Wylie's Wars - Finished and Delivered!

[dkersten]

OK, first I want to say I appreciate the help I got in the main forum with ideas, Even though some of the ideas didn't make it into this project, the general brainstorming helped me to form the ideas that led to everything that follows.  Plus I now have some great ideas for future projects.

So this will be my third cabinet build from scratch, and I am hoping to build on what I have learned from the first two.  This is for a friend of mine who actually sold me many of my core woodworking tools about 12 years ago, and even taught me a couple things about woodworking.  I had offered to help him make his own, but he is buried in too many other projects but really wants a unique arcade for his two sons, and of course for bragging rights.

So his sons are really into Star Wars, so that ended up being the focus of the theme.  His last name is Wylie and he wanted it incorporated into the theme as well.  It isn't very unique or special, either in the name or in the theme, but it is what he wants and to him it will be one of the most unique things he has ever seen, and that is what really matters here. 

He wants a ton of versatility but to work without flaws or issues, so I will set up a list about 200 games that I have refined to the point where you don't really have to worry about things not working.  It will have 2 player controls with a trackball and a spinner.  RGB lighting, either servostiks or u360's (still deciding), I plan to recess the spinner so when you aren't using it you can remove the knob and it is completely out of the way.  Still deciding on admin buttons - typically I go with 4 (select, exit, settings, and pause) but am thinking the settings should come out, but then I need a shift button and I don't want it to be any main control button.  I suppose maybe the credit button would work for that, I just really hate shift buttons.  I have yet to run into anything that really needs 7 buttons per player, so I don't see a reason to add a 7th for this one.  I am sure there are some games that need it but none I have in my current list. 

I plan to incorporate some ambient lighting, which should be fun, but I am not sure how I want to control it yet.  The lighting strips I have in mind would be RGB but they are 12 volt, and all the controllers I have seen so far are 5 volt.  Gonna have to do some research there.  I could just do a simple on and off, but doing some animation with lighting would be pretty cool too. 

I am sticking to the profile I used for Nostalgia.  However, we are going 2 inches taller at the CP, and another inch up top, and then making it 3 inches wider to accommodate a 32" tv.  This also adds a little breathing room for the 2 player controls since they are enclosed in the sides and don't hang over the edges.  Side art is close to done, marquee is mocked up, and hopefully I can get the control panel art done Monday.  I am thinking about front art as well for this one, even though it might interrupt the lighting. 

I will keep this first post updated as I go, and until 100% done, nothing here is final.  As always I love getting feedback, even if it is negative.  Negative feedback allows me to look at things from a different light, and sometimes that allows me to solidify what I am already doing and sometimes it pushes me to make an adjustment.  I learned when writing a book that after a while you lose your ability to see your own mistakes and need others to criticize and point them out. 

So here is a (modified) preview of the art.  (My next post below contains the first draft of the art that the following posts refer to, just in case you are reading this for the first time and want to follow what is being commented on)

Here is a pic of the finished cab:

Screenshot of the layout in action:

[yotsuya]

I will keep this first post updated as I go, and until 100% done, nothing here is final.  As always I love getting feedback, even if it is negative.  Negative feedback allows me to look at things from a different light, and sometimes that allows me to solidify what I am already doing and sometimes it pushes me to make an adjustment.  I learned when writing a book that after a while you lose your ability to see your own mistakes and need others to criticize and point them out. 

 

Totally agree. Honest feedback is what allows us to grow as a group/site/hobby.

[yamatetsu]

As the bad pun is inevitable, it might as well be me who does it. You need to incorporate a coyote 

[Le Chuck]

The outer glow screams amateur hour and the background gradient is so slight that I'd do solid color with stencil for the sides. The design isn't dynamic enough but is too detailed to be spartan so either block out detail or add more elements.

It's a good start but I think it just "ok" as is.

[yotsuya]

I'd like to see a more dynanic gradient, myself. A real clear shift from dark to light.

[johnrt]

Any particular reason why you didn't make the top of the cab a circular shape? To see what I mean, see the picture. I think it looks better when it's perfect halfcircle-shaped.

