Portable with changeable control panels - Complete (More or less)

[Hawkweber]

Howdy.  Been "lurking" for a while trying to get as much info as possible before tackling a build for myself.  As much as I would love to have a full-size cab, there is no way my wife would let me get away with setting up one in the house, unless it was in the basement - I did not want to be relegated to the basement to play games.  So, had the idea to make a portable unit.  Now, I know that there are a number of portables out there - some of them have frankenpanels, some are set up for only one style of game - and I wanted to have more functionality than that.  So, had the idea of a unit that I could swap the panels.  Also, if I do get a chance to build a fullsize cab, I could use the panels in that too.  It needs to be able to plug into either a monitor or a TV (VGA and S-video out). Oh, and it had to be done inexpensively. (Hah!)

So, the basic design of the unit will house the guts of the machine (pc) and its components, drive, power, fans, as well as have dedicated admin controls, speakers, and volume control.  I do not have any amazing artistic skills, so it would not have artwork, but would be classy - I'm thinking semi-gloss black with gold edging (images of the Smoky and the Bandit Trans Am colors come to mind, but without the firebird logo).  I figure that should be good enough so that if it is visible in the main area of the house my wife won't complain.  

The current design overall dimensions have the front of the unit at 4.5" sloping up to 8.5" at the back which is 16" deep.  I would have preferred to have the heights somewhat lower with less of a slope, but it had to be able to have room for the cpu fan and have good separation between the speakers and the cpu.  The slope was necessary to keep the trackball from hitting the video card.  The base is 25" wide and the top (admin and panels) are 27" wide.  The control panels are 10" front to back and the admin panel takes up 7".  The admin panel houses the speakers, volume control, admin buttons (for front-end) and coin/1 player/2 player buttons).  This panel will flip up with hinges.

The original idea for the control panels was to have them attach utilizing some nifty interlocks (like the modular panels used in another design), but after playing around with ideas, I figured simple would be the way and I will be using external locking mechanisms for it.  Not really clean, but cheaper and easy.

While no expert with CAD programs, I created some sketch-ups to give the basic idea:

The first is the basic top view with the 1 player panel attached.  The left joystick is 8-way, then a turbo-spinner, then a 4-way joystick, then a 3" x-arcade trackball, then the 6 buttons.

The second is the side view of the unit showing the components from the side and how the PC motherboard fits is.  Basic design had to allow for the trackball unit to miss hitting the video card (which supports both vga and s-video).

The third is the 2-player panel for fighting games and others that require 2 joysticks like Crazy Climber.

The fourth is the dedicated Defender/Stargate/Asteroids panel.

Next post will list components and issues encountered/resolved.

[Hawkweber]

So, the basic idea was to go as inexpensively as possible:

1) Use an extra PC motherboard/cpu/ram - nothing to purchase.
     - I had one with an AMD Athlon 1350+ CPU and nVidia GeForce video card with 1GB RAM. 

2) Use one of my extra Harddrives - nothing to purchase.
     - Started with this idea, but then figured that this is going to be a portable unit and the drive will be rattled around during transportation and also might get jostled during gameplay.  Also, a constantly spinning drive uses power and generates heat (which I want to minimize).  Got the idea to try:
2a) Use a thumbdrive! Tried getting XP installed by creating an nLite image and followed the directions on getting it to install to the thumbdrive found online, after spending days trying this, gave up on it and tried:
2b) Linux!  There are many linux thumbdrive implementations, so I figured why not?  I know some linux (by no means a guru), and tried ubuntu.  Got it installed and then downloaded sdlmame and after a lot of updates and configuration, finally got Wah!cade frontend installed and working.  Was configuring this all while visiting my wife's grandma (3 days spent), on the laptop that I had with me.  Had some sound stuttering issues and wasn't able to resolve them and I figured I would do it when I got home.  Plugged the stick into the pc being used for mame and it ran like a dog - we're talking maybe 5 frames per second.  Couldn't get it to work right, so though I would try a less intensive linux version:
2b1) PuppyLinux.  Several days wasted on getting this thing to work.  Back to WinXP.
2c) So I used some Amazon gift certificates and picked up an 8GB Solid State IDE drive.  No moving parts.  Shock resistant.  No heat.  Superfast.  But $100 added to project cost.

