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Custom Driving Cabinet - WIP Actual Progress!
mbasile35:
I'm having some issues getting this started as it occured to me that i can't just switch up my control layout if i don't like what i come up with in fiberglass as easy as a simple wood panel. So I'm looking for some feed back on what you guys think about my layout and if i'm missing anything.
The buttons are all happ low profile illuminated pushbuttons. On the left theres 4 view buttons, and a start and exit. The left side is where i want to put a a "weapon button" for the mario kart games to shoot your item. My problem is with a control you can pull the analog stick back and fire the weapon to shoot it backwards (most go forward by default) So my first thought was the put a button in the sterring wheel. The mario Kart arcade games have this. There's also some games with a 2 button steering wheel which would work, but i can't seem to find a used one. And on top of both of these i was hoping to use the newr style happ wheel with the rubber coating. Do you guys think modding the wheel to put a button in there is possible? Anyways if i don't do a button in the wheel, then i want to put two buttons on the dash. The triangle button shown would be forward weapon and then another one would be backwards weapon.
So what do you guys think?
EDIT
I think the right side is really boring, even with 2 buttons on it. Is there anythign else i should add? My shifter is gonna be on the seat base
mbasile35:
I've got a tiny little update and I've made minuscule progress, but that's okay because its more than i've done in quite some time.
I'm still trying to finalize a design for my fiberglass dash...not so much the dash itself but the button layout. I was almost there, I ordered push buttons and everything, then i got an email last night saying that they don't make the small round low profile IPB's anymore...should have know something was fishy when the online store said they had them in white and the Happ website doesn't have white. So now I'm waiting for a reply and hopefully i can swap out small square low profile IPB's for the round ones.
This is a rough idea of what the dash is going to look like. There's no buttons on the left and the right side raised section is not going to be rounded like that, but the top is what iwas really trying to show. I'm still a little bit lost on what to do for the sides but i figure i'll start building up the front and top and then take it from there.
This one is model of the "plug" which is the form that the fiber glass is built around, with the esception that i put in the buttons because i was doing this when i got the email i mentioned and i wanted to see how the square ones looked on there.
Anyways what's holding me up now is access to a able saw. To make the plug for the top fiberglass section i need to make long straght cuts on an angle which is something i don't think i can do without a table saw. I thought about using a 45 degree chamfer bit to make the angles, and that's looking more and more like the route i'm going to go. The other hurdle is time. I just picked up a :censored: ton of OT at work and have been going to school 3 nights a week for the past few weeks . This weekend i hope to start the front panel plug because i can do most of that without a table saw.
mbasile35:
Made some actual progress today. Its now been about a year since i started this thing..i wish i had more time.
Anyways, I ended up buying a table saw so i could just do the cuts myself. I figured it'll help out with this and any other future cabs i build, plus who doesn't like buying a new power tool? I table saw i bought is the cheapest one at home depot, the Ryobi RTS10. It got really good review for the most part and the price was attractive so i figured i'd go for it. After about 2 hours of use, i can say i don't have any complaints yet...and i still have all 10 fingers.
So what i cut today was the pieces of wood that are going to be used for the top of the dash board. I'm really happy with the way it came out considering this was my first time operating a table saw. I when i bought the saw i also picked up a 6" x 1" x 6' board and to my surprise i was able to cut everything i needed for the beveled cuts.
As far as the rest of the CP goes, I'm still trying to work out the buttons with the vendor i mentioned above. I also got a template laser cut to make the button panels. I figured i could trace them with 3/4 mdf and stack them up till i get the desired height. The laser cut part shipped friday so hopefully by next weekend i have something to show for that. I'm also thinking of using the laser cutter again to get the raised sections that the buttons actually sit on made (around the button, not the whole left/ right pieces) so i can get more intricate than i'd be able to by hand. I still have to wait to see if i get my buttons then i can figure that out.
Mike
mbasile35:
Got the template in today, cut a piece from mdf with the jig saw really quick, clamped down the piece, clamped down the template, aaaaaaaaand......
I broke the acrylic template within a minute of routing. I lifted up the router carelessly and ended up hitting the template with the bit, shattering a sqaure corner..not so bad, i still had had the intricate parts in tact and i could use something else to trace the missing corner. So i went along and routed the three straight edges (minus the one corner) and then when i got to the detailed part i did the same stupid thing. Now the template was a goner. Then i unclampled the template and threw it at my garage floor and now its really a goner. Oh well, but now i'm stuck with either buying a new template, or making my own. I'm going to look at the laser cutter's site and see if they can cut wood.
So no progress as far as the front of the dash goes, but i did start mounting the pieces i cut this weekend to 1/4 inch mdf. I just need to take some measurements and make some mounting holes and then i'll be ready to fiberglass the top at least. I also think I've got the buttons figured out. Apparently happ doesn't sell many of the low profile buttons so they're discontinued and i can't get either the small round or small sqaure ones in white. So i settled for rectangles that i'll mount vertically.
That's about it for now.
Mike
mbasile35:
Been busy with school and work to do much of anything to the cab, but i'm gearing up to make some good progress this weekend. I didn't have luck trying to map two separate buttons in dolphin to fire weapons forward and back, so i'm probably going to dump that idea and use a single item button on the right side of the panel. This is going to leave a bunch of panel space open. What i'm wondering is what do you guys suggest i should do with that space? I've got 4 view buttons, start and exit on the left side and that's full. The right side is the single item button. Am i missing any necessary buttons? All i can think of is coin but i'm planning on setting everything up for free play and probably putting a button on the coin return.
My other idea is just mounting the shifter there. I can probably think of way more games that mount the shifter on the dash than on the seat base so i'm not entirely sure why wanted to do it this way to begin with. What do you guys who play games with the manual trans prefer? Do you guys have any other ideas on what to use the left side panel for? Maybe simple speedometer decals?
Mike
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