My latest Project Morph design

[g-rock26]

So I created this Project Morph machine for the sole purpose of making a one piece design.   The machine is made from MDF and I used a wood grade bondo to eliminate the seams and rounded the corners.  I used a white ultra-hard epoxy paint to give it a thick coat of protection. 

This machine has a 24" multi-touch monitor, 200W sound system with the volume and bass controls above the player 1 position on the dual side.  The speakers are on top of the screen and the sub woofer is ported out of the bottom which is about 4" off of the ground.  The monitor raises to about a 45 degree angle in about 6 seconds at the flip of a switch.  I used the Electric Ice RGB LED buttons and the same with the trackball.  There are 2 LEDWiz units controlling all of the LED's as well as a separate unit that controls the side lights (which are also tied into the LEDWiz for added functionality).  The sides are a white plexi with a mirrored plexi backing with RGB LED strips in between for a smooth even lighting.

This unit is 2" shorter than it's predecessors making it more playable from a bar stool or standing. 

Let me know what you think good or bad.  Thanks!

[creatine28]

Very cool!   Looks really nice!

[jammin0]

Nice.  Looks like something out of Star Trek.  I'm interested to hear more about your paint process.  Guess I've never heard of epoxy paint. 

[g-rock26]

I'm interested to hear more about your paint process.  Guess I've never heard of epoxy paint.

Sorry, meant enamel, not epoxy.  lol.  I used a sprayer for the base coat, but seemed to get more on the floor and in my eyes than anything else.  I have never painted a cabinet before I always use laminates or natural wood so this was new to me.  To get the most even coat I found these smaller rollers that are very dense and used them.  They gave me the perfect finish.  I put on about 2 coats of primer and 5 top coats and it came out looking like it does.

[g-rock26]

Does it have video out so that you can use it as a pedestal?

Now that is a great idea!  I will add that to this machine.  It will be a connection on the back, now just need to find a panel mount connector.  It does have an external USB connection under the dual player control panel but didn't think of adding an external video connection.  Thanks!

[Pixelhugger]

Let me know what you think good or bad.  Thanks!

Not a single bad thing about it. This is AWESOME!

My favorite part about it has to be that it looks like it was actually made by Atari in 1979.  I swear, if you told me you Mamed an extremely rare Atari Multiplayer Sit Down Game Table Thing I'd have bought into it without a second thought.

Build pics??

[DaveMMR]

Wow, that looks really awesome!  I would like to see some "under-the-hood" pics as well. 

[Vidiot]

I really love this as well. Seems like you have the best of both worlds...vertical and horizontal games and without rotating monitors, motors, etc. Very well done! 

I would also love to see build pics.

[BadMouth]

Awesome and well thought out build. (probably better than I'm cabable of)  


I do have one criticism.  The surface mounted, screw on speaker grills look a little out of place in respect to everything else.
A recessed or flush mounted custom grill would look sweet.
It might just be that they're up there by themselves with no white trim and a fairly big blank area between them.
A raised placard with a logo between the grills would dress up that area.

[GregD]

This is extremely cool.  I haven't been on here for a long time but from what I have seen, it is very original.  Outstanding attention to detail and it looks very playable as well.  Already one of my favorites.  I would love to see build pics if you have them and I would like to hear how you are raising the screen to the 45 degree angle.  How about a video?

[g-rock26]

I would also love to see build pics.

I will take some internal pics and post them later.  I only have a couple of build pics as I never think of taking them while I'm building.  Shame on me.

The surface mounted, screw on speaker grills look a little out of place in respect to everything else.

I agree that they need some white or something in them.  I do like the pop of them up there though.  Gives it more texture.  I like the white rim idea though, might just have to do that.

A raised placard with a logo between the grills would dress up that area.

Hmm, I think that's a good idea too.  I'll have play around with that idea.  I see what you're saying.

[g-rock26]

I would like to hear how you are raising the screen to the 45 degree angle.  How about a video?

The screen is raised and lowered by a linear actuator motor.  It has a 12" stroke and moves at 1.5" to 2" per second.  It's hooked to a DPDT momentary on / off / momentary on toggle switch above the player 2 controls on the dual side next to the on/off switch.

I got it from here:  http://www.firgelliauto.com/

I will post a video later as well.

[BadMouth]

I agree that they need some white or something in them.  I do like the pop of them up there though.  Gives it more texture.  I like the white rim idea though, might just have to do that.

A raised placard with a logo between the grills would dress up that area.

Hmm, I think that's a good idea too.  I'll have play around with that idea.  I see what you're saying.

Not sure that I'd paint the edges of the grills white.  Might be a bit much since it's so close to the edge.
A logo stenciled on the grill itself would be cool.

I envision something like the attached pic for between the speakers.
(limited to ms paint and logos swiped from the internet here at work)
It would be really awesome if it were 3 dimensional, like a car emblem.

Just throwing my opinions and ideas out there; your vision could be different.  

Edit: Hmmm....A rectangle with rounded corners that match all the others used in the design might be a better fit.
        ....going back to my own projects now. 

[nipsmg]

Wow.  Incredible.  Amazing craftsmanship and I'm with Pixel on his comments, it does look like something legit right out of the 70s.

Insane build.

[EightBySix]

Love it. What did you use for the hood surrounding the monitor when it is up?

[g-rock26]

Love it. What did you use for the hood surrounding the monitor when it is up?

I had my sister sew me a shroud from durable canvas with an elastic center to it gathers up.  It has velcro that holds it to the machine and it works surprisingly well.  I'll show more of it in the video that I post later.

Wow.  Incredible.  Amazing craftsmanship and I'm with Pixel on his comments, it does look like something legit right out of the 70s.

Insane build.

Thank you much!

[Nephasth]

You mentioned you used a couple LED-Wizs, so what's with the RGB controller remote on the stool? Or is that the "seperate unit" you mentioned?

[emphatic]

Incredibly well thought out with flawless execution.  The plentiful admin buttons is the only flaw I can think of, I really don't like 'em on a control panel.

[g-rock26]

You mentioned you used a couple LED-Wizs, so what's with the RGB controller remote on the stool? Or is that the "seperate unit" you mentioned?

That is the separate unit that controls the side lights.

The plentiful admin buttons is the only flaw I can think of, I really don't like 'em on a control panel.

Really there is only 4 admin buttons.  Esc, Enter, Tab and Pause.  The other buttons are coins and player start buttons.  The single player sides have player start, coins and pause.  That way anyone can pause the game.

[g-rock26]

Here's a quick video.  I can do more if you wish.  Just let me know what you want to see.

[Le Chuck]

That's really slick.  Great job.  Did you play with the idea of a custom coin door at all?  The plain front gives a nice clean look but perhaps it is begging for something. 

[g-rock26]

Did you play with the idea of a custom coin door at all?  The plain front gives a nice clean look but perhaps it is begging for something. 

If you look at the picture of the machine I built before this, it has a speaker grill on the front that covers the subwoofer port.  I purposely left the front alone because I wanted that clean simple look.