F/A-18C Right Console

To many readers, ‘F/A-18C Right Console’ will look like a bunch of letters and numbers thrown together. To aviation enthusiasts, though, those letters and numbers clearly refer to the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, a fighter plane developed in the 1970s for the US Marines and US Navy. This replica control console by ValeNoxBona was apparently the maker’s first ever build using the Arduino microcontroller, which is used to control the addressable RGB LEDs that light this project. The build uses a 3D-printed enclosure with a laser-cut and engraved acrylic top, backlit with WS2812 addressable RGB LEDs mounted on a custom PCB and controlled by the Arduino.

The lettering is engraved into the acrylic, which makes the material thin enough for the lights underneath to shine through. Apart from the time involved, the biggest cost in building this was the switches, made by NKK of Scottsdale, Arizona.