Topway Fight Stick mod - the "King of Eighting" (advice welcome)

[newsdee]

Does anybody know any buttons that would fit on a 4cm hole? Or a nice way to cover them?

I'm modding a Topway PS stick for supergun use.
(same as this one: http://shoryuken.com/forum/index.php?threads/topway-fight-stick-modding-help.80837/ )

As you can see in the pic, there are 2 white rubber domes (analog sticks) which unfortunately became sticky after a couple of years.
(not idea why - had this happen to a number of rubber parts of accessories - I guess it's heat and humidity).
The hole is 4cm wide... I just used masking tape so I don't see the holes - but would be nice to have something on there.

[newsdee]

A bit more about the mod project...

I picked up this stick a while back in Hong Kong. The whole package was hilarious:
the box calls it "Tekken", has big Tekken characters all around it,
but the stick itself is decorated with KoF characters and proudly claims being from "Boxing King of Eigheing (sic) 2008"). 

Let's call this the "King of Eighting" - 8 is a lucky number in HK

At the time, I didn't see many arcade sticks in HK that worked both for PS and PC, and the joystick felt pretty sturdy, so I picked it up.
Bit of a mistake though... at the time it didn't cross my mind that buying a *wireless* stick for playing fighters was a bad idea.

All was as advertised in the box though:




Fast forward a couple of years when I decided to build a supergun, and needed a control panel. This seemed like a perfect fit for the project.
It had the right size and layout, and I wouldn't mind so much if I destroyed it in the process (unlike my hanaho hotrod for instance).

The innards were that of a wireless PS stick - it even had a rumble motor.
It was easy to remove all - it felt like this stick was built with modding in mind to be honest.

Here's how it currently looks after removing the insides and replacing with Sanwa buttons.
Initially I had it directly hooked up to the JAMMA harness, but then I decided to add a DB25 connector for versatility (I plan on making it work for PC via modular connectors).

For the DB25 I followed the DB15 pinout - which is enough for my project (MVS Jamma)  but gives me room for growth.



Following advice I've read online (probably this very forum) I've avoided soldering except for the DB25.
I added a eurostyle connector to quickly change the wiring if I got something wrong (which I did).

I had planned to replace the stick with a Sanwa, but the mounting plate is too large.
I don't have the tools to expand the wood (neither the skill probably) so I've left the original in place.
There was a bunch of solder on the microswitches, but I melted it to make it smooth and managed to attach crimped quick connects to it.



I had ordered some little sanwa buttons but unfortunately they didn't fit the top holes.

Originally I had four black buttons, but since I had made one the start button, I decided to replace it with a white 1P start.
It's close to the other buttons, but still works ok: the different texture and resistance makes it hard to press accidentally.

The 4cm holes were covered with masking tape...
Button I've seen online won't fit - they may cover it, but the mounting seems done in smaller holes, so the button would easily come off.

[Lilwolf]

That seems like it's almost a perfect size for some lids from the supermarket.  Maybe a baby food top. 

You could also use something like this if you want a button... but add a washer to the bottom.
http://na.suzohapp.com/pushbuttons/rbm730sexx.htm

Trouble is, might be a sucky place for an extra button.  Maybe a recessed button?  (take a normal button, mount it on a small 4 1/2" piece of thin board... and glue that under the round part... so it doesn't stick up over the edge?

[newsdee]

Thanks for the great suggestion!
The very next day I found on the sidewalk a little plastic cap that was perfect for it. 

Trouble is, might be a sucky place for an extra button. 

Indeed! I quickly found out that if anything came above the panel, it would not feel very good to the touch.
The masking tape is ugly but makes for a little cushioned area to rest my fingers. So I ended up with one of each.

With a little file and a lot of patience, I managed to eat away enough of the little holes to fit Sanwa start buttons.
And I changed the stick to a Sanwa. Mounted it the wrong way,
but nothing that moving wires around a bit couldn't fix (good thing I had the Euro strip in there)



Now the last remaining bit is to wire all those extra buttons to the DB25... but no rush, I can already play my MVS