I’ve assembled some of the lower sections, and I’m surprised it’s as sturdy as it is. I’ve always made sure to use glue and clamps to secure everything together, and some screws for extra support, but other than that, I haven’t installed any additional interior framing.

To build up the front curved edges, I layered pieces of 3/4″ MDF, which will end up being sanded to shape, and finished with Bondo.

In the past couple of days, the weather hasn’t been the best, so yesterday, I prepared the pieces for the edges and today, my youngest and I glued them up and clamped them in place.

A result of my Son’s hard, hard work…

…and what the edges will look like, after everything is attached.

Now, over at the Build Your Own Arcade forums, the discussion has been fast and furious into ‘next steps’, as Andy Warne over at Ultimarc has recently released these puppies into the market:

I have considered including light guns into my cabinet for a while, but haven’t had a good idea in how to incorporate them, as I have wanted to keep the cabinet as ‘game-original’ as possible. Well, after numerous discussions, I came up with an idea to put them into the rear of the case… …and the inspiration for the design was straight out the game itself.

In the level of Doom 3 shown above, the Security Personnel opens up a panel to the right, where you get to pick up your armor and weaponry. I decided that if you open the back of the cabinet, you shouldn’t be greeted by a mess of wires and parts. I want the cabinet to be as intriguing inside, as outside, so I came up with the following design for the rear:

So, when you open the cabinet, I’m going to have an armory-styled bay, which will be able to house the light guns, and I’m also considering a futuristic pulse-rifle as well, similar to the ones used in-game. Overall, it should add to the ambiance of the case.

One final thing I’d like to do, is to thank Ajay Fry and Teddy Wilson, the Hosts of InnerSPACE on the Space Channel, for all of their interest and support of my project. (If you’re here because of their Twitter posts, welcome!) Definitely follow them on Twitter, and definitely watch InnerSPACE for everything to do with sci-fi. And I do mean everything!

Now that the cabinet is finally taking shape, I hope to make more progress soon, and you’ll hear it here first!

Progress is slower than I had hoped, however, I have made some strides to get as much done as I can inside, so that when I am able to, I can just set everything up and have it ready for cutting. As you’ll see from the pic below, I have a few sheets of 3/4″ MDF all sketched out, with the entire back of the cabinet ready for cutting and carving.

I find the cutting and carving to actually take less time than the layout, but that’s to be expected. If you plan properly, you won’t have to go back and redo as much. It does happen, mind you, and it’s usually because the plan just wasn’t good enough to achieve the result you’re looking for.

Two sayings come to mind. The first is, “A failure to plan is just planning to fail”, and it’s very true. If you don’t have a clear plan of attack, you’ll find yourself painted into a corner, or having to go back over what you might have already done. The second saying is, “measure twice, cut once”, and is immeasurably more important when it comes to actually doing the work. If you don’t make certain every cut you make is right, then you’ve wasted time, wood, and you’ve likely dropped your morale a few notches. (Don’t worry – it does happen to everybody, every once in a while. The trick is to pick yourself up, and take it as a learning experience. It happens.)

For the speaker grille, I made a prototype cover to see how it would come out. Except for the fact that I must have made a mistake in measuring or setting up the Carvewright (see “measure twice” above!) it turned out pretty nice.

I have decided that it’s just a prototype, as I am not overly happy with the look of the slots, and think that it will reduce the quality of the sound a bit too much. My next plan will be to carve out a recess on the back of the inlay, and fit some type of speaker screen back there. I’m thinking some type of woven steel or screening might be in the works. It has to be dense enough to hide the speakers, and yet, provide clean and clear sound. Perhaps some door screening is in order. We’ll see.

I think the embellishments on the sides of the cabinet are what I’m most proud of. In the original artwork, the small ‘discolorations’ that appear all over the cabinet would denote to me some type of attachment, so I made myself up a 3/4″ square template and went to work carving them out. The results were great!

I think these little additions to the cabinet will really make it stand out.

Overall, the cabinet has over 20 of these small carves to do, and they’re not without their challenges. When I was carving the second-last one for the sides, my wood slipped, causing me to cut through the template as well as a section of the side. While it wasn’t good, it wasn’t project-ending, either. I am able to Bondo the section and re-carve it, once I have re-cut the template. It was a small setback, so no harm, no foul.

I do want to take a moment to thank my Wife for the use of her Quilting & Crafting Room, for the storage of … well, pretty much everything for my Project. As you can see from the pictures above, I’ve pretty much monopolized her space with MDF, tools and equipment. Not to mention an 80lb. computerized carving machine!

I know she’s always wanted a Longarm Quilter. Maybe, once my Project is complete, I’ll buy her one, to make up for it. (I might just have to!)

