Mimic's Sister - Shapeshifter

[JudgeRob]

Rad.  So rad.  You're doing great, the craft looks fantastic.  I vote for black.  It's hidden surprise element just seems like black to me. 

[Vigo]

Black with a red (tasteful) racing stripe. 

[bperkins01]

I used the black T-Molding with the chrome center stripe on my CP..
I like the look..  Just a little bling. but not too much.

Maybe get a sample of that too..

[javeryh]

 

[BGoulette]

"Black on black, got a wicked stride / Hounds of hell are by his side..."

So, uh, yeah. Black.

[Laythe]

Thanks!  The forum seems to have unanimous consensus with Nigel Tufnel - "It's like, how much more black could this be, and the answer is none.  None more black."

I'll take it under advisement.  It seems like the right answer to me so far.


I've been doing some work on the cockpit coin door.  It looks like this:



But now, if you open the coin return door under the coin up button, you'll find a secret:



USB port for administrative convenience, since the computer is pretty well buried.  The doors on these coin doors don't open very far, so the port is angled such that a thumb drive will fit in.



To make that work inside, I built a fairly tricky aluminum bracket, and epoxied a dashboard mount USB cable into it.



It picks up the lower mounting screws that I think the coin mechs originally did.  I ziptied the cable up above as a strain relief - seemed wise, given it's going to be moving relative to the PC when the cabinet changes modes.


I'm also wrapping up construction on the big control panel slider, by building a shelf for the wireless keyboard to be stored in. 



The exterior cuts are simple enough to bandsaw, and a forstner bit gives me big holes to start a jigsaw/saber saw in.  I clamped it down to my workbench to do each end.



I wanted to share a trick I used for this.

Most people here, I think, would treat a jigsaw like an unreliable roughing tool that they couldn't trust near the final line - they'd leave a quarter inch or so, then make a template, clamp it on, and use a router to clean up the hole.

This makes sense to me - if you try to trace the hole precisely, while cutting along the lines, any side-loading of the jigsaw blade can cause it to flex and knock your cut out of square. 

But here's a trick that might be of use if you've never tried it:  The jigsaw blade is only really flexible side to side.  It's quite stiff in the fore-aft axis, it's not going to bend out of square in that direction.  If you've roughed out the center of the hole the way you normally would, try approaching your final line from 90' perpendicular and then carefully crosscutting with the teeth of the saw - you can use it like a power file to erase down to your line with confidence that the leading edge of the teeth will be cutting square to the surface.

This is my roughed out hole, using only a jigsaw, before sanding:



It's not perfect, but I consider that to be within easy reach of a sanding block to a nice line, and I never had to mess with templating - just freehand erasing wood with the sides of the teeth up to the marked pencil line. 


This piece gets glued into a few others and forms the back of this shelf under the VR buttons, matching that hoop you saw in the bulkhead earlier:



The keyboard seen below fits in here, out of sight and out of the way but accessible when needed.

The lead weights I'm clamping the glue joints with are going to be the TV playfield counterweights to balance it out on the axle.  You'll be seeing more of them much later.  You can also see that I've radiused the sharp corners of the VR button group, because that's somewhat possible to clip with your knee while getting in or out.



I've currently got a bunch of filler curing on the control panel.  Very soon, it shall be bodywork sanding time.

[gingecko]

That hidden USB port is a trip.

Nice tip on the jigsaw, I've just begun using mine and I have sub-consciously been using the front of the blade to trim closer to the marked line. But I hadn't thought of going full 90 degrees yet. Will have to give that a go.

[Laythe]

Bodywork prep time.

The filler goes on.



The filler sands off.



Gradually the surface improves.



It's not ready for primer yet.



But it's getting there.



Another fill and sand pass, and I think it'll be Ready For Prime Time. 

[Laythe]

PRIME TIME.

I've been making some inside radius fillets out of jointing compound to clean up the visual corners and hopefully ease the process of painting this thing.



Lot of sanding and filling. 

I've had a small dimensional problem in the region of the shifter thus far - the side plates stuck out about 1/8" past flush.  At first I thought enh, the T molding will cover it decently well, but the more I looked at it the less I liked it not being on one flush plane.

So I broke out a sheet of 80 grit on a sanding block, and wore myself out, and got them both down to flush.  It'll look better this way.

Once that was done, I started the first coat of priming it, because it's not like that stops me filling and sanding, and it'll be handy to get it all one color so I can see what's still wrong with the surfaces.



Here's the flush shifter-side ears.  It's better.

Over on the other side...



I'm liking the way my radiused corners and angled bottom facet look on the VR buttons when it's all one color and reads as a shape rather than an assembly.


Overall thus far:



Going to have to turn and prime quite a few more times.  This is a big complex behemoth of a part.

[Nephasth]

 

Looking good! Going to give that coin door the refinish treatment?

[Laythe]

Looking good! Going to give that coin door the refinish treatment?

Thanks!  Not a bad idea.  I've never done one before, but I certainly could.  It's mostly just dirty, but it is missing a bit of paint near the latch.

What's the done thing for them?  Black hammerite?

