3D Printed Vewlix Countercade Video: 3 Years in the Making!

[mikejkelley]

Hey all! I spent nearly three years off and on perfecting the creation of these 3D printed Vewlix arcade cabinets. I'm going to post a "making of video" on my cyberspacemanmike YT channel soon. I figure I'll release portions of the script and accompanying screenshots here until I get the final edit done. I'm also working on a 3D printed Capcom Mini-er-Cute-er countercade! I learned a lot and hope you like it!

Begin transmission:

I spent several years and hundreds of dollars attempting to perfect the creation of 3D printed, Vewlix-inspired countercades. Originally based on a Game-Makers’ design, itself inspired by Taito’s Vewlix Japanese arcade cabinets, I meticulously modified my models over many months. Engineered for strength and ease of assembly, there are no longer any tiny screws to fool with; structural components slide together and cinch tight with cam-locks. A PC-style I/O plate allows for extensive customizability. Interior “sleeves” and magnetic panels organize and keep safe electronic components in the cramped, space-saving case. But rather than being the result of engineering brilliance, it all came together through a long process of trial and error.

Printing.
I printed the original Vewlix countercade cabinet nearly three times. The first time I printed it in PLA and partially put it together only to realize that the parts were all off-kilter. I abandoned the project for about a year. The following summer I reprinted the cabinet in its entirety. Before sanding, priming, and painting, I did a test fit to make sure everything lined up. It did and so I sanded, primed, and painted all of the parts. This time however, the pieces melted in the sun.



I have bike accessories made out of the same make and model PLA that have sat out in direct sunlight FOR YEARS that haven’t suffered ANY ill effects. I think Hatchbox has since changed its formula.

Reprinting.
So I reprinted the entire case a third time in ABS. ABS has a much higher melting point and can suffer silently sitting in the sun without wanton wilting and warping.



ABS has several drawbacks, however, notably toxic fumes, finicky printing with frequent failures, and rough, ugly prints. ABS requires a lot of post processing: sanding and priming isn’t sufficient, you have to do a lot of surface finishing. I experimented with two different approaches: 1. Using body filler and 2. creating an ABS slurry out of filament, scraps, and acetone. I improvised the ratio, aiming to develop a consistency similar to that of Elmer’s glue.



To be continued!...

[processedmeat]

Mike, this is really beautiful and well done.

Hope you wouldn't mind sharing the files when you finally nail everything down.

Would like to print a bunch of these for my classroom so my students can each an arcade cabinet to showcase the games that they made!

[mikejkelley]

Thanks! The originals are now free here: https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/mini-bartop-vewlix-v2-0 and my redesigns are here and cost $1: https://cyberspacemanmike.com/shop . I'm going to be updating them soon because I learned a lot during the first and second builds. BTW, I'd like to recommend a text book for introductory game development. I wrote it! It's based on the course I created for a SUNY: https://www.amazon.com/No-Code-Video-Development-Using-Playmaker-ebook/dp/B08LGC3LW9?sr=8-1 It's also available on my site for a much better price!

[mikejkelley]

Surface Finishing.
The body filler went on uniformly but sanded unevenly. The ABS slurry went on in globs but sanded well. In the end, I think the ABS slurry technique was the most successful. Also, the glue version chemically welds pieces of ABS together and is far superior to other joinery chemicals, compounds, and techniques.




The results are pretty fantastic. For example, I had to print each of these panels in two pieces to fit on my Bambu labs P1P printer, but post-processing you can’t see the seam at all.

Painting.
Early on I got locked into using Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch 2X Ultra Cover Spray Paint, supposedly both paint and primer. This stuff actually eats away at ABS. In a side-by-side comparison you can see how the premium build plate texture has been chemically defaced.



As a result, each piece needed about 8 rounds of painting and sanding to achieve decent results. If I had to do it over again I’d find a more suitable paint for plastics.

Assembly.
A whole lot of time went into thinking about how to best assemble the case. It’s engineered to use many tiny screws. The tiny screw heads strip immediately, making their installation more or less permanent without adding any actual structural integrity. So I spent a lot of time extracting the tiny screws and then instead glued the front, bottom and sides together. Screwing the top into place wasn’t an option but neither was gluing it since doing so would entombed the marquee header. I wanted everything to completely disassemble in the event of needed repairs. So I modded the existing header to accept Ikea-like Cam locks. It worked but didn’t cinch tight enough so I modified the model in CAD, printed it again, and the results were excellent!



More later!