Scratch-built Star Wars Cockpit Cab - UPDATE 15/9/13

[CapriRS302]

If you want to save a lot of time, you may want to check this out...

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/geekend/?p=834

They've beat you to the punch...

[danny_galaga]

If you want to save a lot of time, you may want to check this out...

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/geekend/?p=834

They've beat you to the punch...

Much better than that would be the new RAM controls cab, every part of which is which is fully compatible with original equipment. They are even having vector monitors made to spec! And cheaper than the guys you linked to.

BUT, there's nothing like building your own thing from scratch. And Hoopz creation is an inspiration to all us tinkerers, and notice this thread was started a few months before that article was written (",)

Apples and oranges...

[patrickl]

They got in to the business of "refurbishing" original Star Wars arcade cabinets. Which apparently is a translation of "they have restored one cabinet and are trying to sell".

BTW there already was a French thread about someone who scratch built a cabinet.

[Generic Eric]

They got in to the business of "refurbishing" original Star Wars arcade cabinets. Which apparently is a translation of "they have restored one cabinet and are trying to sell".

BTW there already was a French thread about someone who scratch built a cabinet.

http://fabrice.montupet.pagesperso-orange.fr/arcade/starwars/present.htm

[taylormadelv]

Spectacular! It's too bad you will not be able to run AAE in this. AAE has no joystick input, so any yoke game will not work. I moved my AAE rig next to my Major Havoc/Macmame rig the other day and I discovered that Macmame was BRIGHTER than AAE. If I were to mame this and I couldn't get a ZVG (lotsa luck there!), I would go with Macmame .56a running in OS 9, the vectors are the brightest in my experience but you will have to compromise by using a mac and all it's drawbacks. SW, ESB and ROTJ will all work in macmame os 9, Topgunner will only run in Macmame OS X.

[JustMichael]

Spectacular! It's too bad you will not be able to run AAE in this. AAE has no joystick input, so any yoke game will not work. I moved my AAE rig next to my Major Havoc/Macmame rig the other day and I discovered that Macmame was BRIGHTER than AAE. If I were to mame this and I couldn't get a ZVG (lotsa luck there!), I would go with Macmame .56a running in OS 9, the vectors are the brightest in my experience but you will have to compromise by using a mac and all it's drawbacks. SW, ESB and ROTJ will all work in macmame os 9, Topgunner will only run in Macmame OS X.

The only reason I can see to run AAE is for some of the vector effects (like light around asteroid shots).  In Mame, you can adjust Beam, resolution, flicker until you get it looking just like the game you played in your youth.  It would be nice if Mame incorporated some of the vector monitor "artifacts" (if they do and I don't know about them please tell me).   I do recommend using your maximum screen resolution as well.  For starwars, I use -beam 1.75 -flicker .25 and -resolution 1680x1050 and then it looks like the starwars machine that my poor index fingers and thumbs used to get sooo tired and sore from...

[taylormadelv]

The only reason I can see to run AAE is for some of the vector effects (like light around asteroid shots).  In Mame, you can adjust Beam, resolution, flicker until you get it looking just like the game you played in your youth.  It would be nice if Mame incorporated some of the vector monitor "artifacts" (if they do and I don't know about them please tell me).   I do recommend using your maximum screen resolution as well.  For starwars, I use -beam 1.75 -flicker .25 and -resolution 1680x1050 and then it looks like the starwars machine that my poor index fingers and thumbs used to get sooo tired and sore from...

If you went to all that trouble to build a SW cockpit from SCRATCH, it probably deserves the best emulation you can possibly get in there. There are BIG differences between how vector games are emulated, this is an area of expertise for me, I don't pretend to know everything about mame, I don't. But I DO know about emulating vector games in particular. Regular flavors of PC mame will not draw vectors as bright or as cleanly as old versions of macmame os9, not even close. In fact, what I just recently discovered is that macmame draws most vectors BRIGHTER than AAE, even. This is from a side by side comparason, running the same games on the same monitors, through the same tinted glass. Macmame draws vectors much more cleanly and at least the same brightness as AAE. And Atari vectors should be run in their NATIVE RESOLUTION of 1024x768. YES! That's the actual game resolutions of most Atari vectors, one of the reasons why vector games can look so clear and sharp in emulation. You will need macmame version .71 for joystick inputs. Good luck!

[Havok]

Brighter? What settings did you use with PC Mame? Did you tweak them at all?

