So believe it or not, lots of work is being done on the cab. The inside is mostly painted black, and you don't get to see pics of that yet cuz frankly, it's not ready yet. However, this weekend I've made quite some progress on the control panel.
I've rebuilt the control panel pictured previously because I quickly realized that in order to route the bottom holes for the trackball and joys, I was going to need a flat piece of wood.. not a permanently assembled "l-shape". Live and learn. The second time around was faster with my new router skills anyways.
I decided to try the route out the bottom technique I read about in another thread (which I'll reference when I find it again). What I ended up doing was taking the unit apart, tracing the teardrop pattern onto the wood. Next, 2.25" hole saw to remove enough to completely surround and hug the plastic lip. Then, I took a 3/8" strait bit and carved out all but 1/16" inside the teardrop shape, so that from the top it appears to be seamless. We'll go over the mount more in detail in a few. I also decided to bottom mount my u360's, dust washer on the bottom.
The bottom and top lips have been routed out to fit snugly as the exactly how the original metal cp did. The unit is mounted via the same European hinges I used on the back door, so the entire control panel swings up, exposing the innards for easy access (pics of that later).
The MDF was primed with gray killzs primer, then I hit it with 5 or so layers of Krylon spraypaint for plastic sufaces.. wetsanding with 400 grit paper in between. I spent more time on the top then the bottom, and ultimately, I'll be covering the entire cp with artwork.. but this should make it feel complete until I get around to that stage. I hand rounded all corners on this unit to soften the feel a bit.
Pics as follows:
Top view. Top row (p1,coin1,turbotwist,coin2,p2). Middle row (joy1, p1fighter layout, 2.25 betson trackball, joy2)
bottom view
Front view
Top angle
trackball detail
Bottom angle