Art's Hobbies Big Update! 1/32" Acrylic, V.S., Pro, Qanba, HRAP V3/VX, Custom Art Dustwashers

Tech Talk
501

Hey Guys,

I’ll probably be updating on SRK less frequently as I’ll be concentrating on getting orders out. So if you have any time sensitive questions, please email me instead of PM. I don’t recall off top of my head about writing emails in the threads, but they’re usually frowned upon. So I ask that you lookup my email addy at the bottom of my site.

Additionally, there’s some exciting news. I’m in the process of getting a leasing agreement with Xerox to procure one of their heavy duty printers that are better designed to do your artwork prints. This printer is technically better than the normal ones at Kinko’s. And test prints have come out fantastic. It’s made more affordable to me because I’m not adding a bunch of extensions and accessories that normal print shops have, since I’m doing a relatively lower volume of prints.

Anyway, it’ll be a couple weeks before I get the final word on obtaining one. And when I do, it means quicker turn around for your prints, better color and more control on corrections, and most importantly for most people… Cheaper pricing for you! So that means it should be quicker and less costly for you when you want to swap out your artwork with my laser cutting them. Now, hopefully I don’t get turned down on my application, lol.

I particularly like your MVC2 Artwork. Well done!

Sounds good. I’ll chat with you in a bit.

502

I just ordered yesterday, I CANT WAIT SHIT IS GONNA BE SICK ughhh

503

just out of curiosity, anyone else have a hard time getting the buttons pushed all the way in totally flush with the plexi all the way around? Are there any tricks to it?

I got MOST of my buttons in all the way, but I had a hell of a time doing it, and a few still stick up juuust a little bit if I look at the stick flat from the side. Hasn’t really affected anything, but just wondering if anyone else had a hard time getting them in enough that the tabs actually pop out underneath the metal panel.

504

Press down on the sides of your button as hard as you can. Don’t press on the actual plunger part that hard, because you can damage your microswitch that way. Snapins are a pain in the ass, but it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

505

thanks- yeah, I knew that though, I was more worried about pressing too hard and cracking the plexi (which I actually just did a few min ago rearranging the button colors…). I just realized, the problem (for me at least) is not the plastic tabs that can press in, but the 4 little plastic bumps just under the edge of the rim. I should have just shaved them down, but oh well. You can barely see the crack, and art’s prices are so good, I don’t have any problem ordering another one in the future :stuck_out_tongue:

506

Yes.

This is a problem with all Sanwa Buttons. It’s more annoying than it is helpful. I’ve shaved them off every button I’ve ever installed and i’ve yet to see a problem. If you plan on switching out buttons, make sure you shave that off first.

507

And because arthong asked, here is the Tekken 5 stick mod I did with the acrylic plexiglass top I bought from him –

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/7547/dcp0604.th.jpg

Artwork is wallpaper sourced from an Internet site hosting tons of large images. It’s 72dpi but is such a large image that I had to scale it down to fit the T5 faceplate! The stick and buttons are Sanwa parts bought from Gremlin and Lizard Lick respectively. All Sanwa colors were present in the anime art used for the faceplate. I like to coordinate my colors with the art but DO NOT like to use the same color for all the buttons! I’ve stayed away from that as much as possible for at least half the mods I’ve done so far. This is the second T5 stick I’ve modded and I’ve prepped a third for a future mod.

The other mod I’ve done on my PS2 Tekken 5 sticks is to relocate the L1 and L2 buttons to the far right. I didn’t like their original location and prefer the layout on the HRAP 2 SA/3 and MadCatz TE sticks. Since it’s physically impossibly to reconfigure the T5 PCB it was just a matter of lengthening the wires from the L1/L2 spots on that PCB and running them to the far-right 30mm Sanwa locations and shifting every other position left. Of course, this meant that the T5 button template labels (Sq Tr R1 L1 / X O R2 L2) had to be correspondingly shifted left, too, but no big deal. I definitely prefer the revised layout. It’s also perfect for SFIV on the PS3 when I connect this stick with the USB converter, too.

This stick, of course, will be used to play Fate/Stay Night Codes Unlimited on the PS2!

