R-Pod MkII Racing Simulator: Now VR Enabled

[Superfrog]

I like 2 on 2, or 1 on 1  but a little offset .. not in the middle 

Very nice build to watch and dream about it.... sadly, not the space, otherwise a driving cab was my next build 

[SpaceHedgehog]

Thanks for that Superfrog 

I'm still undecided after all the comments but there's no rush just yet. Please do feel free to add suggestions.

[emphatic]

I liked the first picture best, "two and none". 

[harveybirdman]

I vote two and none as well.

[Namco]

I don't want to be debbie downer, but I don't see a lot of aluminum ornamentation over the grills of your typical Lambos: 
https://www.google.com/search?q=lamborghini+grill&tbm=isch

How about some angled carbon fiber around the edge?


Like dis:

[SpaceHedgehog]

Thanks for the continued feedback 

Like dis:

That does look nice Namco. I was very close to doing something like that (albeit smaller) as another section at the bottom but decided to go for a simpler styling.

I had this in mind when I was considering  the aluminium rod (not Lamborghini styling though):



I will be using carbon fiber though for the fascia on the dashboard.

I'm leaning towards one and one at the moment.

[SpaceHedgehog]

There are some small jobs which I can complete during the week. I'd been meaning to tidy up the footwell / kickplates and ensure that there was no MDF visible. There was an area behing the kickplates and also down the side of the side panel where this would have been the case.

Firstly, I painted the visible areas with flat black paint:



Then I made some blanking plates which would:

-Raise the kick plate to integrate better with the T-Molding on the front.

-Add more protection to the side of the foot well and ensure that any foot scuffs wouldn't cause the vinyl in that area to peel.

-Tidy up an area visible between the kick plate and the seat base.

Blanking plates:



I covered these in vinyl for a good finish:



Close-up of the vinyl - I can't recommend this stuff enough, it has a lovely texture:



The section is now a lot tidier:



I will need to use epoxy to glue all these pieces in-place.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Not happy with the finish on this piece (and will be re-doing it) but here it is after varnishing:

[ChanceKJ]

WOH!!  Woh, woh woh, WOH!.... *TWEET*!  Stop the play, I call foul!

How is it someone who has all this talent in woodworking owns the same basic IKEA coffee table found in pretty much every FutureShop Home Theatre department (circa 2004-2009)?!?!

This is not acceptable.  You march right back to the hardware store and buy some Oak, or Ash, or something, and you build the best damn driving- er, Coffee table this forum has ever seen!!   Seriously.  You are not allowed to continue this build until it's done.

I don't care what your excuse is!

 

[SpaceHedgehog]

You got me there ChanceKJ

However, my wife did say she'd like (well, I think the expression was 'wouldn't mind) a cocktail cabinet for the front room ...

[ChanceKJ]

See, that's the "Spousal Aproval" I talk about in my build process.  The table you have now has two drawers on each end correct? Toss a Jamma multi game board in one side, cut a hole in top for a display, replace that glass top with a tinted one, and build a hidden flip down CP along the one side as the couch.

[wirenut]

See, that's the "Spousal Aproval" I talk about in my build process. 

I went with the "don't ask and just take my beating when it's too late to stop me" method.  Would not recommend for future builders.....

[talkgeek]

See, that's the "Spousal Aproval" I talk about in my build process.  The table you have now has two drawers on each end correct? Toss a Jamma multi game board in one side, cut a hole in top for a display, replace that glass top with a tinted one, and build a hidden flip down CP along the one side as the couch.

I'm keen to see that as a project!

..but this thread belongs to a real project, ...and is impressing the out of me! 

[SpaceHedgehog]

I don't experience 'spouse approval' generally (unless it's a significant financial outlay), only 'spouse encouragement'!

Yes, the cocktail is definitely one for later.


