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Glory Days - Completed!
Hornpipe2:
Oh man, you write chiptunes? Most excellent! What name do you usually compose under?
dekar24k:
--- Quote from: Hornpipe2 on March 30, 2009, 10:39:22 am ---Oh man, you write chiptunes? Most excellent! What name do you usually compose under?
--- End quote ---
Not any more, only for fun. I was active in the scene back in the BBS-days. I did old-school ascii and chiptunes under the name 'trasher'. ;)
dekar24k:
Day III - The control panel
* For full-size images, please visit my blog at www.xah.com
Hey all!
I received the control panel overlay and marquee a couple of days ago, so I have finally started working on the control panel now. You can check out my progress in the pictures below.
The prints were rolled up nicely and carefully packed in a “tube”. No damage whatsoever to the overlays.
After unwrapping the “tube” I was impressed by the high quality prints. Vibrant color prints with a scratch-resistant coating that can take a good beating. The control panel overlay is laminated with polycarbonate, the same material used in bulletproof vests. ;)
Another shot of the prints.
First, I used masking tape to “test fit” the control panel overlay. I didn’t want to get it wrong, as you can’t adjust the overlay once it’s stuck to the panel.
Backside of the control panel, masking tape still attached.
I applied the overlay, making sure there were no air bubbles. After applying the overlay, I used a razor to cut out the holes for the buttons, joystick and trackball. I’m sure you can get these pre-cut from Mamemarquees.com, but I didn’t think of that when I ordered it, so I had to do it myself.
The easiest part was cutting out the hole for the trackball. All straight lines and more than enough room to handle the razor.
The holes were harder to cut, but after a few “practice runs” I got the hang of it.
After finishing the overlay it was time to start mounting the pushbuttons, joystick and trackball.
Fastening the joystick was rather easy. Tip: Put a few drops of glue between the panel and the joystick plate, so that you can align it properly before fastening the wooden screws. You want to align it with the panel’s joystick hole (adjusting it from the printed side of the control panel) before you fasten the screws and that is tricky if the joystick plate is completely loose.
After the joystick and buttons were attached, it was time to fasten the trackball. I don’t know if you can see it, but I missed a bit when drawing the control panel graphics. If you look at the 1-Player button and the one next to it, you can see that it’s not perfectly aligned with the brown circle.. :( Oh heck, beginner’s mistake I guess. Doesn’t matter much really, as you can hardly notice it.
Mounting the trackball was rather easy as well, thanks to the mounting plate kit. I’ve heard they are hard to mount without the kit, so I’m glad I ordered it along with the trackball.
So there you have it, the control panel is all set for wiring! I’m quite happy with the design, even though I screwed the graphics up a bit on the top buttons.
Test-fitting the control panel to make sure that nothing collides with the side flipper buttons.
I got lucky! I didn’t take the joystick switches into consideration when drilling the side flipper holes, so I’ve been afraid that they wouldn’t fit properly. As you can see, it’s not much room between them, but it’s more than enough to fasten the wires, so it’s all good.
So, that’s all for today folks! Check back soon for the next update, where I will wire the control panel and start assembling the cabinet and computer parts. Peace!
The Evil Collector:
Looks fantastic! :cheers: To bad you couldn't do something different with the trackball. It covers up alot of your artwork :P
Octo:
I would definitely consider getting another sticker to replace what's covered by the trackball plate. That are had some of the coolest looking art, but now it's a big, gray blob :embarassed:
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