F1 Mini Pinball Cab - COMPLETED

[Speed Racer]

OK – update time.

A lot has been happening lately, but I finally got the chance to get some work done on the pincab. I have given everything a coat of black spray paint. As stated before, I will put down top coats of gloss black for the front and sides of the main cab and the back box. This should give a smooth surface for the vinyl print to stick to. The “exposed” parts of the cab (dmd panel, around the screens) I will finish with semi-gloss black because it is a nicer finish. I’ll do the top coats once I have printed art work ready to go on.



Also, I had been thinking about making some hinges to attach the back box to the side of the main cab (like how real full size cabs have). I abandoned this idea because genuine parts will be too large for a mini pincab. Instead I have put some dowel in the top of the main body to locate the back box, and then used some lock down levers on the inside of the cab to secure (you can see the lever on the right side of the photo. I have since put a second one on the other side). The back box won’t fold down, but at least I can remove it if I ever have to.

 

Lastly, I have cut some lengths of aluminium angle to use as side rails. It’s nice and cheap and the perfect size for my build.

[njay]

If you are thinking of adding a wiz with some lights, check out zebsboards.com   i bought his light bar and it rocks you can check my build topic

[ChanceKJ]

As a die-hard McLaren fan i offer my skills to remove that RB8 filth off the side of your art. 

[Speed Racer]

As a die hard McLaren fan I'm not enjoying this season much... 

Initially I thought of doing a McLaren theme, but struggled find good source material to work with. I guess I took the easy option 

[ChanceKJ]

Every team needs time.

I'd be surprised if we start winning races before the 2017 season.  Its the price you pay for not wanting to be the whipping boy of another engine manufacture, We'd never win a title again with a Merc power plant, well, not with them having a works team anyways.

Why don't you do an early 80's theme and do it up like the livery on the Marlboro MP4/x's.  If you sent me your template you're working from i could do up something cool.

[Speed Racer]

Yeah, McLaren will get back up to where they should be. I just hope it doesn't take as long as it took Williams!

Why don't you do an early 80's theme and do it up like the livery on the Marlboro MP4/x's.  If you sent me your template you're working from i could do up something cool.

That's a very tempting offer thanks Chance. The MP4/4 is one of the greatest F1 cars ever built and a favourite of mine... I think for now I better stick with the art I have done so far, otherwise I'll never get this thing finished 

[ChanceKJ]

...I know, but... JUST SAYING:



It would need all black buttons, red coin return buttons, and all black parts, with a chrome plunger knob.

[ChanceKJ]

 

If you don't, I'm sure someone else will...

[Speed Racer]

 

Ok - I think I'm persuaded! I'll PM when I get home from work.

[ChanceKJ]

...yeah, that's what I thought. 

[ChanceKJ]

I'd also like to point out that today is the 21st anniversary of his death.

[Superfrog]

...I know, but... JUST SAYING:



It would need all black buttons, red coin return buttons, and all black parts, with a chrome plunger knob.

Here a McLaren fan to 
Hope they got a better update for Barcelona and get back in the game.

But you did a GREAT job on the MP4 artwork here   

Way better then the RB 

ps: for a dutch guy, this year the F1 has a new local hero ..... MAX Verstappen .. 

[Speed Racer]

So I have been doing a little bit of work trying to make a lockdown bar for the cab. Since my build is not a full sized I can’t use a genuine part. I looked at what virtuapin.net had to offer. They will make a custom sized lockdown bar, but the combined cost of the part and shipping was over $200 – a nice product but too much for me .

So I got some 3mm aluminium flat bar and cut it into strips to join together. Ideally I would find someone to braze or weld these together, but I decided to try something novel – epoxy, specifically JB Weld. I figure it should be ok since the lock down bar won’t see any real load applied to it. If it all fails I’ll just make another and get it TIG welded.

 

With the right surface prep the joints seem to be super stiff once cured. I sanded the excess epoxy back and gave all surfaces a good sand and clean before priming with etch primer. I sprayed a couple of coats of so-called “chrome” paint (more like shiny silver but whatever). Great effect, but the paint dulls as soon as it is touched or clear coated, so I will sand back and prime again. Final colour/finish yet to be decided.

