# 1:1 Bf-109 Instrument Panel Project



## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

After building the Eduard 1:4 Bf-109 E instrument panel and 3 months of playing IL-2 Sturmovik（a combat simulator）, I've become more and more obsessed with luftwaffe equipments. Then I saw an auction on ebay for an airspeed indicator taken off of a 109. That's when I came up with the idea of building a full size replica of an instrument panel.
I've been playing with 1/35 armour kits pretty much all my life, along with a few 1/48 aeroplanes and some ships. This is my first time building a full sized imitation. 
As for the current progress, I've had the base for the upper instrument panel cut(after 3 failures due to mismeasurements) and the gauges outlined.


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Here's what I've accomplished so far:


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

I was able to find quite a few original gauges and even unused original instrument glass on ebay. It's a real pity that I won't be able to use them for my replica as they are way too pricy(the price for a complete set up will add up to 4 digits). As a solution I will simply use homemade decals and custom cut glass&metal parts. Hopefully I'll be able to update within a few days!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

This is a great project! Can't wait to see the progress.


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Today's progress: drilled several holes for the gauges. The hole saw bits I have matched the dimensions of several gauges; for the rest of them I had to extend the holes with a rotary tool.


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Here's my messy temporary outdoor workbench(lol):


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

The trimming was definitely not made easier with my primitive tools...
Here's an unfinished hole









And here's the comparison between a used and unused rotary tool bit


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Thx for the support John!


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## Icediver (Jun 7, 2002)

Depending on how far you want to take this, check out the various websites on building flight simulators. A lot of builders place a monitor behind the instrument panel and place the gauges that way. A lot less expensive than real gauges as you have seen. A second monitor (bigger) mounted above the panel for the outside view and you can have fun flying your BF-109. Good luck and have fun. 
Regards,
Brian


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

If you can provide me with a full scale EPS file I can have a panel routed out of .040 Aluminum for you- PM me if interested...


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Hi Brian, thanks for the suggestion--very helpful! I looked it up and browsed through a variety of simulators. A lot of them are very good references for the build. 
Alex


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

I hand crafted the first meter frame to see if I can pull it off. Turns out it is doable, but it's not going to be as accurate in shape as machine-cut. I might end up paying someone to laser cut the frames for me. 








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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

How it fits on the panel:


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

The deviationstabelle(deviation table) I just printed out(took me forever to find a legible copy)...did the background give away my identity as a college student?


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Just got some galvinized steel plates from Home Depot. Altogether they cost me 2$. They will be cut&trimmed with an angle grinder and painted to represent indicator signs.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

If you don't have this book, you should:
German Aircraft Instrument Panels.

Insanely complete reference, including instrument artwork.


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Made some templates for the dials...


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

...as well as a template for the instructions plate.


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

I'm about to replicate the instrument frame with casting resin. As for the dials, I'll print them all out on decal sheets and trace the markings with luminous paint. I will, of course, not use the same type of luminous paint the Luftwaffe used as they are radioactive(and discontinued lol). I still don't know what to do with the instructions plate--I will most likely go with decals or stencils.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Can you find someone who will etch it for you? there are guys around here who make aftermarket etched metal parts.


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Decal template & resin instrument frames. I'm still trying to fix the horizontal lines on the prints


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

This is really cool. I started making a 1/1 scale German MG42 machine gun remote control periscopic sight. These projects are a lot more work than you would think going into them !


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

The custome made instrument glass just arrived:


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

AchtungPanz3r Ya! eindrucksvoll!! :wave:

What an amazing project! This is a prime example of a passion build. I will be watching this one for sure :thumbsup:

I was like this when I was building my 1/24 scale BF-109 ...I too
was very much impressed with the planes over all design and loved the cockpit.
I also had the same fire building my 1/16th RC Panzer Tiger.

It was a BF-09 that put 22 stitches in my Uncles left thigh....the round bounced off the lower turret ring and the ammo casing ( at chest level ) then hit his leg.

He was B-17 Top Turret Flight Engineer 8th Air Force 390th BG.

Here is my early Tiger https://youtu.be/j0OUodKIbyc

My Uncle 2nd in from left bottom row.


