The Final Stage - (06-22-12: Project COMPLETE. Final pics in OP!)

[BadMouth]

The new name is awesome!  One of those names that is so perfect, you wonder why nobody else came up with it.
 

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

This is very nice indeed, especially looking at the workspace you have 

What sound system are you using, the speakers look suspiciously like they belong with a cambridge soundworks DTT3500.

You are indeed correct.  I have had that set since 2001, and it's never let me down.

The new name is awesome!  One of those names that is so perfect, you wonder why nobody else came up with it.
 

Many thanks BadMouth. I knew something would come eventually... and as soon as it hit me, just like with "Occam's Racer" the first time around, I knew I was done looking. I am surpised too that no one else has ever used it-- though Pixel comes close with Final Countdown. (Not that this project is anything close to Final Countdown!! )

Painting went very well, for the most part, but now I have a new problem: Due to the fact that the fit was so tight to begin with, the newly-painted arms scraped the hell out of the newly-painted inside walls of the cab (I'll post pics tonight after work if I can, but right now I'm getting ready to go.)  I don't know what I was thinking; of course latex paint is going to have some grip to it, especially if you put two pieces together and try to slide them across each other! 

Needless to say, this has put the brakes on further finishing. Thinking about felt lining... ?  More later.

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Okay, now that I have a chance to write a little more...

So here's the situation (no t-molding yet so it looks a bit messy):



The paint, in general, turned out fantastic. I spent a little more on the ultra fine foam rollers, and I'm very pleased with the results.  That said, like I mentioned this morning, the steering wheel arms scraped the everliving ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of the cab inside...



I'm definitely open to suggestions here, but the way I see it - it seems I need to decrease the width of the armature and put some sort of buffer between the two pieces so they don't rub together and tear each other apart.  Decreasing the width of the arm by 1/16 or 1/8" is a bit inconvenient, but it can be done. More importantly though, what can I do to prevent the rubbing? 

I'm thinking lining the arm with some kind of felt ... but I'm not sure of what to get. I see stuff like this on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Pressure-Sensitive-Felt-Sheet/dp/B001ENXGSA/ref=pd_sbs_indust_1

...but is there any significant difference between acrylic felt and wool felt? Anybody have experience with this... or any other idea to keep this from happening again?

[mcseforsale]

I have these black notepads at work called "Black 'N Red" (we work for a UK company) and the front and back covers are made of tough PVC with a smooth side and a slightly pebbled side.  This stuff slides nice against itself, so maybe glue it to both sliding surfaces and it will be like a bearing?

Here's the notepad:

http://www.blacknred.com/

I'm sure you could find similar..

AJ

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

After some time away from it, and away from the city, things are moving again (pictures taken after the fact):





Since nobody had any great ideas for my paint problem, I went ahead and did the best I could with what I had. I first reduced the width of the cross braces of the steering wheel arm by about 3/8", and then used some spray adhesive to line the outer arm with 1/16" black felt from Lee's Art Supply ($0.60 per sheet! A bargain for once!)  Re-installed the arm and it worked pretty brilliantly, so I had to take it back out again so I could sand down and reapply another coat of paint to those scratched up inner walls.  Here's a closer shot of the felt job:



And with that, the arm mechanism is functional and complete.    Well, mostly...

As I was installing t-molding last night, I had to really carefully trim the edges that cross over each other with a razor blade. That took a while.  It doesn't look "perfect" in a couple of spots, but you would really have to be looking to notice.

Anyway, here are a couple of other shots. First an overhead shot of the actual platform the g27 is on:



The g27 is hard mounted to the smaller square sheet, which is then mounted to the cross arm by the two front jig knobs. You can't see it in this pic, but underneath that there's a 1/4"-wide, L-shaped track for the bolt hardware to move through. It gives me an inch and a half of forward/back adjustment, and about 3/4" movement to the left of center (to give the g27 shifter module room to fit on the arm when it is stowed in the down position.)

And, just in case you missed it in the second pic, here's a closer look at my current ghetto-solution for the rear channels of the 5.1 sound system:



Yup. String, baby.  I'm going to replace that with some webbing/velcro when I feel like it. There are several little spots that need paint touch-up too. Other than that, all that's left to do is clean up the wire management in the back, and finish the marquee. Here's the artwork I threw together for that:



Nothing too complex, goes with the rest of the artwork/color. BadMouth will no doubt recognize the Ferrari grille art I ganked from his project!  I think I stole the font from someone else, too...  I'm excited to figure out how this is going to work with that big speaker grille in the middle.  Marquee and plastics won't arrive until next week though, so we'll all figure it out then.

