Tron Legacy - Update 05/03/2016 - Mala Woes

[mcseforsale]

Yeah, some new embroidery, but the finger is still there. 

AJ

Feel you on the table saw thing.  Growing up, my dad was a woodworker, too.  I always wondered why he didn't wear his wedding ring until he showed it to me...it stopped the saw blade on his table saw, saving his hand when I was about 5. 

He always told me to get the cheapest wedding ring I could find (I dented mine in a MTB wreck...luckily it was 10 karat).

AJ

Wow.  I assume he still had some damage to his hand if the blade got that close to his ring.  I think I would wear extra rings after that. 

[wp34]

I test-fitted the monitor bezel and was not happy with the upper monitor bracket.  I decided to move it up slightly before I laminated the sides.



With that done I met my brother in-law tonight and he helped me laminate the sides.








It was too rainy tonight to be able to take it home.  As soon as the rain lets up I intend to bring it home and mount the monitor. 

[dandare]

Awesome!

(Fancy laminate user! - lol)

[Hoopz]

That looks amazing.

[wp34]

Thanks dandare and Hoopz. 

Woke up to rain.  More in the forecast.   

[wp34]

Minor Update -

Got the cabinet home over the weekend.   We almost had a major problem with cracked laminate while loading it so I decided to leave the cabinet in the garage until I got my T-molding on.  I also decided to play it safe and wait to test-fit the monitor as well.  I ordered it Sunday from T-molding.com and it came in this afternoon.

This is my first time working with white T-molding.  I usually break out the rubber mallet but was afraid of scuffing the white T-mold with the black mallet.  My wife walked in on me hammering the T-molding in place with my hands, left and came back with this.  It actually worked great and I felt dumb for not thinking of it first.



I also ended up consulting my Project Arcade book as I hadn't done an inside curve yet.  Saint's technique for notching in several places worked great.   

[wp34]

I finally got around to mounting the monitor.  I test fit it the other day and the rear shelf was too short.  The front brackets seemed to hold it just fine but I feel more comfortable with extra support since it is do dang heavy. 





I'm having some trouble getting the bezel to fit right and am going to work on that next.  I have the one that came with the monitor but I'm debating whether or not to just make a custom bezel. 

[wp34]

I built a quick mock-up of a CP today.  I wanted to see what the CP might look like as I figure out what I want to do with the bezel.  It looks a bit too deep on the cabinet and I'll shorten it when I make the real one.



I'm not happy with the location of the monitor.  It is a little low.  Looks like I'll have to raise the monitor slightly yet again. 



My family visited the Rusty Quarter's arcade in MN recently.  My daughter mentioned she read the instructions on all the games and wondered how she was going to do the same on my cabinet.   I bought this 7" Mimo monitor a couple of years ago but I designed this cabinet not thinking I would use it.  Now I'd like to use it to display in the button layout for each game but I'm not sure how to make it fit.  Even if I move the monitor up an inch or two there still won't be room unless I notch it into the CP.   

[Le Chuck]

Looking tight man.  I would totally inlay that small display into the CP, have it bordered and titled and everything.  That'd be pretty tits. 

[emphatic]

Looking tight man.  I would totally inlay that small display into the CP, have it bordered and titled and everything.  That'd be pretty tits. 

^^this.

[mcseforsale]

Tits are nice.  I like them very much.

I'd love to see that as well.  Wonder if anyone has any examples...

AJ

Looking tight man.  I would totally inlay that small display into the CP, have it bordered and titled and everything.  That'd be pretty tits. 

[wp34]

Thanks for the feedback guys. 

I was thinking the same thing about mounting it on the CP.  I've got an idea how to do it but it depends on what I do with my artwork. 

[wp34]

I need to do a mock-up but I'm thinking of mounting the 7" Mimo under the plexi on the CP.  This will be on homage to Dillinger's desk from the first Tron movie.  I just need to make sure it can be seen clearly since it will be mounted flush.

[dandare]

That is a wicked idea! will look bad ass!

[Santoro]

Looking good... Watching this build!

[wp34]

Thanks guys.  I've been working on some lighting options and should have a minor update this weekend.

[wp34]

I mentioned a while back that my plan is to mount Tron Identity Discs in the portholes on the side of the cabinet. 

Initially I hollowed out the inside of an Identity Disc and mounted some LED's.  The result was not really what I was looking for.



The light did not diffuse well and to be real honest the disc still looked too much like a toy.



So I picked up a kit from SoulInertia to retrofit an existing disc.  Today I finally got around to installing the kit. 
I need to do some cleanup on it yet but I'm happy with the results so far.

[emphatic]

WOW! 

[dandare]

that looks so much better.

man you are gonna have one sweet looking cab!

[Hoopz]

That's way cool.   

[wp34]

Thanks for the feedback guys.   

I test-mounted my secondary monitor underneath my practice CP tonight.  I was curious if my kids could see it mounted flush.  It is not lined up quite right and is only held in place with tape but I like how it looks.





It was a big hit with the family.  Kids could read it just fine.   My daughter called me a dork though when I said I was going to post pictures here.   

I think it will look even better once the top is black and there is plexi over the whole thing.

[dandare]

OMG! just keeps getting better.

screen looks great! and seems like such an obvious feature now you see it there ('specially with that font!).

[emphatic]

Thanks, dork!