[dkersten]

Thanks for the feedback guys!  Here are my thoughts:

lol, it's funny you call the glow "amateur" le chuck, I added it because someone suggested it in my "brainstorming" thread, and my first thought was that it would be cheesy and, exactly as you said "amateur hour".  But I posted it with the glow and the feedback was good and I think it looks OK too.  But I am still 50/50 on it.  It's funny how opinions here are so far apart.  

You are also the second person to mention the gradient not being strong enough, and when I look back at the silhouettes without the glow, if I get a little more contrast in there it will really look like a scene at twilight.  So I will revisit it.  The top color is already quite a bit darker than the bottom color, and I don't want a brighter red or blue than what is at the bottom.  The problem is if I go too dark at the top when it is printed it might switch to black, and past experience with transitions to black with this vinyl were NOT good, the black came across lighter than the dark color and looked gray against it, particularly when backlit.  I am going to match the marquee with the top color from each side, and I don't want it to turn gray and wash out like my personal cab does.  I used a similar gradient (at least in red) as what I have now on the Nostalgia cab and in gloss laminate in person it looks fantastic.  Plus the top will be more visible when the cab is in place than the bottom, and I don't want the top to be so dark it just looks black in the room.  I will play around with it more though, the more I think about it the more I think the contrast will be good, especially if I ditch the glow.

I already have a lot of time into vectorizing the silhouettes, and I need a few more hours to get the rest of it done (part of this mockup is just using the cleaned up high res rasters, only Luke is fully vector, not that you can really tell in the jpeg shrunk by a factor of 12 that I posted, lol)  The emblems also look washed out and blurry in the samples I posted, but at scale in full resolution there is some brushed metal texture that looks good.  I rotated the emblems per a suggestion, but I am going to rotate them back, they don't look right to me.  And the empire emblem was the only thing with some glow to it because it is black on a nearly black background and I wanted it to have a different style than the rebel emblem.  The emblems are supposed to be a focal point, so I want them to stand off the artwork and have the gradient and silhouettes be the "scene".  I thought about adding stars to the upper part of the art, but so far when you are looking at 25x72", they just look like dust on the screen or detract from the flat feel of the rest of the scene.  Perhaps I will experiment with it.

I am shooting to be delivering this in 3 weeks, and it takes a week to get the artwork shipped out here, and with bowling season starting up next week and school starting for my kids, I might have 20 hours of total time per week (shop time + software time + art time) to put into this at most, so I don't have much time to mull over the artwork and perfect it as much as I would like.  After the last project getting hung up for 4 extra days waiting for the USPS to take 6 working days to deliver a 2 day priority package, I am trying to get art out to the printer by Tuesday at the latest.  I had no concept on Thursday, and here it is Sunday and I have over half the art and half the structure already done.  Moving fast on this, so not much time for development.

Regarding the curve, I didn't want to end up with a taitorama profile, and again the Nostalgia cab it is modeled after ended up with a really nice flow that worked well with the control panel angle.  I would have to flatten out the CP angle to curve the bottom part of the side the same as the top if I didn't want the lines actually start to go the wrong way.. And I just spent a few hours getting the sides cut out, so even if I wanted to change it (which I don't) it is a little late, lol.   

lol, yeah, everyone (including myself) thinks of the road runner first when hearing his last name.  If there was a major character or ship in Star Wars that had to do with a coyote it would be a slam dunk, but since there isn't it wouldn't make much sense to mix the two.  One of the first ideas was to do the whole cab like a ship, which I liked but there was no way I was going to be able to get the art the way I wanted without commissioning someone to do it, and I didn't want to go that route.  If I had stuck with it, I considered either naming the ship "Starship Coyote" or give it a model number like the "TK-Coyote MK421".  But it would have probably been lost on the 7 year old boy who this is for, lol..

As generic as most of this is for you guys, for the family who will get it, it will be incredibly unique.. 

***For reference, the above comments were regarding this "first draft" which I have since replaced in my main post***

[johnrt]

Regarding the curve, I didn't want to end up with a taitorama profile, and again the Nostalgia cab it is modeled after ended up with a really nice flow that worked well with the control panel angle.  I would have to flatten out the CP angle to curve the bottom part of the side the same as the top if I didn't want the lines actually start to go the wrong way.. And I just spent a few hours getting the sides cut out, so even if I wanted to change it (which I don't) it is a little late, lol. 

