Spitfire IX Project

[Tony Hill]

Thnaks Mate,

Yes I was aware of it:

http://www.simcontrol.co.uk/offboard.htm


I emailed them a while back for their prices but the cost of freight to Australia would be prohibitive given the weight of the kit. I also have a problem as to how to fit their frame into a scale cockpit. It is really designed to "stand alone".

As I got the chance to pick up the spade grip I elected to go the fabrication route. Then I found this place and got in touch with Gwyn. After seeing what he did with the U/C lever I have abandoned all intentions to do any of the mechanical work....much easier and more effective to get THE MAN who knows these things and has talent, to do them for me! I can now concentrate on the things I can do and the overall result will be much better for it.

cheers for your interest





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[warvet]

That is a Fantastic project and definitely the man to help you is Gwyn, Phil also would be an excellent guy for specialized panels and stuff. I wish I had an 1/8 the talent these men have in the little fingers

Tim

[Tony Hill]

Thanks Tim,

I hope it is different enough to provide some interest.

Gwyn certainly is a master. I don't know Phil but the panels in the Spitty are restricted to warning placards and I have access to a Laser Machine so they are pretty right.

Below is the real thing that I am building a copy of as my current project whilst waiting on the gauges:



and a colour picture of same



As you can see from the next picture, it will be highly visible on the cockpit wall, so I want make a good job of it:




I should have it finished by tomorrow and be able to post pictures. So far just the face plate and knobs are done. A lot of the work (thanks to my mate Chris and his Corel draw talent and Engraver) is laser engraved. I then paint and detail, assemble add knobs, switches etc and scratch build the parts that are too 3 dimensional to cut on his engraver, in this case the plug area. I will also wire the switches to operate the screen shot functions...so in a sense it will truly be a "camera control" not just an attractive curiosity,







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[Tony Hill]

Ok,

Just to prove that I can actually build something, here are the fruits of this weekend’s interrupted labour….


(Photo credit to SpitfireSpares.com)











The results are quite pleasing, to me at least.. Thanks to my mate, his talent and his laser engraver, much of the detail work was done on corel draw and engraved on Laserlight adhesive film. That makes the aluminium labels really shine! The box is a project box in ABS plastic (a new face plate had to be done because ABS gives off toxic fumes and can’t be laser cut)

The knobs are standard electronics store ones except for the “pull out to turn” which was custom made. The lights are 20mm LED’s with a laser cut surround.

The exposure counter is fully 3D, achieved by a technique we worked out to do some F-16 gauges. The face plate was engraved with the kidney shape and the marker hairline. On the back we engraved the numbers and counter ticks as a flipped image. The hairline marker, numbers and “ticks” are then filled with black paint. The back of the window is then painted white over the top of that black and the screws melted into the face plate to make it look like they secure the window.

The result is a marker line that actually casts a shadow on the number face which is literally behind the glass! Sorry the camera can’t quite catch it.

The unit is controlled by a rotary as on/off and a rotary for exposure delay which will be the trigger for a screen shot to be taken. I had hoped to get rotary with a push button action as well but no luck. I could use an encoder but that would mean another board to buy…I don’t actually need any encoders in the pit. (this could change if I decide to use encoders for Trim..at the moment in my test bed I am using DA pots and they seem to work satisfactorily.

The Counter Re-set is a dead control.

The 24 volts, on off and arrow plus the “pull out” legend were then backfilled with white paint and “worn” to look a bit used, as was the pull out knob. I still need to age the other knobs with some cotton wool and turpentine.

Finally the base area and plugs were scratch built, painted and “worn” to represent plug in, plug out a number of times. They are of MDF and will contain dummy wires for the control plug and the rotary switch wires etc in the “power plug” (left) which will run forward to behind the panel.


More soon I hope





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[phil744]

Hey Tony,

I have to confess, I am a secret subscriber to this thread, the spitfire is my personal number one aircraft, 2 is the 747 classic and 3 is the hawker hunter, I am always gobsmacked by the infinate level of detail you are putting into your build, simply amazing stuff,

anyway, you have probably seen these before on Ebay, just want to make sure, would look great in your sim, keep up the good work

item numbers 290287457260 & 120365043865

[Kennair]

Wow very sweet. I look forward to seeing this baby someday.

Ken.

[Michael Carter]

That's fantastic work, a brilliant reproduction.

That shows a lot of talent and the attention to detail is obvious.

[Westozy]

Good stuff Darryl, that is really pro....


Gwyn

[Tony Hill]

Thanks Gents,

Phil, the ebay items look great but postage to Australia is a real killer on heavy items. You did however get me looking at ebay at just the right moment to pick up a WW2 RAAF flight computer, so cheers for that!

Gwyn, cheers that is high praise comming from you.

Michael, looking at your thread, I think you beat me hands down for attention to detail!

Ken, any time. The '16 is flyable, so next time you come down this way, call in, I'll show you that and the "Spitfire Bits". Hope to catch you up there on Sunday.

I just hope I can get my large scale building to look OK. I suffer from extreme impatience when it comes to structures!!

As soon as FI get me the gauges I can rough out the exact instrument panel layout. Then the structure can start to be designed around that. I will probably tackle the seat in the mean time. It will all have to wait until after the Australia Day long weekend now...I have a hot date with a Super Decathlon this weekend



Darryl



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[Tony Hill]

Had a win today, my latest acquisition:




It is the morse key that links to the upper and lower signalling lights. All Spitfire pilots had to be able to send morse at 15 wpm. The main use apparently being to send the aircraft's code number to the tower/ground handlers.

Another highly visible piece, high on the right wall but this one would have been hard to make. Besides, I am thinking of wiring it to a signalling light to tap out basic instructions like..."beer"..."dinner"..."phone"..."dog wants to go out" etc. Now I just have to figure where to put it so that the "hostess" can see it


I have also picked up a set of 1:1 plans for the fuselage which should aid considerably in construction!


Happy days....





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