R-Pod MkII Racing Simulator: Now VR Enabled

[mattgold]

If you need that many buttons, the DSD for $100 is a great deal.  The S2000 panel complete w/ Engine Start on eBay is $75/Best Offer.

Either one will look great.   

[SpaceHedgehog]

where does one order such a thing?

I did a little bit of lateral thinking and checked out a few name badge printing sites. There are some really good quality ones around. I bought mine here:

http://www.namebadgesinternational.co.uk/products/shapes-name-badges/

If you need that many buttons, the DSD for $100 is a great deal.  The S2000 panel complete w/ Engine Start on eBay is $75/Best Offer.

Either one will look great.   

I'm going to need to to design the dash into the build so repurposing is going to be what I need. $100 is what I considered to be a good deal too!

[SpaceHedgehog]

I will not be able to continue with the build for most of the weekend but I have free days today and Monday to make some progress.

A couple of panels have been mostly prepared this morning. This will not be screwed and glued into place fully just yet though.







As with the shifter pod, the angles will have sharp edges and will be wrapped in blackboard vinyl.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Almost done with the front panel basics now. One of the pieces is a couple of mm off (wehre the downward sloping panel meets the front-most panel) but that can easily be sanded back.

[SpaceHedgehog]

What could these be for?

[Generic Eric]

What could these be for?

Louvers. For speed

[SpaceHedgehog]

Louvers. For speed

Darn close.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Air intake for the front of the pod. Loads of work left to do on it yet though and it's just balanced together atm.

Rear view:



Front view:



Side view:

[SpaceHedgehog]

I decided to add some mesh to it. Lots of tidying up is required to make it look more integrated.

[emphatic]

That's pretty damn cool.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Cheers for that Emphatic. I'm trying to determine how best to complete this without going too overboard on accessorising.

I'm having withdrawal symptoms at the moment as I can't do any more with this build for the next few days

[Generic Eric]

I'm watching a video for "Next Car Game" and they just used the hand brake.  Do you play any drifting or rally games that require a hand brake?

[SpaceHedgehog]

Not at the moment Generic but I will probably purchase everything going once it's built. Fanatec are due to release a handbrake and I'm interested in going for that when it becomes available.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Just a little deviation from the main build whilst I consider the platform that this will sit on. I've located a material that looks like asphalt that I will be ordering shortly. This rubber is not cheap but is designed to be very durable (not that I'll need it to be particularly):



This will it on a shaped base:



This will sit on MDF with a thin wooden frame underneath that. White LEDs will be wrapped around the frame which will be set back from the edge to avoid the 'dot effect'. I will place the Magiglides under the frame to allow it to be moved around easily. I will also fit a switch on the dash to activate the LEDs. T-Molding will be used as an edging. I'm considering mounting a black handle on the diagonal to assist with moving it around.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Grill shape cut and flush trimmed.



With tow hook:



I'll cut out the middle next ....

[SpaceHedgehog]

Finished up for the evening but worked a little later to make up for lost time over the last few days. The shaping for the grill piece is now complete. I will be inserting some aluminium bars into this provided I can source them tomorrow.

Guides attached to the back of the grill:



Trimmed and beveled on the inside edges:



Beveled on the outer edge:



Close-up:

[Slippyblade]

Good god this is sooooo sexy it hurts.  The kids have been bugging me for over a year for a racing cab and this thread has been nothing short of divine inspiration.  I'd love to talk with you privately about the software side of things at some point if that works for you.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Thanks Slippy. The ideas I've had for this have been sloshing round in my head for some time, I just needed an excuse to start the project to make it worthwhile. Assetto Corsa was really the spark.

Yes, of course, I'd be more than happy to discuss things further 

[SpaceHedgehog]

The hardware store had the items I needed - Aluminium strips for the grill and also some angled section for the 'door' kick plate:





I went for anodised rather than chrome as I didn't want something too 'bling'. Now to route out the recesses for the grill and cut the metal ...

[SpaceHedgehog]

The grill section is complete aside from filling in a few gaps, painting and cutting the black mesh to sit behind it.

Routed back with inlay for mesh and recesses for the aluminium:



Close-up of the recesses (over cut to give a bit of wiggle room to allow the bars to be lined up correctly:



Front:



With a temporary piece of mesh behind it:



It will look much better once it's painted black and the mesh is backed by grey vinyl.

[emphatic]

I love your work. The pictures too!

[Generic Eric]

Assetto Corsa was really the spark.

I'd be keen to read your review of that game.  How many hours do you have logged on that?  How does it compare to Gran Turismo or Forza?

Have you read about this? I found this on the steam reviews

I've seen mods that will include Gran Turismo tracks on the official forum.

