would hold up, but first impressions are good. The external skin is all MDF, but I've since bolstered up it structure with 4x2 in the corners and two aluminium brackets running behind the monitor. Its very sturdy. Trial fitting the monitor- This is my (6th...) prototype Landing Gear Panel and Handle. It has come a long way since the hand drilled acrylic, ink jet printouts and a castor wheel in the first thread! Handle before gluing. Still working on where to position the LEDs for best lighting. This one is based on a Gadroc's measurements, but because my AHCP will be lifted out of the MIP by 18mm (to clear the monitor) I'll probably have to do one with less of a bend. Panel broken down. I added a 4th panel mounting screw and moved them around to secure the front better and minimize back light bleed, as well as adding an eBay Switch Guard. I simplified my flaps gauge to make it much less complicated. The needle connects direct to the servo which is controlled by a Phidgets board. Ill move to Arduino and DCS bios later on once I learn it... And trial fitting it into the MIP. The lever mechanism. I still need to tweak it a bit- the final mechanism will be black Acrylic to minimize back light bleed around the handle. I'm also still tweaking the movement path of the handle and the spring tension. And everything else I am working on- Note I left the MFDs holes full size. Ill do up a bracket to fit the thrustmasters for now- but I do plan to make my own full size ones down the track. Once I iron out all the bugs on the Landing Gear Panel I plan to do a limited run of them if anyone is keen. Ill fire up a new thread once/if that is in the works.

Looks great! Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Awesome! This is major motivation to get mine running! I'm doing pit first, screen last. I regret that decision... Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Brilliant. I wish I had room in my house for a projector set up like that! Well done. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

Not sure if its the right one for an A-10 but it will do for me- http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/111270418344?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

One word. Outstanding. Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

I have the pro pedals. IMHO not worth the price tag. First I find them too narrow and the toe brakes too steep. Only my opinion. But the main issue was I had to void the warranty by opening them up and fixing the terrible factory connections on the pots that were causing runaway axis. They use cheap spade connectors. I used 10 cents worth of solder to connect them properly so they have been working fine since- but I shouldn't of had to.

I used to be a lav gunner. Same turret as a Bradley (depending on the variant and obviously minus the TOW though). The day sight actually has a very complicated reticle that looks like this- The thermal sight is a simple cross that looks like your mod although it is green and much more 'cartoonish'. I'll post up some pics if I can find some when I get home.