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"The Griffin" - Finished August 28, 2010!
Gamester:
I like his sense of humor, but it's also a bit disturbing...
SephYuyX:
A bit, but ive a twisted sense of humor, so fits well :p
Reminds me a bit of the Metal Slug games.
SephYuyX:
Is it time for another update? I guess so. Took a small break to enjoy the holidays, and to work out some details, but finally got in the mood to work on it again. This was the annoying stage of the project; puttying, sanding, lots of little detail things, but only more to come.. but at least the puttying is out of the way.
Close up view of the place where the marquee will be resting against. I may have to trim some of the 2x2 away show the light doesnt cast a shadow.
Im very very happy I found this TV. This is a different TV from the one I posted before. The previous one is 20", this one is 27", and it was complete luck I stumbled upon it. Same brand, just bigger, and got it for cheaper too. Ill have to sell the old one now. When I got this TV I was very happy, and this is really the best TV i could have gotten. Well, aside from an actual arcade monitor, if I had to pick a TV from all the TVs in the world, this would be #2. My #1 would be the same size, but with an RGB hookup. This one is an SVid, but it still looks great, better than RCA, and I can deal w/o component. Ill have to raise it up slightly and secure it in.
The time came to make the control panel. My options were to make my own, or buy. To make my own id use my full size template, cut it out of wood, buy plexi, buy a router bit, and then cut out the plexi using the wood as a template. However I stumbled upon OCIP a company in orange county who would cut out the plexi for me for 45$ Great deal, considering buying the plexi and the bit would cost about the same. So to save time and stress, I went with OCIP. Plus it's done with lasers, so no need to make any touchups if there are any.
However OCIP needed a vector drawing, and that would mean id have to use my nemesis, AutoCAD. Ive used it randomly in the past, and it's just everything I hate in one package. After using Photoshop and Illustrator for so many years, ACAD is completly bassakwards. So I downloed the newest trial version, got the hang of it and drew this up in about 2hrs. I just imported the image of my drawing, and traced red lines around it. If I knew how to use ACAD, this would have taken my about 5minuts, but oh well. It's done, and worked out perfectly.
Ah yes, my old friend mr coin door frame. Over the holidays I asked my Uncle Mark if he has something around his workshop to cut cast iron and luckily he did. So thanks to his effot he got it cut in half and shaped it up to look very good, and I have to say im quite happy with how it came out.
And here we go with the door just placed in the frame. Yup yup looks good.
And heres come the fun part.. filling the holes and sanding.. Sanding and painting are probably me two least favorite things when it comes to building things, but what are you going to do. I first had to sand down the little ridges around the holes.
I bought some all purpose bondo putty, and it's not very fun to work with. The putty comes in a paint can, and then the hardener comes in a squeeze tube. Both things smell bad, and doesnt like to cooperate. Take a scoop of the putty, put a bead of the hardener in a cup, mix, and then you have 5mins to work with it. This is the first coat, just to fill the holes. It took me four mixes to go over everything.
Heres the second coat. Looks pretty bad. I realised after the first coat that the stuff isnt easy to get off the putty knife, so it left divits on the knife, and when spreading the second coat, it left divits. It worked out in the end, just had to batter it on more. I used four more mixes. I used one more mix to fill random misscuts and such.
All I can say is hurray for power tools. Hand sanding this would have been a pain. It took me about two hours to sand everything down flat. It may look bad, but its all smooth. Once painted youll never know.
Well I finally got the plexi in from OCIP, oddly enough they gave me two of them, and dunno why. But wasnt charged for two, so oh well. 37x18” dimension (with radiused bottom) cut from a 1/8” thick clear acrylic plexiglass sheet. 31 holes in total, one being 3-1/2” in diameter and the other 30 holes in a 1-1/8” diameter. It came out perfect.
I didnt feel bad about using one plexi to be used as a template since the other one still has its film on. I didnt scratch it up, but it sure is getting dirty. I lined up the plexi on the wood, leaving a bit of play room, and traced out the sides and holes.
Everything Marked.
I cut out some construction paper to fit the circle, and poked a hole through it, and this let me find the center of all the holes quite quick. Ill be using a 1-1/8" spade bit to but them out.
I put the control panel ontop of some junk wood to reduce the tear out, and it worked pretty well, still a bit, but not bad. I poked the center of the holes with the bit, and then drilled one by one. It took about 5 minutes. I then grabbed my jigsaw, cut out the bigger hole, and off the sides and radius.
And here it is all cut out, looks good yup. Still needs to be sanded, but im going to be doing that later after I get my CP supplies in as ill have to do some chisel work to fit the joysticks and trackball, so ill finish it up later.
Here is is with the plexi places on top, looks good. Now to just figure out the graphics to place under the plexi..
View from the topfront.
Some sideage.
A front shot.
And an angled. Yup, looks good. More detail work to come..
Material List and Total Cost at the moment.
SephYuyX:
Control Panel supplies have been ordered! Ouf! Pricey, but this is the best price I possibly could have gotten short of buying used. Cant beat that shipping :) Ill post a break down of prices in my next big update. The bulk of the cost (a bit over $200) comes from the trackball and spinner; who knew you could charge so much for glorified mice.
I was originally planning to go with 3 or 4 different sellers as they carried only certain items, and some places were cheaper than others, however I was afriad of what the shipping would be, coming from 4 different places. But by some luck the owner of this webstore pointed me to his place where it had everything in one stop, so big props to him. Im hoping this all goes smoothly so I can give him a great recommendation.
painterinfo:
My first build I learned up and successfully hacked a kb controller and bought the US$39.95 two joysticks and 20 buttons package from xgaming.com
My last build I paid AU$230 for a mag stick, 2.5 inch track ball, ipac, optipac and 13 buttons.
Stuff the trackball, it's rubbish, I am going for the xgaming package next time and hacking another keyboard.
I.e. if you want a trackball go for a good one.
Ditching the trackball I would have saved over $100 dollars, I am still trying to work out if the coloured buttons and Magstick are worth the extra $90 bucks, ah I don't think so. I have yet to beat my high scores with the new setup. So dearer has not proved better for me.
BTW I used "Selleys Spakfilla Rapid" One wipe over with a flat spatular and then a light sand and it is done. I used the same tub that I used for last years arcade machine build and have also used the same tub to fill several holes the kids put in the walls recently.
No mess, no stink, no fuss, lasts for more than one job. I don't know if you can get Sellies in your part of the world but "all purpose bondo putty" sounds like a nightmare.
Hope this helps.