MIP Thickness

[redman]

Hi all,
I have used 9mm MDF for my 767 MIP, and am very close to making the instrument cutouts.
I am looking at it though, and 9mm might be too thick.
Has anyone used 9mm ok? Should I look at using a router to bring it back to about 5mm?

Whats the consensus?

Cheers
Chris

[Michael Carter]

Don't really know how thick wood should be for a MIP.

My aluminum Boeing panels measure .130" or 3.3mm thick.

[JBaymore]

I used 1/4 inch thick MDF. Worked fine for MY pit.

best,

...................john

[Westozy]

I used 6mm grey PVC sheet, it's really strong and doesn't need painting. The panel outlines are machined with a Dremel & router attachment.

Gwyn

[Tomlin]

Hi all. This post came along just in time for me as well. There is one popular supplier of panels who's site states that the panels are made at a scale size of 6mm. Can anyone confirm this? Also, is this for the top layer, or for the top layer and the 2nd layer where the fasteners attach?

Gwyn,

Your panels look pretty good. Did you use the router to make the bevel on your display unit bezels? I had seen this gray pvc and considered using it for my temp panels until some L45 panels are available.

[Westozy]

Hi all. This post came along just in time for me as well. There is one popular supplier of panels who's site states that the panels are made at a scale size of 6mm. Can anyone confirm this? Also, is this for the top layer, or for the top layer and the 2nd layer where the fasteners attach?

Gwyn,

Your panels look pretty good. Did you use the router to make the bevel on your display unit bezels? I had seen this gray pvc and considered using it for my temp panels until some L45 panels are available.

Rgr, where the monitor squares are cut out I doubled the thickness by glueing an extra piece on the back of the MIP. This allowed the bevelled edges to be a little deeper and closer to scale. PVC likes superglue, you have to be accurate at positioning additional pieces to the MIP as it sticks quickly.
My MIP, Centre console, throttle quad and overhead is all made from grey PVC. The sheeting is called "Trovidur".

Gwyn

[Tomlin]

Rgr, where the monitor squares are cut out I doubled the thickness by glueing an extra piece on the back of the MIP. This allowed the bevelled edges to be a little deeper and closer to scale. PVC likes superglue, you have to be accurate at positioning additional pieces to the MIP as it sticks quickly.
My MIP, Centre console, throttle quad and overhead is all made from grey PVC. The sheeting is called "Trovidur".

Gwyn

Okay, good idea- thicker on the backside to give more depth. I like that idea, thanks!

[Kennair]

I made mine out of 9mm MDF because I had it lying around, and it's too thick. I intend redoing it using Gwyn's 6mm grey plastic idea. Easy to work with, looks realistic and already coloured.

Ken.

[Tomlin]

For those of you with no backlighting capability, how does it work for you? I guess until you have backlighting on your panels, it's not really missed. I know that unless something else comes about, my panels Im making for now will not be back lit until I learn a way to do it nicely, or of course buy a set when they ever come available.

[Westozy]

I made mine out of 9mm MDF because I had it lying around, and it's too thick. I intend redoing it using Gwyn's 6mm grey plastic idea. Easy to work with, looks realistic and already coloured.

Ken.

"Trovidur" 6mm PVC available from Fusion Plastics in O'Connor. It was AUD$250 for 2400 x 1200 sheet 2 years ago. It's easy to weld also. (That's if you are trained at plastic welding of course)!!!!!!!
http://www.fusionplastics.com.au/

[andarlite]

For those of you with no backlighting capability, how does it work for you? I guess until you have backlighting on your panels, it's not really missed. I know that unless something else comes about, my panels Im making for now will not be back lit until I learn a way to do it nicely, or of course buy a set when they ever come available.

I don't have backlighting capability on my mip or pedestal, mainly because I built those earlier (before discovering this site) and didn't know any better. However, I am going to be starting my overhead soon and I have been studying how Gwyn did his. I'm not sure if I have the skill or the time to cut out all those rectangular holes for the backlighting of the words and annunciators thought.... I mean sometimes I spend a few hours just cutting out one rectangular hole on a panel.... it could take me weeks to do all those on the overhead.

So I was thinking, what if I used clear plexiglass instead for the main and change my bitmaps of the panel to be clear on the areas where the light should shine throught (it's much easier to do this "cutting out" on the computer than on a physical panel). Then you would stick all this onto the plexiglass and then just drill holes for the switches. From this point on, I would continue as Gwyn did and printed the actual panel bitmaps (with all the wording) to stick onto smaller individual panels (2mm plexiglass) and then screw onto the main panel. So basically the light would pass throught the clear areas on the main and light up the words on the individual panels and be block by the painted areas of the printed bitmaps.

Hope that make sense. What do you guys think? Would this work?

Regards,
Henry

[Westozy]

So I was thinking, what if I used clear plexiglass instead for the main and change my bitmaps of the panel to be clear on the areas where the light should shine throught (it's much easier to do this "cutting out" on the computer than on a physical panel). Then you would stick all this onto the plexiglass and then just drill holes for the switches. From this point on, I would continue as Gwyn did and printed the actual panel bitmaps (with all the wording) to stick onto smaller individual panels (2mm plexiglass) and then screw onto the main panel. So basically the light would pass throught the clear areas on the main and light up the words on the individual panels and be block by the painted areas of the printed bitmaps.

Hope that make sense. What do you guys think? Would this work?

Regards,
Henry

That's precisely what I thought of half way through my OH build when it was too late to change tack! Cut the rectangles in paper rather than the plastic. I have all the bitmaps required for the 737NG and will be putting them on the site when I get my act together, there's a few people waiting for them. Soon, it WILL happen, it's just finding the time. Aerosim Solutions has been swamped with orders and I have enough work for at least 6 months. (I wasn't supposed to be starting until January!).

I think you would probably need 3 layers of stickers, 2 with cut outs to effectively block unwanted light bleeding through the paper. My O/H took about 90 hours over 5 weeks to build but only cost AUD$350 including hardware. Good luck if you try this new idea, I will watch with interest!

Gwyn