Getting Panels Engraved?

[JohnB]

I found a site called Hispapanels which do custom panels, looking around the 80 EUR mark for an MCP size... has anyone ever used these?

http://www.hispapanels.com/tienda/en...ness-3-mm.html

Henri

That sounds quite expensive.....maybe I should take another look at my prices .


John

[Jerrymc3]

I have made many panels for other users (here and other forum) and a few for other users..I am definitely NOT expensive as this is not a huge money making enterprise as such its more to further the hobby for people and put a sim in the grasp of the poor (like me)
( I can pop some pictures up of my work)
John

Could you send me some pics of your panels, not gauges. I might see if you are interested in remaking some of mine that didn't turn out to well. The only thing is they would be brown rather than gray. I didn't actually use the Boeing Brown formula. I got the paint from Sherwin Williams (USA) and they tried to match the color but it turned out with a little more red than the Boeing color. Incidentally, I used Adobe Illustrator to design my panels. I live in Dallas, Texas USA, not sure if that's an issue.

Jerry

[JohnB]

Could you send me some pics of your panels, not gauges. I might see if you are interested in remaking some of mine that didn't turn out to well. The only thing is they would be brown rather than gray. I didn't actually use the Boeing Brown formula. I got the paint from Sherwin Williams (USA) and they tried to match the color but it turned out with a little more red than the Boeing color. Incidentally, I used Adobe Illustrator to design my panels. I live in Dallas, Texas USA, not sure if that's an issue.

Jerry

Hi Jerry

I have started a thread and am adding my panels day by day ( at least the ones I took photo's of before bubble wrapping them).

http://www.mycockpit.org/forums/showthread.php?t=29330

The colour should not be and issue ..if.. your company can supply the RAL number of the colour they made then mine should be the same .... Or I have an excellent paint mixing company near me so maybe a swatch from you ...but they charge £17 for one spray can yeah its not cheap but I am using cans for my panels, at the moment, until I move and have a proper workshop.

I use Coreldraw so I can export to my laser real easy. I usually end up redrawing imported drawings, but hey, I am getting quite quick at knocking out drawings now.

USA is no real problem except the exchange rate and shipping..... I have guys with my panels in Canada, USA, Israel, France and Italy....ha ha sounds like I am a big company ...its like just a few panels in Italy, (They are airbus panels for a guy here) maybe 3 in USA in USA etc !!!!! (In England I have a bit more ). But you get the picture. For one off's or special panels always give me a yell ya never know.
(I am a semi retired plumber by trade).

John

[Henju]

That sounds quite expensive.....maybe I should take another look at my prices .


John

Lol, I mean what...
How much would you be charging...?

Henri

[JohnB]

Lol, I mean what...
How much would you be charging...?

Henri

Hi Henri

Easily half that.!

John

[m0ng00se]

If you are going to use back lighting, then the better acrylic to use is in fact 'Opal' instead of white as the white i quite opaque..

Or better still is Opal for the very front panel but clear for the rear mounting panel. (same price though)

John

Hi John,

Nice work on the panels ... however, I have also made some panels, first white acrylic, then opal .. the problem with opal is that when the text is not backlit, it does not appear nice and white. Best is to use clear acrylic, I have found a great thread that explains that : http://www.cockpitbuilders.com/commu...c=2107.0;nowap

[JohnB]

Hi M0ng00se

Yes I hear what you are saying but I honestly feel too many people get too hung up on tiny details like this...I go for a 'good' authenticity but if I want exact I would save up and buy a real one LOL

I would always choose opal over white because :-

1.The white is way way to stark and it looks so unreal on just about every panel I have seen.Well engraved lettering is perfectly readable in ambient light
2. Most (or at least many) home cockpit users have the back lighting on mainly due to being in a room with ambient lighting dimmed so there is either no reflections on the screens or in the case of overhead projectors bleaching out the display.
3.Have the "it must be white" folks seen a real cockpit...hardly white more filthy dirty LMAO
ADF_knob_.jpg

I rest my case

John

[m0ng00se]

Hi M0ng00se

Yes I hear what you are saying but I honestly feel too many people get too hung up on tiny details like this...I go for a 'good' authenticity but if I want exact I would save up and buy a real one LOL

I would always choose opal over white because :-

1.The white is way way to stark and it looks so unreal on just about every panel I have seen.Well engraved lettering is perfectly readable in ambient light

John

I have real boeing panels and they are white letters, not the "dull" opal look, so not sure what is unreal about that ? Also, when you are making IBL panels like the real ones, you do need the clear acrylic for light to spread out inside the panel. I never use white acrylic.

[JohnB]

Well I have to say the difference between the white in your picture and the white in my picture is, although both real panels,..I have never yet seen a, in use, 737 cockpit as shiny as the one in your picture. It seems to me that the fact it appears brand new with no dirt, that it looks,somehow, less authentic.... if you see what I mean? crazy I know ..its similar to people that get stressed when a panel gets chipped or scratched, I mean the ones in daily use look like a bad day in a war zone.

In my experience opal is way easier to back light, putting it easily in the realm of the less skilled hobbyist,( a simple led strip for an entire bank of panels) with easily controllable light bleed giving a perfectly acceptable (for 99% of people) finish.

If people want to make a plastic "real" 737 (or whatever), that's great, go buy genuine panels or even these commercial panels that go to the nth degree for "realism". Pay anything upwards of £130 for a half decent bare audio control panel (without buttons).

I, for one, am not fortunate enough to even begin to afford that type of build (and going by the guys I get emails from, they ain't either LOL)

So for a compromise and affordability, as an example, I can do all the Audio control panel parts in a kit (using opal ) for £20-30 including buttons & UK postage ...no contest!!!!!! I do it to put the hobby within the reach of people like myself ....well poor basically . BTW this is not an advert! As I make hardly anything on my stuff...in fact quite often just break even

I have one real 737 & one real 767 pilots that are perfectly happy with opal.

So I shall now bow out of the 'whiter than white' challenge and leave that to the soap powder advertising campaigns.

John

[m0ng00se]

Well I have to say the difference between the white in your picture and the white in my picture is, although both real panels,..I have never yet seen a, in use, 737 cockpit as shiny as the one in your picture. It seems to me that the fact it appears brand new with no dirt, that it looks,somehow, less authentic.... if you see what I mean? crazy I know ..its similar to people that get stressed when a panel gets chipped or scratched, I mean the ones in daily use look like a bad day in a war zone.

In my experience opal is way easier to back light, putting it easily in the realm of the less skilled hobbyist,( a simple led strip for an entire bank of panels) with easily controllable light bleed giving a perfectly acceptable (for 99% of people) finish.

If people want to make a plastic "real" 737 (or whatever), that's great, go buy genuine panels or even these commercial panels that go to the nth degree for "realism". Pay anything upwards of £130 for a half decent bare audio control panel (without buttons).

John

John,

Just trying to help mate and share my experience. As I say, I started with white, then tried opal, but after I bought the real panels, I saw how they do it and then moved to clear acrylic with a thin white layer on top before painting and then engrave down to the white layer.

Just saying, you don't have to buy real panels, you can make them for not a lot more than what you make them now, just a slightly different technique.

I have a CNC mill as well, so I can mill the back to fit IBL PCBs (not shown in picture, just used iphone torch to test). I use laser to engrave. Example below is my prototype DU panels:

10947185_10152545205156735_600719149618890479_n.jpg

10471501_10152549055566735_5131423690194096070_n.jpg

P.S. btw .. I'm sure the real 737 panels I have must be used, they are stamped 1991 on the back, so they are already 24 years old