Replica Waltham A-13A Aircraft Clock

What

This is a clock body and face in the style of the Waltham A-13A aircraft clock.

Why

I spend too much time on AliExpress and found Quartz clock mechanisms for a ridiculously low price. I decided I wanted to make cool clock face to put one in.

How

• The model comes as nine parts.
  The main body/face, two knobs (in t lwo pieces each), three hands and an optional desk stand.
• You will also need a quartz clock mechanism whose shaft diameter is ~8mm.
  AliExpress Link : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002150871416.html
• Black and White (and optional glow-in-the-dark) filament PLA or PET to print the parts. (Matt filaments will look best). All filaments used should be of the same type. Do not mix and match PLA with PET etc.

Which one should I print?

I have provided two project files with accompanying gcode. The only difference between them is the number of color changes. Parts that do not require a color change are common to both.

2 Color

Use this file if you only want to print a black and white clock. i.e. All parts are black, but clock face numerals and hand accents are white. Print the common parts as black.

3 Color

Use this file if you want to print a black and white clock with a luminous top layer on the ‘white’ accents. i.e. All parts are black, but clock face numerals and hand accents are white, but the final accent layer is a luminous filament.

I've done this as the luminous filament I have is translucent, so I wanted a white layer between it and the black layers underneath. So it should look black and white in daylight, but in the dark it should glow.

Process & Assembly

1. Print the knob parts and put them to one side.
2. Print the hands and put them to one side.
   Note that the gcode and project files  provided implement a color at various layer heights. 
3. Print the body.
   Note that the gcode and project files provided implement a color change at various layer heights.
   The model is layered such that you can alternate black, white, black for the painted numbers effect. (Use the glow in the dark filament for maximum effect)
   If you have glow-in-the-dark white filament instead of plain white you should use that!
4. Flame finish to remove any fine filament stringing.
5. Assemble the knobs in the body as shown in the picture below.
   
   The larger knurled knob goes in the lower left corner. The smaller un-knurled knob goes in the top right corner
6. Use super glue to glue the knob caps onto the backs of the knob shafts.
   This will prevent the knobs from falling out, but still allow them to turn. 
7. The knobs should turn but are provided for visual aesthetic and are ornamental only.
8. Install a quartz clock mechanism into the back of the clock body and glue the printed hands onto the hands that come with your mechanism (You will likely need to trim the hands so they hide under and support the 3D printed ones, you may also need to color them in with a black permanent marker.)
9. Hang the clock on the wall and pretend you are a pilot whenever you tell the time.
   Note: If you are pretending to be a pilot of a jet powered airplane, be sure to tell everyone around you periodically.
10. (Optional) Print the desk stand and install with a small amount of glue, then place the clock on your desk.

Attribution

• The model is based on the visual features of the Waltham A-13A Aircraft clock found at: https://www.kenrockwell.com/watches/waltham/a-13a.htm
• The photo showing the actual clock is taken from the website above.

Authors comment

I have had this model kicking around as a draft for many many months, however, I exchanged some Prusameters for the Prusa “3D Modelling in Fusion360” course when it came out (https://www.prusa3d.com/product/3d-modeling-in-fusion-360/). 

I used the things I learnt to finally fixup and simplify this model to completion. I got a lot of benefit from the course, maybe you will too!