[Nephasth]

I've done Rustoleum Hammered finish on The Beast... but it chips off really easy. A while back I got into home powder coating and did a handful of coin doors. I found "Black River" (the front piece in this sample test) was a great finish for coin doors.

[Laythe]

That looks really sharp! 

I don't think that I want to take on home powder coating right now though - I don't have a good oven to allocate for it.

[Nephasth]

It's worth a call to a few local shops. Usually a handful of small parts can be sandblasted and powder coated for a reasonable price.

[jennifer]

 Most of the shop booths I have seen are incredibly filthy, and like paint that garbage static clings to an otherwise clean part, just saying not all budget shops take pride in quality finishes.

[jennifer]

That jigsaw tip is quite interesting, and can see that working quite well...A scroll saw would be my go to on that, or possibly even stick built (like a cabinet face). But again on a budget I could see that working...Nice build BTW, (wink).

[Nephasth]

I had an offroad shop powder coat the case of the Troubleshooter Supergun. Turned out tits.

[jennifer]

Oh how I do love a story that ends well, it gives me hope... last thing I had done was the case for a booth fan, it got run with a big batch of bus seat parts (not mine) and everyting came out with chunks of dirt on it, good enough for what I was doing but still....Powder coated wood has made some incredible advances in the last few years, apparently they spray a conductive coating on the piece first, cant wait to try that out, seems to be really popular with store display shelving.

[Laythe]

Jennifer -  Scroll saw or stick building would also have been good routes to that particular part, I agree.  Thanks, regarding the build - I had wondered what you would think of it.

Neph - thanks for the tips.  I've sent out parkerizing jobs before and been happy with the results I got back, I'm not totally against farming things out.

Regarding the coin door, I think I'm going to clean it up first and see how much touchup it actually needs.  If it's just the few dings near the latch plate on the frame, I'm thinking I might try mixing up some black epoxy pigment in epoxy and seeing if I can get a decent match to the existing finish like that - I'd think that would hold up pretty well if it works, and it doesn't preclude a sandblast and powder coat if it doesn't work.

I am now many hours of bodywork into the cockpit control panel assembly.  It's now filled, sanded, filled, sanded, primed, sanded, filled, sanded, and primed - and I can still see some defects in it, but they're much diminished from where I started.

I will persist, as Ond expects no less.

[Laythe]

Bodywork update:  The ears alongside the gear shifter, with slots for T-molding, are now very flush with the angled face between them.



I get tired of doing bodywork, but I do like the result when the individual pieces the cabinetry is made of seem to melt together and just become one thing.

(I'll be stabbing T-molding endways down into those remaining holes in the deck, they fit the profile pretty well.)

[Arroyo]

Damn man, I don’t know how you are doing it but keep doing it.  It’s all starting to come together, you must be pretty chuffed, I know I would be.

[MattTheDoctor]

Wow, wow, wow!!

I had to register to say this - this project is blowing me away! I'm in the process of starting my first project (looking into a Haruman Bartop) and found this forum. After poking around for some inspiration I found the Mimic and then this and not only am I super inspired now, I'm also just in awe! I've powered through this thread and it's the most bonkers thing I've ever seen. Can't wait to see where it all goes! The vpin side of things is already cool enough, but the sheer ingenuity and work going into making this a transforming rig is astounding.

Also, I know this is a PC and classic arcade game build, but as a racing fan in general, the idea of playing Wipeout Omega Collection on this rig just makes me drool...

[Ond]

Keep up the great work!  You'll be sharing space with me on this board again soon enough. 

[bperkins01]

A 6" finish 

very nice!

[Laythe]

Damn man, I don’t know how you are doing it but keep doing it.  It’s all starting to come together, you must be pretty chuffed, I know I would be.

Thanks!  Will do. 

Re: chuffed - I gotta admit, it varies.  Usually I'm thrilled with the thing and excited at how it's going... occasionally I feel like I'm at hour 3 of infinity remaining.  But I think it will eventually yield to persistence, and I enjoy most of the journey.   

Wow, wow, wow!!

I had to register to say this - this project is blowing me away! I'm in the process of starting my first project (looking into a Haruman Bartop) and found this forum. After poking around for some inspiration I found the Mimic and then this and not only am I super inspired now, I'm also just in awe! I've powered through this thread and it's the most bonkers thing I've ever seen. Can't wait to see where it all goes! The vpin side of things is already cool enough, but the sheer ingenuity and work going into making this a transforming rig is astounding.

Also, I know this is a PC and classic arcade game build, but as a racing fan in general, the idea of playing Wipeout Omega Collection on this rig just makes me drool...

Thanks! 

Welcome to the forum - glad to see new faces here.  Haruman's kits are great, they give you some scaffolding to get you started, but still leave plenty up to your execution and imagination.  Happy to be an inspiration.  Given that you just binge-read through about a year of work on this project, I gotta warn you I'm not going to be able to keep up with that rate of progress going forward...     I do try to get something done and posted every week or two, though.

Re: Wipeout - Using x360ce, I managed to get Redout running perfectly on the pedals and flightstick, and with a giant TV in your face it is AWESOME.  Next best thing? 