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

OH yeah.....try using smaller images like 600 or the image attachment feature like I just did
....its easier to load for most phones and some folks do not have the best PC's or speeds. 
I'm good with it but it can keep some persons from seeing this awesome project. :thumbsup:


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Thanks for the support Fluke! I watched the vid of your Tiger and it looks awesome. Hopefully I'll follow through with this project like you did with yours!


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Got an (original?) Fw-190 instrument panel on ebay. It makes a good reference for the dimensions. The best part is the variometer that came with it; after comparing the original with my sloppy handiwork, I was surprised to find out that I wasn't off by too much. More parts are on their way from Europe.

Sorry about the huge picture files...I'm still trying to figure out how to attach smaller images without having to sacrifice too much quality.


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

The fall semester has just started; with differential equations for engineering, electricity and magnetism, 2nd semester AP chemistry and C programming I probably won't be able to update very often. That being said, I will make my best effort to complete this project. 
Last but not least, all your support have been a continuous source of inspiration for me and I truely appreciate it!


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

You welcome! Hope to see more soon.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

AchtungPanz3r said:


> The fall semester has just started; with differential equations for engineering, electricity and magnetism, 2nd semester AP chemistry and C programming I probably won't be able to update very often. That being said, I will make my best effort to complete this project.
> Last but not least, all your support have been a continuous source of inspiration for me and I truely appreciate it!


Not to diminish the, huh, rather difficult classes you have coming up, I would think it harder to find all the components for a WWII German fighter instruments panel. There ain't exactly a bunch of parts lying around on a shelf somewhere! 

I think it's amazing you've even found the parts you have! Can't wait to see it completed.

Carl-


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Hey Carl, 

Thank you for your kind words! 

Believe it or not--I actually found many, if not all the gauges and switches I need for the 109 series instrument panel. There is one seller in the US who's supposedly a professional restorer and he has over 1,000 listings for various Luftwaffe equipments. Also I've been looking on the eBay German site, and every week or so there is a new batch of instruments being listed(most of these items won't show up in the search results if you're using the US site). However, these gauges cost 400-600$ average and I'm making 10$/hr tutoring math and piano. So before I become an actual engineer I'll have to make my own stuff! 

Alex


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

AchtungPanz3r said:


> Hey Carl,
> 
> Thank you for your kind words!
> 
> ...


Well, you're doing a great job of it so far! Look forward to the finished build.

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Carl-


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

Here here!! your doing a great job mien frund! 
Its also nice to know there are some talented builders
who can be creative on a buget....seems like this site at times 
has members who talk about buying two or three 70.00 or higher priced
kits when they get released just to have or hord them.


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## DaneBramage (Jun 27, 2010)

Great concept and execution!!! The casts were the dog's eggywegs!! killer.


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Small update: instrument frame prototype 2(sry for the poor pic quality, I took them between the 20 min break between my Chem and Math reviews). There's still plenty more resin casting to do.








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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

The original Temperaturanzeiger just arrived. I'm only going to use this piece to create a template instead of actually putting it on the replica panel.


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

I just got volume 2 of German Aircraft Instrument Panels:
http://www.amazon.com/German-Aircra...5472&sr=8-2&keywords=german+instrument+panels

It comes with a life sized poster of a Bf-109 panel! It's a rendering rather than a photo, but man, what a reference!


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Hey John--at this point there's no way I can resist something like this. just placed and order and it should be here next Wednesday!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

...


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Made a few FW-190 panels for practise:


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Hey Alex, enough already, put life on hold. I want to see this project completed!!  Chop, chop...

Carl-


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Hey guys, I'm still alive! I was busy with my transfer to the university and haven't had the opportunity to spend time on my projects. However I did make some progress, especially after I discovered that I have access to very cheap 3D printing at the school for being a student at the college of engineering. Anyways, I made some CAD models in the past few months and hopefully I'll get them done over the summer when all the senior projects are done occupying the printer.


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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

The Junghans Cockpit clock, FL 23885. I found some factory drawings of the piece and did my best to replicate the appearance. It is designed so that a generic clock mechanism can be fitted into the back. 








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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

The 83 mm instrument template.








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## AchtungPanz3r (Jul 18, 2015)

Made this for fun.








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