Sim Rig MkI - Made out of Wood in about 2011/12 I think, can't remember exactly, got the Seat from a car parts place for £30 and still use the same seat today (out of an Alfa Romeo I believe) Sim Rig MkII - Made out of Aluminium Box, was cheap and I needed something lighter than the wood. It was a fun project but a bit messy and not actually designed, just sort of made up on the fly as I went along (which is sometimes the best way!). But I needed something more robust, something more manageable and so I finally got around the buying Aluminium Profile/Extrusion that I wanted instead of the Box (but it was too expensive at the time), Enter: Sim Rig MkIII - Before I dive into the details I have to recommend the guys at KJN: https://www.aluminium-profile.co.uk/ - Their Customer Service is Excellent, many e-mails went back and forth during the design phase and they were nothing short of brilliant help throughout. The Initial Design; All done in the brilliant Free program from MayTec (http://maytec.com.de/index.php?id=21&L=1). Doing it in this CAD Program helped massively with the general design and precise measurements, which is handy as the space I'm working in for the Rig is extremely tight! The Design went through many tweaks & changes, during this process I was gathering funds for the Project by flogging old stuff on eBay (Oculus Rift & my lovely old G25 Steering Wheel amongst many items). Once I set on a design I ordered the bits and week later they arrived. Not a lot of room between the Wall and the Bed! Attaching the Seat Struts, the Seat is on Sliders which made this a bit of a faff but got there in the end. Mounting screws through the Aluminium & Plastic Board into the T300. Pedals attached, the Ali Sheet was originally on a piece of wooden board but I did away with that, the front strut is on the floor with the rear strut 40mm higher, this allows the Pedals to "face up" a bit better. Midway through the Build I had to order some extra bits as I didn't have the money for all of it originally, during this period I found a decent Sliding Mechanism on someone else's Rig for use with their HOTAS. I used that idea to tweak my own design (again great help from KJN) and came up with this. The Black Lever at the front Locks the Bottom Profile in to place so it's nice and sturdy during Flight sessions, then I loosen and slide the whole thing forwards so I can easily enter/exit the Rig....I'm particularly proud of this bit! So for Flight Sims I have the seat all the way to the back and this section slides & locks into place, then for Racing I have the seat all the way forward so this section slides forward and kinda "out of the way" for racing, but just so much easier to get in and out versus the original "bar" strut you can see in the design above - that was a bit too much Dukes Of Hazzard for my liking!
That Aluminium Pedal Board above was longer but I chopped off 200mm, that cam in handy to attach the HOTAS to the Rig via the Struts, Slider Mechanism and then strong Velcro Patches to keep them in the place. The Plastic Boards from MkII were reused for the Wheel and Monitor Areas, handy for Speakers, Sky Box and of course Cups of Tea! I acquired these Rudders off a mate, luckily they not only slide into and "butt up" against the Racing Pedals just nicely for Flight Sims, but when Racing they slide back and sort of fit "under" the Seat and well out the way of my legs when in the heat of battle on the Race Track.....Bonus! Reused some of the Box Ali to make a Stand for the PC, this helps Air Flow in the PC as I have a Bottom Intake Fan and keeps it well off the Floor and away from Dust. The Final Finished Article...well it's never really finished, I have plenty of little tweaks to do and there will no doubt be additions to come. But for what it's worth it's "Finished" and all for roughly £350, that's all Ali (including shipping which is a bit pricey), Fixings and other little bits.
