Are You Handy? 2
- Thread starter SPOCKED
- Start date
I still can't get my sonic screwdriver to work. I can't fix it without a sonic screwdriver. Kind of a Catch-22.
Sorry I haven't been around much the past few days - on Friday we decided to finally put carpeting in the bedroom along with all the up and down molding. So Friday right after work we bought supplies at the Depot and began the job first thing Saturday morning. This was our second wall to wall carpet project and it came out really well. I don't have the usb connector for my camera so I probably won't have pics until tomorrow night. We also got the base coat of plaster up on the closet this weekend so I've got some sanding to do very soon. Got all the floor molding done in the bedroom using the brad nailer for the first time (making the job infinately easier 
)
)We aren't sure if we're going to be able to do the addition at this point, JP. But it's not completely off the table.
Last edited:
Well I have a few irons in the fire for projects. I guess the one I'm working on the most is my Ms. Pacman Project. Here is a cut of my journal on it to date...
I’ve bought an Aerosmith Revolution X arcade cabinet
With the intention of turning it into a Ms. Pac-Man machine!
Now there are PLENTY of sites where I can buy the graphics to this game… there are even more sites that sell empty cabinets, and YES it would be faster and cheaper to do that…
But where’s the fun in that?!? Anyone can buy one… I want to make mine.
This week I’ve started the art. I need to get the layout figured out, and I want to do it old school… not really photoshoping, all arts and crafts. I know Photoshop is faster and much much easier.
My only rebuttal.. and?
Past that ironclad point…
I started sketching in pencil
When I hit the pencil drawing with the photocopier, it was so light and unworkable, that I ended up redoing it in Sharpie. Then I looked at it, and realized that letting is not my forte.
I want the art to be mine, but I also want it to closely resemble the original cabinet. I also want it to follow the spirit in which the game was made… so the answer is “An obvious forgery”
I plan on using a Pac-Man rip off font to help me with the lettering mask. So I need a Ms Pacman drawing to make the actual stencil from. I’ll also use the art to help me with the 80’s style layout method.
Rather than going crude with a sharpie, I pulled out my favorite drawing pens on the planet… the Saedtler Pigment Liner… which if you like to draw in Sharpie, these are made of pure unadulterated AWESOME!
I’m drawing on transfer paper, which is like drawing on wax soaked paper. It’s thin, it doesn’t soak in ink well, and it’s perfect for old layout applications.
So I started to pen out the marquee lettering Ms. Pac-Man. I started with a color photo I took from a cabinets in the dudes garage. It’s been pointed out that there is tons of stock photos out there. I want to do it the hard way.
So here’s the stock photo
I started to line her out
This one went pretty quick, it took me about 5 hours.
Here it is scanned…
Next I started on the side art chase scene art.
I started with Ms. Pac-Man
Then to line it out
This one took about 7 hours to complete.
Next I worked on the Ghost chasing her
Since the face was the best image I had, that’s where I started
This one took about 7 hours
That’s where I’m at as the time of this post.
Tonight I hope to finish out the chasing Ghosts from the sides. I’ve almost finished one, then I’ll have 2 more to go tonight (if possible). They’re going slow.
Last night I managed to get all 3 of the bottom chasing ghosts done.
One in Progress
All 3 completed
Each Ghost by themselves…
Tonight I’m going to work on the layout onto the Aerosmith Cabinet and begin researching parts.
Much like the way the first cabinet came to be, I was old school on the layout.
I cut out each image
Then I taped them into place
Playing around with copies, I tried to match up the color as best as I could with some ancient markers I found hidden in the back of my drawer (I tested colored pencils too)…
I ended up liking the rough look of the markers so they won
This is where I’m stopping this week. I have RVBMN 8 to concentrate on now, and hardware to start gathering.
The Ms. Pacman guitar is to practice/hash out the method I’m going to use on the Ms. Pacman project.
I bought a PS2 wireless guitar
…this will be my first time working on one of these, so here’s the step by step teardown of it.
Cracking it open, it’s pretty simple inside.
Sadly it appears the new camera SUCKS… all of the teardown shots are too dark to make anything out.
I think this settles it. I’m buying a nice digital camera and getting it over with. Since the camera sucks, I’ll spell out a bit more of my attention to detail…
The Ms. Pacman Machines that I’ve looked at, meaning original series… all look like crap up close. They were hand painted by a template. If you look close, you’ll see the grain under the paint from the brush finish remover.
Remember, these machines were made of recycled cabinets. So they used zip strip and a brush to clean the cabinet before paint/prep. You can kind of see it in this shot.
A directional grain.
So bearing that in mind I went with the same. I used a semi-fine grit to duplicate the lines.
Also, rather than use a tac, I threw a towel in the clothes dryer and ran it a cycle, and used it to “clean” the textured guitar. Reason being. I needed loose fibers to mix in the paint just like a regular cabinet.
I don’t want perfect and clean, anyone can do that. I’m forging imperfection, it’s actually more difficult than it sounds. I’m trying to find ways to duplicate unintended effects in the original.
