Stuzzas new Control Panel - *now with Construction Pics

[stuzza]

After weeks of work, here is the new control panel which will be going on my new Mame machine (due to be complete within the next few weeks!).  Unlike my first cabinet, I decided to plan this one out and try and make it look more pleasing to the eye.    I have to thank my mate Ernie for his woodworking skills.

I got the control panel overlay from the Massive Mame project website (although I believe he has removed the image now for some reason).

You can see stacks more pics of the Control panel here. (I went a bit snap happy with the Digital Camera   ) I'll be putting up a complete website (not on Lycos!) with the full building process pictures once the whole cabinet is complete.

* Update *  I've put up a quick webpage detailing the whole construction of the Control Panel.  The page shows how the panel was built and includes details of how I cut the Plexi and Flush mounted the Trackball.  Hope this helps some people.  The page is located here: http://www.screenshotarchive.com/cabinet/cp_1.htm

[Apollo]

That is just sweeeeeeeeeeet!

[Santoro]

Spiffy! Looks really clean.

[CthulhuLuke]

that thing is screaming for a translucent blue trackball!!  Well looks pretty rockin to me, very cool.  You gave it a lot of space on each side for fighters as well, smart move.  The blue t-molding looks pretty dang slick.  So how exactly did you mount that trackball?  It looks like you used a mounting plate underneath the art and plexi?

[hyiu]

it IS very nice !!!...

and CthulhuLuke  is right.... you need to change to a translucent blue tball... (and light it from below !!!...)

then it'll be EXCELLENT !!!!...

btw.. what kind of sticks are you using ??... it seems a little low... (does it feel good when you play ??)

[Apollo]

Looks like the Happs high lip trackball routed out underneath. Could be wrong.

I agree blue back lit translucent trackball would be rockin.

[stuzza]

Thanks for the replies guys.

Yep, it's a Happs 3" Highball trackball mounted with the flush mount plate (I bought the slightly cheaper non black plate because it ends up being covered anyway).  I bought the trackball before the overlay was printed and couldn't really decide on which colour to get.  Eventually I opted for basic white, just because I thought it would help tie in the 2 white player one and two buttons a bit better.  I may change it later on, but I want to concentrate on finishing (and play testing  ) the cab before I do this.   Is it easy enough to change just the ball later on???

To flush mount it all I did was route out enough of the top of the mdf so the plate sits flush - suprisingly simple and easy to do, I don't understand why everyone doesn't do this if they are putting an overlay on top??  I have pictures of the construction process which I'll post on a site later on.

The joysticks are Happs Supers and are plenty high enough for comfort.  I routed out half the mdf underneath to bring them up.  I'd only had experience with ball top joysticks before buying these, but they are suprisingly quite good to use.

[HaRuMaN]

I really like the contrast of the black interior with the the VERY NEAT wiring job.  Very slick.  

[bishmasterb]

stuzza,

How is the control panel overlay attached?

Very clean work!

[stuzza]

stuzza,

How is the control panel overlay attached?

Very clean work!

It isn't attached to anything, just held down by the plexiglass on top of it.  One thing I did notice when I put it on first was that it was too close to the left edge which was enough for the graphic to "ripple" a bit when I put the T-Molding on.  ie. the graphic was being pressed at the edges causing small waves which were visible when the light hit it at a particular angle.  To remidy this I had to pull the T-Molding and plexi off and cut the overlay so it didn't hit right to the edge.  A bit of a pain, but worth it to stop it from stuffing up the overlay.  If I was to do it again, I'd consider sticking the overlay down with some adhesive to ensure it could never move.

[bishmasterb]

It isn't attached to anything, just held down by the plexiglass on top of it.

Sorry, should've been more verbose. What I meant was, what's holding down the plexi? Anything other than the buttons? The buttons are quite a ways from the edge. Whenever I've used just the buttons the plexi has the habit of lifting up near the edges, not a lot per se, maybe a sixteenth of and inch or so, but just enough to bug me. Did you do anything different?

[stuzza]

It isn't attached to anything, just held down by the plexiglass on top of it.

Sorry, should've been more verbose. What I meant was, what's holding down the plexi? Anything other than the buttons? The buttons are quite a ways from the edge. Whenever I've used just the buttons the plexi has the habit of lifting up near the edges, not a lot per se, maybe a sixteenth of and inch or so, but just enough to bug me. Did you do anything different?

No there is nothing else holding down the plexi except for all the buttons.  Luckily the T-Molding was wide enough to cover the mdf and the plexi exactly.  This should be enough for it to not move.  I haven't play tested it too much but from what I have, there has been no problem with the plexi lifting up.  I didn't want any bolts or anything around the edge as I don't like the look of them.

[RetroBorg]

Nice work Stuzza, the blue T-molding looks great.

What size mdf and T-molding did you use?