 

[Speed Racer]

After a few busy months at work, I’ve finally got back to doing some work on this. I had a hard time deciding which way to go with the art – I think the McLaren MP4/4 is the better design, but I felt like I had come too far with the other design to let it go (and also had already bought parts to match). So I got some test prints done in black and white to confirm everything was sized correctly.

 


I trimmed the protectors that came with my pinball legs. They were just some cheap ugly grey material and I didn’t want any showing from behind the leg itself. I also wanted to do this step before any art work was applied to prevent accidental damage.

 


I got my art finalised and decided to get it printed and sent from Soul Draw in China. They were quick and super cheap – I got charged the minimum order which was $65USD including postage! The prints themselves turned out great. However, the vinyl that they used to print on was very difficult to work with. It wanted to curl up constantly, so applying it was definitely a two person job. Luckily my wife was keen to help out 

 

 


I didn’t have a good squeegee, but I found a flexible rubber spatula wrapped in a micro fibre cloth work pretty much perfectly to apply the vinyl and smooth out air bubbles.




Some final pics with the cab assembled…

 




More to follow soon: the wiring, PC and components install

[ChanceKJ]

...I think the McLaren MP4/4 is the better design...

  thanks. . I might just have to build it myself one day anyways. I'm surprised you didn't update the Williams logo before going to print.

[Speed Racer]

Yeah not sure why I didn't go with the Williams Martini logo now I think about it... I like the old one too, so I can live with it.

[Speed Racer]

Work continues on installing all the components and wiring the cab up. Generally going well, but not without difficulties in some spots. Most of them are to do with routing all the cables around the sliding drawer, or leaving enough slack in the cables that attach to something on the drawer. With hindsight, maybe not the best design choice… oh well.

The items at the front right of the cab are quite tightly packed. I had to fit the plunger and the flipper buttons below the slot where the screen slides in, but I didn’t want the plunger or the buttons to be placed a long way down the cab. Overall I am happy with how it looks and functions. Oh, and that scrappy work in the bottom of the cab is an underside pause button and a hole for the volume slider that came with the speakers. If you’re going to have pause and volume controls I figure they should be out of sight.




Main power is handled by an “eco” power board (smart strip). I have the PC hooked up to the master outlet, and the 3 screen and speakers on the slave outlets. Works great! Screens go off with the PC, not just into standby. This was particularly important because the little DMD screen displays a blue screen when it has power but no signal.




I cut the plug off the power board and hooked the wires up to a panel mount socket. Other work done on the back of the cab – installed a power button (connected to the PC on/off switch), and a panel mount USB for quick updates. Grills installed over the rear fans – I would have mounted them at 45deg, but the mounts were on the exact same diameter as the fan mounts and the screws would have fought for the same space. No big problem, but just doesn’t quite look right.




Inside, I have put the PC, PSU and the HDD on the drawer. Towards the front I have a small sub woofer that came with the Logitech 2.1 speakers I am using. The speakers themselves will be in the back box next to the DMD screen.




A pic of the front of the cab with parts installed. Gonna have to put inserts in those buttons.




That's all for now. I'll wire up the control next and install everything in the back box

[ZexisStryfe]

I gotta say... the green-yellow-red buttons you have on the front are brilliant! Perfect for a car themed cab!

[reptileink]

The green/yellow/red IS a great little design nugget, however, red goes on top 

Wished you would have went with the "pinball memories" theme, but this one is looking slick too!

[Speed Racer]

Cheers guys 

The green/yellow/red IS a great little design nugget, however, red goes on top 

Ha I know - but I couldn't have the "exit" button at the top now 

I have been trying out some inserts for the buttons - this is what I have in mind... the yellow is a dollar coin if you can't tell.

 

[ChanceKJ]

Its hard to see, mainly because it's not a coin i'm used to seeing.

Why don't you have this guy engrave a copy of the Concord Agreement onto the button?  That means money, Right?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8315313/Worlds-smallest-engraving-on-the-edge-of-a-razor-blade.html

[Speed Racer]

...Concord Agreement ... That means money, Right?

