Brun

Here you go... zipped knobs

Not anymore he doesn't. :) Don't think I'll manage anything quite as impressive as your working solenoid but an LED should be within my limits. Having said that, I wouldn't see it from inside the Vive.

Would you prefer all nine in one file but without the sprue, or just four files separate files each with an individual knob? The first would let you print all of them at once, the alternative would mean having to print two or three copies of each.

Hi Nemax, Dimensions are correct. I used Shapeway's default versatile plastic, but I don't know exactly what that is. There are details here if that's any use. Don't understand the question about thickness, that's a property of the 3D model. Thanks for the donation!

Almost finished tho', looks good! I notice it's upside down, is that a southern hemisphere thing?

They're the 20cm version of these.

Links are in the description!

Unfortunately all parts need to be added to the order separately.

Good to hear you making progress! Amazing how long it takes. I meant to mention about drilling the knobs, that's exactly what I ended up doing after failing to clean them up with a knife. Think I started with a 6mm bit and ended up widening them with a 7.

Model now available direct from Shapeways This is just the main panel, there are links in the description to the HUD panel, side/top panels and knobs. Setting up a store was a hassle so there's no commission for me on these, it's literally just what Shapeways charge.

Also, huge thanks to ddanois, fusedspine and battis for the donantions!

Scale discrepancies are very common when transferring models between software. Fortunately they're almost always a factor of 10 out (unless someone's daft enough to use inches) so relatively easy to solve. @McG I don't have any knowledge of F360, but when importing the obj are there any options related to units or scale? If not, there should be tools in the software to scale it up 100x which will make it correct. @Fusedspine33 You need to change the model units to 'meters' on the page where you select the file to upload. However, my intention for these files was for people to print using their own hardware. Since you're using shapeways I'd suggest waiting until I've updated and shared the original ones I used because printing each part separately will be significantly more expensive due to their handling fees. I'll look into that this morning, uploading the model won't take long but I've no idea about setting up a store. Hopefully it's pretty straightforward. @AndrewW Does Cura not give any options for how it interprets the scale? If it point-blank refuses to load you'll need some other software to resize the model. @Battis glad you got it sized properly, 178mm is indeed correct.

Many thanks to both of you!

I feel bad that it took mentions of paypal to motivate me getting my arse into gear. However, I was definitely *not* going to accept any sort of donations before providing the goods, so here's a link... F/A-18 UFC download The zip file contains OBJs for each separate part. They may need rotating depending on whether your software is Y or Z up - or simply for the best orientation for printing. The knobs are sprued which is how I did them for shapeways, however that's separate geometry so should be straight foward to remove in any 3D package if desired. The only modifications I made from my original version was to increase the size of the holes slightly because most of the switches were a tight fit. I'm willing to make other changes if people want to provide any feedback. Also included are images detailing the screws and fittings I used, and a template for the perspex. Links to the switches used are in post #2 and still valid. Apologies again for taking so long to get this together. Despite the delay I'm really keen to see what people manage to produce from it. I seriously had no intention of expecting any sort of reimbursement for my efforts, but any donations would be very gratefully received. You can do so via the button below. Thanks!

Apologies for lack of updates, been preoccupied with other stuff for the last couple of weeks. Haven't even flown with this thing yet beyond basic testing. I'll try and get the model finalised and uploaded this weekend.

Part of Shapeways pricing is based on the number of parts, so it's a trade-off. I tried various combinations before settling on this one. Might not be clear from the photos, but as well as the sides being separate, the entire HUD panel is as well.

Wish you hadn't asked me that, just added it all up and it's about £400. Two things to counter the expense tho'. Firstly I'm really happy with the way it turned out, it feels much more professional than I expected. And - more importantly - it actually works. Secondly, I've really enjoyed the experience of making it. As I mentioned before, 3D modelling is my day job, and while I have a reasonably technical background I've never had to model something which has to physically work. The fact that (with minor modifications) it came back just as I intended is incredibly satisfying. I hope the question about cost wasn't a prelude to asking for one, cos that's not gonna happen I'm afraid. Unless I was gonna throw in my time as a favour (which I'm sure you wouldn't expect) I'd have to double the price. Then it's suddenly an £800 'product' made by some bloke in his kitchen with very little guarantee over its long (or even short) term reliability. I couldn't sell that with a clear conscience. The 3D model will be available soon, either/or as an OBJ or via Shapeways (£230). I'd be really happy to see other people making these themselves.

