(Finished!) Capcom Micro Cute (3D Printed Mini Cute Bartop)

[sealcouch]

Finished!


Here's a little vid of it.

Original post:

Been working on this for the past week or so:



There's the model I put together in fusion 360.



Here's where it stands as of this morning.

I'm currently reprinting the control panel as there was not nearly enough space between the control panel and the box.

Here's where I'm kind of hitting a wall:

I hate this 16:9 screen.

Does anyone have any recommendations on a small 4:3 ratio lcd? The opening for the screen is rough 7 inches x 7 inches.

[morton]

I love it! Am actually envious you had the thought to make this. Friggin excellent. Looking forward to more progress.

Screens should be out there. I know if you search for specific resolution it's a bit easier to find 4:3 resolution screens so 640x480, 800x600 etc.

[sealcouch]

I love it! Am actually envious you had the thought to make this. Friggin excellent. Looking forward to more progress.

Screens should be out there. I know if you search for specific resolution it's a bit easier to find 4:3 resolution screens so 640x480, 800x600 etc.

good call on searching resolutions. https://www.amazon.com/VSDISPLAY-800X600-Screen-A070SN02-Controller/dp/B07SPY2JFS that seems perfect.

made a little more progress today:

Got the carriage bolts in place. had to hit them with a blow torch then push them through to set. Now they all fit great. Also I'm really impressed with this joystick mounting method. Using those 4 center screws works really well. They're completely hidden when you use a dust washer.

[PL1]

Interesting choice to remove the joystick mounting plate and use those four screws to mount the stick to the panel.

Seems like the mount screws being that much closer to the shaft will increase the leverage exerted by the shaft and apply that force to a softer 3d printed material than the original metal plate.   

Have you tested to see how much sideways force on the stick will cause the screws to break/tear through the panel?


Scott

[sealcouch]

Interesting choice to remove the joystick mounting plate and use those four screws to mount the stick to the panel.

Seems like the mount screws being that much closer to the shaft will increase the leverage exerted by the shaft and apply that force to a softer 3d printed material than the original metal plate.   

Have you tested to see how much sideways force on the stick will cause the screws to break/tear through the panel?


Scott

I haven't tested it but it's not something I'm particularly worried about. The plastic that the joystick mounts to is 1/4 inch thick. I jerked it around pretty hard as a test and it seems pretty darn stable.

I'm trying to keep the look as close as possible to the original so top mounting with bolts going through wasn't an option.  I'd love to actually have a metal panel on it but that's not in my budget here.

More pics from this evening: testing the control panel art. also polished the bolts.

[PL1]

I haven't tested it but it's not something I'm particularly worried about. The plastic that the joystick mounts to is 1/4 inch thick. I jerked it around pretty hard as a test and it seems pretty darn stable.

OK.  I thought that the rectangular relief leaving a gap between the panel and joystick body might make the stick mount weaker and less stable with the only contact between the panel and stick body being on two thin edges.

The relief around the buttons makes sense for snap-in buttons, but the relief in the stick area . . . not so much.   




Scott

[sealcouch]

the relief for the stick was because the bolts aren't long enough to go all the way through the panel without it. You're probably right that it won't be as sturdy this way. I really should get some longer bolts and remove the joystick indent.

[morton]

What kind of infill did you use for the sides?

[sealcouch]

20 percent for the walls, the control panel is 80 percent.

Here's where we are by the end of the day:



Got controls in and I printed and painted the bezel. I've decided to paint all the white parts a gloss white to make it seem more authentic and less translucent.

The bezel is designed around the monitor I posted earlier. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow. I'm pretty excited to see if it fits.

edit:
here's how the bezel bit works: Instead of trying to precisely bend plastic, i opted to print the rounded bezel with a slot for a 143mmx143mm piece of tinted plexi. It should hopefully give it the same feel.

[sealcouch]

MINI ASTRO CITY WHO?!



here's where we are at the end of the day.

This monitor looks okay. I have a feeling when I get the  tinted plexi on it will really pop.

Currently running on my MiSTer FPGA while I wait for an HDMI > VGA converter to use a Raspberry Pi 4. (I'd love to use a mister for this project full time but I don't have the money to have 2 of them right now and this one gets a lot of love on my CRT.

Here's what's left to do:

3D Print the top half of the back side of the cabinet.

Figure out the audio situation.

Print decals for the marquee and the sides of the back half of the cabinet.

[sealcouch]

top half of the yellow part didn't line up so I had to reprint it. Only had green left. Did it all in one piece.



I'm not super happy with the paint job on the front. The good thing is that since it's 3d printed I have the files if I want to redo it later.

[javeryh]

I'm not super happy with the paint job on the front. The good thing is that since it's 3d printed I have the files if I want to redo it later.

It came out really nice for the first attempt.  This is something that most people would end up doing 5 times before getting it to just work.  How does it feel to play?

I am not familiar with 3D printers but could you have sanded and polished the material instead of painting it?  Although some Kilz to seal and then sanding it back and then 3-4 top coats with sanding in between can get any surface looking really nice.  Just have to have endless patience!

[sealcouch]

I'm not super happy with the paint job on the front. The good thing is that since it's 3d printed I have the files if I want to redo it later.

It came out really nice for the first attempt.  This is something that most people would end up doing 5 times before getting it to just work.  How does it feel to play?

I am not familiar with 3D printers but could you have sanded and polished the material instead of painting it?  Although some Kilz to seal and then sanding it back and then 3-4 top coats with sanding in between can get any surface looking really nice.  Just have to have endless patience!

The thing is the plastic tends to melt or distort before it gets smooth. Usually I blast it with about 3 coats of automotive filler primer and that smooths it out then I can paint it whatever color. Not so sure what went wrong with this one. I think I printed it in a bad orientation. I was trying to save plastic by printing it face down. I think that was a bad move.

[emphatic]

It's... cute.

[sealcouch]

Thanks bud.





I coated the back in primer then sanded the crap out of it then repeated that twice before painting. Really love how smooth it is now.

The front white part is currently being repainted with the same process.

[sealcouch]

got the back panel done.



All the parts to finish up are supposed to be coming in today. Pretty excited to get this thing done and move on to other projects.

It's worth noting that my dog managed to destroy the screen I purchased so I had to buy another. This has become an expensive project.

currently plugged into a big monitor to test things.

[Richie_jones]

Amazing. What 3d printer are you using...

[sealcouch]

Amazing. What 3d printer are you using...

Ender 3 for the small bits, Ender 5 Plus for the big bits.

I'm calling this done. It's closed up and it's working. I did not plan a good way to attach the front and back parts so it's just hot glued. Hence the messy seam. I'm for sure going to design and print another one of these with that in mind.

Here's a pic of the back. Volume knob and SD slot for the pi there.