Fair enough. I totally understand. I figured it had to be well thought about.

[Le Chuck]

I don't want to come across anti-glow.  I just think that it didn't really fit this application very well and was put on just to be put on.  A steeper gradient might do a lot but I'd also play with possibly adding some kind of horizon or starfield perhaps (even if it's just a sprinkling of stars).  Lot you can do here while still keeping the same concept.  Look fwd to updates.

[Malenko]

instead of outerglow try stroke.


red and blue fight each other and become purple, I'd go with a neutral background to the marquee. Forgive my mock up, I dont have a star wars font on my work machine, so I had to fake it with the pencil tool

[dkersten]

@Le Chuck - I hear what you are saying.. And I appreciate your feedback on this, you have done enough star wars themed cabs to make you a qualified expert, lol. 

I will tweak some stuff today and post it up.

Like I mentioned last night, I did get started already on construction, but I don't really need to post another pic of a side cut out, lol.  Aside from it being 3 inches taller than Nostalgia, it is pretty much identical. 

I am going to cut a bunch of 3/4 oak strips from a ton of cutoffs I have had lying around for about 10 years, and use it as battens this time.  Not so much to add any rigidity as to make it easier to get both sides lined up perfectly.  Because the curves on the sides don't line up with anything, there is no reference point to line things up to, so this time I will use a template to lay both sides out, attach battens, and that way when I get to the point where I am sandwiching it all together it will save about 2 hours of prep work before gluing it up all at once..

As for today, aside from playing with some art, I am ordering all the products.  Time to heat up the credit card again, lol..

[dkersten]

OK, I took another look at the art and made some changes.  Mostly I reverted back to what I started with, with refinements, but I did also enhance the gradient (the dark is nearly black and I really don't want to go darker, so I lightened the light side of the blue and red to compensate, and I like the result).  I also revisited the emblems, and with the inner and outter glows and all that I wasn't getting what I wanted.  Part of it was because I didn't realize that the brushed metal effect I added also was blurring the layer effects, lol.  oops.  So I went back to square one on them, colored the empire emblem with a blue, even though it looks like it is usually black with blue glow, and just did a stroke with a slightly brighter shade of each color.  I am MUCH happier with it, what do you all think?  Oh, I also got the marquee to the right width, I had forgotten to add the 3 inches I added on the cab.  So I updated that with the new emblems, matched the gradient on the marquee to the color it will be next to on the cab, and redid the box in the middle. 

[Malenko]

I just dont like the 60% of the marquee that is purple, but that's going to happen when you gradient 2 primary colors.  The stroke looks much better, but the TIE fighter still needs a little clean up

[yotsuya]

One small suggestion - to stay parallel with "Star Wars", I'd change the name to "Wylie Wars" and drop the 's. It still makes sense (the Wars on the cabinet the Wylie family will be having) and still follows the name of the inspiration for the cab.

[dkersten]

Yeah the tie needs some cleanup still, I will vectorize it and blow it up to scale before I send it off.  Might tilt it the other way too..

[dkersten]

grr.. amazon was out of the casters I needed.. I guess I should have ordered them a week ago.  Had to get an alternative without Prime, so they might be here Wednesday, or might be here in 2 weeks.. no way to tell and no guarantees..

Looking into controlling the ambient lighting.  Ordered a 3 channel PWM controller so I can dial in one color at the intensity I want, but I really want to control it with the computer and get a cross fade going.  There are some USB solutions, but not sure if they would work for me.  I suppose if I have command line control I could use the FE to trigger it and just have the output preprogrammed.. I have no desire to get into programming a controller...  I think some of the cheap controllers will revert to your last programmed mode on power up, and those would work, but I hate to order one only to find out it won't do that..

[Malenko]

While lights and stuff like that is neat and can really put a cab over the top, I'd focus more on getting all the basics done right first.

[yotsuya]

Dave, I'm curious, are they paying for you for this cab, or is it a gift?