3) Arcade parts:
3a) Buttons and joysticks (happ super) from GroovyGameGear. 
3b) Trackball - wasn't going to buy a new one originally.  Thought I had a PC trackball lying around, but this wasn't the case.  Looked into getting something from eBay, but the pricing on them was close to what xgaming was offering for a new 3" trackball unit so I bit the bullet and purchased one.  As a bonus, it came with 4 arcade buttons (for mouse controls), but I can use them for admin controls.  Added $60.
3c) Spinner - wasn't planning on this, but after trying to play arkanoid and tempest with buttons, determined that this is a must.  Looked into doing a mouse hack for a spinner, but the instructions and work was so complicated that I just got one from GroovyGameGear.  Added $70.
3d) Keyboard encoder - I was going to do the keyboard hack idea.  I have lots of keyboards available to me.  But after looking into all that is required (mostly time) I dropped the $35 for a KeyWiz unit.  I am not afraid of soldering, but I had no desire to sit there and map out matrixes.  Also, using a dedicated encoder will reduce the amount of wire needed to hook everything up.

As you can see, the "inexpensive" requirement is going out the window...

4) Power supply - use the one in my computer case.

5) Fans - use the ones from the computer case.  Will probably have to by grills for it.

6) Speakers - use the 3" speakers from a set of pc speakers I have. 
6a) Found out that the motherboard doesn't have a "speaker" port but a "line out" port.  This means that I need to have power for the speakers.  I don't have a set that I can cannibalize...
6b) Thank you Target!  On sale, set of powered speakers, originally $15, but on sale for 5$!  The actual speaker units were junk, but I just needed the power module.  Also they have fabric covering which I was able to pull off of the shells and can use for the console.

7) Attaching the control panels to the unit.  Had many thoughts on this, like using 25-pin d-subs and such, but after reading the build for the "modular" panels that use RJ45 jacks, that made sense (I have lots of cat 5 cables around).  Will need up to 3 patch cables (for the 2player panel) and 2 for each of the others.  1 of the cables will be for the 2 joysticks, then another cable for the player buttons (with one cable housing the ground pinout).  Purchased a bunch of "european" style terminal block from Radio Shack to terminate these cables on the panels.  Will use 20 or 22 gauge stranded wire for the actual switch wiring.  The spinner and trackball use USB so no worries there.

Material for the actual unit - while I wanted to go light, I decided to use MDF.  I hate particleboard.  I could have used plywood, but I was going to be painting this and MDF gives smoother surface.  Using 1/2" MDF.  I'm sure I will need carry handles on the sides of this thing...

Anyway, I cut out the panels last week.  Went well except for the angled sides - had to use a jigsaw for that so have a bit of sanding to do to get them even.  On vacation now so that will resume when I get back.  Will have pictures.  Now I'm working on front ends for Mame.  Tried Mamewah, but think I might go with Mala.  Designing layout to use the black/gold theme.

[Hawkweber]

Finally got a chance to do some more work on this - been stuck inside as winter made its entrance and after dumping 2 feet of snow, the temps have been in the 20's with wind gusts up to 30mpg and windchills in the teens and single digits.  Not about to do MDF cutting and sanding in my garage nor in weather conditions like that.  But, the weather broke and with some nice days was able to get to sanding/shaping/smoothing the cut pieces and did some dry fitting of the panels.  Got the sides evened up and the front upright angle (to correspond to the sloped sides) sanded - Thank you Proxxon rotary tool that I recently bought - beats the heck out of the Dremel piece of junk I used to use.  Still have to sand down the back piece slope.  Forecast is rain all day tomorrow, so hopefully I can get some work done on Monday as it is a holiday and I am off.

[Hawkweber]

It's amazing what frigid temps will do - and about 4' of snow over 2 blizzards within a week of each other - to delay work on a project.  But the snow has melted and we had some really nice days lately and I was able to get some more work done on this.  Drilled out the holes for the 3 control panels and routed out the underside of the trackball area.  Can I just say that MDF dust is crazy and gets everywhere!?  Still have to drill the holes for the bolts to secure the trackball and the joysticks.  Might route the edges of the panels to reduce the sharpness - just a thought.  Also played around with the placement of the computer components in the case and think that I might be able to reduce the height and panel angle - the joystick base on the Stargate/Asteroids panel will determine if that can happen as it will come closest to the video card.  Also need to figure out ventilation/fans and their placement as well as if I am going to use some type of grills or just drill holes.