Keep up the great work!  You'll be sharing space with me on this board again soon enough.

Thank you.  This is the best news!    I've missed the progress on your projects; I'm sure you have, too.  Congrats on the move, and good luck settling in. 

A 6" finish 

very nice!

Thanks!  That's just the primer, so far... it is matte, and that hides many sins.

It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.  But 6" is an aspiration, sure.   

[Laythe]

So, I've been thinking on the color of this whole control panel slider.

Everybody voted black, which makes sense as a hidden element.  I want to avoid it fighting with the HEY LOOK AT ME RED pinball machine above, in pinball mode. 

So, I've put about 3/4ths of one coat of black on it, and... hmm.

Here's what it looks like in very incomplete black paint:



It's not bad, and it is stealthy.



It's... very stealthy.

Everything really blends together, and not necessarily in a good way. 

It's not ugly, I'm sure it would work, but I don't know that I'm in love with it.

This roughly what "Black, black everywhere" would look like - with better paint and polish by the end, of course. 


I got to thinking.

* The back edge of this shelf retracts very far into shadows under the machine.  The front edge is the part that shows when retracted.

* There are some dead spaces, visually, on the ends of the control panel - they're necessary to span the distance, but the throttle and flightstick feel best when closer together.

* The pedal box / Mimic grey on the whole deck might be a little too light.

* Red-Grey is a weird combo to let touch. 


So I had this crazy idea.  If I made the back edge red, that is pretty safe because of how far it retracts - it goes waaaay under the playfield into the shadows, I think it'll be fine. 


If the mimic-battleship-grey part of the deck only extended as far past the throttle and flightstick as the distance between each device, it'd make all that look more intentional and provide a visual feature in that awkward dead space.

If I curved the edges around a bit... I bet I could suggest a hood, a black windshield gasket, and a dashboard deck. 

Here's some 5-minute bad photoshoppery to show my three tone concept:



The red would swing out far enough to touch the edges of the legs when deployed, and since this retracts a full 14" back under the machine, it'd be that far into the shadows when in pinball mode.



The black as a spacer between the red and grey helps make both of them pop I think.

(I'd of course spend more time fussing for a smooth fair curve if I actually do it, this was just to convey the concept.)


Whattya think?  Good?  Bad?  Got a better idea?  Am I crazier than usual?  Let me have it!   

[Arroyo]

I dig it, that looks solid.

[Nephasth]

[Vigo]

very sexy.

[Laythe]

very sexy.

You called it, I think, with the red stripe.  Thanks!

[Vigo]

Glad you liked the suggestion. It looks great! So great seeing your vision really start come together.

[meltman]

Yep, red stripe really will make it pop.

[Laythe]

It is agreed.  The plan shall be tritone. 

But, first I'm going to get a decent gloss black base coat on all of it.


From a distance, what I've currently got looks almost alright-



But get around to where the gloss black catches the light, and you can see it's got a long way to go -



Orange peel and brush marks and pinholes, oh my.

Nothing that a lot of painting and sanding won't fix, though.


One bit that I am chuffed by - in the first black mockup, the view buttons looked like this:



Not awful, it would have worked... but check them out with the first bit of dark grey behind them, now:

[meltman]

The gray looks superb.

Have you considered 3m gloss automotive vinyl wrap?

Paint is 4/5ths pain. 

[Laythe]

The gray looks superb.

Have you considered 3m gloss automotive vinyl wrap?

Paint is 4/5ths pain. 

Thanks!  Paint is 4/5ths pain, absolutely.

And, no.  No I have not.     This is an exercise in latex paint and suffering.

I've done a bunch of sanding, to turn initial coverage like this:



into a not-yet-perfect but much more acceptable, this:




For as little of that particular panel as shows around the shifter, that's probably good enough.


I've also gotten a nice flat surface that I can start painting on the grey over.  I am chuffed at how the right-side console has come together with the black coin door, button rim, and shifter body against dark grey.

(Neph - I mixed up some black epoxy and touched up the chips in the coin door frame - turned out pretty good, I don't think it'll need a full refinish.)


Here it is, with some T-molding options...


Red like the pinball machine portions -


White like Mimic -


Chrome, like all the exposed metal and because it's automotive -


Black like my soul -



I think black is a pretty clear winner for T-mold.


Next big challenge to take on shall be the top deck.

[J_K_M_A_N]

That is just sick!

I am not a big fan of chrome but it could work. I do like the black the most though as it blends very well with the gray and the coin door. Very cool. 

J_K_M_A_N

[jennifer]

I would say black or chrome,... The white or red would be unforgiving and quite noticeable  if your slot was less than perfect.

[bperkins01]

I like the black with the grey (but I did that on my cabinet... So I'm pre-biased)
Nice progress. 

[gingecko]

[meltman]

Black molding. 

You really should maybe look at the vinyl - I did mine in paint and it was just not the durability I wanted but the vinyl over the top gave a perfect finish with very little work.
I will never paint a cab again after doing vinyl once. 3m Di Noc is an amazing product.