CP Revision2

[Trimoor]

I just added a laminate to my control panel, and thought you might like a look.
The laminate is vinyl with a genuine immitation leather texture.  It looks and feels very nice.  (It should; it cost me a whole $0.75!)

As you might see in the picture, there is one problem.  The bolts holding the trackball and joysticks weren't quite flush with the metal, causing little bumps on the laminate.  Oh well.

The lower picture is what it looked like without the laminate. (No, those are not the final colors!)

[Lilwolf]

I would either have the screws on top (so you can remove them) or try mudding them and sanding them down before putting on the vynal.  I dont' remember the mudd you put on metal, but there is some filler that you can use.   But I'm guessing that you might get the screws to back out a bit in time and make a buldge anyway...

Good luck and let us know what works out.  I'm sure others could use any advice you can give.

[Trimoor]

I didn't want any bolts showing, so I used bolts with a flat head and countersunk them into the metal, but they still show through.

The other problem is I didn't quite drill the holes in the right place (stupid me!), so they have to be able to move in order to put the sticks on.

In the future I will use threaded rods (bolts without heads), and just epoxy them to the bottom of the panel.

I suspect there is little hope in concealing the current bolts, especially since there is no way of removing the vinyl without destroying it.  Oh well.

Anyone care to give an opinoin on what colour buttons to use?

[Lilwolf]

If thats the case... before putting down the vynal... Get some 'mud' or something similar.

When whatching american chopper... You will see the last step in many of the bikes is that they fill it up with 'mud' that they then sand down to make it smooth.

Do that to each of the screw wholes and you should be find.  You might want to screw in all of the joystick bases first... and make sure they are all working well... No going back once mudded.

[Trimoor]

The joystick bases are already screwed in, and the bumps are convex, not concave, so a filler won't help here.

Besides, my time machine isn't finished yet, so I'll just have to live with it.