Barebones Outfitters - Your Starship Builders Headquarters!

 

Ok, I'm not bragging. She looks rough...

I tried blocking out some of the shapes in foam for the control surfaces and wall panels. There is little to nothing square about this setup, so I'm building in some allowances and considering my options. Since the inside walls will be built out with layers of foam, I just need to be concerned with how they connect to the frame. Then I can hide any gaps with pipe or cable runs. Oh, and I have to be able to take them back apart. In case I move again, for example... 

The foam will be coated with fiberglass and resin to hold up to use and abuse. That in itself is worthy of its own series of videos, and I'm excited to apply that skill to this project. 

Reactor Mark II.a

After building a ton of small test panels and proof of concept gizmos, I realized that I would need a better power solution than 8 power strips to run the wall warts for each led strip and microcontrollers. This is the power distribution unit, so far.

In essence, there are 8 relays that route power to 8 different circuits, all controlled by 5v signal. I'll use switches until the software control is written. 

When the power is off, each bank displays red blinking lights. 

A bank of yellow, green and blue lights turn on when powered. This will serve as a diagnostic tool (where the heck's the power?!) and looks frakking cool. 

My Gonk droid's faceplate sits waiting for me to finish powering it up as well. 

Humble beginnings. Again. 

Cardstock templates for the overhead panels.
Now I can scan and design accurate labels!

The overhead panel is a legit aicraft panel gifted to me. It had no cover panels but the switches were intact and until now I didn't realize how visually important these small panels are. It breaks the board up logically and I ca give each section an "in-universe" job,and have fun taking liberties. Few switches from this panel will interact with the PC - I need to be able to power and control all the devices, and the overhead is not where you reach things during combat.  

In the next installment, dressing out the overhead begins! What goes where, and why. 

I'll be building physical panels, designing each "character" and vinyl cutting details and labels. 

"Two Years Later ..."

 The world made me put away my toys for a while.

It had been more than a year since I played anything more complex than I could run on a gamepad. There was not a time that greater priorities didn't take precedence, and it was hard to find time to relax, let alone build anything new. 

But as the world began to open, I found myself with a bit more time and creative energy. The major renovations were complete, the business was securely operational and I spent months (ongoing) organizing and cleaning out storage bins. All of my tools, tech and gizmos were starting to find more permanent homes. I now had dedicated work areas stocked and ready. More than that, I started getting a real itch to "fly" again. 

Once the SimPit bug bites, it's really hard to fly without all the controls set up and at a comfortable height. I have no real room to work, tools are unavailable and wood structures are both heavy and difficult to make changes when you find out something doesn't work. I decided on PVC for a basic, quick and relatively tool-less assembly. I had tools and fittings left over. With no plan, I just started building. 

The only room left for the Geekpit was a corner of my room, so I made the best of the space. A 50" flatscreen mounted to the wall was the start. I got the rough dimensions from the tv and the chair height. I sketched out rough ideas and sorted through how to connect everything together. I built the control and center console from smaller 3/4" as I wanted to be able to add to it for mounting panels and screens. Some 80 feet of 3/4" and 1" PVC pipe, dozens of connectors and fittings, several pots of coffee, and in a weekend I had a fairly simple structure up. 

Let's not pretend that this is square.

 None of the fittings are glued - friction fit at best. But I now have an outer shell which is holding the overhead panel, and platforms to hold the sticks and controllers. I even built out the center console for the Airbus Engine Control unit. Some insulation board fills the gaps.

I started mapping out locations on the panel for sub-panels, and which holes would be for lights and which would be switches. Very few switches on this panel will directly affect a game - they will be used to control the environment and power needs of the Sim. 

But before I can even start to think about what goes where, I'm going to need to get all the controls set up. And that, dear reader, is where the story continues. For the first time in this meandering Blog, I'm hoping to start sharing knowledge that you can ACTUALLY use to build your own environment enhancing goodies and effective controls, no matter your space or budget.