[slasherman]

It is exciting how smooth the changeable control panels gonna be. How easy it gonna be to switch, so I'm gonna follow this project.

[javeryh]

How's the slant on the CP?  It looks a little steep to me.  Where are you located?  I'm guessing east coast USA because you are describing the weather I've been having too...

[Hawkweber]

How's the slant on the CP?  It looks a little steep to me.  Where are you located?  I'm guessing east coast USA because you are describing the weather I've been having too...

The slant is steeper than I had hoped for - about 14 degrees, but that is due to how I originally had the motherboard placed within the sketchup - the video card would hit the trackball case if it was less than that, or I would have to increase the front edge height to reduce the slant but that would increase the overall size and weight.  I test placed the mobo on the other side and changed the orientation of it so now the video card won't hit the trackball, but that stargate panel joystick might.  Still might be able to reduce the angle a bit if that is the case, but I'm hoping I can get it down to 10 degrees or so.

I am in Northern VA.  We got about 2 feet of snow one day in December.  Then one week in February we had a blizzard that dumped 34" on us over the weekend and then another 12-14" the following Wednesday.  There are still snow piles on the streets and in parking lots.

[Hawkweber]

A couple of beautiful days and some more work done.  I decided to see what I could do to reduce the overall height of the case and also reduce the angle of the panel.  I was able to knock off 1/4" from the front and 2" from the back so it now goes from 4.25" in the front to 6.5" high in the back.  The angle of the panel is now about 8 degrees instead of the original 14 degrees.  Much better.  The concern about the stargate/defender joystick hitting the video card is no more - it misses it.  It does come close particularly with one of the microswitches, but since I'm only going to be using that as a 2-way, the switch can be removed.

Speaking of the 2-way, I have an 8-way Happ super that I am going to use.  I was unable to find a 2-way restrictor plate for it (I have a 4-way from Groovy Game Gear) but they don't sell a 2-way.  So, I made an outline of the 4-way on 1/4" poplar project board and cut it out.  Then cut out the center to make it strictly up/down and installed it on the joystick.  It isn't the prettiest thing and no way does it compare to the beauty of the laser cut acrylic plate from GGG, but it will do the trick.  Besides, it is under the panel and no is gonna see it anyway!   

I drilled the joystick bolt holes and also did some round-over routing on the control panel tops to reduce the sharp edges. 

I cut out the opening in the back for the power supply.  I also decided to drill holes for the fan (next to the PS) instead of using a grille.  Not sure how well it is going to allow air flow (I will have to test it) and priming and painting inside the holes might be interesting. I may have to drill more holes.  But, if it isn't going to work, I can just cut it out and install a grille.  I'm planning on doing the same thing on the left side for a smaller fan.  So, as fans go, the small left side will be intake and the large center one as well as the one on the power supply will be exhaust. 

[Pinball Wizard]

Very cool! I got hit with the same blizzard just in Maryland instead of Virginia. Can't wait for warm weather that will stay. 

Can't wait to see the control change-over especially since my cabinet (that I really need to get back into) is supposed to have changeable panels and I have completely figured it out yet.

[Hawkweber]

Well, my idea of drilling holes for the fans didn't work too well.  While it looked nice, it made my silent fan sound not very silent - too restrictive with the air movement.  I drilled all the holes larger and added more in between the ones already there and it still wasn't allowing enough airflow.  So, I will have to cut out the fan areas from the boards and install grilles.  I have some concerns about the fact that I already drilled some holes real close to the bottom of the back panel (I was planning on having the fan "resting" on the bottom) and hope I can secure the fan grille (I ordered 2 inexpensive "standard" ones) without problems. 

I was also thinking about changing my plans for the color scheme - the original was going to be all black with gold edge and lettering (all painted).  But now that I've rounded the panel edges, painting them properly in a different color will be a bit tricky.  Also I was thinking of what a pain it was going to be to paint the lettering as well.  Saw a thread about vinyl panel labels that Pongo makes and am considering going that route - perhaps with some customization of the font.  But the vinyl colors he has doesn't include gold.  So, maybe the top panels will be all black and the base will be another color (red, blue, yellow, green, ?) and use that color vinyl on top of the panels.  Hmm...

[Hawkweber]

Got some more work done.  Cut out the fan area in the back - so long nice starburst pattern, hello hole.  :'(



But then added the new fan grille, so it is not so bad. 



