Behind the Scenes at 737DIYSIM: Our Journey with AI and 3D Printing
- May 23
- 5 min read
Hello Everyone,
It's time for a blog post to explain what's going on behind the scenes here at 737DIYSIM. The poor old website has been neglected since January, and you wouldn’t believe the number of emails we get just asking if the website is still going! Yes, it is, and it is supported by me, Karl, and my wife, Helen.
Helen runs the website, emails, and AI, a work in progress. You may have seen the AI window on the website. This is a curious thing and has brought us many funny comments that we get to see, and my phone pings me when AI answers for me. Let me say that if I see it going wrong or giving useless answers, we do step in. However, it's a fantastic tool that has cut our workload by 50% in questions such as "Where can I find the wiring video?" or "Where can I find the build guide?" The AI has learned to link directly to these pages, saving us from answering.
Some of you don’t like AI; we can tell that by the comments that get typed: "Please die!" "Go away and turn off," etc. This does make me smile, and I get it, but as a tool that can answer and direct to the simpler questions, it’s a phenomenal resource for us, and I hope it will reduce some of the emails we get.
Speaking of emails, you will know now that we are a two-person team. Husband and wife, our children are no longer our slaves and have reached their teenage years and have almost left home. So their support has been lost recently. Helen has worked out that she is only able to contend with 200 emails a day in an 8-hour working day. That proves an issue as we get double that on a quiet day. Each email does take time to find the link on the website and then post it back, which ultimately leads to several more emails from the same person. So hang on in there!
As for me, since we went to FSweekend Flight Sim Expo, the 737SS (Single Seat) has literally taken off for DIY sim builders. The techniques and design are on a whole new level, matched with its new complementary PCBs for each of its designs. Once the MIP was complete, 3D printing proved to be a viable and affordable solution. The overwhelming support and requests to push this further at the expo have been beyond our wildest dreams. We started off with the 3D printed window structures, which came out flawlessly. Something that was so difficult to reproduce in wood, and so many people tried but failed. They are by far one of the most complex and intricate shapes to get right with all their angles. We printed the expo in the Bambu PLA-CF, which hides the layer lines and has the feel of real aircraft trim. This was the catalyst to push 3D printing further.
The Prototype internal structure of the 3D-printed 737 shell still needs to be smoothed, filled, and painted for a perfect finish.
Next came the 3D-printed sidewall, with all its glorious shapes and detailing. Yesterday, we completed the front window matrix, and right now, this week's task is to produce the working overhead structure.
I think it's time for facts, as I know many people have doubts and have stated so, and this project isn’t for everyone. This is for those who lack the skills and want the printer to do the work for them. As of this morning, the whole shell has taken 21 rolls of filament. That's nearly £300 at £14 a roll from Bambu. The windows alone weigh in at 7.13 kg. The overhead v1 structure took 49 hours to print using two printers. The sidewall consists of 52 parts, averaging 2 hours and 13 minutes to print. I'm trying to give you as many facts as possible to tell you what you are in for. Either decide if this might be for you, or it’s a no-go. However, after printing the Windows prototype for the expo, I realised that this is a viable option with modern print speeds and quality.
For those more savvy builders, whole sections of the shell could easily be replaced with wood, leading to a much stronger unit and a quicker build. But it's all the added detailing of the print that makes the final pieces look so cool.
This is still a massive work in progress, and I wanted to explain where I have been and what I have been up to for the last five months. This 3D-printed shell has been my life, and constructing the shell from plastic just like the real aircraft with its frames and stringers has been a labour of love!
It's such an exciting journey, and I don’t think I can tell you how excited I am right now. There have been some massive steps forward this week, and I have finally managed to move on to the front window assembly. The sidewall and side windows are now printed and done up to the top of the window frames. These cannot be printed yet as the prototype must be adapted to work with the overhead. The front window and new glarewing have turned out spectacular! The glarewing now has the slanted side and chrono and mic buttons fitted. This design alone was a pretty epic construction in CAD and printing. If you are ever going to build one, I can't recommend Bambu PLA-CF for an amazing layer line-free finish.
I hope you can see how much design work has gone into this journey. I design the part at every step, assessing it for ease of build and structural integrity. I hope this shows in the pictures I'm showing. Unfortunately for you guys, I still can't give the designs out yet as they all need adjusting once they are assembled. By this, I have concentrated on getting the shapes and details right, along with how each unit fits together and how each assembly attaches to each other. For the sidewall, for example, I need to go back and create all the new parts to fit in, such as the tiller, doc holder, oxygen mask, etc. The side windows are not so much, but they can't be released until the front and overhead structure interfaces are completed.
Smiling at the very first prototype. This window complex doesn't yet have the curved external surface.
This is one epic journey that I can't wait to share with you guys and see your versions of my work appear around the net. In short, we are here and working as hard as ever on my hobby! A massive thank you to all my Patreons for their support and backing. Because without them, the sheer prototyping printing to perfect the parts and structure would never have been possible.
That’s enough waffling for now; it's time for me to get back and design some more parts!
Kind Regards, Karl
What a great accomplishment, it is so great to see what you are building. Would it be possible to build a full cockpit with 3D printing that would be so awesome.