[dkersten]

@Malenko, I agree, but if I have any chance of getting this done in the timeline I set for myself, I need to get all the parts in asap.  The last thing I want is to be ready to move on to the next step and be stuck waiting a week or two for the part I need to put in before I can move forward. 

@Yotsuya - He is paying for it.  He is a good friend but not THAT good, lol.  All in the parts will end up right around the $1700 mark.  He is going to pay me for my time but it is nothing really profitable for me.  I won't charge my friends what my time is worth to ME commercially, even though many of them would pay it.  In this case I offered to just show him how to build his own and to help him with the software side and even provide a computer for super cheap, but even though he is perfectly capable of doing it himself, he insisted on paying me to do it.  Call me silly but he set aside $3k for this and I just couldn't justify that much profit for the ~80 hours I will have into this, so I am charging him quite a bit less.  I could make more at McDonalds, lol.

Thing is, I get a lot out of it, so it is worth it to me.  I get to create something that I know is appreciated, and that is big to me.  I get the experience I can use for the next project.  And I do something for a friend who can do things for me that I can't do for myself.  What money I make for my time I put back into the hobby for myself.  So it is worth doing for a lot of reasons, otherwise I wouldn't do it.

This particular friend is pushing me to do this as a business.  He already knows quite a few people who would pay $5k+ for a cab like this.  At that price it is worth the time to do, but then I have the hassle of worrying about if something is going to fail, making sure they maintain things right, and of course the liability of selling a product that is used to play games that are not owned by the person.  But I already have a full time job, and while I enjoy doing this now, that will eventually change.  I spent 10 years doing what I loved for a living and in the last 15 years I have almost never done it since just because I got burned out on it.  Never again. 

So I stick to doing this for friends and family.  And when I need a new bed, concrete work done, body or paint work done on a car, or any of a few dozen other things I either can't (or won't) do or buy at a discount for myself, I have these friends to call on. 

[yotsuya]

Cool. Yeah, you don't want to do this as a business - the tech support alone would drive you nuts. 

[dkersten]

One of the best things about getting out of my last "career" was that all the "problem customers" who were constantly a thorn in my side got to become someone else's problem.  The last thing I want is to end up back in that boat..  It is tough enough dealing with people who can't figure out how to turn on their computer or smartphone.  I installed some 60 games on my brother's cabinet, and 40 on Nostalgia.  I might hit 150 or maybe even 200 on this one, but they are all games that I know I can set the controls up to work, and then I will lock it down and hide the "all games" lists.  I will set the computer to boot to the FE, and to shut down when the FE is exited. 

And since these are friends and family, I know that if I DO have to go do some maintenance on it, there will come a time when I need my back scratched too, so I don't have any problem with that.

Reminds me of kind of a funny story:  The first day after I sold my x-tension cab and tankstick to my brother, he called to tell me it was no longer working.  Even on reboot there was no video.  It hadn't even been 24 hours and something was already wrong, and I had assured him that this thing would be rock solid and zero maintenance..  So I went over and found that the monitor was turned off.  See, his son is autistic and he had taught him to turn off the monitor after using the computer, so despite the bezel covering the switch, he had found it and turned it off.  We laughed about it, and that is the only maintenance I have had to do since.. 

[dkersten]

Update:
Parts are ordered.  Per my friend's request, I didn't spare anything.  I think I got all parts covered, and the parts and materials bill alone is over the $2k mark once art and all that is figured in.. ouch..

2 U360 sticks w/longer shafts, octagonal restrictors, and a red and blue 35mm ball top.
6 RGB buttons per player
2 ultralux chrome trimmed RGB buttons for P1 and P2 start
Black buttons for credits and admin (not 100% on this one yet, but I already have the buttons on hand)
U-Trak trackball with pearl ball and RGB lighting
Spintrak with knob and wheel.
  - Also going to try to recess this and use an extension so it can be removed and totally out of the way, ordered parts to make extension.

IPac Ultimate I/O to handle inputs and RGB outputs for buttons.

