"DOOM'D!" -- A return to Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3

[AlienInferno]

Welcome back.

[Rick]

Hey all!

Sooooo, you all noticed way back in October how I came in with my sob story about how my own home business didn't quite work out? I guess you're all wondering why it's many months later and I still hadn't followed up, eh? Well, you thought that LAST story was bad...

I had disappeared for a bit, sadly, from a lot of things, because shortly after my last post I was very unfortunately laid off from the job I've held for the past 15 years. I certainly can't complain - I loved the job I had, but the company needed to downsize, and my department was one of the hardest hit.

So, as with life, I had to focus on my Family as well as myself. That meant finding things to keep busy with, and that meant fixing up the house, learning how to cook, and trying to get my health in order, since - oh yeah, double-whammy - I'm now also a Type 2 Diabetic. Go me.

Anyway - it's gotten a lot better, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have my health (down 20+ lbs, woot) and my house is a lot more in order. I've received 'the demand' from my Wife to take more time for myself, and she's been great in scheduling some time for me every week to work on the cab...

And so, here we are. Again.

I will be taking some pics shortly of the old girl in her 'current state', and will also be showing off some progress pics by the end of next week, hopefully! In the interim, please accept my apology for being away for so long. It's great to be back, and I promise not to be a stranger!

Rick

[Ond]

G'day Rick, welcome back buddy, I don't think you need to apologize for being away at all, sounds like you've had a tough run.  It is good to hear from you though, I thought this project was really interesting back when you got the idea, I still do. It's different and yet has strong ties right into a very cool game franchise.  Kinda timely return too,  Epyx is back and keen for his new project and I'm determined to thwart Winter (here) and not go into total hibernation myself.  Funny thing, I was thinking about your project just recently and how keen you were when you were 'in the zone' building it.  In terms of build difficulty this is perhaps on the higher end of the scale but really worthwhile seeing through.

 

Ond

[Rick]

G'day Rick, welcome back buddy, I don't think you need to apologize for being away at all, sounds like you've had a tough run.

Thanks! Yeah, it's sucked for a long time. I'm thankful that my family have been with me every step of the way, though. Would have been much, much worse without them.

It is good to hear from you though, I thought this project was really interesting back when you got the idea, I still do. It's different and yet has strong ties right into a very cool game franchise.

Doom has always been my 'first love' in FPS games. I was actually working my first real PC repair job way back in '94 when the game came out, and remember playing it for hours on end. I'm excited to get back into it.

Kinda timely return too,  Epyx is back and keen for his new project and I'm determined to thwart Winter (here) and not go into total hibernation myself.  Funny thing, I was thinking about your project just recently and how keen you were when you were 'in the zone' building it.  In terms of build difficulty this is perhaps on the higher end of the scale but really worthwhile seeing through.

Good to hear! There have been times when my Wife has asked if I was ever going to get back on the horse and start working on the cab again... It's been sitting in the same room for so long - and over the last weekend, I just started getting the wood together, and putting pieces in place for some routing and more design work. So, with all this new time on my hands (funny, yet unfunny all at the same time) I *should* be able to make some strides!

Back at you, my friend! Thanks again for the warm welcome back.

[yotsuya]

'Sup, Rick? 

[opt2not]

Oh ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, it's Rick! Welcome back.

[wp34]

Welcome back!  Looking forward to following your progress again.

[Rick]

'Sup, Rick? 

Not much! Same old, same old! LOL.

Oh ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, it's Rick! Welcome back.

Oh ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, it IS me! Thanks, man!

Welcome back!  Looking forward to following your progress again.

You and me both, brother! I've been away so long, and have actually learned how to use my router better on a couple of different projects in the time I've been gone, that I'm anticipating even bigger and better things!

Here's to the work!

[Vigo]

  Good to see ya back, Rick!

[Rick]

Good to see ya back, Rick!

Good to be back!

I actually got outside yesterday for a couple of hours, and did a bit of work. My cab made me aware that it missed me by cutting my finger while I was cleaning her off. LOL.

I had cut a 45 degree angle in a section of MDF (which I have since decided will do better as a 22.5 degree cut in the other direction - and not because of the cut) and was cleaning the dust from it. Unfortunately, this seemed to include me running my index finger sideways across the fresh cut. Yikes. It bled like a mother, but I braved running through my freshly cleaned house - covered in MDF dust from the router - to go upstairs for a band-aid.

I will have pics! I'm just charging up my camera battery as I'm posting - there's a LOT to catch up on!

[Rick]

See? I don't lie! Pics!





This is how she looks today. Now, with wheels!





A closer view of the wheels. Not pretty. Not pretty whatsoever. When I come back to concentrate on the interior, it's very possible that I'll clean it up - I'm not sure at the moment. It may be a showpiece inside as well - but I don't recall if this section will be too visible.





