Galaga style control panel (tesversion)

[patrickl]

I have been "planning" a Galaga style upright cab for months now. I decided to build a control panel to test some idea's. Glad I, did since not many ideas worked This is just an experimental thing, not meant to be kept, but I learned a lot of things from it.

Here's the whole thing:


and  close-up of the CPO:


The CP box is made from 18mm wood with dowels for connecting it all together. The box is 50cm (20")  wide (I actually thought I could have my cab about that wide (go figure). Obviously this CP is way to small. I had a hard time fitting even these few controls into it (had to dig out area's in the side to get the microswitches on the Joystick and the player 1 button)

I wanted to cover the CP with a bent sheet of 3mm Lexan. I was unable to bend the Lexan properly and after trying Plexi (and failing at bending that too) I gave up. I guess I have to think of something else for my final cab.

I made a space for the Joystick to sit in the wood with a router (as described by OSCAR in another thread). So I had to add some 8mm MDF to the top of the CP to cover it up and put the CPO on. In the end the 8mm MDF + 18mm wood together were to thick to hold a button. When I put the button bolt upside down it did fit though (allthough I guess it could work loose). So I need to make sure the top MDF+Wood are not too thick in the "real CP".

Also since I wanted to be able to open up the top of the CP (to get the Joystick out) I had to cut a seam into the artwork. That certainly looks awful so I need to think of something to make the front from one piece of wood (or at least glued together to form an "L" shape like I planned for the Lexan)

Painting is a lot of work and/or I suck at painting.

The artwork from my printer (Epson 1270 with custom "continuous fill" pigment ink cartridge) really came out looking stunning (as usual the pictures don't do it justice). I laminated it myself with some bookcovering foil. Works pretty well, but I don't care for the glossy look of it. I used 3M spray glue to stick it to the CP.

I cut the whole for the buttons in the wrong place (I forgot that I made the CPO overhang a bit at top and bottom) so the artwork is shifted down. Need to make sure my brain is working next time I start drilling holes.

I tried to cut the artwork at the bottom with a knife after applying it. That didn't work either. Better cut it to size first. Better still make sure the overhang is there.

BTW there is no angle on tha control panel, but it would be mounted in the cab at an angle. I figured I could build a rectangular box easier.

All in all a lot of lessons learnt and finally something to playest the dimensions of the final cab.

[RetroBorg]

That's one beautiful looking control panel, well done!

[Stingray]

We're always most critical of our own work. Looks great to me, and I think it will be wide enough if yo want your cab to be that narrow (due to space restrictions maybe?). In any case, if this is just a preliminary version, I look forward to the next update!

-S

[Zeitgeist]

You shouldn't be so hard on yourself Patrick.
Everyone runs into snags when making new panels.
That panel looks great!
Would you consider making the artwork available?
Also if you're not planning to keep it, you can send it to me once you've removed your joy & buttons...

[patrickl]

Thanks for the support. I guess I mentioned only the things that went wrong. In fact a lot went right and if it had not then I wouldn't even be dreaming of building a full cab. For instance I was amazed how much fun a router is to use and how easy it really is. After some initial problems I finally worked out how a circular saw (is that what you call it in english?) works. I kept ending up a few mm short and I learned to thorow away the guiderail that attached to it   Working with the i-Pac was a dream too. I wired it up and it actually worked first time. Well, to me that was an amazing feat  

I'm a bit disappointed that some ideas didn't work out (I really had set my hopes on bending the Lexan) and that the original design deteriorated from there on. Though, overall I'm happy with it and  at least I have something to play with now anway Now to build me a mock up so I can measure my upright cab up and get that one on the road   I wanted to go for the original Galaga dimensions, but I was behind a class of 81 machine and my wrists started to hurt after 15 minutes of playing on it.

I will try to share the artwork (if and when mametrix comes back and I'm able to creat an AI file that works), allthough even the artwork wasn't completely finished when I printed a test sheet (on an A3 roll of photo paper I had laying around for printing panoramic pictures BTW) But again I'm nitpicking, cause I wonder if anyone will notice what's still wrong with it.

About the size, sure the control panel is wide enough for this configuration, but I wanted a two player panel too. I have a pool table in my living room (!) and the cabinet needs to fit beside it without being in the way of the cue. So I thought about making it something like 20" by 20". I guess I'll go for 24" by 24" then (or maybe a bit less dept). I'm, gonna use an LCD screen BTW. I guess that will make people scream in agony, but otherwise it just won't fit. I think it looks pretty nice and the 18"LCD panel that I have can rotate too (with the NVidia drivers even supporting the rotation in Windows).

[Nannuu]

That's great!  After your mame cabinet put that smaller cp into a mini or a bartop.  It looks fantastic.

