Thinking of building a 737NG Cockpit - Lots of questions

[Guest allistah]

Hi everyone..I was thinking of building a 737NG cockpit. I'm currently using the PMDG 737NG with FS2004. I'm thinking that I could work on this over time and complete one section at a time. I was also thinking of only building half of the cockpit at this point since space is limited. I have a few questions regarding this though.Where do you get real gauges and stuff for those things that aren't very generic? Like the gauges for the electrical panel, the EGT gauge for the APU, or the temp gauges for the air conditioning units.Whats the best interface between the panels/switches/knobs and FS2004?What do you use to print the white lettering on the panels? I know you can buy some but they are pretty expensive. I'd like to try and make my own.Where do you get dimensions on all the different panels so you know how to cut/make them?What piece would be the best to build first? I was thinking the MCP since I could just set it on top of my monitor until I get something to put it in.Any tips for a newbie like me would be appreciated.-Allistah

[Guest Binkles]

Welcome along, and I'm building something along the same lines as you - as I can afford and also with a little bit of knowledge (really heavy on the little).I'm building fsbus boards as my interface, and the information on how to make these as well as the boards etc can be found as fsbus.deAnother good site that has pictures of the boards as well as the parts list is http://mikkila.wabbits.org/fsbus/doc/parts_e.phpFor a 737ng you can find (I think they are real size) all the panels for a 737-800, which without checking look the same, or very close to the 700 which I'm trying to work on. Having said that I may scale mine down a little as space is also a constraint here.You can find them on http://www.simpits.org under database | graphics | Boeing 737 Instrument Panels.Can't help you with the gauges question I'm afraid.As I said I'm still new, but I hope this helps.

[Guest LGA]

I'm pretty much a "newbie" myself. Regarding the dimensions of the 737NG, I have seen quite a few webpages of individuals who are working on that model with diagrams that show diagrams. If I run into any, I'll update you with a link. You have by the way chosen to replicate a flightdeck that a good number of people have chosen as well, so you'll have an advantage for information. Regarding where to start first, posters have said that building around a particular section is the best. For me, I've decided to begin with the main instrument panel itself (Boeing 757), for the following reasons...it's mostly cosmetic in the sense that all we are doing is cutting the desired shape of the main panels along with some cutouts for the instruments and such. This cosmetic building can also apply to the guage faces. Mine from a previous post-----> http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=vie...t&file_id=69128 In other words, I don't have to work with electronics right away. As I am building, I am also researching and learning. And two, I think once I have some of it done, I'll have something to actually play with as I go along. If you do plan on building your own panels as opposed to buying, get started. Once you start you'll discover that even things that cost zero to nothing to make take a good amount of time. A year ago I put my project off until I figured I would have enough money to start buying everything, now that I have the money, besides the new computers and monitors that I could buy, I would have nothing to do with them until I get more work done.

[Guest coenc]

For 737 dimensions, have a look at www.simcockpit737.tkYou can download scale 1:1 jpeg's and a autoCAD drawing of 737NG.

[Guest ZKSHB]

>Where do you get real gauges and stuff for those things that>aren't very generic? Like the gauges for the electrical>panel, the EGT gauge for the APU, or the temp gauges for the>air conditioning units.For the analog gauges you could do worse than simkitshttp://www.simkits.com/Mikes Flight deck also has an interesting article on building gaugeshttp://www.mikesflightdeck.com/Iinstrument_panel_3.htmthat is the link by the way not a typo on my part :^)Hope this helps a bit.ZK-SHBIf it isn't Boeing, I'm not going.http://www.737simbuilders.com/