Author Topic: Mission Control Project: 5 years on, what to do with the leftovers? (Read 552930 times)

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #640 on:** November 02, 2005, 01:07:30 pm »

Blue ball top shafts from Ponyboy. I considered some of the fancier stuff, SlikStik stainless or lighted balltops etc and I may use something like that on my next cab but for now the blue Wico balltops really appeal to me.

Oh, and Drew that branding iron looks like a must have. Especially the logo version.... now to find a spare $143.00

nostrebor- ummmmm.... doesn't everybody have three? What am I missing here?

..... As for the button nah, probably not going away, it may be superfluous but not enough to justify a total do over as I'm totalling costs and time. I just have to keep reminding myself that certain elements can be reworked later on. I suppose there is a good chance I'll want to revise the entire CP once I've used it in context of the FE for a few months. $:-\$

markrvp · « **Reply #641 on:** November 02, 2005, 02:55:28 pm »

Do you already have your arcade computer up and running with Emulaxian?

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #642 on:** November 02, 2005, 02:57:35 pm »

Had it then sold it. Was a Dell that didn't support AGP which I need for the ArcadeVGA.

markrvp · « **Reply #643 on:** November 02, 2005, 03:03:56 pm »

Are you near a Fry Electronics? Every Friday they have a sale and you can usually pick up a P4 3.2 Ghz processor and motherboard for around $200. They also have AMD Athlon 64 3200 motherboard & processor combos for around $169. Add 512 megs of Ram for $40 and a hard drive for $80, a power supply for $50, and a DVD-ROM drive for under $100 and you've got a massive computer system that will run almost all the games MAME fully supports.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. I'm really looking forward to seeing Emulaxian up and running as it looks really cool, but I never really worked with it much.

I think the coolest thing about your cab is the Nav panel with all the emulator buttons.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #644 on:** November 02, 2005, 03:51:24 pm »

They are FINALLY opening a Fry's about 10 minutes away. AmericanDemon set me up with some great parts... everything I needed actually.... to build the PC. Big thanks again to him! But I'm sure I'll be hitting Fry's for more bells and whistles.

The nav panel will hopefully make the cab a bit more user friendly for people unfamiliar with the whole concept and FE. I'm hoping to make it as self explanatory as possible.. as though the whole thing could stand alone in an arcade with nobody around to walk a player through it's use.

Emulaxian can certainly be a bit complex to setup but it's getting easier and the flexibility and customizability is incredible. Once I get the whole thing completed I plan on adding 3D arcades to match the rest of the artwork/concept. I have sketches for a massive environment that will hopefully contain everything from a walkaround construction gallery to archives of scanned videogame magazines from my childhood. I probably shouldn't go into all of this here, since it is such a long way off and so likely to get laughed at but then... that hasn't stopped me so far

Here are some of the concepts I've been working on for a Mission Control 3D Environment. Luckily these are all a ton easier to model and convert to W3D than my cab.

The Aerospace Museum (Populated with 3D models of vehicles from 80's sci fi/toys... Space 1999 Eagle, Tie Fighter, Colonial Viper, Starbird.. and so on). Most of these models are available online, otherwise creating them would be ridiculously impractical. Like building a cabinet out of sol... errrr... never mind.

The Hall of Gods and Heroes (Walkaround gallery of projects and builders that inpired me during development of Mission Control including but probably not limited to Roswell, Robotron3000, SuperCade, Jubei, PacMamea, and on...).

The Wingmen's Deck (Walkaround tribute to the really helpful people who have assisted in the project).

Library and Archives (Browseable scans of videogame magazines and ads I remember as a kid)

Construcion Gallery

Art and Concept Gallery (Concept and development sketches, diagrams, and early versions of artwork etc...)

The Arcade (a collection of.. errrr... duh).

I hope to incorporate some of this in to the eventual website...

But enough of all this vaporware. It's woodshop night tonight!

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #645 on:** November 02, 2005, 07:03:06 pm »

WHOO HOO!! Markertek order came today. These panel mount firewire and usb connectors are waaaaay nicer than I had expected. Very "military spec." Almost look like OEM cigarette lighters from a Humvee.

I'm really excited to have found these.

DrewKaree · « **Reply #646 on:** November 02, 2005, 07:09:43 pm »

Well, since you're online and hpefully I catch you in time, do you recall if they have something like that for S-video, or can you repost the link?

markrvp · « **Reply #647 on:** November 02, 2005, 07:46:02 pm »

Yes, they do Drew.

Go to http://www.markertek.com

Search for NEUTRIK and SWITCHCRAFT panel mounts. They have them in BNC, S-video, XLR, 1/4", whatever you want.

I used to order stuff from Markertek all the time when I had my video production company.

MrTroy · « **Reply #648 on:** November 04, 2005, 09:20:42 pm »

Quote

WHOO HOO!! Markertek order came today. These panel mount firewire and usb connectors are waaaaay nicer than I had expected. Very "military spec." Almost look like OEM cigarette lighters from a Humvee. Roll Eyes

I'm really excited to have found these.

