Building a New Oxygen Panel

So I used to build actual military simulation equipment. Our multi-position switches were cast urethane resin, with just a simple ball detent engaging a ramp cast into the rotating body. It was a simple stainless steel ball with a tiny coil spring. If I were worried about wear in the plastic, I would bend up a strip of brass or stainless steel shim stock and epoxy it to the ramp surface where the ball rides. Even a small notch that a ball detent could catch would give a nice feeling of positive engagement.

Quick note for the Pressure Lever - I am in USN flight school in the T-6A. The lever is spring loaded out of the TEST MASK position. Switching to TEST MAX and EMERGENCY have the same effect in the aircraft, but EMERGENCY keeps the supply at high pressure with TEST MASK only being momentary to verify a good seal during post start checks. You could probably adjust the two-position version to account for this with a spring that only engages in the TEST MASK position. Great content and looks awesome!

That’s brilliant! Didn’t fully understand the the position solution though. As a shearing way of doing the wear and tear painting, you could paint the first layer metal color, then spray with hair spray, then with black. Once you done your engraving you can then use a wet cotton swab (or a wet tooth pick) to go over the area you want to wear out. The hair spray will ensure the black paint can be reactivated with water. It gives a very good wear effect. Once you’re satisfied you can stray over with clear, which locks in the layers underneath.

One more bit for accuracy... When the panel is switched off, the other levers are forced back to Normal Normal. The Mask Test is spring loaded to return to Normal if not held. Emergency and Mask Test will cause flow to be constant, and consequently Flow indicator will show white. Normal will only flow when a breath is taken (i.e. intermittently). Fantastic looking panel!

Wow. This entire project is amazing. I’m a retired military aviator and your sim is on par with anything less than a full motion sim. Very cool. I may need to start a project of my own.

It's funny that YouTube shared your channel with me; I'm a printer and maker, but I happen to have a deep love for the Warthog (outside YouTube's algorithm's knowledge.) I expect I will be thrilled beyond belief as I explore your earlier content.

For the 3-selector switch, use 3 magnets and 2 reed switches (one on top and one on bottom). If the top reed switch is activated, you know the switch is up; if both reed switches are active, you know it's in the middle, and if only the bottom reed switch is active you know it's down. You should be able to do this without significant redesign of your existing file.

Your fabrication and design skills are nuts. (says the guy who is currently sanding 12 pieces of 3d printed storm trooper helmet).

Whats more fun? - Building the cockpit or flying in it?

A real hero makes his prints available to everyone! Good on yah! You are a level 10 craftsman

Thanks for being an example to show my wife when I want some new small piece of kit - 'Look babe, I could be doing this instead!' :D

Hate to be that guy... but I wouldnt be able to sleep at night if I didn't say something (haha). The flow indicator isn't a light. It was a selsyn indicator and was white only when oxygen was flowing through the system. So with the switch in Emergency, held in Test or when taking a breath in Normal. Amazing project!

I’ve never seen that method of using vinyl for covering electronics, I might have to consider doing that myself in the future. It might be useful for robotics or RC vehicles where space can be an issue but you still need to make sure nothing can short out.

Incredible. I love the magnetic switch solution—if you find the reed switches too fragile, you could use a Hall effect sensor. Really nicely done weathering effect as well. I'm surprised at how well the acrylic diffuses those LEDs, on camera at least.

I'm absolutely no sim gamer and wasn't aware this would get so professional but I'm blown away by the work you've done here. This is extremely fascinating and I'm deeply impressed.

Perfection mate, well done.

A better alternative to reed switches are hall effect sensors, you can get some with an analogue output or with a digital output, you can get them very cheap as well (likely cheaper than those reed switches) and are easier to work with because they aren’t attracted to magnets and they just have a plastic housing rather than glass and they would probably take up less space. They just have a plastic housing with three leads coming out of it. Using digital ones would be good for switches and analogue ones are good for analogue controls or you can use analogue ones for switches but have a programmable threshold for the switch, although you would need to be able to read the analogue voltage. Plus there is nothing mechanical in the sensor that can wear out or break and they are much less fragile and you don’t need to worry about direction because it has a flat top and bottom, just get it the right way round and it will work fine.

Nice work and great attention to the details. As already mentioned the test lever has to be held at test to operate and is spring loaded to go back to the normal position. The flow indicator isn't a light, its a mechanical indicator that flicks from black to white in operation (inhale and exhale) - it is illuminated using the same internal green EL as the pressure gauge.

I find that Tamiya buff makes a good weathering generically scuffed whilst no specific material nice reproduction❤

Just wanted to say love the project and the streams you do in it. Really great work.