The rear isn't too bad. I'm happy with the way the routed sections lined up, but the router got away from me when I cut the centre part out. I'll be bondo'ing the rest into place properly - and it has a lot more fix-up work to do, as there's going to be a recessed door with some gas shocks attached. It's just tacked in place at the moment.





These are the spare parts I've got from when I was using my Carvewright. I got most of it complete, before I decided to sell the machine.





And finally, some colour-matched fabric for the speaker enclosures. The grey will be for a sub enclosure close to the bottom, and the red will be for the top speakers.


So, that's where I'm at today. It looks really rough right now, but it's still a long journey to go. I've got a lot of bondo work to get everything nice, straight and pretty. Still, if the weather stays nice, I hope to get a lot of the grunt work out of the way in the next week and a bit. We shall see!

[mcseforsale]

subscribed...welcome back.

AJ

[sabreerbasAlpha]

The bottom rear of this Cab is Sweet...Looking good my friend. 

[Jigenjuke]

Heeeyyy Rick, Long time no see!  Sorry to hear that things went a little wonkey for ya, but glad to hear that your back in the saddle again.

Lookin' forward to seeing how this cabinet pans out.

Jigenjuke

[Rick]

The bottom rear of this Cab is Sweet...Looking good my friend. 

Thanks! Once I've got all of the pieces assembled, I'm hoping the finishing process will iron out some of the roughness. As it is, that back piece will have a routed channel running 3/8" depth and 1/2" width, so that the door fits in place. From there, I've got some sourcing to do for some door hardware and fun when it comes to the gas shock placement.

Of course, that's after I get much of the main assembly complete. I've got some minor routing to do to match up the channel that runs up to the top end, and then I have some touch-up router work to do on the top I finished previously. I haven't even got a good working plan for the monitor yet, but thankfully, our house just happens to have two 32" Dynex LCD's "available" for some testing.

Finally, when everything is functionally together, I've got finishing work to do. Lots and lots of finishing work. This is going to include a lot of bondo to repair any edges that need straightening, and any holes that need filling. There's going to be sanding, and then multiple layers of primer and paint.

All in all, it's all coming together pretty well, if I do say so myself. Hopefully this time, life doesn't totally get in the way.

[mgb]

Rick,
  Welcome back. Progress is looking real nice.
  It sounds like you've got a good wife there and your priorities are straight.

Sorry to hear about the tough times.
Good to see you keep hanging in.

Good luck

[Rick]

Welcome back. Progress is looking real nice. It sounds like you've got a good wife there and your priorities are straight. Sorry to hear about the tough times. Good to see you keep hanging in. Good luck

Thanks! I'm also happy to report that now that I'm a diabetic, I'm down a bunch of weight and getting to the best shape of my life. Cutting back on sugar (no more pop - not even diet) was pretty much the best thing I've ever done. I'm down from a 40" waist to just under a 34", so that's awesome.

And yes, my Wife is awesome. To reward her for everything she's done for me, I'm buying myself a pair of replica swim trunks that Daniel Craig wore in Casino Royale.

[kingchimp]

You're a true gentleman Rick. 

[Santoro]

Spectacular work!.   How heavy is that baby?  *shudders*

[Rick]

Spectacular work!.   How heavy is that baby?  *shudders*

Thanks, Santoro! It's 3/4" MDF, and while I'm not sure how heavy it is today, I can confirm that you DON'T want to drop it on your toe.

[Rick]

Hmm. I seem to be covered (COVERED!) in MDF dust, and I don't know why...



Pics coming soon! (I just wanted to tease the fact that yes, I have actually been putting some time into working on the cab.)

[Rick]

And, as promised, "THIS THREAD IS USELESS WITHOUT PICS!!!"

 

Now, you have NO IDEA how much of a stickler I am for detail, so please appreciate how much this build bugs me in its current form. I have to continually tell myself that this work is in extremely (extremely!) 'rough copy' mode, and that once I've been able to clean up the build - with what I can only assume will be copious amounts of Bondo - that it will start looking what it needs to be.



As you may notice, the top has a lot of small gaps. Everything *is* 'square', and 'plumb' where it needs to be - and I've verified that some of the 'support' pieces just weren't ... quite ... there - so there will definitely be some advanced body work in these areas. (AKA "please ignore the light flowing through the gaps - they won't be here forever")



As a huge Doom fan, you won't believe how much I geeked out as I put this back-plate in place. "Why?" you may ask? Well, it's based on the 'armor lockers' throughout the game, shown here:



It is currently, and will remain, removable, so that I can access the internals whenever I need to. It will likely house some light guns in the future - long after I've been able to complete the build, I'd say.