I'm not really sure what that is.... but if it is what I think it is. I'm very excited to. ^_^

Wait.... does that act as an usb extension cable... ugh I can never explain what I mean. Like if you have an usb exension cable you can connect it to this thing and plug it into your computer. Then use this to connect something to the top... I just sound stupid now... what exactly is this thing.

Bones · « **Reply #649 on:** November 04, 2005, 10:23:31 pm »

I looked everywhere in Australia for a similar product to mount a USB extension socket (and failed).

Great find!

markrvp · « **Reply #650 on:** November 04, 2005, 11:04:30 pm »

Quote from: MrTroy on November 04, 2005, 09:20:42 pm

Quote
WHOO HOO!! Markertek order came today. These panel mount firewire and usb connectors are waaaaay nicer than I had expected. Very "military spec." Almost look like OEM cigarette lighters from a Humvee. Roll Eyes

I'm really excited to have found these.

I'm not really sure what that is.... but if it is what I think it is. I'm very excited to. ^_^

Wait.... does that act as an usb extension cable... ugh I can never explain what I mean. Like if you have an usb exension cable you can connect it to this thing and plug it into your computer. Then use this to connect something to the top... I just sound stupid now... what exactly is this thing.

You're getting the idea. This is basically a way to put a USB or Firewire connector on the OUTSIDE of your cabinet. You cut a hole in your cabinet and screw the panel mount to it. Then you just plug your USB extension cable from the back of the panelmount to the USB jack on your computer. Then you can plug any USB device into the front of the panel mount like a joystick, hard drive, mouse, keyboard, etc.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #651 on:** November 11, 2005, 12:29:09 am »

The control panel is nearly done. I've built up the front edge to 1.75" to accept a very cool piece of solid hardwood t-molding. I thought I was gonna have to shell out a ton of money on a huge shaper bit to cut the molding (to give it the super huge radius) but then stumbled on exactly what I was planning on cutting while at a hardwood dealer that specializes in flooring and crown moldings.

Turns out they use 2" wide solid wood t-molding to finish off wood floors where they join different surfaces. The profile is exactly that of the plastic t-molding used to edge arcade games..

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #652 on:** November 11, 2005, 12:31:39 am »

Here is the planer and the spline or stem half removed. Originally the stem stuck out about 1/4"

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #653 on:** November 11, 2005, 12:33:47 am »

....and spline gone. I was shocked at how easily the planer handled this. I would have expected the trim to rock back and forth on it's convex side, but once fed it didn't rock a milimeter so I was able to plane the back down perfectly smooth.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #654 on:** November 11, 2005, 12:34:38 am »

Here's the front of the CP thickened up to accept the full surface of the molding. Not yet glued together.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #655 on:** November 11, 2005, 12:40:35 am »

And here's how the whole thing will look (in it's raw form) when glued. To take this pic, I held the trim bent into place with my highly dextrous chimp like feet... not shown.

The walnut will look much richer and softer when finished. I may stain it to get it a bit darker, or maybe just oil and wax it. Regardless, in person it looks much better than these pics show... even my wife said "wow.. honey that's nice wood."

Which of course made me laugh so hard I almost dropped the panel as she kept saying "What?... What?"

DrewKaree · « **Reply #656 on:** November 11, 2005, 01:03:37 am »

Shoulda told her:

"You bring out the best in me honey!"

"You should see it in the morning!"

"What, you thought that was just a roll of quarters in my pocket?"

nostrebor · « **Reply #657 on:** November 11, 2005, 08:43:48 pm »

Wow Pixel.

That's some nice wood!

You knew this one was ~~coming~~ going to occur

papercut · « **Reply #658 on:** November 25, 2005, 08:24:37 pm »

I just went back to the first post on this thread.

November 8, 2003-November 8, 2005
_{(and counting)}
Happy Second Birthday
_(belated)
Mission Control Project Thread!

When this thread was started:

Mame was still in the .70's (.72?)
We still thought there were WMD's in Iraq.
You could advertise a MAME cab on Ebay without getting sued.
HDTV was still in it's first year of availability and HDTV sets cost over $10k

Ahh.. the days of yester year when projects only seemed to take a few months.

What else has happened since

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #659 on:** November 25, 2005, 10:07:27 pm »

Hehe. *switches to Homer voice* It's funny because it's true.

I'm currently up at my family's house working in my dad's shop trying my best to finish this beast before too many more milestones are passed. Depending on how the rest of the evening goes (finally cutting out the sides), I should have pics of the finished sides later tonight.

I got my CP and illuminated button artwork from Mamemarquees and was hoping to have pics of the finished CP ready for tonight as well. In fact, I was hoping to launch the website this weekend. But the sides have been the typical unexpected amount of work so I'm behind on all that. Cool things are happening though! I have been absolutely blown away by the quality of mamemarquees printing. The CP and buttons are gonna look unbelievable. Scott at mamemarquees sleep deprived himself splitting hairs on color calibration and the results are stunning. HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended. More on all that later.

markrvp · « **Reply #660 on:** November 26, 2005, 02:14:04 pm »

Quote from: Pixelhugger on November 25, 2005, 10:07:27 pm

I should have pics of the finished sides later tonight.