Did you get the T-molding locally or from the USA.

[stuzza]

Nice work Stuzza, the blue T-molding looks great.

What size mdf and T-molding did you use?

Did you get the T-molding locally or from the USA.

I believe the MDF was 16mm.  My mate had about 4 large sheets of it lying around.  The T-Molding I ordered from tmolding.com.  I couldn't find any equivalent here in Aus that was available in different colours - I have always loved the look of blue T-Molding on Black cabinets  

[Minwah]

Nice work Stuz, looks great

[dmsuchy]

Looks great, can't wait to see the cab it's going on! How do you like the mini pac? Seems like all you guys over seas are using them, did you have to alter the molex plug for the Happ track ball or was it good out of the box? Also no problems with the supplied harness stretching across your CP?

[stuzza]

Looks great, can't wait to see the cab it's going on! How do you like the mini pac? Seems like all you guys over seas are using them, did you have to alter the molex plug for the Happ track ball or was it good out of the box? Also no problems with the supplied harness stretching across your CP?

Me and a mate have actually been building two cabinets at the same time (one each) and I have used the new minipac in both control panels.  I got the one with the happ trackball harness and he got the standard one.

A few things I noticed when I started putting the panels together and wiring up the minipacs:

1. I had to switch the Y1 and Y2 wires for the trackball harness as they were reversed.  This was a very simple thing to fix, although it would have been nice if the minipacs webpage indicated there was a mix up with the latest batch so I knew what to do when I got it.

2. The length of the wires on the supplied wiring harness are nowhere near long enough for a 2 player panel that includes a trackball in the middle.  I knew this would be the case though as it clearly states on the minipac site that the wires are 320mm long.  I ordered 2 sets of the 10pack extension wires thinking that "extension" meant add-on, but later found out that they are infact replacent wires only and mean you have to pull out 10 wires and replace them with the ones in the extension pack.  This task was a bit more fiddly than I'd like and in my opinion it would be easier if they just supplied an extension pack which had wires with female quick disconnects on one end and male ones on the other.  That way you could just "extend" the existing wires. (but that's just lazy old me   )

On my mates control panel I ditched the wiring harness all together and used a long Computer IDE cable.  This worked suprisingly well and I'd recommend this to anyone who is using the standard non trackball minipac.  Well done to Andy for going with a standard 40 way pin header to enable this!

3.  I initially had problems trying to program the minipac due to the fact that I used the wrong software.  (stupid me).  The Minipac will not work with the new Winipac IPD software, you have to use the Winipac software instead which is located in a folder on the supplied CD and not accessible from the bootable CD menu.  This issue was a case of me not reading the manual  

4.  The biggest bonus that I found using the minipac is the pre-wired Ground harness.  I spent ages wiring all the looped disconnects on my first cab and having a pre-made wire harness was fantastic.  I only had to add one bit of cable to reach one of my pinball buttons and that was it.  It definitely saved a lot of time.

[hulkster]

your mates?!?!?  arrrrrrrrrrrrrr....shiver me timbers......walk the plank.....swab the poopdeck!!  

[SNAAAKE]

Must...have...blue...trackball

[DrewKaree]

.....swab the poopdeck!!  

You said poopdeck!  Heh Heh Heh

[stuzza]

your mates?!?!?  arrrrrrrrrrrrrr....shiver me timbers......walk the plank.....swab the poopdeck!!  

LOL    I said mates not "arrr me maties".  You're lucky I don't start each post with "G'Day Mate!"  

SNAAAKE: That looks pretty cool with the blue transluscent ball.  Maybe I'll have to bite the bullet and order one.

[stuzza]

* Update *

I've now added a website with the construction process.  Link is in main post.

[MameMe]

Can you provide a link to the image for the CP?  I'd like to download a copy for myself.

Thanks

[Sasquatch!]

I'm gonna be a ROCK AND ROLL REBEL and say that I love the look of the white trackball - it looks really crisp against the background.  Great job too, by the way!

[stuzza]

Can you provide a link to the image for the CP?  I'd like to download a copy for myself.

Thanks

Filesize is ~ 800kb:
http://members.lycos.co.uk/stuzza12/misc/underlay.jpg

Credit goes to Zakk from "Massive Mame Project" website for providing the original.

Sasquatch!: Thanks.  I'll be sticking to the white trackball for quite some time anyway as I've already put enough money into this project for the time being.  

[hulkster]

stuzza, what did you drill your plexi holes with?

[stuzza]

stuzza, what did you drill your plexi holes with?

All the button and joystick holes were drilled using a 28mm Spade Drill bit, the same as I used for the mdf.  It worked perfectly, you just have to remember to sandwich the plexi between 2 bits of wood - ie. I cut the holes in the top panel mdf first, then used this on top of the plex as a guide, with a scrap piece under the plexi.