Finished! Well, almost. Didn't like the finish of the knobs so I've taken them off for a coat of grey primer. Really pleased with the shelving brackets I found on amazon. Bit over the top, but a perfect fit both physically and aesthetically... Rushed to get the MFDs on, so at the moment they're a bit wonky and not in the right place. Should be easy enough to sort at some point. The VR experience is a bit fumbly at the moment, but I'm confident that will improve over time. I've some little rubber furniture protection things on a few buttons to help distinguish them. I came across a few issues with the design during assembly so will tweak those before making it available.

Had a delivery... First impression was overwhelming relief, in that it looked very similar to what I expected. I'm incredibly pleased with how well it fits together, it's actually really solid even without screws. The finish is a bit industrial, but I knew that would be the case. I'm tempted to give it a once over with fine sand paper and the dremel, but will need to test that on an inaccessible piece first. Also bought some Tamiya Spray paint, but the same applies to that. Some of the switch holes are a very tight fit. I'm gonna enlarge them slightly but will adjust the model as well. Minor grumble is that one of the side pieces is rather bent... Once it's assembled this is barely noticeable, but it's still disappointing that Shapeways quality control didn't pick it up.

I would think it more likely that one takes precedence over the other. Suggest setting them to something like 1, 2 and then vice versa. Should make it pretty clear in terms of performance and image quality if only one setting is used. If they both are, you should get similar results in each case.

Quick update on those teething problems. The issue with the encoders is minimised - but not completely eliminated - by changing the pulse length in the BBI-64 software. It was something low by default and while testing I'd increased it to 200ms. Back down to 48ms now and working much better. Couldn't see anything wrong with the soldering of the one push button that wasn't working, but I replaced the wire and that's fine now. Upshot of that is everything is now working exactly as it should. Nothing short of a minor miracle.

Switches used are listed in post #2. I saw a lot like the above but wanted ones with a distinct button. Lights weren't a concern cos of the VR thing.

Turns out I hadn't set up the encoders correctly in the BBI-64 software. Had this switch assigned as one. Double checking the other settings means the encoder which wasn't working in one direction, now is.

Many hours of soldering: Increased my skill level about 200% during this. Fortunately the heat shrink tubing does a good job of hiding my earlier sins. Many minutes of connecting things: And the result! I decided the 3D printing was too expensive so went for a slightly more modest solution using the front panel of an old Antec PC case. Quality control issues mean I have one button missing entirely and a couple in the wrong places. Still pretty pleased with the result, anyone still want me to make one for them? Also got it in DCS for the first time. I'm slightly amazed that the whole thing works with only some minor teething problems... One push button and one direction of an encoder aren't working, which I suspect is my soldering failing. Hopefully simple enough to investigate and fix. The encoders are acting a bit weird. The COMM 1 and 2 (18 PPR) ones seem absolutely fine, but the others (24 PPR) seem to suffer from interference where they're sending inputs for the wrong direction. They're set up accordingly in the BBI software. The VOL 1 encoder seems more reliable that the others. Could it be an EMI issue? The other odd thing is one of the three position switches isn't behaving correctly. It's doing ON - ON - OFF which is a bit useless. Seems to suggest I've connected it to the controller wrong, but visually everything is appears ok so that's gonna need further investigation. Despite the above I'm pretty delighted with where I'm at. It's also worth mentioning that all the three position switches in the sim have the 'special for joystick' functionality, so work without having to dick about with input lua files, which is a great relief. P.S. I was joking about the 3D printing. It definitely is expensive, but is ordered and being processed by shapeways. ETA 11th, so a week Tues. I daredn't look at the model any more in case I spot something wrong. Gonna be a long wait...

Happy to. Here's a zip file with them.