SMD-5050 based RGB LED strips for ambient lighting
LED-Wiz for controlling lighting
White LED strips and PWM dimmer for marquee

Tilt casters to roll the cab, and adjustable levelers for front feet.

Black t-molding with chrome stripe (same as I used for Nostalgia, I needed something other than black that worked for the red and blue theme).  2 player coin door (no mech) with lights.

Logitech 2.1 speakers (same as I have used on other builds)
Geforce 730 for video (allows me to run Demul or other 3d emulators if I want, but not over the top)

PC will be a used one I pull from my pile of computers, probably a Core2Duo with a couple gigs of ram.  With windows 7 installed, a decent dx11 graphics card, and a good sized hard drive, this will be more than enough.  Plus it saves about $600 from having to build a cutting edge computer.

Will pick up the 32" LCD 1080p screen in the next day or two.  Going with a super thin bezel, probably LG but I haven't decided for sure.

Ordered some nice vandal switches to control monitor, PC, and marquee (and coin door) lighting.

That's it for now.  Hope to do some more construction in the next couple days while I wait for parts.  Sides and top assembly is cut out and ready to go together.  Waiting on casters to finish the base before I start putting the whole thing together though.

[dkersten]

CP art v1.0
Bottom 3.3 inches is where it rolls to the front.  Might put something there still.  The colors are from the sides so it blends, I didn't want to use the lighter color from the bottom of the sides and have it not flow from side to front.

[yotsuya]

Luke looks a tad too big proportionally. Like if they booth stood up, he'd be taller than Vader.

[PL1]

Luke is also in an offensive stance compared to Vader's defensive stance.

He's not setting a very good example for the Wylie Padawans.   
[/nitpicking]


Scott

[dkersten]

Good call on the perspective, in this frame from Empire, Luke is closer to the camera, so he looks bigger.  I could add more height to Vader I guess, pick up the bottom part that is obscured by the ground since I don't have ground here.  Or I could just shrink Luke a little to make him look a little short for a stormtrooper..

I wanted a scene where Luke was in an aggressive stance, most screens I see he is kind of just standing there. 
And Vader never really looked like was taking the offensive in the movies, and the few scenes he actually looked like he was working for it, the cloak is in the way and a silhouette would hide it anyway, lol.
 
It will have to wait until Tuesday anyway, my art files are all at work and it is the holiday weekend.  I will be focusing mostly on build this weekend, and once I had the CP layout ready, I decided to throw together some art.  plus I need to get it off to the printer next week, so I needed to get something going...  I wasn't able to do much this week in the shop and while I had some time at work, I mostly procrastinated because the woodwork is so far behind.  Now I am running behind on everything, but no big deal, I am setting my own deadlines.

[jugger18]

Also I would try and center the sword clash over the TB hole.  My OCD side was drawn to that first

[dkersten]

That was my original intent, but the only way to do that is to make them about 4 inches tall.. The bottom part below the feet is all the front of the cab, not the control panel, and I just didn't want these tiny little characters that are only a few inches tall on a 29.5" wide, 12" deep surface with vast amounts of open space.  So I centered the clash over the top of the TB.  Honestly with the polycarbonate laminate over the artwork on the CP, it won't pop much or stand out, so it is going to be subtle detail that you will only notice secondary to the rest of the cabinet, so I am not hugely concerned with it being a focus.  Just flavor.  I mean, I still want it to look good, but this time around I am not going to center everything on the trackball. 

[jugger18]

Sorry, my comment was not very specific.  I mean left to right centering over the top of the tb hole.  Where the sabers meet is off center now

[dkersten]

Oh, I eyed it but it might be off still. I'll pay closer attention to that when I tweak the size of the characters.  Thanks for pointing it out.    this is why I love the feedback!

Well, I was out late with some buddies last night and didn't get to bed til 4 am, but I got woken up by a text after only 6 hours of sleep, and my mind isn't letting me go back to sleep.. ithching too much to get out in the shop. Time to get some breakfast and make some sawdust...

[dkersten]

Made some sawdust today.. 
Started out slow, actually spent the first hour cleaning sawdust up and cleaning the filters on the dust filter and dust collector.  Then I cut battens out of the scraps of oak I had dug out of my pile of scraps.  I bet most of it has been there for 10 years, lol.

