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Hey all! I spent nearly three years off and on perfecting the creation of these 3D printed Vewlix arcade cabinets. I'm going to post a "making of video" on my cyberspacemanmike YT channel soon. I figure I'll release portions of the script and accompanying screenshots here until I get the final edit done. I'm also working on a 3D printed Capcom Mini-er-Cute-er countercade! I learned a lot and hope you like it!

Begin transmission:

I spent several years and hundreds of dollars attempting to perfect the creation of 3D printed, Vewlix-inspired countercades. Originally based on a Game-Makers’ design, itself inspired by Taito’s Vewlix Japanese arcade cabinets, I meticulously modified my models over many months. Engineered for strength and ease of assembly, there are no longer any tiny screws to fool with; structural components slide together and cinch tight with cam-locks. A PC-style I/O plate allows for extensive customizability. Interior “sleeves” and magnetic panels organize and keep safe electronic components in the cramped, space-saving case. But rather than being the result of engineering brilliance, it all came together through a long process of trial and error.

Printing.
I printed the original Vewlix countercade cabinet nearly three times. The first time I printed it in PLA and partially put it together only to realize that the parts were all off-kilter. I abandoned the project for about a year. The following summer I reprinted the cabinet in its entirety. Before sanding, priming, and painting, I did a test fit to make sure everything lined up. It did and so I sanded, primed, and painted all of the parts. This time however, the pieces melted in the sun.



I have bike accessories made out of the same make and model PLA that have sat out in direct sunlight FOR YEARS that haven’t suffered ANY ill effects. I think Hatchbox has since changed its formula.

Reprinting.
So I reprinted the entire case a third time in ABS. ABS has a much higher melting point and can suffer silently sitting in the sun without wanton wilting and warping.



ABS has several drawbacks, however, notably toxic fumes, finicky printing with frequent failures, and rough, ugly prints. ABS requires a lot of post processing: sanding and priming isn’t sufficient, you have to do a lot of surface finishing. I experimented with two different approaches: 1. Using body filler and 2. creating an ABS slurry out of filament, scraps, and acetone. I improvised the ratio, aiming to develop a consistency similar to that of Elmer’s glue.



To be continued!...

You have some really clean fit and finish. Looks factory made. Kudos!

Sorry if I missed it, but did you summarize anywhere what you did for computer software/hardware? I saw you're using PinballX but curious about some of your other integrations and how hi-spec of a computer you used.

Hi GPForverer2024 and Swainy!

I've put together another debug version v1.5.1D4.

Monaco GP Remake v1.5.1D4 for Windows (Download via My Google Drive)
Please read the release notes HERE.
 
This debug version has the following modifications:

 - Fix bug in Scoreboard To Revcounter utility that was giving strange
   RPMs readings if you had set a cylinder value to 3, 5, 6 or 8 cylinder.
 - When the Enter Your Name screen first appears, ensure the player is off the
   gas before we start detecting pedal presses.

@Swainy - Just letting you know (No need to try this debug version if you're happy with v1.5.1D3) - I've fixed another silly bug I noticed when trying to recreate the Pedal/EnterYourName issue you mentioned before. That was, if I was stepping ON the gas just when the EnterYourName screen appears, then as soon as I stepped OFF the gas a letter would be selected (Which was too soon). Letter selections happen when the gas pedal moves from the ON to the OFF position. I've fixed this by waiting for the gas pedal be in the OFF position before I start detecting letter selections. Hope that make sense, probably too much information lol!

What Butters says. That'll get you started

The picture quality will be mediocre from the s-video out as you'll only be able to get one resolution (640x480i?). This is great for what the card was designed for (showing videos and presentations at work training sessions and suchlike), but not great for gaming where you want stuff like 240p, and flexibility to set video modes and refresh rates.

You could try the deprecated Emudriver 1.2b for XP, which I *think* is compatible with your card, and taking the RGB video out of the VGA head (as normal) to a transcoder box. I think Jam makes one for s-video ("Wakabavideo", https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/174151197805) but he is often out of stock. Otherwise, maybe a GBS-8200 or something.

RGB mod your TV (or component-mod it and use a GreenAntz RGB-component transcoder!) FTW.

That looks awesome 

I agree about the older pin tables looking really good. On my vpin the newer tables with lots of decorations always look a little off (2d plane and all that) but the older tables look and feel fantastic.

I've been following this build since you started it and it's definitely my favourite vpin build.

Not yet finished but a good place to post an update.

My 3/4 size Vpin sits at the edge of our sunken lounge putting it at just the right height to walk up and play. Still to complete are the coin plate - admin buttons for accessing admin features in most tables. Also lock-down bar, DOF lighting and main screen bezel need to be finished.
I've spent most of the last few weeks working on PinballX menu stuff and getting table setups right. I struggled for a bit with an interesting problem..all of a sudden one day my flipper controls stopped working altogether. WTF! It really puzzled me until I found out it was a Windows update causing the problem with my control boards. I promptly uninstalled the update and the problem vanished.

Simple menu system in PinballX.  See if you can spot the vandal graffiti I scratched into my own artwork 

The cabs theme game.  I've re-done most of the music in game. After many years playing this, the original music gets on my nerves a bit.

A few other tables I've added...

I love playing these older tables, they sound and play great!

Cool looking Tron table.

I've had enough of Melbourne winter so heading off to Bali with the wife for a few weeks. More when I get back...

DPS

Been out of the loop for a long time, but a solution was added to disable the toggle behavior on the Hi/Lo shifter games.
I do not know if it works in Cruis'n.

https://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,135345.msg1397466.html#msg1397466

Model2 emulator has a hold gear option for that. Not sure mame would allow something like that.

Also, because i don't want to retype it... And this applies to your modelines in general, it's not just for GM.

there is a guide to VMM and ArcadeOSD - http://geedorah.com/eiusdemmodi/forum/viewtopic.php?id=46

VMM sets up modelines and installs them. ArcadeOSD adjusts them. And you can save the adjustments. But the switchres utility in GroovyMAME, which is where the magic happens, uses the timings in the mame.ini file. When playing with ArcadeOSD, remember that Esc will back out of any changes.

To make adjusted timings stick for GM you can either redo VMM with updated timings in the monitor.ini, or instead you can just edit the mame.ini file with the updated horizontal timings (starting with the crt_range0 line, which for the generic_15 monitor preset defaults to crt_range0 15625-15750, 49.50-65.00, 2.000, 4.700, 8.000, 0.064, 0.192, 1.024, 0, 0, 192, 288, 448, 576 - remember that your monitor may want a different preset, and that any specific vertical.ini, machine.ini like neogeo.ini, or game.ini files will override). Calamity insists redoing VMM works best, but i find that with the spread of modes i'm using (230p at 60Hz all the way up to 600i at 50Hz) on different monitors, i still want to set the mame.ini timings afterward. There's a bit about vertical sizing/timings by Calamity here.