I figured I would share this link to get people interested in starting the hobby for themselves. Any ideas or questions let me know.

www.facebook.com/casey.welch.1428/media_...635029344&type=3

You don't have to have facebook to look at the photos, The album is open to the public.

Vid: www.facebook.com/casey.welch.1428/videos/860008694096957/

O.o Dood, we gotta talk ive been wanting to do this for a few years now, just haven't had the space or money to yet, but hopefully i will soon

Works fine for me. I love these, and will build a pit someday when i can afford it.

The album of photos is only on my FB acct and is set to public. I'll eventually get an album set up on another site, or may even build a website for this.

That is amazing. Really impressive to see the detail you are putting into it. Even molding the knobs! One hell of a project!

Looks great Firedawg. I was messing with a new arduino board much of this week and got the programming done for what will be my custom Ka50 panel. Now the the electrical is done and functioning, on to the mechanical build.

What material and thickness did you use for the faceplate? I have both acrylic and lexan sheets to experiment with. Did you use a CNC to cut? I have access to a mill, but that won't be as accurate.

Awesome!

I recommend using this for the faceplate www.rowmark.com/laser/LaserMAX/lasermax.asp.
This is engravable plastic so the engrave depth is always the same which allows you to be as accurate as possible.

You can use this, www.inventables.com/technologies/31-ligh...-white-acrylic-sheet
but you have to paint a coat of grey, then black, then engrave, then clear(matte) coat it. Takes more time and if you paint too thick or unevenly you wont have a uniform engrave depth across the panel.

The faceplate can be as thin/thick as you need, just needs to be durable.
i used a clear lexan polycarb piece for the "midplate" so that the rings of the switches have a gap and it provides a thick layer for LED placement. The clear polycarb with painted edges allows the light to remain trapped, and makes the illumination more distributed throughout the panel. The backplate(mounting plate) is also a piece of polycarb, thick enough to provide durability for the switches etc. It has to be durable enough to prevent cracking. Another option is aluminum back plate.

I use the Shapeoko 2 CNC, but the more updated machine is this www.inventables.com/technologies/x-carve.

Check here for replica Dzus Screws: pcflights.com/index.php?main_page=produc...&products_id=232

and for knobs, get with me and ill mold some, still needing a few styles so I am constantly searching ebay for those.

NICE!, you gonna get those MFD panels to put on there?

WANT!!!

Not the thrustmasters, I will be cutting my own to the actual dimensions of the real thing.

That's some next level shit man. Nice workmanship!

Bezels coming along, waiting for tact switches and rotary encoders to come in so i can build the remaining bezels(with knobs) and the MFCD's

what are you going to do about the armament panel, it is being covered by the screen.

When I build it the Arm.Panel itself will stand-off just enough so that the switch prongs do not touch the screen. The panel will project itself about a 1/4 inch from the console but it is a small sacrifice and i can make it blend in. I can also bend or clip the prongs to give me more space.

awesome, i figured that is what you would do. turning out well so far. loving it.