Does anybody else get depressed as they near the end of a project?

[BadMouth]

Does anybody else get depressed as they near the end of a project?

Projects have an end? 

I know what you mean.  My current build bothers me a bit in theat I'm going for an actual complete cab.
I kinda prefer having junky setups that I can just throw together, modify, and swap stuff into....indefinitely.
Making stuff and getting it to work is the fun part for me, moreso than actually playing the games. 

Looks Good! 
(swiping the Ferrari grill from the same place I did is different than swiping it from me     )

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

I kinda prefer having junky setups that I can just throw together, modify, and swap stuff into....indefinitely.

Yeah, that's why I wanted to keep everything stock and had to make this project larger than "Occam's" - the inevitability of upgrades! 

The PC case is just big enough for a full ATX motherboard (if I shuffle a few things around.)

I can swap out the wheel and pedals if they ever break or some amazing new wheel comes along. The flight gear isn't physically attached to anything, either.

Even the shelf where the PS3 lives... I can't imagine there ever being a next-generation console as physically large as my trusty old George Foreman Grill! 

The only thing I may have difficulty with is if the sound system ever decides to give up the ghost... that said, I should be safe there as long as the speakers don't blow.

* RyoriNoTetsujin reflexively turns volume down.

[AGarv]

This is by far the coolest driving cab I have seen - very nice!

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Thanks to a couple of weekends out of town, and a whole lot of work in between, I haven't had a lot of time to do anything with the project.  I also fully admit I got caught in the "playable state syndrome" (i.e. little finishing touches get completely ignored because I'm too busy PLAYING THE GAMES, damnit!  )

So here, finally, is the marquee; the last little bit of the puzzle. I'm happy to say it turned out about as good as I could've hoped.  This is especially nice considering this was the first time I've ever worked with aluminum, which is really quite easy if you take your time.  I could've gone with just plain old black plastic marquee retainer, but I wanted to do as many new things as I could reasonably do with this project, so I opted for the aluminum.  It also allowed me the shape and design I saw in my head and in my concept design -- while simultaneously stylistically unifying the aluminum bits on the g27 steering wheel, and that  little bit of aluminum (silvery plastic?) on the PS3.

Aluminum angle came from New York Metal out in Astoria (yeah, NY Hardware House failed me for the first time...) Total cost was a shade above 20 bucks for 4 3-foot lengths of 3/4" by 1 1/2" aluminum - no shipping, since I went over there to go pick it up from their warehouse/shop!  I'm so tired of paying and waiting for shipping!

Anyway, pics:

First, open frame with the NovaMatrix LINX installed (great stuff by GGG.)



And head-on from the racing seat. (Yes, there is a little bit of backlight bleed on both side edges, but for some reason my camera makes it look much worse than it actually is. As it stands, it would take a lot more fiddling than I care to do now to fix that.)



Nice angle:



And one more:



Over the next few days I'm hoping to clean-up/debrief the first couple of thread posts, and take many more "vanity" pics of the project in its' various configurations.  Gotta finally route up that wire nest in the back, too! 

Gotta say, I'm a pretty happy guy right now... 

[BadMouth]

Looks good.    I think the speaker grill on the marquee needs an emblem on it, or the outside edge painted.

(Yes, there is a little bit of backlight bleed on both side edges, but for some reason my camera makes it look much worse than it actually is. As it stands, it would take a lot more fiddling than I care to do now to fix that.)

I was paranoid about this happening, so I looked around the hardware store for something thick enough to cover a tiny gap, but thin enough that it wouldn't cause a noticeable shadow on the marquee.  Ended up using a peel and stick magnetic strip that comes in a roll and can be cut with scissors.  Absolutely no reason for it to be magnetic, but it's just the right thickness an is an easy install.  
(stuck to the cab on the inside edge of the marquee area)

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Looks good.    I think the speaker grill on the marquee needs an emblem on it, or the outside edge painted.

