Mini Qbert - [FINISHED]

[HaRuMaN]

Why caulk?

[vwalbridge]

Why caulk?

yea...guess I didn't have to caulk the seams.    There was one spot near the front-lower edge of the control panel that didn't quite fit tight. Wood filler or bondo would have been overkill. So since I started, I decided to just do every seam. It's paint-able and gives and nice "one continuous" piece look. Then it really got out of hand when I caulked the inside as well. 

[leapinlew]

I like to use caulk too sometimes. It does give a pretty clean look, and easy to install.

[vwalbridge]

Using cupboard magnets to hold on the rear door. I thought about keeping true to the original and use hinges. Have the door open like a book. However, hinges were going to interfere with the deep slot cut for the T-molding.

Screwed strike plates to the back of the door.


Screwed the magnets to the inside of the cab.


With the door attached.


A view from the inside.

[vwalbridge]

I don't have much artwork to create for this cab because I'm just using the stock art and shrinking it down. However, I did have a couple pieces that needed adjustment.

The control panel.


Serial Tag


Keychain Front


Keychain Back


Printed out the control panel draft artwork and stuck it to my control panel. This is always a crucial step. I can already tell adjustments need to be made.


My U360 plate is going to barley fit. On a related note, does anyone know if there is a 25mm ball top that fits on a U360? The stock ball top is 35mm. I'd like to go smaller if I could.

[vwalbridge]

I've started painting. I'm using Kilz to prime everything. As we all know, MDF with latex paint will swell without a good oil-based primer.


I was trying to figure out how to mount my marqee light clips. So I decided to epoxy them. But I needed the top edge of the cabit level so this is the angle I had while the epoxy cured.


The white clips are nice because I'll need to remove the light from time to time to access the speaker behind it. That light is only 10 inches wide.


I cut the plexi for my marquee and held it up there. The light has a "high" and "low" setting. Both adequately back light the area.


I also received my artwork from BYOAC member stpcore. He does awesome prints. Here is my translite marquee I ordered. I wish the "blacks" were darker but this is the nature of translite. I might be able to do another "shadow" print behind this one that blocks out more light but only in the black areas.


I does look really fantastic up close.

[Vidiot]

Very cool. Some nice progress. Did those clips come with your light fixture? I got my 18" fixture from Walmart and they didn't have anything like that.

Look'n good bud. 

[vwalbridge]

Very cool. Some nice progress. Did those clips come with your light fixture? I got my 18" fixture from Walmart and they didn't have anything like that.

Look'n good bud. 

Thanks Vidiot! Yes, the clips came with the light. I got it at Home Depot. I was surprised too. The bigger lights that cost more didn't even have clips or high and low settings. The bigger ones only have brackets that have to be screwed in. I definitely couldn't use screws as my cabinet is too thin.

[kiel0909]

this is awesome.  i love your magnet use.

[vwalbridge]

this is awesome.  i love your magnet use.

Thanks kiel! I've got even more magnets on deck for this build. 

[mike boss]

Super cool project.
Looking forward to watching this one.

[vwalbridge]

Super cool project.
Looking forward to watching this one.

Thanks mike boss. Appreciate it!

Screwed in the magnets that will hold down the rear of the control panel


Then screwed in the matching strike plates to the bottom of the control panel. I also glued a small strip of wood that will act as a cleat to keep the front edge of the control panel secure.


A view of the front bottom edge of the control panel. That cleat will slide behind the front edge.


The marquee light in it's final position


The cab is now completely primed and sanded smooth. 2 coats of kilz primer and hit it with some 220 grit sandpaper on my orbit sander. Silky smooth now. Kilz primer sands very smooth.




Installing the inset screws for my joystick. Had to remove a small portion of the front edge cleat to center it.


The MDF has a tendency to pucker around the edges of the inset screws so I sanded them smooth again


Joystick screwed into place


I wanted to mount the dust washer below the panel so I used 2 washers to raise it up just enough. The dust washer will slide between the joystick plate and the bottom of the control panel.


