MikeD's Leon inspired CP

[MikeDeuce]

So yeah, I know, I know, it's not a game-themed CP... but I'm building up my main PC with a theme based on the film L

[JonnyBoy]

Holy hell man, that looks friggin' awesome. I'm extremely jealous, the combination of the artwork, the metallic red joy, and the overall craftmanship makes it one of my favorite stand alone control panels I've seen. I applaud you and your control panel.

[Timoe]

Thats really clean.  I really like your artwork application of painting directly onto the acrylic.

How do you like your Ryobi Drill press?

[arcadefever]

<----------------------------

stuning !!!!

woooowwww that art my friend !!!!!!

[markrvp]

That's beautiful.  Excellent work.  You get my top marks.

[SNAAKE]

WOW ! very cool I likes !

[MikeDeuce]

Thanks a lot for the comments, I really appreciate it!

I went with the backpainted acrylic because its something I can do at home... mamemarquees was seriously tempting, but it's always great when you can DIY as much as possible. The Ryobi is not bad... Especially as a hobby machine/toy. Picked it up for a steal a while back at HD so no complaints from me []

It still might get some t-molding around the panel, but not sure on that. I ordered from t-molding.com last week sunday with 2 day shipping and it didn't come in until today :\ Ordered it on the same day as the IPAC from London and that made it here last week in just under 4 days. Oh well, it's starting to grow on me this way anyhow.

[dema]

Very KEWL!!!

[c64rulez]

WOW

[spriggy]

Well done.  Nice work!

[HaRuMaN]

 

WOW!!  You've given me some ideas...  very cool!

[TOK]

Really nice... My next CP involves painting plexi, so this post is getting marked. 

[javeryh]

Holy crap that is some beautiful work.  The level of talent on these boards amazes me.

[MikeDeuce]

Thank you all so much for the incredibly kind responses!

It might be time to start working on another one already for the girlfriend (she wants to have a little 2 player puzzle fighter action, and hopefully I can sneak in a little outfoxies).

[dmsuchy]

Very clean and very nice! Awesome job

[Brax]

Sure it turned out amazing, but dude! Forget the panel, I'm lusting after your hobby vinyl cutter!

Where'd ya get it? How much? What software drives it? What software CAN drive it? Where do you get your vinyl and how much does it go for? What do you think of it? Max size you can cut? etc. 

um... just a question or two.

[MikeDeuce]

Haha... it's a lowly Roland Stika SX-12 (http://www.rolanddga.com/products/cutters/stika/default.asp), considered nothing more than a toy by the pro vinyl guys (but it's fantastic for hobbyists). Picked it up off ebay new from one of the major vinyl retailers for about $500 with a starter kit (very useful as well, included the squeegee thing and weeding tweezers). It has a maximum cutting size of 9-13/16"x39-5/16", and uses 12" vinyl, which is a little smaller than the lowest semi-standard size of 15". Earl Mich co. on ebay sells rolls cut to size. A 12" x 10yd roll of paint mask material is $20 and a lot of their standard colors are $12 per 10yd roll, for starters. Note that this isn't the highest quality stuff, but it's usually what I go for.

It comes with a program called "Dr. Stika," which is cute and all but it's hardly powerful. I found that Illustrator CS recognizes it as a printer and if you set the stroke path as 0.0000000000000000000000000001 or the closest thing to it, it will "print" straight to the cutter. You can also use Corel draw and such, but I have no experience with that program, so I'm not sure if support is native.

It's pretty neat to watch, too, like a baby CNC, only it doesn't carve into anything much thicker than paper, heh. I used to manually cut into paint mask material with an x-acto knife but that gets old way too fast. They aren't cheap at all, but it seems like a safe purchase with the relatively high resale value (one used unit recently went for $437 on ebay). In my case I ebay'd a bunch of stuff that had been collecting dust at home for years.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free. There's an oddly limited amount of information about these things online. Seems like the only thing you can find is places to buy them.

[DrewKaree]

Here you can see the great I-Pac controller from Ultimarc wired in and ready to go. Excuse the rats nest, it makes a lot of sense once you

[Flinkly]

wow, if only i had an application that needed this.  maybe that old plastic computer case i've got...

[missioncontrol]

it's got nice artwork, but where's the rest of the cabinet

[SNAAKE]

Who is this Leon anyway

[KDOG]

From the movie  The Professional

[quarterback]

Who is this Leon anyway

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110413/

[DrewKaree]

Who is this Leon anyway

I know you'd rather skip all that fancy "reading" everyone's talking so much about these days, but......

based on the film L

[Negativecreep0]

How does that RC paint look upclose? I was gonna have a big red sheet of overlay printed out, but now i just may spray some red RC paint on the underside of my plexi. Does it look smooth and professional? Also what's up with the halogen lamp is it necessary or can you just let it dry outdoors?

thanks

[AceTKK]

---smurfing---.awesome.