The weather’s been pretty good over the last couple of days, and I managed to cut, carve and assemble the entire marquee unit for the arcade. My skills with a router, while still in their infancy, are growing. I do still need to make sure I have adequate stock available on either side of the cutting bit, as I dipped into areas where my router should not have cut, but it’s all a learning process. In the end, all in all, I am happy with the results of the cuts, and what I’m not happy with can be fixed up with the aforementioned Bondo.

What I do NOT like, mind you, is the way MDF just sucks up primer. I must have sprayed half a can of primer at the unit, and it still has sections where it looks like nothing is covered. Just for reference, here’s a pic of the machine from in-game. I worked on the marquee section, which is at the top…

…and here is a pic of the rear, showing the 90 degree angled grooves nicely at the top, as well as the inlaid accenting at the bottom. I think I might do a little more playing, however, as I think it needs those little accents that show up near the front of the marquee. In the reference pic, they look to be where bolts might be attached, and you know me. I’m a stickler for those little details! (Even when they take me hours to fabricate!)

In from the front, you will see how the new speakers are going to be installed, and the wood where the fluorescent light will be installed to light the marquee.

Finally, some detail on the way my CarveWright inlaid the speaker routing. (No, I did not do that nice, neat job all by myself. I had the help of a very capable piece of hardware. My computerized carving system is quite a dream.)

One of the Members of the BYOAC Forums has put me onto a product called “spray putty”, which gives an amazing finish, as it looks like it goes on a bit thicker, and is sandable like the Bondo… I need to find something like this, as the primer ends off with a very rough finish – even on uncut MDF. It’s a pain to run your hand over primed MDF, knowing fully well it was smooth before you painted, and now, feels like you’re running your hands across sandpaper. The spray putty will, undoubtedly, be an improvement. As it is, for now, I will continue to sand and re-prime the unit with what I have.

As for today, my Wife and I went over to Home Depot and got some new MDF for the back of the unit. Sooner or later, I’m going to need to clean out a section of the kids’ toyroom (slash “The Arcade”) so that I have room for this beast! Can’t wait!

It’s Labour Day Weekend, and we have just returned from a few days at Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls, Canada. After a beautiful time away, I wanted to get some work done on the arcade. It wasn’t looking too good. The Weather Network was calling for a 40% chance of rain on Friday and Saturday, a 100% chance of thunderstorms on Sunday and back to a 40% chance of rain on Holiday Monday.

So, Friday and Saturday saw no rain. That was amazing, and I got a lot completed. Today was Sunday, and when I woke up, I was prepared for the worst. I checked The Weather Network’s website, and sure enough, there was a Thunderstorm Warning for our area, and they still reported a 100% chance of rain. I watched the skies. They were grey and ominous, but early this morning, there still had not been any rain…

I worked quickly, and managed to complete all of the cuts and carves for the marquee. There were a few spots where the router dipped into the wood – where I didn’t want it to happen – but I knew that was going to happen. I have wood filler and Bondo for that, no worries there. All the while, I kept my one eye on the weather. Dark clouds floated in and out, but I guess Mother Nature was watching out for me. I completed the marquee, and put some wood filler into some spots, and now, I’m ready for my last day of Vacation – Labour Day…

That’s tomorrow. I hope to apply some Bondo to the marquee, complete the sanding, and if all goes well, apply a coat or two of primer. If the weather continues to hold out, you’ll definitely see some pictures!

I can’t wait. Is it Monday yet?

This weekend, I printed out page upon page of my project plan, and got my tools in order. I had to do some maintenance on my shop tools, to make sure they all cut straight, were sharp, and would not send parts flying off in every direction. (Hey, that happens when you’re building a game based upon one of the scariest game series ever made. You never know what could happen.)

Once everything was ready, and set up … I found I wasn’t really ready after all. Oh sure, last week, I had went to Home Depot and spent $50 on a template cutting kit for my router, but when I went to hook it up, I found that I didn’t have the appropriate mounting plate. Cue another trip to the Depot. (Lucky enough, I live about 10 minutes from HD, eh?) I found another kit – this time for $20, and containing everything the more expensive one did, and more – and bought it. When I hooked it up … well, let’s say planning didn’t account for what the job actually called for. What I wanted was to cut a template for multiple, identical pieces, but the kit I had bought wasn’t made for that… Damn. (It was useful for future cuts, mind you.)

So, after a third trip, I was ready. I measured and cut out the first side of the cabinet, and then got to work with the router, using a ‘flush trim’ bit. Nice thing about this bit is that you can exactly duplicate any pattern with it. As you can see from the pics, I cut out the two sides, and some supporting pieces.

All this was completed yesterday, during a day when it was really hot, and really, really (really!) humid. When I was done, I looked like a giant sand-man, covered in MDF dust. Today, it’s much, much cooler, and without a hint of humidity. I wonder what I can get done today…

Now, it’s not every day you get to chat up people you admire. Even less frequently does it happen where they offer you a once-in-a-lifetime chance to glimpse into the original work that they based your favourite video game on. This happened to me, very recently, when I was looking for (get this) a large picture of a turkey. (Seriously. I needed a turkey. What’s “Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3″ without a turkey?) Let me explain. I’m working on a customized startup screen for Windows, and wanted to incorporate the turkey you ‘punch’ in the game into the picture.

It’s not real. Please don’t go calling PETA. Really, it’s not real. Seriously. Here — this is a picture of it, just so you believe me.

(Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww… He’s cute, eh?)

Unfortunately, the only picture I could find online was very, very small. I spoke with some of the artistic types on the BYOAC Forums, and they were able to blow it up to insane proportions, as you see, above. It doesn’t look perfect, sure, but I really appreciated the people who did their best with what they had.

Then, it happened. One of the Members posted a message and let me know he had done some research. With his amazing Google-Fu skills, he had tracked down the ENTIRE Art Team for Doom 3, and even better, their E-Mail Addresses! I was overwhelmed. This was amazing.

I spent that evening crafting a very polite E-Mail, letting them know what I was working on, what my inspiration was, and why Doom 3 was my favourite game. I tried to keep their interest, so that my E-Mail didn’t (quickly) find it’s way into their junk folder, and I asked if there was any way I could find a better picture of the turkey. I guess, somehow, my E-Mail must have worked, because I received an E-Mail a couple of hours later:

Hey Rick,

You are in luck…I created the Turkey Puncher game, so I should have the source art around somewhere. I can’t remember if I created the art at the low res used in game, but I seem to remember coloring in the sketch a bit bigger. It’s probably not very high res, but should be better than the tga sprites in the base folder. Let me dig through my archives a bit.

patd

I thought for a moment, “Hold on a second. The name ‘patd’ looks very familiar… I know I’ve seen this name before.”

Well, as it turns out, I had seen it before. I had visited a site about hidden “easter eggs” in Doom 3, and Pat Duffy (Media Artist at id Software responsible for some serious immersion in Doom 3) had managed to sneak this signature onto a monitor in the game itself!

(Yes, that’s “patd was here”, hidden on the bottom of the monitor in the game. I love when people have a good sense of humour!)

I was amazed! Not only did I receive a response from “The Man” responsible for creating “Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3″, but he was going to send me some of the original artwork!!! I received a follow-up E-Mail a few days ago, as their Teams have been very busy working on a new game…

I pulled up the archive and found some of the stuff, it looks like I created them at the size needed in-game so it’s not very high res. I’ll go through and pull some psd’s and send them over when I get a chance.

I think it’s great you are working on the project, it’s always awesome to see the cool things people do with our games!

There’s no higher praise than hearing that the person who created the work you’re painstakingly trying to bring to life likes what you’re doing. It’s also a testament to today’s corporate culture that allows regular people to be able to connect with those who – let’s be honest – you wouldn’t be able to get within twenty feet of, ten years ago.

Wow. I guess I really need to do a good job now, eh? Pat Duffy knows I’m building it, and that means id Software knows I’m building it. If it’s ugly, I can’t imagine what they might send my way…

Yeah. I think I’d better do a really, really good job.

Sadly, that means my build has all but stopped. I had planned to do the last little bit of wet sanding and then paint with the clear coat, but I can’t do that when the paint in my rattle-can freezes as it comes out of the nozzle. I’ve moved along to redesigning more of the internal structure, and in doing that, I’ve been working a lot in the evenings with Google Sketchup.

If you haven’t used this free program for 3D modeling, it’s surprisingly simple, and extremely forgiving. The best part, in my opinion, is the community of developers who have already shared a lot of their renders online – for free as well. If you’re using the program to design a house, and need virtual people to fill it, you don’t have to draw them from scratch. Just search the web, and download the models right into your workspace! It’s amazing.

As an example, I searched the web for “HAPP Competition Joysticks” and buttons, which are the model of hardware I’m using on the control panel. A couple of clicks later, and voila! I had the models integrated right into my control panel. Take a look:

As you can see, with little work, I was able to get the look I wanted – joysticks and buttons, all laid out nicely on the panel… …close to exactly how they’ll look, once the control panel is complete!

I have also started to concentrate more on the ‘little things’ that will make the project stand out. If you expand the picture above, you’ll note I’ve duplicated the original panel artwork, but as the original text was close to unreadable from the source pics I have, I chose to include instructions on how to make the game ‘work’. I will expand more on that in future posts, and provide better pics.

For example, the back of the cabinet is something that NOBODY (short of the original Design Team at id) has probably ever seen. In Doom 3, the arcade game is positioned up against a wall, so unless you have developer tools, and are able to extract the model from the game itself, you’ll NEVER see what’s back there. Thankfully, I was provided these models by some very industrious friends, and have a view of the back. Here’s a small view of the lower quarter:

…and here is my work:

As you can see, I have tried to keep the detail as close to the original as possible. The venting system is intact, and accent ridges are found in the appropriate spots. (For the nitpickers, don’t be too concerned with the multiple lines that carry through the rear ‘feet’. I designed everything on the model for construction using 3/4″ MDF, so that’s just showing where the ‘layers’ will meet. It will all be buffed out and painted smooth when the time comes!)

As it is, I’m hopeful that the weather gets nicer soon. Warm is always good, but I’d settle for sunny and “cool”. If I can find the time on a nice, sunny day, to get outside and do some more work, I will. I’m not too impatient, but I know this guy is:

After the horrors of my mistake with the router, and two or three ‘miscoats’ because I had a lack of willingness to sand the entire panel AGAIN, I went ahead and stripped back much of the paint I had painstakingly laid, until much of the bare wood was showing… It had to be done, simply because my cuts were much deeper than I had thought, and because some of the original cuts did still show through a bit – and once I knew they were there, I saw them every… damn… time. I had hoped I could just spot sand the specific parts I could see, but after a few coats of paint, I noticed way too much pitting and the router marks were far too visible. So, a week and a bit later, I give you this:

That’s a pic from my deck in natural light, and you can see the shine is a little dull yet – the base coat is after 150 grit sandpaper. There’s more green painters tape on the sides, since I’ve covered them off to redo the complete top and front, properly. Here’s a pic from inside, which helps to convey the paint colour even a bit better.

I just noticed you can see a bit of the surrounding reflection from the other items – the chair and the pizza box I’m using as a drying stand – in the paint’s finish! Nice! Regardless, if you haven’t noted already, these pics were taken with my digital camera, rather than my phone, so if you blow them up, you’ll probably be able to pick out the problem areas I have yet to fix.

The ‘next steps’ are to go to Home Depot to replenish my supplies – I’m out of sandpaper, and my second can of spray paint is now empty. (Yes, I’ve used two complete cans of spray paint so far on the panel alone. I’m hopeful that I can rectify that little wastage before continuing with the other parts of the cab.) I already have my gray and clearcoat ready to go, so once I’ve sprayed a couple more layers of red, I’ll be ready to remove the tape, fix up the sides (one of the gray sides needs redoing) and then, we’re onto clearcoat!

I’ll post more pics of the control panel once the it’s constructed. By that time, I hope to show you it clearcoated, with the art put on, the plexi installed, and assembled with joysticks and buttons. But if the weather holds out, you might see more pics of something else by Monday!

When it dried, I removed the tape and it looked amazing. The lines were crisp and clean, and the paint was smooth and glossy. I figured I was really ready to do some final wet sanding, and then lay down the few layers of clear coat that would seal everything in, and bring this part of the project to a close.

That’s when disaster struck. This disaster is called ‘User Error’. I call it such, as I have limited experience with my router, and obviously, I made some type of mistake.

I had bought some clear plexi to lay on the top of the control panel to protect it from fingers, scratches, and damage. To match the shape of the panel, I clamped it to the top of my nearly complete panel (tell me when you figure out my mistake) and adjusted by flush-trim bit to only cut the depth of the plexi. The cutting portion of the bit would not touch the panel, and the bearing would roll along it’s length, setting the cut up so that it followed the shape of the panel. I did my first test along the back, where the panel would attach, as any mistake would be hidden. This cut, was smooth, clean and quick, with no damage to the panel at all. The bearing rolled along the panel, and the cutting bit above did it’s job. In two passes, I had cut the plexi to the appropriate size.

Then, my first tooling failure occurred. I rechecked the depth of the bit, and it still looked fine. I made no adjustment, and started on the front of the control panel, to cut the shape of the ‘wings’ into the plexi. As the router moved across the face of the panel, I didn’t notice that somehow, it was cutting a deep (in my opinion – others might call it a scratch) furrow into the face. I stepped back, looked in amazement, and became overwhelmingly sad at all the work I had just thrown away. I cut into the side to complete the plexi, with a similar result. I looked at the depth – again – and still could find no issue. I still have no idea why there is a cut in the side of my control panel.

Here is a picture of the painted side that I DIDN’T destroy with the router… I’m very proud of the work completed here. I am totally surprised by how nicely it came out.

You’ll note in the pic above, the large furrow down the front. Here it is, in all of it’s ugly glory.

The marks you see on the far right are actual plastic from the plexi that melted right to the control panel.

It’s been an uphill battle on this, but I’m learning as I go. It’s certainly a labour of love, as I’m still excited to continue, given the setbacks so far. I know it will turn out great, as I won’t accept anything less than my vision come to life. As I said to my Wife, “This is my own, personal version of ‘art’. Some people can sculpt, some can paint, but I’m building an arcade game that’s never existed outside of in a video game. That’s my art.”