A view from the underside of the control panel. This joystick barley fits.


Starting to look like an arcade a little.


Center punched the drill spots for my P1 and P2 buttons.


I got lazy and used some crappy spade bits I had lying around to drill the button holes. I learned my lesson on that. Spade bits should be banned. They never drill precisely. I'm all Forstner bits now. Luckily they were not too bad and they fit ok.

[vwalbridge]

Applied the artwork to my control panel.


I still feel like a 25mm ball top would be more appropriate for this size cab.

[vwalbridge]

Masked off both sides of the cab in preparation for paint.




I'll be using Rust-oleum Satin Black.


First coat:


2nd and final coat




Back door and coin box


Kinda surprised, it took nearly 2 cans of paint to get it all covered. Sides are now ready for Qbert Yellow.

[Slippyblade]

Kinda surprised, it took nearly 2 cans of paint to get it all covered. Sides are now ready for Qbert Yellow.

I'm not surprised in the slightest.  Manufacturers are cutting portion sizes regularly and charging more and more.  Lot of times there isn't even notice.  Gatorage did that, last year maybe.  Their bottles were 32oz, now they are 28oz, yet almost all the marketing in the stores still says 32...

[DaOld Man]

This build is looking good.
Dang good.

[vwalbridge]

Kinda surprised, it took nearly 2 cans of paint to get it all covered. Sides are now ready for Qbert Yellow.

I'm not surprised in the slightest.  Manufacturers are cutting portion sizes regularly and charging more and more.  Lot of times there isn't even notice.  Gatorage did that, last year maybe.  Their bottles were 32oz, now they are 28oz, yet almost all the marketing in the stores still says 32...

You know...that's really good point. Lately, my toothpaste tubes have been coming with giant pockets of air in them. I seriously loose 1/2 the tube squeezing the air out.

[vwalbridge]

This build is looking good.
Dang good.

Thanks DaOld Man!  I've been keeping any eye on your RPi NES project. Always wanted to do one of those as well.

[vwalbridge]

Taped off the inside edges in preparation for the yellow sides.


I used Glidden "Slicker" semi-gloss for this Qbert yellow.


I also used a high-density foam roller and mixed the paint with Floetrol.


Here is the color of the paint in the can.


Here is the color of the paint mixed will some Floetrol. The Floetrol will lighten it a bit but it will still dry the original color.


Here is the first coat on both sides. Since this is such a light color, I'll probably need 3 coats to keep the white primer from bleeding through.

[Vidiot]

Looking great man. Keep up the good work! 

[dmckean]

Looks awesome!

[vwalbridge]

Looking great man. Keep up the good work! 

Looks awesome!

Thanks Vidiot and dmckean!

So a learning tip from me:

Floetrol only works when you use it at room temperature or colder. I wasn't really thinking about it at the time but I painted in my hot garage and the paint dried too fast. It wasn't given enough time to smooth out. The texture is a little more bumpy than I would have liked but I think I'll live with it. It's not horrible just not like the results I've seen before. It's more eggshell. I have a sneaky feeling I'll just make it worse trying to fix it.

[blockhead321]

Looks great ur quite the craftsman

Sent from my LG-E450f using Tapatalk

[vwalbridge]

Looks great ur quite the craftsman

Sent from my LG-E450f using Tapatalk

Thanks!

[vwalbridge]

Decided to 86 the coin mech and real quarters. So instead, I removed the coin mech from the face plate. Then put a chrome button where the coin return button would normally go. Here is the back:


Here is the front:


I then needed a way to block the coin and coin return openings. So I cut 2 pieces of kydex:


Marked the holes and center punched them for the screw posts.


Then used the existing screw posts to secure them.


I also wired up the switch.


Coin mech from the front.


Mounted to the arcade.


And epoxied magnet strike plates to the back of the bezel for mounting.