I painted the faceplate with regular black Rustoleum spraypaint and coated the plastic stick base with Navy blue Rustoleum spraypaint for plastic. Needless to say, the spraypainting was the most time-consuming process of the entire mod!

Unfortunately, after I snapped this picture I tried to take off the plexi and it got cracked between two pairs of Sanwa 30mm buttons.

It’s not bad but I did learn a lesson –

you absolutely have to shave off the the plastic bumps on the Sanwas if you ever plan to take them under any circumstances once you have the plexiglass in place!

Considering how minimal the damage I caused was, it’s of no immediate concern and I don’t plan to replace the plexi for the forseeable future until I have more disposable cash.

I’m happy with how the T5 mod turned out… It’s not 100% complete until I install a UPCB in it so that I can use this stick on Saturn and Dreamcast, though.

508

This is really nice stuff, still debating on whether or not to get a TE extended Plexi or a regular… or both since i have 2 sticks =P

509

Very nice dude, thanks for sharing! I particularly like the paint job! How’s it feel? Pretty smooth?

Sorry to hear about the plexi crack =(.

510

The paint job on my T5 Fate/Stay Night mod is fine.

It was my first experience spray-painting a Hori RAP case so I made some screw-ups. I tried to sand down the worst bubbles but was only partly successful.

Here’s what I DID learn from this experience and the later 2 cases I sprayed –
a) always spray in light coats; you probably don’t want to do more than 3 coats and as long as you allow at least an hour apart between sprays you can do all 3 coats on the same day. It’s advisable to wait at least a day of drying before you handle the case… the closer to 2 days drying, the better;
b) unless you want to sand off light scratches and gouges, don’t bother sanding the Hori case. The case has a natural texture that helps “grip” the paint and hold it on;
c) darker colors are harder to spray on than light; it seems to be harder to judge when to stop;
d) while masking off the top part enclosing the interior with plastic to keep spray from tinting the interior is nice, masking off for complicated jagged patterns and self-defeating; I learned this with my second HRAP case which I ended up going solid red on with a light dusting of metallic spray;
e) who cares if the sides and rear end have some bubbles? You’re not going to see that stuff while you play! :bgrin:
f) While it’s advisable to spray plastic product with spray paint made for plastic sometimes you can’t avoid using regular spray paint. It seems to adhere as well to the Hori base as the plastic paint. The main advantage of regular Rustoleum is the availability of a wider palette of colors. Regular Rustoleum has 20-30 shades available whereas plastic spray paint has maybe 8 shades. There was a particular shade of light blue I wanted to use that I could only get in regular spray and it went on fine without a hitch. For my second and third cases (which includes the Fate case which initially sprayed before my first completed stick), I topped off the paint with a clear Polyurethane coating for extra protection.

511

I’ve seen literally just about every color of Krylon Fusion (made for plastic)

whereas Vinyl Dye is mostly car interior colors.

Which means you can get black, red, green, blue, beige and occasionally some other colors in there, but never stuff like yellow, orange, etc.

However, I really really advise using at least Fusion. But Vinyl dye is best.

512

On the face of the TE stick are the two center screws required for anything?

513

My goodness this is awesome, Ill definitely be making an order soon.

514

Just finished mine today. Art is the easiest person to work with. Ships quick too! :pray:

Here she is:

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs112.snc1/4669_1106960388336_1056570037_30243208_5158461_n.jpg

515

wuuuuuut- that is HOT bro:tup: Very simple, very clean- clear buttons white balltop were an excellent choice. Black balltop might look sick too- murdered out shadaloo stick, haha. Good work though.

516

Just put in an order for my full panel plexi.

I’m fucking antsy for this shit, just like my black rim/red plunger sanwas…

517

I want one of these for my custom stick. I like the top panel for the TE and plan to build my box with similar dimensions. since im not going to put it on a TE can I get one without the rectangle cut out in the top left? if yes, then I will be ordering one next week.

thnks

518

just placed my order :tup:, is it really 7 days handling for a standard te replacement? can’t wait, working on the artwork now.

519

What does the etching feel like? Is it noticeable when playing, or on the opposite side? Also do I need to remove the bezel to place the FULL TE plexi?

520

Etching is on underside.
So you will not feel anything.

Full Plexiglass; you will remove red bezel.