1:1 Spitfire K9817 Cockpit Build (5 Viewers)

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A little more progress.
The main handle knob, polymer undercoat, three coats of black gloss and three coats of clear gloss. Currently set aside to harden for three days. It is finished to a very high sheen which unfortunately doesn't show in the photo.

The completed U/C Cock valve handle and frame.


Finally, the completed main handle attached to the old Anson Pump with the machined piston that will trip the limit switch attached to the scratch built extra frame for the top cylinder.

Next job is to finish paintng the top guide and then get the Raise/Lower lettering enamelled and baked.
 
Gnomey said:
Looks great so far Darryl!
Click to expand...

Thanks Wurger and Hugh,

Mechanisms wise, the only thing left to work out now is the final length of that top piston, as THAT will determine the TIME that the switch is active during the pump action.

The longer the piston, the longer it will stay on the limit switch and the shorter the period that the pump in sim is actually moving, as that is programmed to "pump" while the simulator "event" is "on" rather than to move one stroke each button press.

That in turn depends on how far back in the pump body I can mount the switch and the length of "stroke" that translates through the pump handle (which has to stay clear of the instrument panel at the forward extent of its travel) once it is fitted in the cockpit.

THAT can be controlled by adding washers in behind the large spring I've put in the main cylinder, which reduce the travel of the top of the main handle by about 5:1.

The pump has to be mounted so the top of the handle has enough travel to move the cylinder off the switch for about 1 second at a time and the travel time for the stroke is also roughly 1 to 1 1/2 seconds.

The REALLY clever bit is making the NUMBER of physical pump actions required to raise/lower the undercarriage match the sim as we spent a LOT of time getting that right in the A2A Spitfire model.

Oh..and then there is the little trick that it takes 15 pumps to raise the undercarriage but 30 to lower it! So if my physical pump does not match that, it will be wrong.. even if I am probably the only person on earth who would notice

Too easy eh? I'M SO CONFUSED!!!!!!

View: https://youtu.be/pXw7LYWNi5E?t=24s
 
Well, a long hard and sometimes nightmarish road but finally tonight we have got from this:






To this:








Final test fit of all the painted parts of the main pump. I still have to do the mounting brackets, the
cockpit wall plate, the locking pin control wires and bend some clock spring to make the various holders and limit stops etc. Also still need to do the pipework. But for now I am just happy that it has come out "close to" the real thing!

Been on it since 1700 and it is now 2340 .... bed time!!
 
And to round out the day, I've just snavelled this replica Oxy regulator, the older type, to replace the later one in the cockpit at the moment.

The wording and gauge marks are not perfect for the very early one but I may get a new plate engraved or just wear it as a repair/replacement circa 1941/2

I'll have to wait until it arrives, because he has just listed another using the same photo... but the radium level will need to be checked, judging on the Oxy Quantity. . The flow looks very much newer and may just have some other phosphorous compound. The Dosimeter will tell all!

 
Thanks Wurger and Glenn.

Not a lot of time on the weekend unfortunately, my wife has been quite ill.

But I did manage to get the new Spitfire I type fuelcock plate cut out and marked for the interior cuts, along with
the PrimingCock which on the One chose between Off, priming the Carb and priming the Cylinders. That worked out to be a VERY bad idea and several engine fires later, from over-primed carbs, the primingcocks were removed.

The Primingcock plate came up a treat and I got it perfectly round by rough cutting it and then using an arbor to put it in the lathe.
I haven't tried that before (and it required a soft touch) but worked well.

Both plates will be natural finish, as per the shot of them in P9374 below.

No photos, as I've had to drop them off at my mate Chris, the engraver, to get the full notation put on. As soon as I get them back, photos!!

 
A small bit of progress last night... an almost unknown piece of the pump puzzle. It sits on the back wall and helps hold the cock lever in place when the spiggot is engaged in either the Lower or Raise position.

A nice little piece and fun to make apart from note to self: Don't hold clock spring in hand to drill holes. No stitches but a painful lesson. Tetanus shots up to date!

 
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