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First build! 4P MAME *now with pics!*
Jefferson:
Epyx... Gamester... Your projects are incredible and I value your expertise. That being said, I WENT ROGUE ON YA BABY!
Huge updates coming soon! I'm talkin paint! Poly! New joysticks! Perfect piano hinging! Pics pics pics!
If my CP falls apart, at least my project will be proof that we ought to listen to the Epyxs and Gamesters of the world.
Jefferson:
PART ONE
^ Here's the bottom of the panel, primed. You can see that the 'top layer' of this hollow CP is a little thin to sustain a joystick. I've reinforced the bigger hollow sections with slices of 2x4. I gobbed em up with carpenters glue and slid them between where I'd be placing the admin buttons. They butt right up against an existing wood support beam deeper in the panel. (There's a pic of this later)
^ Here's a piece of joystick spacer I cut from a big board of hardwood. Its wide enough that its a little wider than the base of the joysticks (I'm using sanwas for P1 and 2 for their 4 to 8-way switchability, and happ comps for P3 and 4.) I figured a wider base would give me more clearance for the carriage bolts and would better support the rocking of the joystick, minimizing (hopefully eliminating) flexing of the top panel.
^The hardboard panel being cut. The panel and these buffers combined measure in at 3/8", the same depth that the joysticks had on the original Turtles CP. (Stock Sanwa sticks are stubbier than the Happ's though, so I got the longer shafts from ultimarc. Their height difference is indistinguishable)
^The joystick in place, from the bottom. The disconnects barely clear the extra depth of my weird CP. Had to route more 'working space' around the joys, but all is good depth-wise!
^Top view in a test piece. Lookin good! And yeah, those carriage bolts WILL be showing on top of the finished CP. My CP is weird enough as is and I didn't wanna F with it anymore than need be. Plus I associate carriage bolts of top with the 'real deal'. I know this is a hot button issue around here. Guess what? The dust washers are gonna be on top too CAUSE I LIKE EM THAT WAY.
The bolts have since been polished using the drill and sandpaper method.
^Better cross-section of the joy in the test piece. Illustrates the inner workings of the hollow CP.
^Joystick carriage bolt holes drilled accordingly. Primed and ready to go.
Then Dec 08 came around and I weighed the pros and cons of 3 different black paints:
Black Satin oil based Rustoleum
Sherwin Williams oil based All-Purpose Enamel
Valspar Latex Porch and Floor
each were given a section on a test piece (primed twice, nicely sanded)
and were rolled, 3 coats, with a nice new foam roller for each coat. With nice sanding in-between. And left to cure for 7+days when I went home for X-mas.
I was really rooting for the Valspar. Since it wasn't 'factory black' and was dyed in store, it was a milkier, softer black, like the body of the N64, and I thought it'd compliment the size and shape of the CP nicely. Even though it was latex, I was hoping the 'crystalline silica' inside it would give it the resilience of a thousand suns! It did not. The Rusto was by far the toughest against scratches, watches and keys. But I didn't like the reflective, splashy, hard black of that or the SW (slightly less tough.) The Valspar could be drawn on with a mere fingernail (and there would be plenty of those coming its way.)
So I looked into polyurethane. The water-based Minwax bucket kind. Heard rollers weren't as good as foam brushes. Tried the foam, saw the strokes. Tried a 'nice poly' bristle brush. Saw the strokes. Tried the same thing in a spraycan... now we're talkin! Compared oil based to water based ('oil modified') spray on the test pieces. Went with the water based spray.
CONTINUED IN PART 2
Jefferson:
PART TWO
^Here we are after 3 coats of the Valspar Porch and Floor-- 3 days drying between coats, sanding with 320 between coats-- and the first coat of poly had just been applied. Unfortunately, I used the same spraycan as I had used on the test pieces, and the nozzle had become a little sputtery and uneven. There's also some 'mud crack' lines above the admins where a lot of poly had welled up... which was weird since I thought the test piece actually looked better the more I drenched it in poly. (It seems like doing a super thick puddle on top of prior coats of poly will avoid mud crack, but you'll get it directly on paint.) Worst of all, a drip landed below the P2 buttons. I tried to blot it up with a foam brush but it still dried all white and squirrely. I was also concerned with how uneven and stripey the first coat dried. So I sanded the S out of it before the second coat with a fresh can:
^ Note the white mark. Still there.
