this is a copy of my original thread made back in september of 2014 on the old forums Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis, and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of... ...oh wait, that was a different saga. Back in the day when Wing Commander came out I was around 15 years old and while playing the game I had this boyhood dream of actually building a 'cockpit' just to play that one game. I really wanted to immerse myself and feel like I was actually flying the ship instead of sitting behind a desk. Ofcourse at that time I still lived at home and had no chance convincing my parents to build me something like that for 'just a silly videogame'. Now, 24 years later, I live on my own and can spend my money how I see fit. So naturally when Star Citizen was announced, that little boy kept calling out to me as I would now be able to do what I could only dream of back then with Wing Commander. So I took it upon myself to do what I was unable to 24 years ago; build my own gaming setup for Star Citizen! But I had help! My dad was invaluable with helping out and I would have never come this far without him. So thanks a lot dad!!! :grinning: It all started with me collecting random items that I figured would make for a cool 'cockpit'. As such I searched the internet for all manner of components. The first was that I needed a proper chair. Not those flimsy desk chairs that break and wobble with fake leather but a solid seat. That was when I came across the Saab 9-3 Viggen seat; named after the Saab 37 Viggen aircraft. So I just had to have it! Next to that were the computer desk, cable covers, universal car armrests and some table mounts you'd find in your average mobile home. And it only became more as time went on, so I had to relocate the stuff from my living room and into my 'construction room'. Here we had a lot more room to try out the initial setup. Luckily my dad still had a 4cm thick wooden board (no clue why he had it, but I didn't mind) which could perfectly as a solid baseplate. From there I made a base for the chair too as otherwise it would be sitting too low on the ground. Nothing a 7x7cm beam couldn't fix! From there we also cut holes in the baseplate where the table could sink in for added stability. Some sturdy office carpet cut to size and glued in place with some kind of elastic contact glue, and ofcourse some rough measurements as to how high the armrests had to be for me to comfortably rest my elbows on. Cable covers were also cut up to size. These are usually used to hide cables leading to your average lcd screen in the living room. They're plastic, can be folded up to instantly create a 'box' and very easy to modify; which was perfect for my needs. Lastly I also did some very pre-alpha positioning for those round 'flange' things to see where my HOTAS would need to be while still providing just enough room to get in and out of it wihout breaking my neck (or worse, the cockpit!!). With the initial layout in place I figured it was time to move the early construction to the area where I was going to use it. That in and of itself was an epic saga that would have put Hercules to shame (well, maybe not but that baseplate was ridiculously HEAVY!) :stuck_out_tongue: My dad also managed to scrounge up some padding (no clue what's the proper term for it) that is used in the car industry. He bought it himself at times when he was still building kitcars and It served me in padding the ugly wooden base of both the base of the seat and the recently constructed armrest stands. With the seat in its initial place I could work out the exact positioning for some of the other components. As the Viggen seat was electric and I needed to move it in order to bolt it to the base, we used a regular car battery to move it around until all the corners were bolted down and the seat was in the perfect place and at the right angle. And here is where it became a little tricky. As I needed the HOTAS setup on their own stands, I had to make a guesstimate on how high the metal pole had to be for each side. Fortunately the guessing paid off (for once) and I got them cut to the right size. Cut and sanded, and ready to go! On the right you can already see how I mounted the CH Combatsstick and Pro Throttle to their own respective bases and 'flange'. As CH didn't have holes in them I opted to use some industrial strength Velcro placed in a nice 15x15cm square. That stuff was a lot more expensive than regular Velcro, but the difference is night and day. Here you can see the HOTAS setup mounted on their base. I joined the metal components together with epoxy glue specifically used for bonding metal and let it harden for 12 hours. Now construction turned into an avalanche. What at first seemed to be a daunting task or neverending story suddenly started to come together at a very rapid pace. Here you can see the cable covers surrounding the base. As the black and silver look is a pretty nice combo, it lacked that spaceship feeling and the cables felt very exposed. However!!! Some holes at the right spots with the vast collection of power tools my dad had in his shed with some connectors and flexible tubing people use in a garden pond combined with some sturdy 'warning tape' seems to serve their purpose in giving it a dash of the old 'Wing Commander' carrier. The tubing having a dual purpose. First they would offer added protection to the USB cables and such, and secondly I think they make it look a bit more sci-fi. :wink: Naturally that creme-colored desk was a big no-no, but I found some cheap carbon-style carwrapping foil. And while me and my dad are amateurs at best when it comes to these kinds of things, I think that overall the result wasn't too shabby. Most recent update with some small modification to the pedals (longer aluminium panels for my big feet) and cleaned up the wires with some better cable management. And here we near the end of my saga... Most of the remainder of things to do is basically a waiting game. Waiting for the consumer Oculus Rift, SQ42/SC and ofcourse my new gaming rig to run it all! :smile: I hope you enjoyed reading about my project as much as I enjoyed putting it together and I will SEE YOU IN THE 'VERSE! :blush: