3D Printed Spitfire MkIX anyone?

[Spit40 197]

I have it on good authority that a Spitfire MkIX is coming to MSFS in the next few weeks. Sorry I can’t be more specific about timing or details, but with that in mind you may be interested in a flight stick like this to go with it? The aim is to have it available in time for the Spit’s launch on MSFS. I’ve been collaborating with the developer and we’re all pretty confident you’ll find it a faithful replica of the MkIX spade grip and a very sturdy piece of kit with a nice action.

Bad News

I’ll give you the bad news straight off. You can’t buy it - you have to print it yourself on a 3D printer. The good news is that you can’t buy it, you print it yourself and the design will be uploaded to Thingiverse for free download along with a list of the hardware you'll need.

Beta testers needed soon

I mention this now as I’ll be looking for beta testers for the flight stick in a couple of weeks or so. The current alpha version is getting redesigned to fine tune the pitch and roll tensions and I’d like to give it some proper testing before an official launch. Even though it uses hall sensors my goal is that if you can assemble an Ikea wardrobe or an airfix kit then you can assemble this, so that's the other thing I need beta testing.

Not just Spitfires
There’s actually more to this project than Spitfires - see https://authentikit.org and if you check out https://fb.me/FlyAuthentiKit I’ll be talking there about setting up a beta test group.

Cheers

Phil Hulme

Edited October 23, 2020 by Spit40

[scotchegg 4,161]

Not sure how much trust / skepticism to approach this with so will just say can you remind us after the spitfire for MSFS is officially announced?

 

[Spit40 197]

I respect your candour and happy to do so. I guess it sounds too good to be true. By way of references,this was my last community project http://www.fscloudport.com which is quite well known in the Aerofly world.

Edited October 23, 2020 by Spit40

[Dominique_K 10,133]

Thanks for an original headup ! 

About the aircraft, the bar has been set high in the past, with RealAir and A2A. Lets hope for a comparable bird.

About the 3D printing, I must admit my complete ignorance. How much cost such a printer and the material used ? is there some PCB programming to do ?

[Spit40 197]

6 minutes ago, Dominique_K said:

Thanks for an original headup ! 

About the aircraft, the bar has been set high in the past, with RealAir and A2A. Lets hope for a comparable bird.

About the 3D printing, I must admit my complete ignorance. How much cost such a printer and the material used ? is there some PCB programming to do ?

I have done all my development on an Ender 3 which cost me £170. There is a learning curve and unless you enjoy the tinkering i’d recommend something slightly more sophisticated. I print using PLA (plant based plastic) which is surprisingly strong. You can print in ABS or even carbon fibre reinforced nylon - trickier to print reliably. Print materials for this project would cost around £10. No programming required - i’m building it around a Leo Bodnar board which is instantly recognised by windows as an 8 axis 16/30 button joystick/device.

Edited October 23, 2020 by Spit40

[jcomm 5,890]

Really looking forward for a Spitfire, any mode, in MFS !

I would love to see some details ( flight dynamics and systems ) correctly modelled. Stuff that was simply not possible to model in previous versions of MSFS... and I find much better reproduced in simulators like DCS World or IL-2 Battle of ... series

Will check, among many other details, the elevator leading angle relative to the horizontal stab at cruise settings 😉, as well as the fully free castering tailwheel that I have been , so far, unable to model in the default MFS taildraggers :-)(

Edited October 23, 2020 by jcomm

[Dominique_K 10,133]

36 minutes ago, Spit40 said:

 i’d recommend something slightly more sophisticated. I

Any hint for me to start researching on the internet ?

[Spit40 197]

51 minutes ago, Dominique_K said:

Any hint for me to start researching on the internet ?

I just received my second printer - Creality 6SE. Auto-bed levelling and stronger/sturdier frame. Look for a bed size of around 220mmx220mm. Getting down that first layer 0.12mm high stuck firmly to the base is like your foundation stone. Then you want a frame that's true and strong so the levels move up smoothly. The higher end trusted name in consumer level is Prusa. Buyers guide here: https://all3dp.com/1/best-cheap-budget-3d-printer-affordable-under-500-1000/

P.M. for any more or connect via https://fb.me/FlyAuthentiKit - I'm aware this is the MSFS forum and I don't want to get completely off topic.

[Dominique_K 10,133]

48 minutes ago, Spit40 said:

I just received my second printer - Creality 6SE. Auto-bed levelling and stronger/sturdier frame. Look for a bed size of around 220mmx220mm. Getting down that first layer 0.12mm high stuck firmly to the base is like your foundation stone. Then you want a frame that's true and strong so the levels move up smoothly. The higher end trusted name in consumer level is Prusa. Buyers guide here: https://all3dp.com/1/best-cheap-budget-3d-printer-affordable-under-500-1000/

P.M. for any more or connect via https://fb.me/FlyAuthentiKit - I'm aware this is the MSFS forum and I don't want to get completely off topic.

Thanks. I didn't know that one could do such things and it fits well in a FS forum . Maybe a mod could  move it to the Hangar ?

[Spit40 197]

46 minutes ago, Dominique_K said:

Thanks. I didn't know that one could do such things and it fits well in a FS forum . Maybe a mod could  move it to the Hangar ?

The whole system that this flight stick is just a part of is called AuthentiKit. I'm happy to start a new thread/sub-forum on that in a more suitable place, as there are a lot of aspects to cover not just 3d printing - the rig system for mounting everything in just the right place (my impetus comes from flying VR and wanting stuff to be just where you expect it in sim) as well as discussions about sourcing hardware bits in various regions of the world. I get most of my stuff from ebay/Amazon in the UK but a mate in Australia who is test building this has found sourcing slow and difficult. Any guidance appreciated on whether Avsim would be up for a support sub-forum for it. Here's a piccy of the real thing (current alpha stick) in situ with a dev version of the quadrant, and that's the landing gear lying on the floor.

 

[Spit40 197]

On 10/23/2020 at 8:16 AM, scotchegg said:

Not sure how much trust / skepticism to approach this with so will just say can you remind us after the spitfire for MSFS is officially announced?

 

As requested....

as stated in the video, the Spitfire MkIX is being brought out by Flying Iron Simulations

 

[Spit40 197]

Final video #5 is out

 

 

[Spit40 197]

I'm told the MkIX for MSFS is going to be another week (ish). Gives me time to try and get some more flight controls ready for it. This trim wheel will come as a unit with a throttle quadrant.

[leprechaunlive 1,852]

Your doing great stuff man!

[Spit40 197]

22 minutes ago, leprechaunlive said:

Your doing great stuff man!

Cheers !