Did the same thing for the side intake fan:





I need to grind down a bit of the inside of the side fan hole as the fan blades are touching the mdf, but that is no biggie.

The big clunky behemoth of a cpu fan went bye-bye as it sounded like it was going to tear itself apart.  Bought a slimline one from newegg and installed it - much quieter now.

If you didn't notice the "wallplate" panel on the back next to the fan, that is where the external video and audio connections will go.  Used a Leviton QuickPort plate.  The top insert is for the composite video out.  Cut out some of the plate for the vga out.  The idea on that was to cut a vga cable down to size to reduce weight and clutter in the case and solder the wire ends to the female d-sub connector.  Well, after tearing apart the end of a vga cable (not an easy job, actually), I don't think this is going to work as the number of wires I expected are not there.  So, I may just have to use a full size cable and figure out a better way to have it go through the panel.  This is what it looks like from the inside:



The other two slots will be for an external s-video connection (waiting on that panel-mount part to arrive) and external 3.5mm audio connection (which will be used when I eventually build a "home" for the portable) but I just haven't drilled out the hole in a blank insert yet.

The other major bit of electrical work (and something that took way too much of my time) was the USB connectors.  Since the panels will be connecting to this using cat 5 cable and rj45 connectors set in a 4-gang box, I needed a way to get the 2 USB devices (trackball and spinner) to connect nicely.  First I was going to try to mount a dual usb connector in the box, but 1) it would fit very well and 2) the height of everything with the USB plugs inserted would interfere with the control panel.  So, after a LOT of cutting, splicing, testing, and cursing, I finally ended up with using a piece of pcb board to connect the 8 USB pinout lines from the motherboard connector cable to 8 cat5 cable wires and terminated that in an RJ45 quickport insert:



Then, I hacked apart (desoldered) 2 USB ports from an old USB expansion card that came with a previous motherboard and soldered them to another piece of pcb board along with the 8 wires on another piece of cat5 cable and terminated that with an rj45 modular plug.:



Tested and it works!  Yay!

The fan on the power supply stopped working so I had to replace it with another one I had lying around.  Problem here is that this one doesn't have the nice "flange" on it that would allow me to secure it to the bottom of the case.  Does anyone have an idea on the best way to secure this power supply to the base (keeping in mind that it is MDF)?

Now, enough of this electrical crap for now - I want to put the darn case together!  So, next step is to glue it all together, sand it nice and even, then work on getting the changeable panel lock-downs installed and figure out what size hinges I will need for the top admin panel.

[Hawkweber]

I thought it would be enough of the electrical crap for now, but I read online that you can make long vga extension runs using cat5 cables.  I figure if it can be done for long runs, then a short 1.5' or so cable can be done too.  Using 2 cat5 cables I was able to put this together:


and here's a closeup of one end (sorry for the blur):


Plugged into the video card and monitor and it worked!  By doing it this way, I am able to bend the cable closer to the motherboard, so less space is needed on the side.

Since the soldering iron was still hot, I decided to continue with the panel mount audio connector and the new s-video panel mount I got (this one uses screw terminals):


After completing the soldering, I used a hot-glue gun to coat the connectors to prevent possible short-circuits as well as to strengthen the hold.

(Still trying to find thin enough bolts/nuts to secure the vga and s-video panel mounts to the external plate - everything I have it either a tad bit too wide or will be too small in length.)

I was on a roll, so I finished up with punching down the cat5 cables to their quick-port jacks (that will be used for the control panel attachments). 

These cables will run to the key-wiz encoder and one goes to the usb connector on the motherboard.


These are the ports for the connections.  Top white - 2 joysticks, top blue - Player 1 buttons (7) and ground, bottom black - Player 2 buttons (6) and secondary ground, bottom white - USB controls (Trackball and spinner).

Then I took 7 lengths of cat5 and crimped on rj45 plugs - these get attached to the control panels.  Plug end goes in to the above modular block.  Other end gets wired onto a european terminal block on the underside of the control panel and the buttons and joysticks will be wired into those blocks, except for the USB cables as they get plugged into the custom 2-port pcb connector I previously made.

[njay]

Nice cable work !

[Hawkweber]

Nice cable work !

Thanks!  I just hope I can do as good a wiring job on the control panel side.

[wilno45]

Very good cable work.

