The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: Tahnok on April 16, 2005, 10:27:08 pm
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Scroll to end of topic for most recent pictures.
I have been planning this for a while and finally got around to it yesterday. It's still long way from being finished, but you can get the general idea right now.
The CP will hopefully include a T-Stik plus, 2.25" trackball and 6-button layout (I have room for all of it). The CP layout involves a translucent 4-way balltop, three translucent action buttons and several admin buttons. The CP is designed entirely for older games. I'll leave the modern games for my fullsize cab.
The CP it then going to be overlaid with plexi flowing over the edge. I thought I was going to be doing something new by bending the plexi, I was quite disappointed though when I came on here and saw that Pixel had beaten me to it (oh well). Plexi turned out to be too hard to work with. The CP is now made out of metal, but the curve is still the same. I originally was going to cover the CP but have decided on painting it, to keep the cold metal feel.
I'll get more details up on it once I have a little bit more of it done.
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Hey, Tahnok100, nice work so far, especially noticed the fancy curves around the control panel. I just started cutting pieces out for my bartop yesterday, will post pics when I borrow a digital camera. What are the dimensions on that box roughly? Its a little hard to tell how big it is in the pictures. Keep up the good work and post more pics.
KenToad
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POST THE PLEXI PICS!!! ;D
I really like the shape of this one... flowing plexi is just gonna look so cool. Will it wrap all the way to the bottom or just of the lip of the cp?
What are you planning for the sides? Will they be laminated, painted, or covered with printed artwork?
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Thanks, the sides of the cab took forever to finalize. I was trying to get it to the point of looking cool but not overly complicated.
The cab is around 20" tall, 15" wide and 26" deep. It was built around an old PC monitor.
The plexi I have done so far has been horrible. The bends have been bubbled and the cuts cracked. I will work on it more once I have created a bend jig and put a new blade in the jigsaw. It is about a 1.5" bend at the front edge and then extends down to the bottom. It should look cool if I get it to work right.
The sides will probably be painted or covered in contact paper (wanted to use laminate, but have yet to find it anywhere). It is just going to be a solid color. I chose the color a long time ago, but forgot what my final decision was :-\ .
My router bit is on the way, so I should be able to get the t-molding going here pretty soon.
I will probably get a section for the cab on my website after the midterms.
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I've been meaning to post these pics for a while. I finished painting and routing the cab. Now to get the t-molding in there and finalize the CP artwork. I am also considering changing the CP to more of a classic games layout (no trackball, 4-way balltop, 3 buttons).
First pic - A shot of the paint job with monitor. The areas that aren't painted will not be visible in the final cab. I used around 4-5 coats of latex paint, not including primer. The result is a fairly smooth finish that looks like laminate.
Second pic - This should give you a better idea of the cab
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Finally got some work done on this one. I've updated the first post to reflect some changes I've made. Also, I think these are the first pictures with the t-molding, not to mention the new metal CP. I finally got the translucent joystick from nostrebor and all the buttons from ponyboy (the check should go out today or tomorrow, ponyboy).
Note that the CP is not actually attached to the cab yet (the bolts will pull it in a bit more), the bolts on the joystick will be replaced and the entire CP needs painting.
Also, those buttons along the front are (from left to right): Pause-Credit-Reset-Exit
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More pictures (with the newly painted monitor). Some feedback would be appreciated. The blue paint needs to be extended in a bit (the monitor is further back than I originally planned).
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I can't believe there haven't been more comments here, but this going to be is a sweet little bartop. Keep going ;)
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I can't believe there haven't been more comments here, but this going to be is a sweet little bartop. Keep going ;)
I second that observation.
Very nice looking. I like the whole rounded effect of the metal CP in the front. I dont think I've seen that around here before.
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I love thse clear buttons and joystick knob!!!
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Thanks for the feedback.
I just hit a snag with the CP. I went to Lowes the other day and asked for a good, strong, metal primer. After applying it, I was working like mad to get the brush clean, only to look at the can and see "Oil Based" :-\ . This screws everything up since I now have to buy new paint (along with everything needed for oil paint) since I was going to use the same latex paint that I used on the cab itself. A good match for the blue would be difficult to find, so I have to come up with something new (taking suggestions now).
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Parts Express speaker vinyl.
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Parts Express speaker vinyl. That stuff kicks butt. They wouldn't have it in blue though.
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=260-010
You could also have a cusom vinyl CPO made up by mamemarquees.com or someone similar. It will be infinitely better than paint.