One of my favorite movies of all time!  Anyone who hasn't seen it needs to check it out.  It's a shame that (imo) Besson's recent films haven't lived up to his legacy. 

That vinyl cutter is extremely cool too, what a neat thing to have at your disposal. 

[MikeDeuce]

Didn't catch the replies, sorry folks... but thanks for the feedback!

If that's "a rat's nest", I think we all hate you

Nice work on that!  You shoulda threw some of the control sticker thingys on the image from the sticker sheets they had floating around.  That'd been nice to have painted in there too.

Haha, thanks... you know the non-byoac/non-wire-loving types though

That's a good idea, I'll have to run it by the GF (building her CP next, and it's bound to have some acrylic on it) -- thanks again!

wow, if only i had an application that needed this.  maybe that old plastic computer case i've got...

Backpainting acrylic is my favorite way to paint... If you don't have a proper spray gun or airbrush, a machine polisher, and tons of cash, etc... it's a super easy way to get a really great finish on something without a lot of effort. Heck, I backpainted a clear lund chip guard on my pickup truck with $5 of rc car paint ( http://ironvulva.com/titan/lund/09.jpg ), and it's a fairly close match for my truck's paint. Great way to save money and time, if you don't mind it being on plastic, of course

it's got nice artwork, but where's the rest of the cabinet

Thanks! And eventually I will build one (live in a 2br1ba apartment with 5 people, 3 cats and a dog), so I just have to make something or someone disappear first

... Does it look smooth and professional? Also what's up with the halogen lamp is it necessary or can you just let it dry outdoors?

Looks absolutely flawless... as good as a show car finish (IMO) because you don't have orange peel. The paint itself on the underside looks terrible... sort of flat and rough, but under acrylic its like it has an 1/8" of clear coat on it (or more depending on how thick your plastic is).

That's why I love this method, it's low-buck, requires a LOT less effort and resources, and gives great results. Specks of dust can fall on it after you lay some coats, and as long as dust isnt under the paint, you'll never see it.

The lamp is there because I was painting when it was misty outside... my carport is completely open on one side so it was drying/heating the air near me and helping the paint dry. On a normal sunny day you wouldn't need a lamp at all.

You don't even see the scratches from the sponge, at least I've never seen them on a finished job. I can take some REALLY close up shots if you like.

---smurfing---.awesome.

One of my favorite movies of all time!  Anyone who hasn't seen it needs to check it out.  It's a shame that (imo) Besson's recent films haven't lived up to his legacy. 

Always great to be in the company of another fan And I totally agree w/you... Damn casting people letting such a fantastic actor go to waste 

[teetu]

That's why I love this method, it's low-buck, requires a LOT less effort and resources, and gives great results. Specks of dust can fall on it after you lay some coats, and as long as dust isnt under the paint, you'll never see it.

Is there anyway to do this method without that vinyl printer?  I'd really like to try this out- I know the console stick makers at shoryuken.com would go crazy for this

[MikeDeuce]

If you mean to lay a graphic down, then sure, it just takes a little more effort. You can buy a huge roll of paint mask material by avery online... on ebay I like the go through "Earl Mich Co" (they have an ebay store).

Good version is this:

Buy a spool of paint mask. Cut out the size you need and draw on it or transfer a drawing on to it. Use an xacto and try to cut through just the paint mask (Try to keep the paper backing in one piece so its easier to peel off later). Then you can invest in transfer tape, or, lay the paint mask sticky side up on a flat surface and tape down the corners, and caaarefully lay the acrylic on top of it (watch out for static cling). Just dont forget to burnish the edges or paint will seep under it. This sucks for doing small characters or repetitive things, but for a one time job with reasonably simple shapes, its perfectly fine.

Cheapest version is this:

Some RC car painters will sometimes use masking tape, (but I prefer the vinyl paint mask). From then on you can lay the strips of tape on the surface, draw the shape you want or transfer it on, etc, and cut it out using a brand new xacto blade. This can take some practice, but if you use a brand new blade you can cut the mask without gouging the acrylic much (takes a light hand sometimes). Then paint from there on.


Alternatively, you can have me cut the paint mask for you: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=49291.0

[CrispyXUK2]

Great work, how big is it?

[Bones]

That looks bloody awesome & it oozes character. Fantastic job.

[MikeDeuce]

Thanks again

@CrispyXUK2: Dimensions of the CPO/top is about 18"x10"x1/2" MDF

Base dimensions are roughly 16"x8" (w x d) and ranges from about 3" to 4" tall, with the slope.