[taylormadelv]

First off, let's remember that AAE does not accept joystick controls, you will not be able to play SW on AAE. Basically, what I have found in my personal experience, is that old versions of macmame os9 (NOT macmame os x) will draw most vectors "out of the box" without any adjustments at about the same "brightness" as most PC mames I have used. When "vector intensity" and gamma in macmame is cranked up, the brightness of the vectors surpasses any other emulator I have personally used, except for maybe AAE. You have to have a mac running OS9 to view this properly...
 When I placed the macmame and aae rigs next to each other, I was really surprised to see the how macmame basically blew aae away. The vectors were drawn much "cleaner", with a softness that is difficult to describe but macmame makes the vector games look nicer, IMO.
The choice of CRT monitor is critical here, your milage will vary GREATLY, depending upon the graphics card and how you choose to have mame display graphics, even in old macs, you will see some differences in cards and using RAGE vs software rendering. This is hard core, dedicated vector game emulation I'm talking about here. These rigs run vector games ONLY and I sacrifice many options to get the games to run as good as I can possibly get them. My latest and best dedicated rig is my Major Havoc/Tempest conversion, running macmame .56a to a gateway vx930 (This monitor is BRIGHT, REALLY BRIGHT!). And I have the game running really, really nice with full spinner control through a Tempest spinner on a trackball adaptor. AAE cannot play MH properly, it just can't do it and I have really tried.
IMO this amazing SW project deserves REAL SW PCB's and an real vector monitor but this is not always possible. I recommend running macmame .71, in OS9 running on at least a G4 450. Then run the yoke to either the Ram Controls USB SW interface or the A-PAC and call it a day.

[emphatic]

An inspiring thread, this. 

[patm95]

I can't wait to see what this looks like when it is done!  Coming along great!

[JustMichael]

For those that want Mame vectors "brighter",  try adding -gamma 3 to your command line.  Makes those vectors nice and bright!

[HoopstarsGarage]

IMO this amazing SW project deserves REAL SW PCB's and an real vector monitor but this is not always possible.

I could not agree more..  My dream is to one day for someone (ie. Ram) to repro the vector monitors so I can run the real deal.

Unfortunately I did not realise that AAE didn't have joystick support until I landed one of Ram Controls yoke interfaces.  MAME doesn't look anywhere near as nice as AAE, but then the later is useless without joystick support.  I might look into macmame, but that means finding a cheap Mac..  

Hoops

[Sjaak]

Hoops,

Are you still there? Can't wait to see the final result.

[RonnieC312]

amazing so far

[NYSubway18]

Absolutely incredible project! 

[mattmayhem]

Looks great so far, I cant wait to see the rest of the build!

[Thaevil1]

  AWE-SOME 

Can not wait to see it 100% finished, keep up the good work!

[AlienInferno]

I know it's only been alittle over three months but I'm wondering if this thing is still being built.  I would like to see it finished if possible.

[HoopstarsGarage]

Hi guys..

This project certainly is not dead - in fact, it's FAR more alive than you can imagine..

The big hold up has been my wife and I have been expecting our second child and we had a couple of test results early on that potentially threatened the baby's survival.. as you could imagine, that kind of deviated my attention from the project.. It was a scary 6 months..!!

Fast forward to three weeks ago, and I am happy to announce though that Mrs Hoopstar gave birth to a healthy, happy baby girl.. India Rose @ 7lb 10oz - all of those fears were unfounded and she is perfect in every way - damn doctors

Anyway, things have started settling down and as recently as last weekend, I have started back on the cab with some major progress..  Keep your eye out for an update after this weekend as it's a 5 day holiday weekend for Easter and you're sure to see some good stuff..


Hoops

[EvilNuff]

Congrats!  That's great news! 

[DNA Dan]

Dude you have the life. You're either working on an arcade cab or working in the bedroom. 

[Silverwind]

That is awesome man.

 

[HoopstarsGarage]

OK.. so it's been a busy time in the last few months for the Hoopstar household with Mrs Hoopstar giving birth to our second child, a 7lb 10oz baby girl, India Rose on the 27th of March..  As you could imagine, the lead up to.. and since this event has been a little busy and stressful, hence this project has taken a bit of a back seat.

With all that said, things are starting to settle down again and so I finally have some time to get back into this.  In my last installment, I had just finished mounting the 21" PC monitor which also marked the last job to the cabinet itself in terms of carpentry..

The next job on the long list of things to do involved filling screw holes with plasti-bond and sanding everything smooth - I won't bore you with pictures of this (not only because I didn't take any) as there were literally only 10 or 12 holes to fill.

With all that done, I primed the entire cabinet to seal off the MDF and act as a final 'high fill' for the plast-bond..



We've had some nice warm days recently here in Adelaide and the shed temperatures have been in the mid-20's which meant the primer dried off nicely and gave me a good base for a very light sand in 400 grit.. just to knock off any inclusions into the finish.

I then ran around the outside of all the edges with satin black so that the white primer wouldn't show through around the sideart and vinyl infill ..



Inside was also painted black for a neater finish - of course Little Miss Hoopstar #1 needed to star in the shot



After this dried, I could finally start to fit the vinyl - I only bought 3 meters of the stuff, but it measured out at 1220mm wide.  With the cab being 600mm wide in the center, I effectively had 6 meters - more than enough to do the job.

It's a reasonable match for the original stuff - not exact, but better than just painting it.  I also gives a really professional finish and is easy to clean requiring just a damp sponge..