 

[Hawkweber]

I glued up the case (was getting tired of having to work around the clamps keeping things together).  Will have to do some sanding to get rid of some extra glue and to smooth up the joins.  Thinking about using some brackets to secure things up a bit more, but those will get added later.  Weighed empty is 9.2 lbs - not too bad.  Decided to do an internal running temperature test to make sure that there is enough ventilation.  Put in all components, (as well as a digital thermometer), covered it with the admin and a control panel with all button holes filled and covered the speaker holes.  Starting temp was 70 degrees (F).  After 2.5 hours when I stopped the test the final temp was 73 degrees.  A 3 degree increase - very acceptable.  Satisfied with the ventilation.

[dynasty_trs]

Hawkweber,

I really find your project quite innovative.  I did consider doing the same style approach, without the removal tops, to save space.

I also found your use of the cat5 cabling to be invaluable.  I am wondering if this wiring can also be used to connect the pushbuttons to the ipac / controller.  Do you have any plans to do that?

Here is my post I just created.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102244.0

[Hawkweber]

I also found your use of the cat5 cabling to be invaluable.  I am wondering if this wiring can also be used to connect the pushbuttons to the ipac / controller.  Do you have any plans to do that?

Yes and no.  Cat5 wiring can be used for all control panel wiring, but I am not planning on using it for everything.  Because the cable can be punched down into the rj45 jacks and crimped with rj45 plugs, I am using it only for those purposes.  It will run from the jacks in the case to the key-wiz controller (which will also be in the case).  Lengths of cat5 with the crimped plugs will be used to connect the control panels to the jacks.  The other ends of the cables will be connected to "european-style" terminal blocks attached to the control panels.  The pushbuttons will be wired to the terminal blocks using 20-gauge stranded wire.  I am using the stranded wire for that part as it is more flexible and should allow me to route the wires to the blocks without retaining any "kinks" that solid cat5 wires tend to get.  All cat5 wires remain sheathed until the termination points as that allows me to nicely bend the cables without kinking.

[Hawkweber]

Time to install the panel lockdowns to see how they look and make sure they work.  My original plan for the admin panel was to have it hinged so it can be opened easily in case I needed to get to the back part of the motherboard or to remove the mobo, but then I got to thinking... 1) I will rarely have to lift up the panel or access the back of the mobo, 2) I really HATE having to install hinges! 3) There isn't a lot of overlap room on the back to use proper sized hinges, and 4) I really HATE having to install hinges!  So, I decided to use the same lockdown mechanism for the admin panel as for the changeable control panels.

Here are the two parts of the lockdown attached.  The receiving part gets attached to the side of the box and the insert barrel part gets attached to the underside of the panels:


So, here is what the lockdown looks from the side:

Yes, they're brown, but I am now planning on painting the console a brown like color (like furniture), so it won't be too bad.  Anyway, once the panel is placed on the base, you just give a half turn to the lock (using a screwdriver) and it secures the panel in place.

And here's the console with the admin and 2-player panel locked down:


On another note, I accidentally knocked my TurboTwist2 Spinner off of the table and it broke - the electronic part at the bottom came loose and there was a bunch of rattling going on in that part.  So I contacted GroovyGameGear to find out how I go about ordering a new one since the optical control board was still good.  RandyT from GGG got back to me and told me to just send back the broken unit and he would fix it instead of me having to buy a new unit.  Saves a lot of $$$.  Kudos to GGG and RandyT for great customer service and standing behind their products.

[Hawkweber]

Ok, now I feel like I'm making progress here.  Went to Home Depot to get the primer and paint.  Picked up Zinsser Cover Stain oil-based primer.  Asked to have my color (Sweet Tea) done up in Alkyd Enamel and was told that you can't get alkyd paints here.  I asked him what about the Sterling store (next town over) and he said that I can't get it anywhere in the county - will have to try another one.  So I asked if the Fairfax county (next county over) stores would have it and he said no.  The only alkyd paints that I could get are primers (as they are needed to prime oil paint to take latex acrylic) or Rustoleum sprays that are already colored.  Not wanting to have to locate a county that I could buy a stupid quart of alkyd paint, I submitted and got the latex acrylic semi-gloss.  I would have preferred to use alkyd for its hardness and durability on the control panels (not covering with lexan or anything like that), but that is not to be.  Did some research and it turns out that all of Northern Virginia is in the "Ozone Transportation Restriction" zone - no ozone producing oil paints (other than primer and spray cans) can be sold within the area.  The next closest area I could buy it would have been about 2.5 hours away!  Oh well.  Here's hoping that the "new formulations" of latex paint are truly as durable as they claim...

