Panel Labels

This blog covers the manufacture and installation of panel labels.

Overview
One of the aims of the build was to capture some of the sense of a military cockpit and not have just another Sports Aircraft installation.

To achieve this a number of Tucano cockpits were studied and the essence distilled. One reason that these cockpits appear so overwhelming in the complexity of purpose created by the mission need of a particular military aircraft.

RS Warbirds Shorts Tucano T1

This Tucano has no more hardware than say a Piper Arrow but they have been grouped so
that all the gauges, switches and breakers are located on a panel not scattered in various locations in the aircraft.

The colour scheme could be best described as military with style created by the use of a yellow border and highlights in the cockpit versus plain white. This was not my idea but was borrowed from RS Warbirds upgrade on a civilian Tucano T1.

Labels
The creation of the artwork for the labels was covered in a previous blog so this blog will expand on this previous posting.

De-burring Tool

After reviewing the use of laser-printed labels it was suggested to be by Joe at Marwen to consider sublimation printing of the graphics directly onto aluminium. This was trialled with the finished surface exhibiting all the toughness of glass with a matching gloss. Consideration was given to an overspray of satin clear but the toughness of the surface was lost so it was decided to accept the gloss.

The finished panels must be cut using a sharp guillotine as tin snips create a chipped edge that is hard to remove. The edges are then be finished by polishing on a hard flat surface with 400 grit wet/dry paper while radiusing the corners just slightly [they are sharp].

Diamond Drill Bit

Holes should be pilot drilled using a 1 mm twist drill and then enlarged to their finished size using a sharp [new] step drill. 

Larger holes for gauges should be created using a diamond drill bit, these can be found on the Bay and are of good enough quality for one project.

Once drilled a guage hole may be enlarged using a deburring tool and then the edge polished by hand using 400 grit wet/dry.

This finish should be treated at all times as a thin coloured glass coating and very few issues will be seen. 

If it is necessary to dull the panel the clean with an alcohol wipe and then apply two light coats of two-pack satin clear.

The finished panels are bright and clear and tough as glass...!

Getting there

Creating Graphics - Update
The CAD package created the necessary dimensional control for use with PC Paint but when transferring text some pixelation may occur. Once you have a graphic of a known size it is easy to just type the text in PC Paint and this creates a crisp clear text on the graphic. This pixelation is not bad but if you do seek perfection well you can get closer using the technique described.

For those seeking perfection, you will need to use a vector-based package like Coral Draw but with the right juggle, the process described works.

Comment
The builder is very happy with the results and it is possible to create high-end graphics using basic packages.

To contact Marwen click on link opposite - Marwen

Safety Note
The corners are very sharp after trimming so do not try to step drill larger holes without clamping or bracing of the plate if the tool grabs it will rip your hand to pieces.

Yes, still can count to 5 - just...!

Panel Graphics

This blog covers the creation of the panel graphics to be printed and installed in the aircraft.

Overview
Over the years many methods have been tried from early Dynamo labels to Letraset all had their advantages and disadvantages. With the advent of high-resolution colour printers, a new world is here and all you need are some files, this leads to the question of how. 

HOW - a dirty three-letter word. This method works and is within my skill set and time but may not be for the person to building the next grand champion, in this builder case just building will suffice.

There are a number of products around from Corel Draw to Inkscape that can produce vector-based graphics but take time to master. I have mastered the use of Auto-Cad so it seems a natural place to design and layout all those panels for cutting and the labels.

Method
This will be outlined in a series of screen captures and notes below.

The two packages used here are:

Draft Sight - [ACAD clone]
PC Paint - [Shareware, make a donation]

STEP 1

Drawn in Autocad within a know border size of 200 x 125 mm
This is printed as a PNG file using a window to select the print area.
The highest possible resolution of 1600  x 1200 pixels was used
Font - Arial Black, gave the cleanest result

STEP 2

Using PC Paint crop to the known border of 200 x 125 mm, this is important to be 
able to set final graphic resolution and size

 STEP 3

After trimming to the 200 x 125 border the colours are inverted using PC Paint

The inverting changes the graphic into a black and white image ready for formating.

Graphic colours are installed using the paint bucket

STEP 4

The graphic now needs to be resized
A - Change the resolution to 300 pixels per cm sq or to suit printer specification
B - Resize width and height to original 20 x 12.5 cm
C - Save the file

Comment
For the sharped eyed there is an error in all but the last graphic and by the time it was installed it all changed but that's the advantage of being able to produce graphics on the fly.

If you have a custom colour create a separate layer then import a photo swatch onto that layer. Finally, use the colour picker in the program to capture the RGB and then colour the panel.

At this point, the builder is looking at having the graphic printed using supumulation printing onto 0.020'' white-faced aluminium plate and then backed by 0.030'' 2024-T3 aluminium for stiffness but laser printing onto white self-adhesive label paper should work also.

If this does work I will add additional notes to the blog and check Facebook - Gary Spencer Salt for any notes.