Case in point, when I get the stencil done, I am going to mist soapy water & wipe certain areas to give me “under spray”. That’s the ugly effect you get when a stencil doesn’t sit properly. You’ll see a clean line and then a hazy mist of color/blurr around the edge. I’m not going to go nuts, but I see it in detail at certain parts on the 20 or so machines I’ve studied.
Example
#1
#2
In the second example you can see the grain lines from the brush/zip stip combo. Also, notice the mask isn’t laid perfect on the black line separating the yellow and pink.
See the under spray of the yellow onto the blue giving it a slight green hue.
Notice the cloth fibers from the bonehead hourly wiping the cabinet down with a crappy shop cloth that’s moist with alcohol.
All of these unintended imperfections will be evident in both my test guitar and in the real deal when I work my machine. To me it’s part of the charm that I fell in love with, and it’s a detail that I will work my butt off to duplicate even if I have to re-finish the machine several times to do it.
Back from my ramble…
So I sanded down all of the parts in a specific way
And then dropped the color on them
Right now the parts are drying.
The next step will be to cut out stencils and see if I can figure out the best way to drop them on the guitar.
Now to be clear. The guitar isn’t going to be accurate to the design of the machine. It’s to test things like the grain texturing, the paint color and fiber introduction, and to test the stencil placement, overage and under spray techniques.
There’s a lot of theory to test. We’ll table it for now, that's where I am at this week.
I’ve bought an Aerosmith Revolution X arcade cabinet
With the intention of turning it into a Ms. Pac-Man machine!
Now there are PLENTY of sites where I can buy the graphics to this game… there are even more sites that sell empty cabinets, and YES it would be faster and cheaper to do that…
But where’s the fun in that?!? Anyone can buy one… I want to make mine.
This week I’ve started the art. I need to get the layout figured out, and I want to do it old school… not really photoshoping, all arts and crafts. I know Photoshop is faster and much much easier.
My only rebuttal.. and?
Past that ironclad point…
I started sketching in pencil
When I hit the pencil drawing with the photocopier, it was so light and unworkable, that I ended up redoing it in Sharpie. Then I looked at it, and realized that letting is not my forte.
I want the art to be mine, but I also want it to closely resemble the original cabinet. I also want it to follow the spirit in which the game was made… so the answer is “An obvious forgery”
I plan on using a Pac-Man rip off font to help me with the lettering mask. So I need a Ms Pacman drawing to make the actual stencil from. I’ll also use the art to help me with the 80’s style layout method.
Rather than going crude with a sharpie, I pulled out my favorite drawing pens on the planet… the Saedtler Pigment Liner… which if you like to draw in Sharpie, these are made of pure unadulterated AWESOME!
I’m drawing on transfer paper, which is like drawing on wax soaked paper. It’s thin, it doesn’t soak in ink well, and it’s perfect for old layout applications.
So I started to pen out the marquee lettering Ms. Pac-Man. I started with a color photo I took from a cabinets in the dudes garage. It’s been pointed out that there is tons of stock photos out there. I want to do it the hard way.
So here’s the stock photo
I started to line her out
This one went pretty quick, it took me about 5 hours.
Here it is scanned…
Next I started on the side art chase scene art.
I started with Ms. Pac-Man
Then to line it out
This one took about 7 hours to complete.
Next I worked on the Ghost chasing her
Since the face was the best image I had, that’s where I started
This one took about 7 hours
That’s where I’m at as the time of this post.
Tonight I hope to finish out the chasing Ghosts from the sides. I’ve almost finished one, then I’ll have 2 more to go tonight (if possible). They’re going slow.
Last night I managed to get all 3 of the bottom chasing ghosts done.
One in Progress
All 3 completed
Each Ghost by themselves…
Tonight I’m going to work on the layout onto the Aerosmith Cabinet and begin researching parts.
Much like the way the first cabinet came to be, I was old school on the layout.
I cut out each image
Then I taped them into place
Playing around with copies, I tried to match up the color as best as I could with some ancient markers I found hidden in the back of my drawer (I tested colored pencils too)…
I ended up liking the rough look of the markers so they won
This is where I’m stopping this week. I have RVBMN 8 to concentrate on now, and hardware to start gathering.
The Ms. Pacman guitar is to practice/hash out the method I’m going to use on the Ms. Pacman project.
I bought a PS2 wireless guitar
…this will be my first time working on one of these, so here’s the step by step teardown of it.
Cracking it open, it’s pretty simple inside.
Sadly it appears the new camera SUCKS… all of the teardown shots are too dark to make anything out.
I think this settles it. I’m buying a nice digital camera and getting it over with. Since the camera sucks, I’ll spell out a bit more of my attention to detail…
The Ms. Pacman Machines that I’ve looked at, meaning original series… all look like crap up close. They were hand painted by a template. If you look close, you’ll see the grain under the paint from the brush finish remover.
Remember, these machines were made of recycled cabinets. So they used zip strip and a brush to clean the cabinet before paint/prep. You can kind of see it in this shot.
A directional grain.
So bearing that in mind I went with the same. I used a semi-fine grit to duplicate the lines.
