Tyro-AWG Posted February 25, 2011 Posted February 25, 2011 (edited) Hi everyone, Please forgive me if this is posted in the wrong place, I have tried to place it in the most appropriate forum! Throughout the Beta releases of DCS A-10C I have been developing a suite of backlit panels for home-cockpit builders. The first tranche of these panels is nearing completion, and will include at least the AHCP. The panels are not absolutely 100% accurate, but have workable Dzus spacing and I have worked hard to get the dimensions as close as I can within the bounds of cost. They will be manufactured from 5mm extruded acryllic, base-coated white and then top-coated black. They are then laser cut to size and laser engraved. The holes for switches and LEDs will be cut into the blanks prior to engraving. I must stress that these are panels only, without switches, LEDs, buttons, an aluminium backing plate or any electronics. I fly military helicopters for a living and have been able to take measurements of real panels and casts of various other avionic paraphernalia, which I hope to develop at a later date, more of which at the end of this post. For the time being, I would like to know which panels would be most widely recieved within the cockpit-building community (if at all) and whether there would be a market for non-backlit MFD panels at a cheaper cost. My prototypes will be ready in roughly 2 weeks, with production to commence before the end of March. The cost at the moment is looking like an average of approx 20GBP per panel, with larger units like the CDU costing slightly more. Depending on take-up, I have blueprints for all of the A-10C panels, including a bespoke button cap set (backlit) for the UFC and CDU. Please post your thoughts, and preferences for panels. Sincerely, Jon Edited February 25, 2011 by Dukeyboy
Wedge Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 UFC would be my first choice. Would love to see some pics...
Feed Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 Pics are a necessity. Start the price wars, as there are already a few folks here who can offer panels already. First choices for most folks seem to be the UFC & CDU. I'm hoping someone will perfect those before I'm forced to build them myself! :P
Flim Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 Did everyone buy a laser engraver?.... Really is a lot of work and not much pay!
BHawthorne Posted February 26, 2011 Posted February 26, 2011 (edited) Did everyone buy a laser engraver?.... Really is a lot of work and not much pay! It's part of the tools of DIY anymore. Laser engraver, mini mill, mini lathe, and cnc router table + the CAD/CAM eduction required. You can easily drop $10k on the machine shop tools to do things right. There are those that want to buy kits and there are those that want to DIY everything in high fidelity. Those that want to DIY everything have to get some pretty serious tools. You would know that because of the tools you have yourself. Just as example, I picked up a manufacturing engineering and a composites engineering degree partially because of my simpit interests. It is a ton of play and no work for me, because I don't have any expectations of selling anything. You've gotta enjoy things as a hobby. For me, bringing money into the equation ruins it. It's why I volunteer my assistance with NTHUSIM and not look at it as anything job related. I have zero interest in A-10C, but I'm tooling up myself to rebuild my F-84F fuselage into a simpit. For me, half the fun is the build and research. I want to be self-sufficient with my knowledge. I know many would prefer to do away with that part and will be your customer. Some people just want to fly. Edited February 26, 2011 by BHawthorne
Tyro-AWG Posted February 26, 2011 Author Posted February 26, 2011 I will be posting pics of the panels as soon as I have them prototyped. I'm not an engineer, and the tools are not mine but being new to cockpit building (although it has interested me for some time) selling surplus panels will be a way of me minimising the cost of my own setup, rather than making money. I'll post again once I have the prototypes, have designs in the works for UFC & CDU. Thanks for your replies, Jon
WilloUK Posted February 27, 2011 Posted February 27, 2011 Hi Dukeyboy, Sounds Interesting, like most people i think the CDU/UFC will be tops of most lists, but certainly il give ur panels a look nice 1 keep up the good work Phil
Tyro-AWG Posted March 6, 2011 Author Posted March 6, 2011 All, I know these aren't of the finished article, but they should give you an idea of what to expect. This is the complete set of panels ready to be sent to the engraver. The acrylic is sat in my garage awaiting cutting and engraving. Image doesn't seem to load on clicking, if you right click and "save as" it should be viewable.
Duckling Posted March 7, 2011 Posted March 7, 2011 Looking very good Jon. A bit hard to see all the details though but no worries :-) Only note is the courner radius of the baseplate's/lightpanels but I guess it's known You plan to make a customized/home made throttle ? Cheers Gus - - - -
Tyro-AWG Posted March 7, 2011 Author Posted March 7, 2011 Duckling, Potentially yes, I have limited experience with resin casting and plan to make custom throttles and sticks. First things first though! The panels are the first run and are not 100% accurate replicas, with some concessions being made to aid standard switches and mounting options. They are the correct width with the right Dzus spacing, however. Can't wait for the first batch to arrive back from the engravers!
Tyro-AWG Posted March 10, 2011 Author Posted March 10, 2011 Ok, prototype arrived today. This was cut from/engraved onto clear 8mm acryllic, the paint then applied by me (in the production versions the paint will be applied first). I then masked and applied black paint, hence the slightly uneven lines. This should give everyone an idea of what the finished article will look like. I expect a full production set to be complete this time next week. Any questions feel free to give me a PM. Enjoy, Jon
evilnate Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 Can't wait to see this project finished, nice work so far!
HitchHikingFlatlander Posted March 10, 2011 Posted March 10, 2011 Nice stuff! http://dcs-mercenaries.com/ USA Squad
TigersharkBAS Posted March 16, 2011 Posted March 16, 2011 Any news on this? Pricing? Availability? Looking for an AHCP [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Creator of: F-18C VFA-195 "Dambusters" 1998 CAG Livery https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=213788 F-18C VFA-195 "Dambusters" July 2001 CAG Livery https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=215950 Pilot avatars for DCS Logbook https://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=221160 How to make a DCS A-10C Panel http://forums.eagle.ru/showthread.php?t=65998
GregP Posted March 16, 2011 Posted March 16, 2011 TigersharkBAS, why not just build one? It ain't THAT hard. :)
Tyro-AWG Posted March 17, 2011 Author Posted March 17, 2011 Still prototyping, will be deciding over the next two weeks whether it is profitable to sell the panels just as panels or whether to go for switches and backing plates too and up the cost. At the moment I'm trying a few things and talking to the laser cutting company about costs. The estimate is £25 for a panel alone, I have a £100 ESTIMATE for a functional UFC without the master caution light function. More news in a fortnight, max.
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