thierry laurent Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Hi, Many planes, typically US ones, saw a noticeable increase of the avionics, radio and navigation boxes at the end of the fifties. There could be a lot of them in some planes. Some companies such as Collins sold tons of them to users such as the USAF. I mentioned the AC-47 in another thread (at least 15 boxes!) but this also applies to the other military planes of the transistor and analog systems era. They are not visible in most planes but are in multi-seat ones or if you open some hatches. Here's coming the question: how to replicate many different boxes easily? Creating a traditional master is not realistic as most of the boxes have different dimensions. So, it is not a matter of replicating multiple copies of a single one. Moreover, scratchbuilding all of them will be time consuming as making perfecty rectangular boxes is not that easy and the exercise has to be repeated for each one. And considering the number of boxes I've to recreate for my HpH AC-47, this does not look to be a good idea. This made me think to another option: 3D printing. Here I see two options: 1. Build a detailed scale copy in a Fusion-like software and print each box. Printing could be done quickly as they're quite small and all of them can be printed at the same time. However, the problem may be the resolution of the printer to get the small details. Moreover, drawing all the knobs, connectors, ventilation vents and other features will ask for quite a lot of time. 2. Build a basic scale copy of all of them without any feature. This means just printing "bricks"! All the features would be added later with punched knobs, plastic strips and so on, possibly on a thin polystyrene sheet. Last, there is another parameter in the equation. I will very probably buy a 3D printer when my house extension will be made (hopefully next year as that damned COVID crisis delayed everything) but in the meanwhile, I've no place to put and use one. So, in the meanwhile, what would you recommend: A. Commission somebody to print the basic "bricks" and do the rest myself with traditional modelling techniques? B. Purchase Fusion, build the detailed boxes and send the file to somebody who can print with a correct resolution (but whom?)? I do not consider the option to commission the full process as drawing the boxes details would be time-consuming and would result in a too expensive project. Option A seems currently the most realistic as I need a learning curve to work with such a software and without the possibility to test the printing part, there is the problem of impossibility to tweak the files. So, this could also result in overcosts. Accordingly, option A seems to me the most reasonable option. However, I do not think that any commercial service is offering that possibility to print basic bricks in different dimensions! What do you think? Do I miss another option? Thanks for any insight. Thierry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony T Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 ANYZ models make tiny knobs and switches. I'd be inclined to use those with scratchbuilt little boxes which somebody could copy in resin. Airscale etc do dials and etch that's suitable, and copper wire can be used for the oftenfound black box carry handles. There are also a bunch of etch sets that offer this kind of stuff, like the Eduard avionics bay dressing for the LTV A-7 SLUFs, as do those kits if you just close up an empty fuselage. Best of luck if you decide to design and print. Expensive investment, but gratifying. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 Thanks Tony. I have everything required to add the details. I'm still wondering about the boxes but you made me think about the Corsair. As I have the Aires sets, the kits ones are not required anymore. I will check if I cannot use some of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunwinglow Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Design them yourself and 3d print them, with a resin printer of some sort. And for boxes with knobs on, a freebie program like TinkerCAD would be perfectly capable of doing the job. But then, I would say that, wouldn't I!!?? Rick Griewski and thierry laurent 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 Well, I downloaded Fusion 360 but the program is so powerful that I'm somewhat lost in the interface and will have to look more seriously at tutorials. For the printing, a very kind LSP member proposed me to print them on his FormLabs 2 for free! So, I'm covered with that part. Actually, I'm currently torn between the interest to have a look at that sofware and allocate the required time to design all the boxes and the fact this time will be more time in front of a keyboard and a screen rather than playing with plastic and resin! So, even if I'm going to consider such CAD programs seriously (more particularly if I get a 3D printer when the house extension will be done), I'm hesitating for that specific project. At the same time, designing boxes is not the most difficult project! I will have a look at TinkerCAD as well! Thanks for the hint! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onosendai Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 4 hours ago, thierry laurent said: For the printing, a very kind LSP member proposed me to print them on his FormLabs 2 for free! So, I'm covered with that part. ...but it's me? I don't remember.... wunwinglow and thierry laurent 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted June 18, 2020 Author Share Posted June 18, 2020 42 minutes ago, onosendai said: ...but it's me? I don't remember.... No but I appreciate your reaction! LSP is really a great place! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunwinglow Posted June 18, 2020 Share Posted June 18, 2020 5 hours ago, onosendai said: ...but it's me? I don't remember.... The same thought flashed through my head!! Old age, failing memory, all that stuff!! thierry laurent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 Excellent! I won't have to buy a 3D printer but ask successively each of you (in round robbin mode?) while saying you made that promise to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onosendai Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 15 hours ago, thierry laurent said: No but I appreciate your reaction! LSP is really a great place! I'm really waiting for the " F-4 black boxes" you need to do to finish our project..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thierry laurent Posted June 19, 2020 Author Share Posted June 19, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, onosendai said: I'm really waiting for the " F-4 black boxes" you need to do to finish our project..... For god's sake, you're right. Sorry for that. With that damned Covid crisis, I've completely forgotten that last step! I will solve that asap. This simply shows you're not the only ones having memory problems! Edited June 19, 2020 by thierry laurent wunwinglow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunwinglow Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 (edited) 11 hours ago, thierry laurent said: For god's sake, you're right. Sorry for that. With that damned Covid crisis, I've completely forgotten that last step! I will solve that asap. This simply shows you're not the only ones having memory problems! Excuse me, do I remember you from, Norwich, I think? I am afraid I have never been to Norwich. Do you know, neither have I! It must have been two other fellows, then! Edited June 19, 2020 by wunwinglow tense... thierry laurent 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeC Posted June 19, 2020 Share Posted June 19, 2020 3 minutes ago, wunwinglow said: Excuse me, do I remember you from, Norwich, I think? I am afraid I have never been to Norwich. Do you know, neither have I! It must have been two other fellows, then! I've been to Norwich. B-24 country. A nice city with a good air museum at Horsham St Faith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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