[wp34]

Thanks, dork!

 

[KagatoAMV]

Are you happy with that kit? I like the way it looks and have one of those discs itching to be modded.

[wp34]

Are you happy with that kit? I like the way it looks and have one of those discs itching to be modded.

I am happy with it although I wish it were cheaper.  Once I buy the second kit I'll have as much money in discs as I would have had for side-art.  

The kit is well laid out.  He clearly has refined the process through trial and error.  Having tried modding a disc myself first I'm impressed with the design of the kit.  It comes with very detailed instructions and even a Tron-themed receipt. There are some air bubbles in outer ring but you have to stare at it to see them.  

My implementation will not be using batteries but keep in mind if you go the battery route you have to disassemble the disc to replace them.   Now that I have worked with the kit I would find that to be a big pain.  I have seen at least one other person modify this kit to use rechargeable batteries.

I've got an unopened Kevin Flynn white disc and now I'm trying to decide if the white disc would look better on the side of the cabinet.


Edited to fix grammar.

[P-chan]

I love the idea of the small LCD under the CP showing the button layout for each game.  How are you planning to get that information to the display?

It'd be easy to make a graphic for each game to show the button layout, but I don't know how to get that info on the monitor....

I have an old laptop with a 10.1" LCD that I wouldn't mind cannibalizing if I could do something like this.

[wp34]

I love the idea of the small LCD under the CP showing the button layout for each game.  How are you planning to get that information to the display?

It'd be easy to make a graphic for each game to show the button layout, but I don't know how to get that info on the monitor....

I have an old laptop with a 10.1" LCD that I wouldn't mind cannibalizing if I could do something like this.

I'm planning on using Headsoft's CPWizard.  I need to start testing it soon to make sure it does what I want.

http://headsoft.com.au/index.php?category=cpwizard

[P-chan]

I love the idea of the small LCD under the CP showing the button layout for each game.  How are you planning to get that information to the display?

It'd be easy to make a graphic for each game to show the button layout, but I don't know how to get that info on the monitor....

I have an old laptop with a 10.1" LCD that I wouldn't mind cannibalizing if I could do something like this.

I'm planning on using Headsoft's CPWizard.  I need to start testing it soon to make sure it does what I want.

http://headsoft.com.au/index.php?category=cpwizard

Very interesting.  Now to find a tiny LCD or figure out how to make that old laptop LCD function as a 2nd monitor.

[wp34]

Before I bought the Mimo I played around with using an old Pocket PC as a secondary monitor.

http://www.engadget.com/2005/07/18/sidewindow-turns-your-pocket-pc-into-a-secondary-display/

I prefer the size of the Pocket PC to the Mimo but I had trouble making it work reliably. 

[kahlid74]

Very nice!  Keep up the great work.  Makes me want to add a secondary LCD monitor on my next machine.

[P-chan]

Very nice!  Keep up the great work.  Makes me want to add a secondary LCD monitor on my next machine.

Me too.  I am in full-on LCD scouting mode.  In order to get the laptop LCD to accept a VGA input, a controller board is needed which is about $30 off ebay.  I'm not really willing to pay that since I can find a used 15" LCD for that much....

[Santoro]

My daughter called me a dork though when I said I was going to post pictures here.   

Glad it's not just me. I have 3 kids and a wife thinking I am a dork for posting my arcade projects.

[emphatic]

My daughter called me a dork though when I said I was going to post pictures here.   

Glad it's not just me. I have 3 kids and a wife thinking I am a dork for posting my arcade projects.

Every time I take photos of my arcade stuff my girlfriend call me "nerd".

[wp34]

I wonder how many of these name-callers post everything they do on Facebook?   

[mcseforsale]

I put my arcade shots on FB, too!  I'm ultra-nerd!!

AJ

I wonder how many of these name-callers post everything they do on Facebook?   

[Santoro]

ditto.

[Le Chuck]

I post a link to the finished project thread. 

[wp34]

Not much progress.  Been too busy posting pictures of my cat on Facebook.   

I wanted to see what the Tron stick would look like on the cabinet.  I'm going to light it and don't want it to get in the way of the display.  On my sample CP I cheated it over to the side as far as it will go.  I think it will work out okay.

[wp34]

I needed to get my cabinet speakers out of the basement so today I finished installing them in the the cabinet.  For speakers I went with pretty much the same method that is recommended in the Project Arcade book.  I got a good deal on the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 speakers just before Thanksgiving.  A bit overkill but the sound is great and I'll be prepared whenever the Mamedev's get around to converting Pac Man to stereo sound. 



I took a scrap piece of MDF and cut holes for the speakers.  As in Saint's book I drilled holes through the work piece, removed the screws holding the speakers together and used longer screws to attached the speakers to the work piece.





There is a slight gap because the speaker's are rounded.  I don't want any light from the Marquee to come through the speaker grills so I sealed the gap with a little electrical tape.



I wanted to install the speakers after the cabinet was put together so I added a lip at the back of the speaker grill shelf so I could just slide the speaker assembly in place. 



Here it is installed in the cabinet.  The lip makes it so I don't have to worry about trying to screw the speaker shelve down in back.



I just slid the speaker grill in place (making sure it fit securely under the lip) and put a couple of set-screws to hold it in the front.  This way I should be able to easily remove the speakers if I should have the need in the future.