For whatever reason, I hadn't considered somesort of vinyl. I ended up going to Lowes again and getting a can of glossy blue spray paint. Unfortunately, the weather has turned quite cold and it will be a while until I can spray.
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Crazy idea maybe, but I actually think the clear joystick ball and clear buttons look totally awesome on the bare metal CP. I wouldn't paint it at all!
Eric.
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That is a very sexy little number! I really like the profile (curves).
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yeah the clear buttons and metal do look slick
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Breaking News:
Research shows CP could be painted monkey poop yellow and still look cool with clear buttons.
Seriously, these things look rad no matter where you put them. Here they are in the newly painted CP (before clear coat). The paint is actually quite smooth; the rough look is the sparkles in the paint.
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I like the sparkles.
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yeah, the sparkles are key
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Almost finished. The monitor needs to be repainted (I didn't sand before painting last time, so it has chipped), the inside blue needs touching up, the CP needs to be wired, the marquee needs to be made and a few other small details. It still looks quite a bit like it will though. Here are a few pictures (screen running off my laptop temporarily).
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More pictures:
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Not bad, but I gotta be honest...
Even though the control panel now matches the cab better, I REALLY liked the clear buttons on the bare metal you had before.
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Even though the control panel now matches the cab better, I REALLY liked the clear buttons on the bare metal you had before.
Yep me too. But if you were gonna paint it, the metalflake is a great look. Nice job.
Eric.
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Just out of curiosity, how well has the paint held up on your metal CP? What kind of metal was it anyway?
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Just out of curiosity, how well has the paint held up on your metal CP? What kind of metal was it anyway?
It's holding up great. Still looks like it did when I painted it (though, it can be hard to dust due to it being a bit rough). The metal is just some thin aluminum that I picked up at home depot. It's not brushed or anything (like it may look in the picture).
Edit: BTW, I think the durability is due in no small part to the oil paint. I've not had any latex paint hold up this well.
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I might have to try this on one of mine. Do you have anything underneath the metal to help hold its shape?
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No, but I wish I did. During normal gameplay, the metal is plenty strong. If you actually press down on it (like a lot of people do when they first see it), it will dimple in slightly. Some cross braces could have helped if I had thought ahead and left room for them.
Also, use as thick of metal as you can. I went thin for fear of not being able to drill and bend it. Just get the right tools to do the job and go as thick as possible (I wasn't using the right kind of holesaw).
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No, but I wish I did. During normal gameplay, the metal is plenty strong. If you actually press down on it (like a lot of people do when they first see it), it will dimple in slightly. Some cross braces could have helped if I had thought ahead and left room for them.
You might consider going with my newfound wonder material, Bondo. You could use duct tape to build ribs or channels in strategic places nestled between your controls. Then fill them in with Bondo. This should provide more rigidity without requiring any external holes.
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No, but I wish I did. During normal gameplay, the metal is plenty strong. If you actually press down on it (like a lot of people do when they first see it), it will dimple in slightly. Some cross braces could have helped if I had thought ahead and left room for them.
You might consider going with my newfound wonder material, Bondo. You could use duct tape to build ribs or channels in strategic places nestled between your controls. Then fill them in with Bondo. This should provide more rigidity without requiring any external holes.
Cool idea. I wonder how well it would hold up to punishment from the outside?
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No, but I wish I did. During normal gameplay, the metal is plenty strong. If you actually press down on it (like a lot of people do when they first see it), it will dimple in slightly. Some cross braces could have helped if I had thought ahead and left room for them.
You might consider going with my newfound wonder material, Bondo. You could use duct tape to build ribs or channels in strategic places nestled between your controls. Then fill them in with Bondo. This should provide more rigidity without requiring any external holes.
Bondo? Never heard of it. I use elmer's white glue when I need a good hold.
Interesting idea. I hadn't really thought about doing it like that. I was mainly thinking actual braces across the CP. To be quite honest though, I'm not too worried about it. I hadn't noticed it since it was built, until this thread came back up. If I have to do maintenance to the CP sometime, I'll probably try to secure it.
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ive done alot of car repair work with bondo and you dont want to use it as a brace. bondo is quite brittle when it is used in a place that can flex. you should not use bondo more then then a couple of mm thick.
The more likely an area is to flex or bend the thinner you can get away with without it cracking and falling apart.
its great stuff but trying to use the stuff as a mold will yield short lived results.
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a small dimple?
Don't even worry about it. In my opinion, thats being too picky. Looks good, plays good, as long as someone can't permanently damage it - your good.