The one challenge I have now, is how to mount the rear door. I had planned to route out a channel around the door frame, but that may now be impossible, as I've just noticed all of the countersunk screws holding the assembly in place. I may just remove the screws, and clue and clamp the entire assembly together, so that I'm able to do what I had originally planned.



Oh, and of course I had to play a little bit with some of the fine detail work I had created earlier. The screws holding this in place are very temporary. I've got a bunch of specialized bolts planned out for the various connectors, but that's a while away yet.

So - that's where I'm at right now. I've got some planning to do on the rear door, and then, the entire front to work on... Truth be told, I'm almost out of wood. Not bad so far, for two sheets of 4'x8' MDF.

[mcseforsale]

 

Spectacular. 

AJ

[Rick]

Spectacular.

Thank you! One day I hope it meets with the constant high praise you guys dole out on me.

I'm getting pretty excited. Right now, I'm hoping my Wife will let me take a field trip over to Home Depot to get some more MDF cut. If that happens, I hope to have much of the front complete by the end of the week.

It may not look like it, but there's actually twelve (!) different pieces to build up the front... ...made up of the protruding sides (made up of six pieces on their own), the face where the coin door will go, the lower fascia where I'm planning on configuring a subwoofer, and the control panel mount (four pieces for that).

I don't even want to think about the monitor fascia yet. That's going to be fun, I'm sure. I have yet to source "the perfect" LCD for it. In fact, I'm looking for recommendations from the community on this one. If ANYONE has an idea where I can find a 24" - 26" (maximum) LCD in a 4:3 aspect ratio, for a fair/good price, please (PLEASE) let me know! To be honest, I'm not certain if these even exist. If all else fails, I think I'll be stuck with a 16:9 or 16:10 (found one of those last week) for the space I have available.

[CoryBee]

I love this project so much, and the fact that you returned to it after some time away. (and issues)

 

I would like for you to have one of my custom serial plates for free. Just come up with what you would like it to say, model number, etc.

 

[Rick]

I love this project so much, and the fact that you returned to it after some time away. (and issues)

Thanks  man! I'm glad to be back. Seriously - it would seem I was going through withdrawal. I've been working pretty diligently for the past week or so, and don't want this momentum to slow down.

I would like for you to have one of my custom serial plates for free. Just come up with what you would like it to say, model number, etc.

I appreciate the offer! I've seen your thread, and thought your idea was great! (So good, in fact, that I was planning on stealing it for mine - LOL.)

I went over my printable materials from waaaaaay back (2010, actually!) and found the two plates I had originally designed - one was a "NABCON manufacturing sticker" serial plate, and the other was an 'UAC Asset Tag'. I wanted to ask - if I sent over graphic files to you, could you (would you) do custom plates? Or do you need to have them in a specific format?

And for the offer - I wouldn't dream of not paying you for the work. From what I've seen, it's very much worth the investment! I'd be happy to pay for any work you did.

Thanks!

[CoryBee]

I appreciate the offer! I've seen your thread, and thought your idea was great! (So good, in fact, that I was planning on stealing it for mine - LOL.)
I went over my printable materials from waaaaaay back (2010, actually!) and found the two plates I had originally designed - one was a "NABCON manufacturing sticker" serial plate, and the other was an 'UAC Asset Tag'. I wanted to ask - if I sent over graphic files to you, could you (would you) do custom plates? Or do you need to have them in a specific format?
And for the offer - I wouldn't dream of not paying you for the work. From what I've seen, it's very much worth the investment! I'd be happy to pay for any work you did.

I can make them any size you wish really. All depends on how much aluminum I have left. I was offering it for free because I am running out of materials. I believe I have enough metal left for a nice large plate, just shoot me the dimensions. Doom has always been a game close to my heart.

[Monkeyvoodoo]

well it took me two days but I've read the whole thread and have to say that this is a sweet build. I really enjoyed following along up to this point and I'll continue following along until the end. Least I can do for a fellow canuck.

[Rick]

well it took me two days but I've read the whole thread and have to say that this is a sweet build. I really enjoyed following along up to this point and I'll continue following along until the end. Least I can do for a fellow canuck.

Dude, thanks! I've been reading your build over the past week or so, and gotta tell you it's inspiring! (I was originally pretty pissed at you, actually - the Atari 2600 inspired cab was actually an idea I had banging around for a future build! LOL.)

[AlienInferno]

Glad to see some work getting done on your cab again. It's looking good. This things going to look great when completed and painted. Need to finish my cab still but thinking about upgrading the internals so have just been sitting on it for awhile. Glad your lifes getting back in order.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Tapatalk 2

[Rick]

Glad to see some work getting done on your cab again. It's looking good. This things going to look great when completed and painted. Need to finish my cab still but thinking about upgrading the internals so have just been sitting on it for awhile. Glad your lifes getting back in order.