Also, rather than use a tac, I threw a towel in the clothes dryer and ran it a cycle, and used it to “clean” the textured guitar. Reason being. I needed loose fibers to mix in the paint just like a regular cabinet.
I don’t want perfect and clean, anyone can do that. I’m forging imperfection, it’s actually more difficult than it sounds. I’m trying to find ways to duplicate unintended effects in the original.
Case in point, when I get the stencil done, I am going to mist soapy water & wipe certain areas to give me “under spray”. That’s the ugly effect you get when a stencil doesn’t sit properly. You’ll see a clean line and then a hazy mist of color/blurr around the edge. I’m not going to go nuts, but I see it in detail at certain parts on the 20 or so machines I’ve studied.
Example
#1
#2
In the second example you can see the grain lines from the brush/zip stip combo. Also, notice the mask isn’t laid perfect on the black line separating the yellow and pink.
See the under spray of the yellow onto the blue giving it a slight green hue.
Notice the cloth fibers from the bonehead hourly wiping the cabinet down with a crappy shop cloth that’s moist with alcohol.
All of these unintended imperfections will be evident in both my test guitar and in the real deal when I work my machine. To me it’s part of the charm that I fell in love with, and it’s a detail that I will work my butt off to duplicate even if I have to re-finish the machine several times to do it.
Back from my ramble…
So I sanded down all of the parts in a specific way
And then dropped the color on them
Right now the parts are drying.
The next step will be to cut out stencils and see if I can figure out the best way to drop them on the guitar.
Now to be clear. The guitar isn’t going to be accurate to the design of the machine. It’s to test things like the grain texturing, the paint color and fiber introduction, and to test the stencil placement, overage and under spray techniques.
There’s a lot of theory to test. We’ll table it for now, that's where I am at this week.
^ Most impressive.
The closest I've come to that is my build of a ROTLA fertility idol.
Puttied and sanded.
Primed.
Black undercoat.
Final gold coat. Some re-sanding and re-painting with a better metallic gold paint were required, as the initial paint used ran like hell.
Finished product on a wooden stand (spray-painted by me with more primer) found at the local fabric shop.
The closest I've come to that is my build of a ROTLA fertility idol.
Puttied and sanded.
Primed.
Black undercoat.
Final gold coat. Some re-sanding and re-painting with a better metallic gold paint were required, as the initial paint used ran like hell.
Finished product on a wooden stand (spray-painted by me with more primer) found at the local fabric shop.
I'll show you all! I'm going to build a life-sized Sphinx in my den! 
Hamstar, your project is amazing... best of all it's a labor of love 
Whenever my house projects are finally (yeah right 
) caught up, I want my labor of love to be the bar I want to build for my basement. I can see it in my mind... just can't get to it yet 
Aaah, Elmo isn't going up to Boston today afterall so no pictures for awhiile.. too bad because I'm really proud of the job we did.
Whenever my house projects are finally (yeah right ) caught up, I want my labor of love to be the bar I want to build for my basement. I can see it in my mind... just can't get to it yet Aaah, Elmo isn't going up to Boston today afterall so no pictures for awhiile.. too bad because I'm really proud of the job we did.
Last edited:
Well, as some of you know I built a Tin Dog. So I guess I'm somewhat handy.
I also built my own PC's and do plenty of home maintenance. I've fixed the dishwasher on a few different occasions when it broke down for different reasons.
I have your cats brother.. same expression
He says Mieow....
I have your cats brother.. same expression
He says Mieow....
Oh come on! That's impossible
I have your cats brother.. same expression
He says Mieow....
Oh come on! That's impossible
Ok he didn't actually say Mieow
, he just made the noise
But ain't they cute
Finished product on a wooden stand (spray-painted by me with more primer) found at the local fabric shop.
Bet she's regretting not having the epidural now...
I was juuuust about to take it down when I walked up to the house after work last week to find Shimmy emerging groggily from inside his house. So I know for sure he uses it during the day when we're not home
I was juuuust about to take it down when I walked up to the house after work last week to find Shimmy emerging groggily from inside his house. So I know for sure he uses it during the day when we're not home
I was just glad you didn't look inside. That would have been awkward.
I was juuuust about to take it down when I walked up to the house after work last week to find Shimmy emerging groggily from inside his house. So I know for sure he uses it during the day when we're not home
I was just glad you didn't look inside. That would have been awkward.
^
Indeed:
I was juuuust about to take it down when I walked up to the house after work last week to find Shimmy emerging groggily from inside his house. So I know for sure he uses it during the day when we're not home
I was just glad you didn't look inside. That would have been awkward.
^
Indeed:
Glad I wasn't drinking coffee when that came up ^^
Hey, Elmo just heard from Jeanne who says she's going to set up an appraisal for sometime (after we have finished our current projects and perhaps a few other minor tweeks) in the next few weeks. If our renovations by then give us a high enough home value we could then move forward only refinancing for the additon and not all the finishing materials - in other words, roughly $20,000 to $25,000 (which would cover any overages by the contractor.)
Last edited:
Similar threads