^ Before the third coat I sanded it way way down on the trouble areas (mostly that pesky wad.) I knew I was hitting paint when the dust on my sanding sponge was grey instead of white, then I sprayed the third coat. It dried evenly and beautifully, the white spot 95% erased. The recommended 3 coats were in place.
But I knew I had taken it down to the paint in at least one area, and I needed to be confident in the CP's ability to deflect fingernails, etc. So the next weekend I sanded her down again and prepared for the 4th and final coat.
^ When I got down close with my tack cloth, I noticed these tiny flecks of white. I thought they were dust and tried to wipe them away. Looking closer, it appears they're exposed primer. PRIMER. They're very small... the hole in this picture is for a carriage bolt, for frame of reference.
^ A closer look. Very aggravating. I figured now was my chance to fix them, so I did what any novice do-it-yourselfer would do, I took a fine point black Sharpie and I surgically blotted out these little demons... in the more clandestine areas at first, and as I gained confidence, on the surface of the CP.
^ It looks waaaay purpler than in real life, and really, anything would look better than F ing WHITE on F ing BLACK. Then I hit it with a fresh can of Minwax WB poly.
^ Fourth and final coat drying. I wanted to document the surface pattern of the wet poly (esp after the 'wet pool' that worked so well on the test piece gave me mud cracks on the real deal) Looking at this pattern though, I was nervous I was headed for an orange-peel finish...
^ And yet here it is, looking sexy as hell on the cabinet IMHO. The fine and muted texture is even and consistent... and again, reminds me of the N64 console. I like how the 'soft black' allows for the colors (incl. the 'true blacks') to pop off. The red Sanwas will get black bat tops in due time. (Wrong order. My mistake, not Ultimarcs)
^ Here's the wraparound, which was a nightmare to achieve with how the piano hinge is installed. There's about 2mm of clearance on either side of the cab and the CPs 'bat ears' and it hovers perfectly.
^ Put in the catch chain in, taking care to screw it into actual wood within the CP. You can also see how the piano hinge screws into the bottom of the CP. First unsuccessful attempt: tracing the cp box's outline on the bottom of the cp, taking both off the cab, flipping them upside down, carefully lining it up, and then trying to flip the box up and out while preserving the lineup, exposing the holes, and screwing. Luckily I only screwed 2 of the 4 holes, and I was SO off, those screwups didn't weaken the eventual 'real holes'
The successful attempt included putting the CP box back on the cab, and the CP on top, with double sided foam tape across the entire length of the hinge. When it was perfectly aligned, I pressed it to the tape... just barely strong enough to simulate a real hold, to bring the hinge up as I raised the CP. Then I screwed right through the tape. No remorse! (You can't see it anyhow.)
^ Here's a better shot of the reinforcements I glued in. They're the 2 columns on either side of the black admin buttons. One of the admins punches through a pre-existing reinforcement beam.
^ They didn't have 'PCB feet' at radioshack so I picked up some 'vinyl grommets' as spacers for mounting the ipac. The screws are tiny pictureframe screws.
^ lookin good!
^ Daisy chain wire from Ultimarc was a nice time saver. I could've even used another.
^ Not the cleanest wiring, but its alive!
^ It gets along with my PC just fine! No installer necessary! I did have to program P4 controls in mame for some reason. I knew I'd have to program P2 buttons 5 and 6. I'm looking into how best to program the admin buttons and remap the console emulators now. Hopefully more updates soon! Thanks to the forums (esp kman sweden, javeryh, dr venture, and what the hell... epyx and gamester too)
Ond:
Very nice result, looks like a good playing surface too. I particularly like the way you test your theories and document the outcomes - makes for interesting reading. Nice didgeridoo, did you know all Australians are trained pretty much from birth to play them? ;D
Epyx:
Jefferson, that turned out very nice, with a definite laminated look to it. I also like the improv with the wood pads you used for the sticks...very cool.
And last but not least, having it removable to take with you is a great feature for mobility as it removes in its entirety!
:cheers: