Many years ago I bought a Go Flight Radio Panel with the intention of adding more but it never got much use as it didn't have any handy mount or stand, just a PCB sticking out the back. The shipping costs and added import duty for the official mounting boxes meant it wasn't likely to get used. And sure enough it has just collected dust. it might be nice to mount it alongside some of my existing Saitek Pro Flight Panels.
Going to the product page at GoFlight we get some basic specifications, a panel size (in inches) of 7.25" x 2" high.
Measuring the panel this is pretty accurate (my digital Vernier scale says it's a fraction under at 1.99" but I'll assume there's some inaccuracy).
Remembering to set the units to "inches" temporarily, Fusion lets us do this on the fly in the object tree to the left. I love this tool.
I've downloaded a product image of the panel (see below) and I using this we can hit the "Insert" menu to attach it as a "canvas" to the front axis.
When we import an image to use as a canvas it will not be the correct size, Fusion provides the "calibrate" option which will allow us to pick to points on the image and type in the distance between them. And doing that immediately places our image perfectly into our existing sketch. Amazing! We must be doing something right.
Using a digital scale to figure out the thickness of the front panel ( 0.06" or 1.6mm) we can extrude it (hot key "e") to create the first body for the main faceplate.
Then cut outs for mounting holes, LEDs, segmented displays, buttons and the single rotary knob.
I realised that I was premature in creating a body and should have stuck to sketching out the details for the panel. So going back to sketch mode I spent the next hour measuring the distances for the buttons. Again I highly recommend investing in a good digital gauge.
I made heavy use of the "dimensioning" (hot key "d") tool to push shapes into their measured positions. Since I don't intend to print a front panel I didn't add any fillets to round off corners.
The PCB on the rear will be added as a simple box to show clearances and finally the recreated panel looks something like this....
I learned about editing sketches and how Fusion will intelligently guess you want to create holes when you overlap them. And I made heavy use of the dimension tool and learned that selection order will control which side gets pushed (parent > child, first, second).
It looks more complicated than it was, which was just attention to detail and measuring. I can see how making game models this way might be preferable if you have something you can measure, be it a sketch/tri view or a physical object like I had here.
When the game developers for the Enemy Engaged series at Razorworks built their military models, quite a few were constructed by measuring dimensions from unbuilt plastic model kits and precise measuring tools. If people ever wondered why they looked a little boxy or slightly off it's because angles are tricky to measure and some model kits are simply inaccurate. Entering measured values into LightWave 3D to build up the model. I'm sure there was more to it than that. It's not a new technique.
If I could make improvements to this model, it would be to replace the panel mounting holes with ovals rather than squares. I haven't figured out how to do this yet. I think I need a few more Fusion tutorials under my belt.
At the end of each project I shall make each one available to download.
https://goflightinc.com/store/gf-166-versatile-radio-panel/
 |
| This dusty GoFlight Radio Panel needs a place to live |
 |
| Saitek Pro Flight Panels - a unified mounting arrangement using M4 thumbscrews |
Project description
Build a mounting frame for the radio panel that is compatible with Saitek Pro Flight mounting system. It should match the styling of existing panels.Let's get started, dimensions
We need some measurements. If we are lucky, a manufacturer may have a drill template for mounting their hardware.Going to the product page at GoFlight we get some basic specifications, a panel size (in inches) of 7.25" x 2" high.
 |
| Product specifications from the GoFlight product page |
Measuring the panel this is pretty accurate (my digital Vernier scale says it's a fraction under at 1.99" but I'll assume there's some inaccuracy).
Lets hit Fusion and start sketching....
I want to create a mock radio panel, then build the housing that will provide standard Saitek panel mounting points. Let's make sure our view is set to "front" and centred over the origin we start with a "Sketch" and a centred rectangle. We make it a rough size then used the "Sketch Dimension" feature (hot key "d") to let us manually type in the dimensions.Remembering to set the units to "inches" temporarily, Fusion lets us do this on the fly in the object tree to the left. I love this tool.
 |
| First sketch - sizing the radio panel |
I've downloaded a product image of the panel (see below) and I using this we can hit the "Insert" menu to attach it as a "canvas" to the front axis.
 |
| Image used for canvas |
Using a digital scale to figure out the thickness of the front panel ( 0.06" or 1.6mm) we can extrude it (hot key "e") to create the first body for the main faceplate.
 |
| We made a body! |
I realised that I was premature in creating a body and should have stuck to sketching out the details for the panel. So going back to sketch mode I spent the next hour measuring the distances for the buttons. Again I highly recommend investing in a good digital gauge.
I made heavy use of the "dimensioning" (hot key "d") tool to push shapes into their measured positions. Since I don't intend to print a front panel I didn't add any fillets to round off corners.
 |
About an hour of measuring - you can see that a perspective photo doesn't line up with an orthographic projection, something to keep in mind when using canvases.
|
The PCB on the rear will be added as a simple box to show clearances and finally the recreated panel looks something like this....
 |
| Ready to make a panel for it to fit into. |
Summing up...
I learned about editing sketches and how Fusion will intelligently guess you want to create holes when you overlap them. And I made heavy use of the dimension tool and learned that selection order will control which side gets pushed (parent > child, first, second).
It looks more complicated than it was, which was just attention to detail and measuring. I can see how making game models this way might be preferable if you have something you can measure, be it a sketch/tri view or a physical object like I had here.
When the game developers for the Enemy Engaged series at Razorworks built their military models, quite a few were constructed by measuring dimensions from unbuilt plastic model kits and precise measuring tools. If people ever wondered why they looked a little boxy or slightly off it's because angles are tricky to measure and some model kits are simply inaccurate. Entering measured values into LightWave 3D to build up the model. I'm sure there was more to it than that. It's not a new technique.
If I could make improvements to this model, it would be to replace the panel mounting holes with ovals rather than squares. I haven't figured out how to do this yet. I think I need a few more Fusion tutorials under my belt.
In the next instalment...
Creating the housing using this model as a guide. And does one go with a full triple width console of 280mm to match the largest Saitek Pro-Flight console? Or squeeze it into a double width box? Or something entirely custom?At the end of each project I shall make each one available to download.
Links used in this blog...
https://goflightinc.com/store/gf-166-versatile-radio-panel/
Comments
Post a Comment