With Mrs Hoopstar giving me a bit of a hand, applying the vinyl was a lot easier than I expected and the result was quite nice..

Here's the bottom rear panel complete with cut outs for the power switch, vent slot and power cord slot.  There were a couple of screw holes filled along the bottom edge of this panel and with the work that went into filling and smoothing them, they are completely invisible.



I wanted the angle of the three top pieces to be as sharp, straight and defined as possible.  While it looks a little wavy here in the photo, it actually looks awesome in person and exceeded my expectations..  I think due to my lack of resizing and photograph skill



I used a rubber edged squeegee to lay down the vinyl which worked a treat - it's a little grippier than the foam edge squeegees which really help get a nice, flat, bubble free finish

and it left some rubber marks behind - They lines you can see on this shot and it wiped off with a little windex and a rag (as you'll see in the final photo shoot later).



I also started to prep the various metal pieces that make up this signature cabinet - starting with the seat angle.

I started off rubbing this down with 120 grit..



Then moved to the random orbital sander and 240 grit..



Then a quick coat of aluminium primer followed by a very light rubbed down with 400..



..and the final (somewhat dusty) result



With all the work on the cabinet, I decided to take a bit of a sideways step and tackle the Control Panel Overlay - just for some motivational 'fun'..

Way back when this project started I repaired the control panel[/URL] where the owner had mounted some buttons.. :cry

Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the 'finished' painted panel, but it turned out pretty nice, so the overlay was just a simple matter of lining it up and sticking it down.  I used the dry method and just hinged the overlay with masking tape at the top..

Here is my helper pointing out the requirements for the next step..




which is trimming the bolt holes and yoke opening..



..and the final result.  I am extremely happy with it



A far cry from the original control panel I bought all those years ago :cool:




Anyway.. still lots more to do.  Next big job is to lay down the side art..


Hoops

[yotsuya]

 

[emphatic]

Amazing! 

[opt2not]

Booya!  I'm so happy you're back on this.  

[DNA Dan]

When is this going to be available for purchase? Awesome work man, keep at it!

[melvinbates]

Wow. 

[Funnel]

 :applaud:Far from amazing. Glad you're back! 

[taylormadelv]

If you act quickly enough;there may be ZVG cards still available. I really do not know if there are any left but I know they made a second batch and from the kinda responses, I got a feeling they will not make any more. Even though you may not have a vector monitor right now, you might consider getting a card and figuring out the vector monitor later. This project is so spectacular, it may just be worth it. I am very curious as to what emulator you will be deciding upon and how it ends up looking.

[The Lumberjackass]

excellent work

[HoopstarsGarage]

Well.. I thought I'd put up a couple of update/teaser photos of the cab showing what I've been up to.

I've actually progressed a little more than these photos show, but with the impending long weekend around the corner, I am hoping to get a few more decent progress shots out early next week.

The side art on the main cabinet was laid down with the help of my wife using the wet technique..  worked pretty well but was very nervous times.



Coin door hole was marked out with my finger nail..



Then using a scapel, we opened it up..



Looks pretty good in person and the coin door is a perfect fit..  The corners look a little funny in the shot, but again.. it's either my ---smurfy--- photographic skills, my crappy Sony point and shoot camera or the compression of irfanview messing this up?  Anyway, I bought myself a pretty nice Nikon DSLR camera last weekend, so the I am hoping the finished shots will look as good as it does in person - in the mean time, it's all Sony..



I am calling this version 1.0 as Rich (TOG) has advised me that the silk screened art will be available "end of (their) summer" so I will probably rip this off again and put the 'directly from the original Atari artwork' stuff on - was good practice I guess..



Colours look a lot better in person than here.. but you get the idea..



I am currently working on with a local supplier to have the acrylic canopy cover made up using my inner hoops as a template.

Anyway.. I'll update more next week..


Hoops

[Mr.Ian]

Wow, Wow, Wow

Fantastic. Im so glad that this build is back on track


Awesome work.

[Woodshop Flunky]

This is really just amazing!  Great job! 

[emphatic]

Words can't express diddly squat. 

[matsadona]

This will most definitely be in the arcade hall of fame. To say it is an amazing effort isn't enough.

By the way, were did you get the sideart? Original or reproduction? Tried to find the answer in previous posts... maybe I missed that part?

[LeedsFan]

This build is simply awesome.... absolutely stunning!  I really want to see how this ends up (apart from how brilliant it will be).  I'm building a mini upright Star Wars myslef and I'm interested in the vinyl you used... how easy was it to trim to size and how thick was it?  I was going to paint my own cabinet but I feel vinyl just looks better if applied properly like yours.

[Thamanator]

Too cool for words!

[Le Chuck]

Hoopstar, it's been a good while since an update to your amazing and inspiring project so I thought this could use a little  

If you've been on Dagobah training this is the part of the build where Han is about to be carbonited and you have to try and save him by posting an update.