I spent some time drawing the layout on the sides for all the internal pieces, then getting battens put on, checking and rechecking the fit.  The first speaker grill I made was slightly out of square (factory edges these days are so unreliable).  Then I dropped it and dinged it up bad enough that I had no choice but to remake it.  No problem though, when I did it the first time I decided to make a pattern that I could use with a guide bushing in the router.  And I still had the bushing and spiral upcut bit set up with the plunge base, so it was a matter of minutes before the piece was redone.  Much better.


I spent another hour finishing the layout of the sides, measuring and making a cut list since I had to cut up my last sheet of MDF.  I used the whole sheet, and had already used a sheet and a half.  Going a little taller and wider literally meant using another entire 4'x8' of MDF over one that was merely 3" shorter and 3" narrower.  Crazy how that works out..  I broke for pizza and a nap, then hit it again.

I got the top assembly done, the CP tray, and the base with the tilt casters and levelers.  Then I glued and nailed the last battens in place.

Here is all the parts just about ready to go together.. One more batten left.


I assembled the two sides of the front piece, got them drilled and assembled.  The front of this part of the cab will get some threaded inserts tomorrow and a couple battens to keep it aligned perfectly.  This way I can paint even the parts that won't be easily accessible, then install lighting and then get that front cover on.  I still have to cut the hole for the coin door too. 

So with those pieces in place, I knocked out the main glue up.  The battens made it way easier to get the second side lined up perfectly.  Here it is all glued up and ready for the next step.


I will pick up the tv tomorrow and get the bezel and mount knocked out, and then get a coat of primer on the whole thing after a quick sanding.  Then while that dries I will get started on the CP and keyboard tray.  I guess I need to knock out the t-molding slot too, which I will do once I have it down off the sawhorses.  If things go well tomorrow, I will have everything constructed by Monday night, with a coat or two of primer already applied.  Based on the last cab, I will give it 2 days to dry completely before sanding and applying the second coat of primer, then another day, light sanding, and then 2 coats of finish color.  Will take all week to get the paint on, and with the holiday I doubt I will have art before the end of the week, but I will try anyway.  If I can get it, I will easily be able to finish before the end of next weekend.  But I won't hold my breath.  My luck with shipping has not been great the last few weeks.

[Louis Tully]

.

[dkersten]

Didn't get as much done today as I wanted. Too many things going on. Got the monitor, which was way cheaper than expected. $219 for a decent 32" 1080p brand new.

Tested it to find the power retains state so I didn't need a power switch, but it was a super easy hack and will allow him to power it up easily if something goofy happens. I'll post pics later. Spent a couple hours on the bezel and mount. Went a little different route than normal and so far looking good. Need some more threaded inserts to finish though.

Was drilling inserts in the lower front piece and my guide tape slipped and I ended up punching a hole all the way through. Filled it and called it a night. Tomorrow I will get more inserts and finish up detail work, then get started on primer. Post pics tomorrow, on my phone now.

[jugger18]

What model TV was it?

[dkersten]

JVC.. the bezel is super thin, 3/8" all around except bottom.  At the bottom there was a piece of trim that didn't allow the tv to sit flush with the bezel, so I routed a channel on the back of the bezel so it could sit flush.

Today I got a lot done, but still not quite where I wanted to be.  Except for one brace I want to put on the back (which will house the vandal switches for the ambient lighting, monitor, and computer power, as well as the power socket), the two back covers, and cutting the hole in the lower front panel for the coin door, all pieces are pretty much made.  Except for the control panel.  I have to put a brace piece on that still, round the edge, and then cut all my holes for the buttons and stuff.  Cab is in primer.

I will post pics later tonight..

[dkersten]

OK, so here are some pics:

First, the TV.  I took the back off it and thankfully the power switch just had a pair of wires running over to the main board.  Spliced a pair into it and drilled a hole and ran it out the back.  Easy Peasy.