[Nannuu]

Is that a self stick laminate or heated?  What brand is it?

[patrickl]

Is that a self stick laminate or heated?  What brand is it?

It's self stick. When I was in high school I used it to protect my books. Dunno if that is common in the US, but after a school year we sell our books and then it's important they still look good. Since it's meant to take hits for schoolbooks, the stuff is pretty durable and easy to apply (and only a few euro a roll).

I think the lady who sold it to me called it booklon or something. Actually I just looked that up on google and I got only dutch site hits.

BTW, thanks for the compliments everybody, but the CP is really going in the bin when I'm done with the upright  

[Stingray]

Speaking of sharing your artwork, thanks again for sharing it with me. Patrick's design is what I based my CPO artwork on.

-S

[Witchboard]

Looks good to me.  

Also since I wanted to be able to open up the top of the CP (to get the Joystick out) I had to cut a seam into the artwork. That certainly looks awful so I need to think of something to make the front from one piece of wood (or at least glued together to form an "L" shape like I planned for the Lexan)

Could you maybe hinge the CP at the bottom and have the whole thing open?  Like a big swinging "L"?  Just a thought.  It would keep you from having to cut your CP graphics and would still make easily accessible.

[patrickl]

Looks good to me.  

Also since I wanted to be able to open up the top of the CP (to get the Joystick out) I had to cut a seam into the artwork. That certainly looks awful so I need to think of something to make the front from one piece of wood (or at least glued together to form an "L" shape like I planned for the Lexan)

Could you maybe hinge the CP at the bottom and have the whole thing open?  Like a big swinging "L"?  Just a thought.  It would keep you from having to cut your CP graphics and would still make easily accessible.

The top of the joystick is sandwiched between the wood of the CP box and the sheet of MDF on top (there are t-nuts in the MDF to hold it in place).

In fact the bottom can be opened. There is a bit of plywood held in place with magnet locks.

It was my intention to have the whole L top be removeable (with the artwork on it) Unfortunately the Lexan didn't work out and the artwork wasn't wide enough to enable me to put extra MDF on both top and front of the box. There was just enough room for 3mm Lexan (on both sides) and I didn't see myself making an L out out MDF that was only 3mm thick. As I said, the whole design broke down after I found out that the Lexan didn't bend as easy as I had anticipated. For the final version I will start out with the L-shaped top/front section and work from there. Then I won't need to cut the artwork.

[paigeoliver]

Very nice looking, and what is cool is that once you build your real cabinet you can probably sell that control panel on ebay for a nice little price!

[patrickl]

Very nice looking, and what is cool is that once you build your real cabinet you can probably sell that control panel on ebay for a nice little price!

Hehe, too bad shipping it from the Netherlands to the US would cost a fortune With all the wood in it, it weighs a ton.

Besides, it now only plays Galaga (and similar games like space invaders) because of the two way joystick.  I guess my final panel will have the " Move" label lowered and a round hole for the joystick cut out. It may not look authentic then, but otherwise it would just force too much panel swapping. With a 4-way joystick and a button (or 2 if you use the player 2 button) at least it will play some more games.

[Nannuu]

Is that a self stick laminate or heated?  What brand is it?

It's self stick. When I was in high school I used it to protect my books. Dunno if that is common in the US, but after a school year we sell our books and then it's important they still look good. Since it's meant to take hits for schoolbooks, the stuff is pretty durable and easy to apply (and only a few euro a roll).

I think the lady who sold it to me called it booklon or something. Actually I just looked that up on google and I got only dutch site hits.

BTW, thanks for the compliments everybody, but the CP is really going in the bin when I'm done with the upright  

HA!  I found the laminate at Hobby Lobby for $1.99.  I guess my desktop panel will now have a nice laminate coating  .  Thanks!

[patrickl]

HA!  I found the laminate at Hobby Lobby for $1.99.  I guess my desktop panel will now have a nice laminate coating  .  Thanks!

Ehe, cool. BTW, did I miss a thread or didn't you announce this desktop panel yet?

[Nannuu]

HA!  I found the laminate at Hobby Lobby for $1.99.  I guess my desktop panel will now have a nice laminate coating  .  Thanks!

Ehe, cool. BTW, did I miss a thread or didn't you announce this desktop panel yet?

Nope, never announced it.  It has been sitting quietly on my computer desk forever until I finish my keyboard hack.  I have the board mapped but just haven't gotten around to scraping the contacts and soldering wires.  It is a Defender panel, I finally grabbed an authentic 2 way joystick (for a dollar!) instead of the little yellow Nintendo stick I was going to use.  It is on my website but I won't post until it is officially done.