Hey, thanks! I've got a "new" project, as far as the cab goes, and I'll be posting new pics tomorrow...

As it turns out, the control panel is 1/4" too short on each side of the mount! (No biggie, really.) I was actually trying to determine if I was going to cut out a part of the top to redo the routing, because I hadn't routed out the joystick part underneath - so the joystick was going to sit a bit too low... ...and this has answered my question. Now, I'll be removing the top, cutting the remainder in half, and adding 1/2" (maybe 3/4") to the width of it.

As a tease, I WILL be posting a pic momentarily... Something I know EVERYBODY has been waiting for, since I mentioned it in an earlier post.

[Rick]

And now, with no further ado, I post THE PICTURE everybody has been waiting for!!!




Yes, it is in fact, my Casino Royale inspired swimsuit! The La Perla "Grigioperla" (replica) blue swimming trunks just arrived from Australia last week, and I figured I'd share the pic!

Eat your heart out. (And no, we won't be posting a pic of me wearing them just yet.)

 

[mcseforsale]

And now, with no further ado, I post THE PICTURE everybody has been waiting for!!!




Yes, it is in fact, my Casino Royale inspired swimsuit! The La Perla "Grigioperla" (replica) blue swimming trunks just arrived from Australia last week, and I figured I'd share the pic!

Eat your heart out. (And no, we won't be posting a pic of me wearing them *EVER*.)

 

FIFY

[Rick]

FTFY

Oh, the jealousy that is this thread. Not everybody could pull off the Daniel Craig look. (At this point, not even me.)

[Nephasth]

[Rick]

 


Wellll, replace the Southern Comfort with a Canadian 67 (the Diabetic's beer of choice!) and that's actually pretty damn close.


 


Ok, back to seriousness. I'm in the process of working on the cab as... we... speak. I just wanted to drop in for a bit of a teaser pic. (Yes, again.) Sorry, but I don't want to stop the momentum!





More to come! (Probably after I change into my Speedo and grab a beer.)


 

[Rick]

Another day, and more work to do!



Setup and ready to go. I've got my work bench all set up, and the rear armory door inset ready for routing.





Clamped down and secure. Earlier this morning, I removed all of the screws, glued the face down to the interior, and screwed it back together so that it the glue could set up. (Yes, I made sure to remove the screws before I got the router ready to go. I'm not about to make that mistake - nothing like hot shrapnel flying at high speed.)



Here's a closeup of the section I'll be cutting into.



And here's the bit I'm using... It's a 3/8" Rabbiting Bit with a bearing, so it should cut into the face nicely, creating a rounded contour, and giving me the ability to set the door into the opening. (Once I have the doorway set up, it should be a fairly easy process to create the door to 'fit' into the opening, and use the same bit to create the inset surround in the door - so that it fits snugly.)

More pics to come, once I've got more to show.

[Rick]

Onward and upward, as they say. I got out one of the two last pieces of larger MDF stock, measured the opening, and cut out the door.



Hmm. How do I transfer the arc to the door I wonder.



Time for some high tech tools! Ah, this 1/2 TBSP measure looks about right!



High tech tools, indeed! The arcs transferred perfectly... ...and then, when I went to test-fit the door, I found a new problem. The door frame isn't 100% square.


 


So, I think it's back to the drawing board for the door right now. I think the "best way" of doing this is likely tracing the opening onto a large piece of
paper (thus, transferring the faulty angles) and expanding it so it encompasses the overhanging section. Damn. I really wanted that to work with the piece I cut.

[Rick]

Ha ha! SUCCESS!!!

Last night, I went out with my Wife to our local Dollarama, and picked up a couple of pieces of foam core bristol board. I taped them together and attached them to the rear of the cabinet, and then traced around the interior outside door frame edge with a pencil. After cutting the new template out, I was very (very!) happy to find that there was enough left of the original door to simply 'shave away' two sides to bring it back in and fit within the enclosure.

After a bit with the router and some different techniques, here's the final result:



I'd just like to say I'm very happy with how similar it looks to the 'original' from in the game. I laid in a couple of small rectangles, which match up with the original image (albeit, only aesthetic at the moment) and routed a 90 degree surround.



The other side of the door matches with the frame - so it sits flush when it's in place. (I couldn't hold it in place effectively and take a picture, so I didn't yet.)



This part pissed me off more than anything. To route the rectangles, I used a template I had cut into a 3/8" piece of wood. The template was in place while I did the top section, and then when I did the bottom section. Once I was finished the bottom, I figured I'd go back over the top section a second time, to clean up a couple of small burrs...  ...but I forgot to move the template first. I laid the router into the spot and immediately noticed it starting to cut - so I lifted it out, but the damage was already done. (You can see the small mark in the top right corner.)

[ids]

That is why Bondo is such a great thing to have lying around.