So, got the case and all panels primed - yeah!  Used high-density foam rollers as I heard from several people on this board that they are necessary to get the nice smooth finish.  Apparently not when using primer.  Was very rough and spent about an hour sanding everything down smooth.  Had to use my orbital sander to do it as doing it by hand was making a mess and the sand paper kept getting gunked up with primer.  Didn't have that problem with the orbital.  Makes a hell of a lot of dust though.  I hope the roughness does not happen with the finishing paint.

Hope to get the first coat of color on this stuff soon.  But, seeing everything at least painted is giving me a sense of progress.  It also means that I'm ready to get this done - no more drilling holes or cutting things out.  Once it's painted, it's painted and ready to go.

Here are the obligatory "gray" shots of the case and panels...

[TheGameFan]

I will be following this topic closely, as I am working on a similar project but in a full-sized cab.
(It's a Z-Back with a pull-out tray where i am mounting my PC and interchangeable CPs.)
As was said previously, great work on the wiring! I'm really curious to see how it all fits together.

[Hawkweber]

Started painting with the brown paint this weekend.  Apparently the foam roller doesn't make a smooth finish with regular paint either - got that orange peel finish (bumpy).  Wouldn't be too bad under normal circumstances - it almost looks like a nice grain leather - but I wanted smooth.  Would hold up better for the control panel tops and also allow the vinyl joystick arrows to stick much better.  So, read about using Floetrol with latex paint to let it stay wet longer and allow it to level better.  Sanded down the current underside of the panels so they were smoother and then rolled floetrol-laced paint onto it.  Slightly better, but still has the bumpy finish.  Gotta figure out how to get it to roll on smooth...

Was thinking of maybe using a clear acrylic spray (Krylon) on the top of the control panels to help seal it up once finished painting.  However I just read that it can take about 30 days for latex paint to fully cure!  Dang - I was hoping to be able to get things all finished up prior to that.  Won't be able to seal it for a month, which means that I won't be able to wire up the panels until then.  And that's once I finish up with the several coats of paint, which will take another few days at least.

[rablack97]

Take a look at gamester's post, http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=94891.0, he has a good writeup on how he used spray cans and got a mirror finish.

Javery's "Bella's Arcade" http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=59828.0 has a good write up on using foam rollers and sanding the hell out of each layer to get it smooth. 

Here's a link i found you might find useful as well http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/construction-tips/83141-how-high-gloss-finishing.html

Lots of reading but good stuff, and no 30 day wait......good luck

[Hawkweber]

rablack97 - thanks for the links, but I already checked those out.  Essentially, they either use spray enamel or alkyd enamel (oil) for the cabs (and in the case of Bella's Arcade - a crazy amount of layers and sandings and buffings, etc.).  I'm stuck with latex paint as oil is not available in my area and the spray cans (Rustoleum) are already colored (and not in the color I want).  So, it was either use a foam roller (which everyone swears gives an ultra smooth finish, hah!) or buy a sprayer which I will probably never use after this project and would be really hard to justify the purchase to my wife.  I think I'm just going to have to try to sand it as best as I can between coats and try the krylon clear coat spray after it cures.  Either that or maybe some polycrilic brush on if that might help with smoothing and leveling it. 

[rablack97]

Yeah ultra smooth meaning no brush streaks.  Well don't fret or put too much thought and effort into it.  I attempted gamesters finish, its hard to get right, and gets expensive on the redos.  End result, all the effort was for nothing really, I gashed the thing up against my table saw on the move upstairs.  So now theres 2 huges streaks in my $200.00 paint job.....

Plus keep in mind you've started painting with more building and wiring to do...What I found out is you end up chipping, rubbing, over screwing screws etc. and that perfect finish aint so perfect any more.......

I'll be keeping up with your progress.....to see how it comes out....