You're such a tease!

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #661 on:** November 26, 2005, 02:28:42 pm »

Still routering this morning

Pics by end of day... gotta travel home.

Hehe teeease

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #662 on:** November 27, 2005, 01:36:18 am »

Here's the final glueup of the side panel. Basically the two smaller panels built last trip joined into one.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #663 on:** November 27, 2005, 01:37:49 am »

Big side panel trimmed to nearly template size with the template screwed in place for easy routering. First pass with router complete.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #664 on:** November 27, 2005, 01:40:23 am »

It's so thick I we had to take a pass from each face to trim it. Once with a top bearing trim bit and once with a bottom bearing bit.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #665 on:** November 27, 2005, 01:44:17 am »

And the finished side. One of two but the second still needs cleanup with the router.

chopps · « **Reply #666 on:** November 27, 2005, 02:01:30 am »

oh man... this cabinet is gonna look awesome. i dont think your rendered pics from 17 pages ago are gonna do it justice. cant wait to see more.

DrewKaree · « **Reply #667 on:** November 27, 2005, 06:55:58 am »

I'm guessing it's a visual thing or something - did you purposefully cut your template smaller to account for the bearing, or is that 1/2 inch of additional material to be sanded down?

I'm guessing you used a pattern bit instead of a flush-trim bit, but what made you decide on that?

Oh, and since I haven't seen Paige around in ages, I've got to add this for him: With the back of that cab like that, it'll be hard to move

Me: Not to mention the brazilian pounds it'll weigh

Bones · « **Reply #668 on:** November 27, 2005, 07:07:23 am »

Progress is really starting to pick up. So far everything looks great!

markrvp · « **Reply #669 on:** November 27, 2005, 10:24:04 am »

It looks great! Now is the time when you start to get really excited.

Santoro · « **Reply #670 on:** November 27, 2005, 11:42:49 am »

Quote from: DrewKaree on November 27, 2005, 06:55:58 am

Oh, and since I haven't seen Paige around in ages, I've got to add this for him: With the back of that cab like that, it'll be hard to move

I'll bet even Paige would understand the need for, and approve of the shape in this case.

Pixel, so you are gonna spraypaint the sides black, right?

walls83 · « **Reply #671 on:** November 27, 2005, 02:05:45 pm »

First of all I cant believe Im finally seeing the side panels.

Second of all..

This is going to be one sweet arcade machine

Its nice to see you doing everything the right way. My first cab I built I was so excited to just get it done It was sloppy, it looked good but I wish I would have taken my time and thought everything out.

Keep it up.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #672 on:** November 27, 2005, 03:32:16 pm »

Quote from: DrewKaree on November 27, 2005, 06:55:58 am

did you purposefully cut your template smaller to account for the bearing, or is that 1/2 inch of additional material to be sanded down?

I should have explained that pic better.

The top most layer is the template. Beneath it is the side panel to be trimmed. This image shows the result of the first pass of the router with the top bearing following the template and trimming the side panel flush. Because the bit wasn't long enough it cut just under halfway down the edge. To trim the remaining, we flipped the entire panel (with the template still attached) to the other face and routed again, this time with a bottom bearing bit.

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #673 on:** November 27, 2005, 03:35:00 pm »

Awesome... Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #674 on:** November 27, 2005, 03:40:43 pm »

More gratuitous shots. Super low angle followed by close up showing super thickness.

GreenKnight37 · « **Reply #675 on:** November 27, 2005, 05:24:00 pm »

Unless someone decides to form a cabinet out of cement or carve it from solid steel, I think you're going to have the heaviest cabinet around.

But its going to be damn beautiful, thats for sure.

Great job on the sides, looking forward to seeing everything mocked up (and completed!) soon.

nostrebor · « **Reply #676 on:** November 28, 2005, 03:53:34 pm »

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #677 on:** November 28, 2005, 04:58:43 pm »

Quote from: RetroACTIVE on November 27, 2005, 03:35:00 pm

Awesome... Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice!

I never saw Beetlejuice but I'm guessing this is related to the same thing as Zapper's Tim Burton comment. Please enlighten me. $:-\$

RetroACTIVE · « **Reply #678 on:** November 28, 2005, 05:17:49 pm »

Thats funny I did not know somebody had already commented on the Burton-esque style of your cabinet...

When I saw the pic of the side... it just struck me as to how non-linear it is... hence why it seemed to me as something that belonged in a Tim Burton film... lots of curves almost winged...

It is really gutsy and wild... like Burton... only without the aspect.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #679 on:** November 28, 2005, 09:10:08 pm »

Quote from: RetroACTIVE on November 28, 2005, 05:17:49 pm

it just struck me as to how non-linear it is... hence why it seemed to me as something that belonged in a Tim Burton film...

Ahhhhhh, gotcha!


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Author Topic: Mission Control Project: 5 years on, what to do with the leftovers? (Read 552930 times)