Only if you're Ferrari, McLaren, or Red Bull!

[ChanceKJ]

exactly, no one else really counts

[Malenko]

Cant believe I missed this this first time around.  That cab looks exactly like the sized cab that would be perfect for me.  Got any plans/dimensions to share?

[Speed Racer]

I'll search for my CAD file and post when I get home tonight. I think its pretty close to what I ended up building.

[Malenko]

The green/yellow/red IS a great little design nugget, however, red goes on top 

on a starter tree yeah, but on a traffic light he has them in the right order :p

[Speed Racer]

Cant believe I missed this this first time around.  That cab looks exactly like the sized cab that would be perfect for me.  Got any plans/dimensions to share?

I've attached a build plan PDF to the first post in this thread. It's pretty rough - it doesn't include every detail but gives most dimensions.

NOTE: I found the cab dimensions to be HIGHLY dependent on the size of the de-cased monitors (I didn't leave myself much spare room to work with). Basic cab dimensions would have to be changed to suit whatever monitors you choose.

[Speed Racer]

Well after much screwing around…

 

 ….I finally got this thing fully wired up.




I made a huge mistake – I didn’t allow enough space for the playfield monitor cables (power and VGA) to connect to the sockets on the PCB. With the drawer fully closed the cables would hang down into the CPU fan! (You can see where it would be in the above photo if look at the CPU fan). Rather than move everything around, I figured it would be easier to get some 90degree connectors that would give me the clearance I needed. The one for the power cable was an unusual size but I found what I needed from a laptop spares seller. Pic below shows the "extension cable" I made out of a laptop socket and power brick cord and the original cable below it.



Why not just move the screen PCB? Any movement of the PCB meant that the panel ribbon cable would not lie flat and would get caught on the video card when it moved in and out  At least it all got sorted eventually.


When I put the playfield screen in, a little of the panel edge was showing. To hide this I ran some black electrical tape over the edges. Turned out real good. The finish of the tape is very close to both the semi-gloss (satin) black paint I used inside the cab and the black of the screen when it is turned off. Photo below shows 3 sides done for comparison.




Not much more to do now… I have everything I need and will complete this week 

[Speed Racer]

With a few distractions of late (kitchen renovations and holidays) I have had some time to rethink some of the hardware choices in the pin cab. First up, I ditched the Core2Duo based system, as it was running a bit slow in the frontend with the multiple screens and videos going at once. Replaced it with a 3rd gen i5 system I found on eBay for cheap. May end up changing the HDD for a SSD, but it’s less critical.
Also, sadly the plunger kit from Virtua Pin wasn’t performing as well as I had hoped. It worked ok in Visual Pinball, but it was very jittery in Pinball FX 2. Also, it would not always get detected by the PC when it was plugged in. I noticed that the Virtua Pin web site doesn’t stock these any more, presumably because there have been too many complaints. I replaced the kit with one from Zeb’s Boards and it works great. It has a mechanical sensor attached to the plunger rather than the optical sensor the VP kit used. I just wish I bought this first!
 
So with the hardware and controls all sorted, it was time to finish up the cab itself. I used some weather strip seals on the side edges, so that the glass would sit snug under the side rails. I also glued some 1mm foam strips on the underside of the side rails, so that the glass wasn't hard up against the metal surface. I can slide the glass in and out if I want, but it won’t move around on its own.


 
Applied some T-Molding (from GGG) around the back box and installed side rails, glass and lock down bar. Rather than finding a lockdown mechanism to fit in my mini cab, I found some 3M Dual Lock strips did the job nicely. They are like adhesive backed Velcro strips on steroids, holding the lockdown bar to the top of the side rails. Everything is quite solid, but can be opened up when needed. Here are some photos of the completed cab. All up I'm pleased with how this turned out 

 

   

[Aceldamor]

Holy crap this is cool! I got my hands on a 40" LED TV on Black Friday that just might become a playfield! Very nice project!

[ChanceKJ]

.