[SpaceHedgehog]

I love your work. The pictures too!

Thanks again emphatic

Assetto Corsa was really the spark.

I'd be keen to read your review of that game.  How many hours do you have logged on that?  How does it compare to Gran Turismo or Forza?

Have you read about this? I found this on the steam reviews

I've seen mods that will include Gran Turismo tracks on the official forum.

I haven't been able to play using the wheel for a while due to building this rig but have 186 hours logged according to Steam. That will likely go into the thousands over the next few years. I'll post a review once I get some time to do a proper job of it!

Regarding GT tracks, whilst they would be very nice for added variety, you can't beat laser scanned versions for accuracy / authenticity!

[SpaceHedgehog]

Side cut for the right seat base panel:



I will need to cut another piece out in 12mm MDF and then start cutting the windows out ....

[SpaceHedgehog]

The second side piece has been cut and flush trimmed. Rough cut holes have been made for the windows. A more discrete logo for this panel with grill to be applied to the front-most window:



I like my projects to look solid as well as feel solid, hence the chunky cut approach with double panels (sounds almost edible ...):



Next I will nail the guides to the back and get routing.

[SpaceHedgehog]

The seat side panel is nearly done.

Routed recesses for artwork and mesh:



Top panel beveled:



Side view:



Leaning on the seat base:

[SpaceHedgehog]

Final update for the holiday. Back panel has been cut out to access the inlays. I've glued the outer and inner frames together so I can start to work (fill and paint) on them during the week.





I'm pleased as I managed to complete the components I'd set out to.

[SpaceHedgehog]

I made some simple kick plates out of angled aluminium:







I will add a strip underneath this to raise it a little so it better integrates with the T-Molding and also hides the MDF underneath the seat base.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Must ...   not  ...   stop.     Must  ...  progress  ...  (or it'll never be finished)

Sealing and filling the grill and side panels this evening.





Prepping the wood for painting; it's the part I enjoy the least but it must be done.

[Superfrog]

I'm a painter by myself, but I also don't like the painting process.
because I want a good end result, I always bin to long working on that precess 

But at the end it will always pays you off 

Hold on.. it's almost done 

[Ryglore]

Dang this build is sexy! Makes me really want a driving cab... 

[SpaceHedgehog]

Hold on.. it's almost done 

Indeed. The front panels are going to be a lot of work!

Dang this build is sexy! Makes me really want a driving cab... 

Thanks Ryglore 

I was running low on Blackboard vinyl so ordered some more of that. Hopefully I'll be in a position to skin the front of the cab with it soon.

Just finished up filling the seat base panel and applying the first coat of primer to the grill section. A couple of productive weekday hours and I'm hoping to get the flat black paint applied on Friday after some more prep work tomorrow.



I need to consider whether I'm going to go for an engine bay under the air intake or not ...

[Generic Eric]

Hold on.. it's almost done 

Indeed. The front panels are going to be a lot of work!

Dang this build is sexy! Makes me really want a driving cab... 

Thanks Ryglore 

I was running low on Blackboard vinyl so ordered some more of that. Hopefully I'll be in a position to skin the front of the cab with it soon.

Just finished up filling the seat base panel and applying the first coat of primer to the grill section. A couple of productive weekday hours and I'm hoping to get the flat black paint applied on Friday after some more prep work tomorrow.



I need to consider whether I'm going to go for an engine bay under the air intake or not ...

That is where I always thought I would put my PC when I built one of these.

[talkgeek]

impressive build - watching with interest 

[SpaceHedgehog]

It would probably require more space at the front to house a PC Generic, but it could easily be done if you have the room to accommodate a larger rig.

Thanks talkgeek 

Slightly ahead of schedule with this. Managed to finish the priming and sanding back and have now applied the first (patchy) coat of flat black. This will need to be sanded down lightly and another coat applied before varnishing:

[Superfrog]

Why don't you make a bigger Air intake and put all the pc pieces in there ... smooth and easy to get to top of for upgrading your stuff 

Some wires under need and it's all set and done, no big pc tower in front of this beautiful rig 

[SpaceHedgehog]

It would need a bit of redesign unfortunately superfrog. The PC sits in a corner of the room and is used as my main desktop too. It will be quite far away from the rig.

[SpaceHedgehog]

2 sheets of mesh grill have arrived (yum):



The grill section looks much better now it's painted:

[SpaceHedgehog]

Something arrived in the post this morning:



Not quite as perfect as I would have liked but worth the investment. It should add to the finish of the pod nicely though.

[SpaceHedgehog]

I've spent most of today building the monitor mount and drilling access holes for cables.









The posts and cable access will be completely hidden once this has been completed. Posts have been over-cut for now just in case my measuring is off.