A few control questions- Wico sticks, smaller buttons.

[Well Fed Games]

OK, as I plan out my next build, I have a few questions I thought I would throw out:

1. Anyone know of a source for blue (medium to light blue) Wico balltop/shafts that would work with 8-way leaf bases? (I've got red 4" shafts, but the red does not work with the theme I am working towards.

2. Are the Wico 3.5" shafts interchangeable with the 4"? I assume they just sit .5" closer to the panel?

3. Are there any practical arcade buttons with a smaller footprint than a leaf switch? Are Seimitsu 24mm buttons my best bet? Anyone use those as "main" action buttons? (I've only used one as a admin button.)

Thanks for any and all advice!

[Turnarcades]

No idea about the Wico stuff but with regards to the sticks, if you can't find blue ones or swap the ball- tops, use a spray like plasti-kote to colour it the way you want.

There are some very low profile seimitsus out there if depth under the panel is an issue. Gremlin Solutions carries them.

[Well Fed Games]

Thanks. Upon further research, it looks like the 24mm Seimitsu are my best bet- should fit where I need, come in the colors I want, and can insert artwork into them. Need them to go into a metal-over-wood CP, but I guess that is what routers are for....

As far as the Plasti-kote, I guess that stuff should stand up to use... a good back up plan I guess.

Kind of surprised no one sells the replacement shafts... I guess I technically could use two blue and two orange...

[SammyWI]

I use Seimitsu 24mm buttons in a stand alone CP and they work very well for actions buttons.  They're about the smallest footprint useable button I can think of.  I got mine from Lizard Lick.

[Well Fed Games]

Sammy- thanks for the confirmation, good to hear they have held up.

For the sticks, Bob Roberts apparently sells some powder blue Wico shafts (cheap, too, thank goodness).

Always nice when the control parts in my mind exist in real life!