Sergei gunsight without the cover

I'd like to add a couple more photos about the gunsight and how it looks without the cover. The cover reduces some glare and is good for anti-aircraft guns but for aircraft it may block visibility too much so most ww2 aircraft have the gunsight without any cover.

Well, here are the photos:

Side view. The reflector glass is in 45 degree angle.

Another view

Looking through the gunsight.

Looking through, from longer distance


This is what it looks like from top of the gunsight. It shows the reticle through the glass and inverted reflection.

For the simpit i'll naturally remove the cover. This way the gunsight looks just like any WW2 fighter's gunsight. At least il2 supports removing any on-screen sights so maybe i'll even get to play some games with hardware gunsight. Otherwise it'll just look cool :-)

Btw notice how the size of reticle is always the same regardless of the distance. That's how the reflection gunsight (and modern HUDs) are supposed to work.

Next step is to mount the thing to the simpit. Let's see when that happens, as i have some other projects (hacks) to do such as the RC 109 used as practice target in photos above.

Sergei gunsight illuminated

Long time no post.

Today i built a light for the sergei gunsight i've had for some time. It illuminates the reticle so it's more visible in various lighting conditions. Here's the photos:

Lamp assembly is mounted on the bottom of the gunsight. The assembly is actually a plastic cap from a Pisang Ambon liquer bottle.

This is the lamp holder, looking inside. Inside i put a piece of paper to spread the light evenly. Without the paper reticle was uneven as the light bulb could be seen through the reticle.

This shows the whole reticle. Pretty nice!

Comparison: Light turned off


Light turned on!

Photos taken with my new Nokia N900 phone. Less bad than the previous ones.