[Hawkweber]

Well, I might have a possible solution for smoothing out the bumpiness of the paint finish.  I had a scrap piece of MDF that I had rolled on some of this paint.  Smoothed it out a touch with a foam brush to see if that would work, but it had streaks (ridges) in it - I will not be foam brushing the panels or case).  However, I've put on 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic semi-gloss (lightly sanding between coats) and it is getting smooth.  I figure I might have to put on about 5 or 6 coats of the stuff on the tops of the control panels to smooth them down.  Will put fewer coats on the undersides as well as the case as I don't really mind the bumps there and the clearcoat will protect the paint finish.  Still need to wait a couple of weeks for the latex to cure before I coat it...

[Hawkweber]

Ok - 3 coats of polycrylic on the underside of the panels (just needed some protection, don't really care how it looks).  4 coats of poly on the exterior of the case for protection - still has the bumpy look, but I think it gives it some character similar to a nice leather finish like a briefcase.  Maybe I should call this the "BriefCade"?

After 6 thick coats of poly on the top of the panels it was still bumpy...


But, I hoped it was thick enough so I could sand them down smooth.  It took about 1.5-2 hours per panel to sand them down to where it felt mirror smooth.  Then I put on another coat of poly on each.  Bubbles.  Ticked off since I am using an expensive synthetic brush purchased specifically for this. Sanded them out and put on another coat of poly.  Bubbles again!    So now I'm up to 8 coats of poly total.  Running out of "brush on" poly.  Figured since I have to get more and am having nothing but trouble with the brush poly, maybe I'll try the spray-on poly.  It's not like I'm spraying this stuff vertically, so I shouldn't have to worry about dripping or runs.  So, did a coat with the spray.  Gotta tell you, much happier with the process.  The brush-on type took a real long time for each coat, the spray took mere minutes per panel.  Let them dry.  Looked nice and smooth except for where either little particles of dust or apparently cat hair landed on them and dried.  UGH!   Lightly sanded the crud out of the panels and sprayed them again.  Let dry overnight.  YEAH!  All except one came out great!  The one that didn't was simply because a bug decided to commit suicide on it.  So, that one got sanded again and sprayed and is now drying.  So, after 10 coats of poly, this is how the panels came out:




And the case (after 4 coats):


Lessons learned:
1) Use oil/alkyd paint instead of latex.
2) If you live in an "ECO" zone and oil/alkyd is not available and you have to use latex paint, DO NOT USE A FOAM ROLLER!  No matter what people say, rolling on latex will always stipple even when using an "ultra smooth" finish foam roller.  Brush it or spray it on.  Foam roller might be fine for oil, but since oil takes so long to set, brushing should be fine.
3) If using polycrylic and not applying it to a vertical surface, use the spray.  Sets flat and level and no bubbles to worry about.  This probably would have cut down the number of coats I needed to do in half, at most.

Well, now the fun part starts - I get to put everything together.    Not sure how fast that process will go as I am expecting my son to be born within the next few days.  Will do little bits here and there when I can sneak in the time.

[drventure]

Nice job! That's an interesting build. All the goodness of a Frankenpanel with none of the bad 

And it's small too!

[njay]

again some nice work m8 !!

hope everything goes well with the delivery of your new soon te arcade addict 

[Hawkweber]

Nice job! That's an interesting build. All the goodness of a Frankenpanel with none of the bad  Wink

And it's small too!

Yep - that was the idea.  Small enough to be portable and all the controls necessary to play 99.44% of games (I don't play 4 player games) just not all on the same panel. Of course, you make a Frankenpanel look awesome with your Arquadium Steampunk build.  That's probably one of the best darn builds I've seen. 

hope everything goes well with the delivery of your new soon te arcade addict

Thanks!  Wife is in early labor right now, so he'll be here sometime this afternoon (hospital has wi-fi!).  I hope he likes the classic arcade stuff.  My wife rolls her eyes when she sees me working on this project and the time it is taking me to make sure things are right - "Why do you have to keep sealing the panels?  They feel smooth enough to me.  Who cares about some bubbles?"  You get the idea.  On another thread someone had asked about a game they are trying to remember that had planes and dinosaurs.  The game was Prehistoric Isle.  It got me interested, so I downloaded it and checked it out on my laptop. My 3 year old daughter saw it and was fascinated by it - "Daddy, look!  Dinosaur mountains!  Play it again, play it again!"  My wife is not pleased about that.   

[njay]

Yeah we should teach the new age the old classics 

[Hawkweber]

Been scraping together bits of time here and there between taking care of the new baby to work on this.  Over the past several weeks I have gotten the following done...