A list of things I'm hoping to get done this weekend:
Make hinged drop down panel for 'glove box' - this is to hide the USB Hub under the wheel shelf
Widen cable hole on top of dashboard - the monitor cable doens't fit through this at present
Fit interior cable ducting - tidy up / hide interior cables
Power and cable management - Fit velcro for better cable management (and 4-way power extension) inside dash area and below wheel shelf
Permanently attach blanking plates / kick plated - Screw in / epoxy these pieces
Attach thin foam to inside of shifter console - will help to reduce any vibrations between the shifter console and the base
Cut new internal shifter / Buttkicker mount - needs to be a single piece for better Buttkicker effects
Wire up pedal and shifter Buttkickers - Only the seat buttkickers are operational at present
Apply vinyl to inside visible faces of front panel, whell shelf and glove box - remove any visible MDF
Complete side panel - currently re-filling and sanding. Will need to cut wire mesh, acrylic, artwork backing board
Route inlays for aluminium strips on front side panels - I will be going for 'one and one'

Still To-do:

Shape dashboard sides
Cut dashboard side attachments - this will include 'venting'
Cut dashboard top pieces
Design and cut dashboard fascia panels - I will need to trim some of the side panel pieces to allow for buttons and rotary controls
Finishing for side pieces - aluminium bars, painting and varnishing, mesh, rubber sheet inlay with backing board
Finishing for dashboard sides - inlay for rubber sheet plus backing board
Add pleather to top of dashboard
Device holder - make a cradle to hold portable device to sit behind the CSW base
Design and build hood for monitor / TrackIR
External vinyl application
Complete air intake for the hood
Attach grill / tow hook to front

Accessories / secondary units:

Design and build amplifier rack - this will have a fan on top - it gets hot racing
Design and build mouse and keyboard unit
Design and build accessory racking - wall panels for holding wheel rims, secondary shifter knob, hat, gloves, headphones
Design and build base with integrated LED lighting

Still to purchase

Real carbon fibre sheets for dashboard fascia
Derek Speare Designs button box - to be disassembled and integrated into the build
6mm MDF for glove box drop down panel
Cooling fan
MDF and rubber for base

At some point in the future:

New graphics card - GTX 880 probably
3 screens
1000w amp for large Buttkicker
Large Buttkicker
New headphiones - probably Astro a50's

There's bound to be quite a few things I've missed ...

[SpaceHedgehog]

The ducting has been completed.

Pieces cut:



My friendly tool, the staple gun:



Velcro stapled to the inside and sheathing fitted:

[SpaceHedgehog]

More progress. Velcro squares are being used to attach various things to the inside of the dash:



Power strip attached:



Main inside panel covered with vinyl:



And trimmed:



This will need to be cut further to allow me to glue and screw to the main frame.

The monitor mount has also been addressed (the cable hole isn't the tidiest but it's functional and will be covered):

[SpaceHedgehog]

All but 1 of the interior pieces has been covered.

Wheel shelf and stem (inconsistencies are due to holes):



Bolts are hot-glued in place to prevent movement.

Some cable management:



Underside of wheel shelf:



Velcro strips to keep cables in place:



This will all be covered with a thin panel.

Internal shot - it's difficult to get a good picture:

[SpaceHedgehog]

I spent a lot of today fitting and refitting, doing and undoing cutting and re-cutting. I'm beginning to feel that I'm on the final straight with this now as most of the pieces have had their final fit.

I cut a new shifter and Buttkicker panel ... incorrectly ... then made another one. It's easy to get frustrated when an hours work goes down the tubes but I was determined to at least get that done today.







These are the pictures from the first attempt. Unfortunately the top panel wouldn't fit back on so I had to move the kicker closer to the shifter.

Edit:

It's looking a lot tidier now:




I also spent some time wiring up the two remaining Buttkickers - despite the close proximity to the shifter, the one in the shifter pod is surprisingly weak. I have a couple of options there to improve the feedback, neither of which involve cutting yet another panel.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Cutouts to allow for the inlays have been completed on both front panels. I'll glue / screw the outer piece to the main section:

[SpaceHedgehog]

Backing board has been cut for the rubber inlays with it now glued in-place:



Test fit:



Edit:

Temporarily leaning against the side:

[emphatic]

Sweet!

[SpaceHedgehog]

Cheers emphatic 

I've routed the channels and cut the aluminium bars:



One and one it is.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Vinyl backing to accentuate the mesh:



Mesh sections for the front panels:



Loose fit:



Close-up:



Loose fit on the side of the pod:

[SpaceHedgehog]

Fitted the tow hook:

[ChanceKJ]

I was like: "whys the shifter on the wrong side?"   Then I remembered your power bar and was like "oh yeah... Duh."   