Thanks!  My ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- cellphone camera washes it out a lot, but the small perforations on the speaker grill tie together well with the artwork when looking at it in person. As it stands, you still may be right... I had thought about painting a white tomoe (the yang half of the "yin/yang" symbol) on the grill portion and using the (black) negative space as the yin, but I don't trust my painting skills to do it well enough. Something magnetic maybe, as you suggested for the backlight bleed?

I have some foam double-sided tape I could use to fill in that gap... like I said I'm just too lazy to do it right this minute! 

[GIZMOGAMES]

foam tape will be great and awsome theme so far yah i tend to agree tho occams racer does sound cool hahaha
cant wait for the rest of the pics its a sharp little project altogether tho kudos 

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Ok folks, one last little self-bump to say that I've put final pics in the first post.

I am very, very happy with how everything has turned out.  From idea to design to basic build to finishing touches, it has all gone quite smoothly.  Sometimes life and weather didn't cooperate, and there were a couple of small snags near the end, but it all came out great.

The things I've learned (or reinforced) in this process?

1. Plan it out. Check it. Plan some more.

2. Take your time when working. (The only times I made mistakes were when I rushed.)

3. Use the right tools... even if you don't have the right space! (Make things easy on yourself; use jigs/guides/tricks everywhere you can... and make a sawboard first, for ---fudgesicle--- sake! It will help you IMMENSELY if you're a first-timer or relative novice.)

4. Don't be afraid to improvise when necessary.

5. Have an understanding girlfriend (or boyfriend, or whatever you have.  )

I think that's all I have to say for now. Uhh... "the floor is open for comments" ... or something. I've got to get ready for work.

[EightBySix]

Ooh I wish I had been following this. You have a very interesting setup there. i love the flexibility of it.
You are also a contender for the highest results:working conditions ratio prize!

[Nephasth]

Turned out pretty sweet!

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Ooh I wish I had been following this. You have a very interesting setup there. i love the flexibility of it.
You are also a contender for the highest results:working conditions ratio prize!

NYC is no joke. Gotta be flexible!

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't phased by the lack of (fancier) tools and, primarily, workspace. I see what guys like you, Nephasth, LeChuck, drventure, Ond etc. etc. etc. are doing with your projects and it just makes me that much more motivated to make some life changes so that I might have a real workshop of my own at some point - even if it's just a small one!

That said, I feel pretty confident now that this project is at least a decent example of what can be done with those limitations in play.  I think design is the big key -- the Vigolixes (LOVE the new racer!!) are another superb example of this.

Turned out pretty sweet!

Thank you sir! It's definitely working for me!

[rockyrocket]

Only just found this thread, but wow I love it.
Overall the main thing that grabs me is the clever duality of the design, and your unassuming take on meagre working conditions.
The second thing that I like is the first name "occam's racer" is classic.
Just think you could have a row with Schrödinger's cab and another racer called pythagoras steerem - think I may use that one though  .
Overall very well done.
  .

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

Only just found this thread, but wow I love it.
Overall the main thing that grabs me is the clever duality of the design, and your unassuming take on meagre working conditions.
The second thing that I like is the first name "occam's racer" is classic.
Just think you could have a row with Schrödinger's cab and another racer called pythagoras steerem - think I may use that one though  .
Overall very well done.
  .

Pythagoras' Steer'em... OMG. Serious laugh out loud moment for me there!    I await your build thread!! 

"Occam's Racer" may in fact make a comeback at some point, just depends on my space/budget situation.  Like most everyone else on BYOAC, I'd love to have a dedicated system for each of my "must-play" genres.  A (swappable) 270/360-degree dedicated driving cab would be sweet alongside a dedicated horizontal, a dedicated vert cab, etc...

Since the whole Users Choice Award stuff happened (still kinda stunned about that!! even though I know I'm not going to win) I have been fantasizing again about building a 2nd "utility" CP for Final Stage. Basically, I want to use those two trigger joys I bought and pictured during the earlier part of this build, move the trackball over, throw on some pinball side buttons, and maybe finally buy the last "major" control method I don't have: a (push/pull) spinner.  A bunch of games become way more playable that way, including some of my big faves.  No budget for that yet, though.   

[RyoriNoTetsujin]

If anyone is interested, I'm selling off the flight controls of this system. 

I never use them, so I want them to go to someone who will get some good play time out of them!

Thread is in B/S/T here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,130855.0.html