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javeryh's Small-ish Bartop ["Jack Attack!"]
javeryh:
More progress... I cut the monitor bezel and figured out how to hold everything in place. One of the things I was going back and forth with was whether to spray paint the back of the monitor glass (masking off for the monitor opening) or to actually have some sort of bezel behind the glass. In the end I opted for the bezel because I didn't think I'd be able to get a crisp enough line around the monitor by masking with painter's tape and spraying.
I think I found an incredible solution though - I was looking for something sturdy but thin so I thought matte board would be perfect for the job. I bought a black piece from Michael's (arts and crafts store for non-US folks) but it only came with a white core. This means that the edges of the matte board would be white, which won't work. I know they make solid black core matte board but the store didn't sell it normally and a special order for a 2'x4' sheet was going to set me back $70. No thanks.
On may way out of the store I saw this for $8:
I wasn't sure it would work but I grabbed it anyway. The matte board here has a solid black core and is twice as thick as the regular stuff (plus I get a pen!).
I did a little measuring and made a test piece out of the black matte board with the white core:
One I did some test fitting and was comfortable that it would work, I traced it onto the thick black core matte board:
Here is how it will look on top of the monitor (with the test piece):
Not bad. Next up is the installation. :cheers:
javeryh:
I don't think this is too crazy but this is how I plan to keep the monitor in place.
This first pic does not have the monitor bezel in place (you can see the gap for it):
Here's a shot with the monitor bezel in place:
I made the little clips out of a 1/2" x 1/2" strip of wood - same stuff I used for the battons. I cut a small notch out of the side for the aluminum to slide into. I'm planning to hold them in place with double sided tape and a screw so I can remove the glass if I have to. The only thing I haven't worked out yet is how to hold the aluminum bracket to the wood clip. Maybe some hot glue or super glue? Not sure yet. If I need to remove the glass I'd have to take out the aluminum bracket plus the two wood clips on each side as one piece, which seems like it would work but I'm not sure. The aluminum bar is lined up to be exactly at the end of the CP to make it seamless between the CP and glass.
This is what it will look like once it is installed. Don't pay attention to the black line that looks like the bottom edge of the bezel - that is actually the back of the cab where the rear door swings open. The pic make it look like I'm using a 16:9 monitor and I'm installing it WAY off center. The actual bottom is below that little brown rectangle but really hard to see.
Finally, here's a close-up of the top left corner. I'm quite pleased.
I still need to drill the screw holes for the clips (as well as the magnets to hold the CP in place). I'm also still waiting on the next draft of the art but I'm trying to cross some stuff off the list in the meantime.
:cheers:
javeryh:
ARTWORK UPDATE!
The artist was relieved that I went back to the green laser. He/she thought that was the clear winner. The changes are being made that I requested but no revised version this time. Probably not worth the effort since we are basically ready for final coloring.
Here's the next iteration of the CP.
I really like the style so I don't think it needs anything else. It is supposed to be somewhat plain but still somewhat interesting design-wise if that makes any sense. The only thing I need to think about are the colors. Right now the TOP LEFT is the one that I like best but I might want to tweak it a little. I do want there to be some consistency along all three pieces and I think there will be once everything is finalized. Remember - buttons, t-molding and balltop are all WHITE.
Here is the marquee with the colors we decided on and some UFOs added in the corners as requested:
My thoughts on this are that I like it but I think the 2 UFOs should be drawn bigger but behind the lettering so the lettering pops out a little and there can be more detail in the UFOs. I'm not really sure what else to add to this as I think it is simple and does the job.
Thoughts?
Mike A:
I like the marquee just the way it is.
mafiafan123:
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--- Quote from: javeryh on July 26, 2018, 10:07:20 am ---
Thoughts? :cheers:
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Probably should just let the artists chime in, but for some reason I see a dark grey/black for the cape to make it stand out. Other than that I think it looks awesome.
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Im really digging it :applaud: