Half a Control Panel

Having a taken a look around the different common control panel layouts (http://www.slagcoin.com/joystick/layout.html) and feeling confused and overwhelmed, here's what I have decided upon for layout;

Although I might be going against convention I've decided on a left hand and a right hand control since although I'm right handed I prefer joystick control either left or right depending on the game - For most commodore games I'm used to right hand control, whereas Sega and Nintendo joyspads had directional control on the left, so it's a kind of best of both worlds.

I measured out the positions on the MDF by re-creating the lines shown in the diagram with a ruler and pencil.  I pre-drilled the holes with  a small wood drill bit.  Using a 28mm spade bit and a borrowed drill I have so far cut six button holes and one joystick hole.  It's kind of pain in backside job which takes more time than you expect.  I called it a day for tonight as the battery on the drill was low anyhow.  Due to the thickness of the wood the joysticks are shortened by quite  a bit but it's easier to mount them neatly under the control than it is above the control panel.  If it becomes an issue I'll simply add joystick shaft extenders.



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Sanded and Primed (1st coat)

Sanded the cab this morning applied the first layer of primer
The lazy part of me is wondering how many sanding / priming sessions there are going to be...many of the filled in screw holes are still visible so more filler also required :-(

 

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More build pics

Progress has been slow lately due to decorating and the nights drawing in, meaning it's dark when I get home from work.

Having cut the speaker holes in the incorrect positions (spot it in pic), I had to re-cut again.  After the "fun" I had with the round saw piece I used the jigsaw.  They haven't turned out perfect but the plan is to hide the speakers with speaker cloth anyway.  I also decided on the re-cut to swap the speakers (bigger ones) and tweeters (smaller ones) around.

I've decided to use the botched speaker piece to hold fans at the back of the cab. 

An MDF sheet with a hole cut out of it holds the LCD in place. 

Screw in hooks are used for cable management.

Originally I was going to have a flip down hatch rather than a  drawer but it didn't work out so have gone back to the original plans.

Have used filler to fill the counter sunk screw holes, once dried will need to sand.


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