[UFO]

Looks amazing!

Have you thought about PlastiKote for the finish?

I've not used it myself, but heard good things about it...

Just throwing it out there - keep up the good work!

[SpaceHedgehog]

I was like: "whys the shifter on the wrong side?"   Then I remembered your power bar and was like "oh yeah... Duh."   

Haha! Crazy Brits

Looks amazing!

Have you thought about PlastiKote for the finish?

I've not used it myself, but heard good things about it...

Just throwing it out there - keep up the good work!

Thanks UFO I'd thought about a lot of finishes for the build but decided to go with what's been used on the rest of the projects in my games room. You've probably seen the pictures already but I use blackboard vinyl to cover large flat surfaces. Works a treat and is pretty durable.

[SpaceHedgehog]

I have a day off today to sort a few things out but I'm also determined to spend some time on this.

Just started on sorting out the dashboard section. Ive created some spacers to give it a more interesting profile:



These attach to the front sides:



The reason they don't extent all the way is that I will need to trim the sides a little to allow clearance for the buttons on the dash. I will attend to that once the dashboard fascia is in place and I can see what's what.

Profile:



Top view:



I'll sort the paneling on these side pieces out next.

[SpaceHedgehog]

The cutouts for the dashboard sides have been done. Just the beveling and inlay work to do now:

Rough cut:



Router guides:



Flush trimmed:



Cloned:

[SpaceHedgehog]

Just about finished the dashboard sides. There's still a little bit to do on the inside pieces.

Beveling:



Inlay (I had to be very careful with the depth of the router bit as these pieces are 6mm thiner than the others I've been shaping):



Profile:



Top view:



I need to get the ribbed rubber inlay sorted next.

[SpaceHedgehog]

I've made the inlays for the dash.

Backing board:



Rubber Sheet (I made sure the orientation of the ribbing was correct - pretty much run out of the material now):



In-place:



I'll go and set one of the panels up to get a view on how it looks all together ....

[mattgold]

Looking great.  Just curious, what's your arsenal of router bits look like?  I'm sure a 3/4 Flush Bit is your go to for cloning... but what else do are you using day in and out?

[SpaceHedgehog]

Thanks mattgold. The other bits I use are a large chamfer, straight cutter, rebater and slot cutter. That seems to cover about 99% of what I need.

Here are all of the side pieces dry assembled:





I may have a rest now, I've been at this for pretty much 3 days straight ...

[emphatic]

That's a... quite penile shape.  Sorry. Carry on.

[SpaceHedgehog]

lol, maybe I should have called it the p-rod   

[Malenko]

lovin this build and the picture porn, but incase I overlooked it......................


you plan to release the plans?

[jackiabu]

Your work inspires ...great job

[SpaceHedgehog]

Your work inspires ...great job

Thanks jackiabu  Hopefully it will provide some design and fabrication ideas to people.

lovin this build and the picture porn, but incase I overlooked it......................


you plan to release the plans?

Thanks Malenko  I do intend to put some plans together. It will be quite a task to reflect everything that's gone into this but I will give it a good go.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Well I've been thinking about lighting and as I'm too tired to do any real work on the rig tonight, I decided where I wanted to place the lighting. This is just an initial view and subject to change.

I'd ordered some LEDs a while ago but also some connectors. The idea will be to run connected strips in certain parts of the rig:



The first location will be here:



Which should provide lighting dispersed like this:



I will then attach some to each of the spacers on either side:



This should drive light down the side of the rig:



The third location will be under the monitor hood / shroud (but set back to provide more dispersed light):



And the forth will be underneath the grill section on the front:



I'll fit a single toggle switch on the dash to activate it all. I don't want to make this overly complex or elaborate.

[emphatic]

I hope your plans will work out. Subtle lightning is classy lightning.

For a racing rig, it would be really cool to have some sort of flowing animation to the lights running along the bottom sides to appear as the road, racing away under you. And maybe a small fan, blowing "wind" into your hair.