Unlike my first 2 cabs, this time I went with a single 3/4" layer for the bezel and just glued and nailed in some battens to keep it centered.  Then I took some pieces of 3/4 x 3/4" oak and drilled out for some inserts, nailed them to the sides of the cab, and screwed a board to them that lines up with the Vesa mount holes.  Holds the monitor in place and looks good.  I take my time on this and use the router table to get the inside edges perfect (or nearly so).  Trim it off with a 45 degree bevel and glue the bezel into place, and done.



Next I tackled the marquee.  Gonna have to get more plexi, the width is 29" and my plexi is only 28".  But I don't need to cut it until I have the art, so no rush.  Used the same method as the last 2, poplar cut to 1/2" square and use the thin kerf tablesaw blade to cut a slot 1/4" deep, then just frame it in.  Top piece fits with friction, rest is glued and tacked in with my 23ga pin nailer.  Love that little pin nailer.


Then the CP.  First I installed a metal sleeve with a 6" bolt held in with a drill collar.  This allows me to reach underneath from inside the keyboard tray area and push the CP up enough to get a finger in and pull it up.  I improved it from how I did it on Nostalgia by angling it slightly so it is perpendicular to the CP top, and used a bolt that was only threaded at the very top.  Slides very well and works perfectly.


Got the CP together and installed the hinges and got it dialed in for fit.  Even with using battens on the construction, a few things are off by a 16th of an inch here and there, and it is tricky to get moving parts to line up perfectly.  Thankfully the euro hinges are 3 way adjustable.  I also installed 2 Blumotion dampers to make it a very smooth soft close.  I can literally drop the CP from full open and it gently closes.  Used 2 because with the weight of the joysticks and trackball and stuff it needed the extra damping.

as you can see here, without the plunger to push it up from underneath, there is no way to get a hold of it and open it.  Good thing it works really well.


And here it is with a coat of primer, all broken down.  I didn't take pics of the keyboard tray, but it came out really well even though I had to do some major readjusting of the hinges.  Once it is together it will look great.  Oh, and I also went ahead and got all the slots cut for t-molding. 


One more note:  I used a charcoal filter mask when painting this time.. what a difference.  No more holding my breath when having to get in close and the fumes cloud up around me, and no more gray boogers for a week.  I tried to use a regular mask whenever doing anything dust intensive, but it is too uncomfortable to use all day long, and my dust collection and filtration setup works pretty well.  So I still inhaled a little of the dreaded MDF dust, but nothing like I usually do, and I am not nearly as stuffed up from it.  I have a cyclone separator before the dust collection unit but this stuff is so fine and light it just gets sucked right to the main unit, and I have to go out and spin the flappers on the pleated filter about once an hour and allow about 2 lbs of dust to settle to the bag below, and the separator is practically empty still.  I also had to clean the filter in the dust filtration unit mounted to the ceiling in my shop, and I am gonna have to order some more filters because they clog up so much from this stuff.  It really sucks to work in a closed shop without collection and filtration when using MDF..

So this week I will mostly be painting.  Tomorrow night I will sand the primer and hit it with one more coat (two or 3 more on the edges since they suck it up so much.)  I will also get started on the CP, drilling holes and prepping it.  Gotta get that art done too.. I will easily be able to finish next weekend if I can get art, but that is looking grim.  Hopefully my orders from last week will arrive too and I can start playing with LED programming.  Oh yeah, reminds me that I need to do the computer too... While I can start with my typical setup, I still have to do the art for the FE.  So if I am lucky, I probably have 9 days left, maybe 10.  A little past my goal, but not bad considering I just started a little over a week ago. 

[dkersten]

Well, I can't seem to catch a break.  One of my orders from last Monday hasn't shipped yet, and one showed up in a box that looks like it spend 5 years on a deserted island with Tom Hanks, and was missing the spinner..   So I am betting that even if my own schedule works out, I will be stuck waiting for packages to arrive. 

[dkersten]

here is a comp of the art to date.  Got the lower front done, the FE layout, and tweaked the CP and marquee a bit.  Just about ready for print.

[jugger18]

Looks very sharp!

[yotsuya]

Still think you should call it "Wylie Wars" so structurally the words are parallel to "Star Wars" (no apostrophe), but other than that, I think the kids will love it. Good job on the art.