I also finished the 1/2 inch t-molding around the edges.

[johnrt]

That was a genious coin button solution! 

I'm REALLY enjoying this build! Great job! 

[blockhead321]

Just a thought for those looking for a coin mechanism solution not that yours isn't cool you could put a sensor in the coin slot so when you wave your hand infront of it u get a credit I haven't done it my self but I'm sure it would be easy I got the idea from my sensor gumball machine

Sent from my LG-E450f using Tapatalk

[CoryBee]

So freaking awesome!


I love it!!

[yotsuya]

So freaking awesome!


I love it!!

Speaking of crappers... :-)

[Slippyblade]

Loving this build.  I do have a question though and I may have just missed the answer.  What is the overall height on this guy and what screen is going into it?

Found the height in the first post, never mind...

[vwalbridge]

So freaking awesome!


I love it!!

Thanks! Appreciate it!

Loving this build.  I do have a question though and I may have just missed the answer.  What is the overall height on this guy and what screen is going into it?

Found the height in the first post, never mind...

Thanks Slippyblade. Here is a link to the exact screen I'm using. Tontec 10.1 LCD TFT

It's a pretty sweet display. It's 1280x800 so it looks very crisp up close.

[vwalbridge]

Wired up my control panel. Doesn't get much easier than this with the simplicity of the U360 Joystick. I just used breadboard jumpers everywhere. (I didn't bother with strict color coding)


I had to glue my P1 and P2 buttons in place because the threads were too shallow to reach across 3/4 MDF.


The 2 breadboard jumpers just hanging out there connect down to my coin button. It's convenient because I can disconnect the CP from the coin button when I need to remove the CP.


Here it is all wired up on the inside.

[harveybirdman]

So freaking awesome!


I love it!!

I was just lamenting how much I missed your ass....

Oh and this build is Cool vwalbridge!

[Vigo]

So freaking awesome!


I love it!!

Who is this CoryBee guy?

[harveybirdman]

Who is this CoryBee guy?

He's the Lizard King...

[vwalbridge]

So freaking awesome!


I love it!!

Who is this CoryBee guy?

I don't know...but he likes my build, so he seems like an alright guy!   ....sometimes left.

[CoryBee]

So freaking awesome!


I love it!!

Speaking of crappers... :-)

Hey now.

Thanks for the old love guys.

Really like the size of this build.

[vwalbridge]

Really like the size of this build.

Thanks CoryBee. The size of the cab is almost by accident. I liked the LCD size and resolution so much that I built the cab around it. (That would normally be a huge mistake) But I got lucky and it happens to be exactly 50% of the original cab. So when the cab is standing on a normal 32in table, the control panel and monitor sit at a tolerable playing height.

[vwalbridge]

My speaker is a wireless Jam speaker but it conveniently has a "line-in" and a Micro USB port for power.


However, this speaker obviously has a battery in it so that it can normally operate wirelessly. But this doesn't work for me because I need it to have constant power without the battery dying when the cab is powered off. You would think that as soon as the cab has power, the USB would just start charging. It does, but the audio cuts in and out when the battery is initially charging. So I simply opened up the speaker assembly and exposed the battery solder points:


...used a soldering iron to remove the battery




Now the speaker will only power on when the cab is on. Here it is mounted in the cab. Just glued it in place


I also picked up some small L brackets to mount my power supply:


Here is how they will hold the PS in place:


Got all my tiny hardware screwed into the side of some cardboard and ready for paint. Fan screws, fan grill, marquee screws.


I'm using my "go to" paint for small metal parts. Rustoleum Black Satin Enamel. ...and Yotsuya approved!


I love this paint. Does such a fantastic job on metal parts:


Marquee light in it's final spot. With the speaker sitting right behind it:


I've had my artwork for a while now and I let my paint dry for about a week so I put it on:

[GSXRMovistar]

Looking great, fantastic workmanship.