I attached L-brackets at each side corner and the bottom front and back.  Then I installed the fans:


Attached the painted/finished back plate (for audio/video out):


Attached the handles:


Installed the power supply - had to drill holes into the PS case to secure L-brackets to it:


I attached the panel lock-downs to the case as well as the undersides of the control panels.  Then I installed the motherboard - used 1/4" nylon spacers to keep it off the base of the box:


Now the fun part begins - the wiring.  First I secured the modular RJ45 box to the base:


Then I had to wire the modules to the KeyWiz encoder (which I installed to the base again using 1/4" spacers):


I then installed the Flash Disk to the base.  Didn't use screws or brackets, but the double sided sticky foam that came in the package with the RJ45 modular box.  Works really well:


I have started working on the admin panel in getting the sound system installed.  Been having some problems with securing the volume control to the panel as it doesn't have the locking nut.  So, I've been scratching my head on the best way to secure it.  I think I have an idea, somewhat inelegant, but it should work.  Will update once I have implemented it and will also include more photos.

[Hawkweber]

Got more work done on the admin panel where the volume control and speakers are concerned. 

For the volume control, since I don't have the lock nut for it, I had to improvise.  First, I hot-glued the control to the back of the panel to secure it:


Then I built a "cage" around it using slices of scrap ply that I had already painted and sealed and glued these in place.  This is to prevent the volume board from twisting around when the knob is turned (should the hot-glue alone not be up to it):


Then I mounted the audio amp next to the knob:


The speaker covers are the fabric that I ripped off of the enclosures from a cheap PC speaker set.  Put it over the speaker hole and pressed the speaker down into it:


After this, I put in the admin buttons and discovered that when measuring available clearances I did not take into account the extra distance that the microswitches add.  One of the buttons was now banging into the composite plug for the video out (had to move it from its top location to the middle and the audio out is now on top).  Also, the right-most button switch lead was banging into the power supply.  That has been fixed by rotating the switch so it now just barely misses it.  So, when the wiring of this panel is done and the pics are posted you won't be wondering why that one switch is facing in a different direction.

[Hawkweber]

Got the admin panel wired up:


Finally finished up the wiring for the main control panel.  Had some issues with the USB connectors - apparently all the messing around with them to remove them from the previous PCB board and soldering them in place loosened them up too much and the Trackball and spinner kept failing.  So, I ended up cutting apart a 4-port chassis USB cable and using 2 of them in place (the picture has still has the original connector shown).  Finished up wiring that panel and it works! I had to keep the slack on the RJ45 connectors down to a minimum so they wouldn't snag on any of the wiring, either on the bottom of the panel or the bottom of the case, so plugging them in to the jacks is a bit tight, but workable.

Joysticks and spinner area - the 2 joysticks are wired up as player 1 as the middle one is set for 4-way and the left one is set for 8-way:


Buttons and trackball area:


And finally, the wonderful custom vinyl that was requested and done by Pongo - he did a great job and was wonderful to work with on this:

[Hawkweber]

Well, the project is mostly complete.  I was able to get the Stargate/Defender/Asteroids control panel finished.  I will be holding off completing the 2-player panel as I do not have enough quick-disconnects to wire it up completely (I ordered enough of them for everything with some left over, but the budget crimping tool that I originally purchased screwed up a bunch of them - bought a better one after that - and not paying attention to some of the wiring and crimps left me short).  Not in a great rush for 2-player games right now, so the only games that will be left out are Crazy Climber and Crazy Climber 2.

Overall, the unit with the main panel (the heaviest of them) weighs in at only 29 lbs.  Very Portable!  Also, discovered that the panels are heavy enough to keep in place without having to lock them down - will only have to do it when transporting.

Anyway, here is the Admin panel with the buttons labeled (Thanks Pongo!):


Some more vinyl on buttons - Power:


and the button to allow access to the "Service" feature on the games:


Here is the Stargate/Defender/Asteroids Panel wired up:


and the top of the panel:


Here we have the complete unit with the main panel in place:


and here is the unit with the stargate/defender/asteroids panel in place:


Wait, what's this?  Can it be Rygar on a 50" Plasma?   


and R-Type as well?   


Just need to figure out how to adjust the overscan on the video card (or on the tv) to it doesn't cut off a bit from the top and bottom.

Now I need to spend some time on determining which front end to use - either Mala or Hyperspin...