STAR WARS: Pinball Unleashed - 46"/32"/DMD Widebody Build

[scottpe]

Visual Pinball:

[scottpe]

And how faithful would I be to my cab theme without a Star Wars vid?

[russdx]

nice videos

[scottpe]

nice videos

And it's all made possible by YOUR wonderful board. Thank you!!!

[russdx]

glad you like it

[evil eye]

Looks sick!

[scottpe]

Was hoping to start construction on the cabinet this weekend, but the weather had other plans. So in the interest of still being productive, I started on the artwork. Here's my first pass for the cabinet side. Obviously the full size artwork is over 4 feet long, so this is a VERY tiny representation. The full size version obviously has a lot more detail...

[shimoda]

Like where this is headed. I may end up doing sw theme for my pin when I get a chance to build one.

[Pinball999]

Looking very nice Scottpe!

[scottpe]

@shimoda & @Pinball999 - Thanks for the compliments!

So second pass on the artwork. Been tweaking it a bit more and adding little details here and there (see the glow of the thrusters on the X-Wing as an example). I also decided I didn't like the arrangement of the spacecraft and wanted it to appear a bit more cohesive (reinforced by some helpful feedback I received), like something a bit more organized was actually going on up there. So I changed a few things so that it represents a battle occurring. The Rebels are in hot pursuit of a Tie Fighter, and the Millennium Falcon is cracking off a few rounds.

So based on that, here's the latest iteration:

And here's a little mockup I did so I could visualize how things are looking so far. The backbox art is not even close to finalized. Will probably be adding some details to the front artwork as well...

[shimoda]

Something in me wants to see the StarWars logo box down some, Perhaps to give some 'space' to the action above. Otherwise I would use that on my cab in a heartbeat. Especially if Zen releases a cab friendly Win 7 version. It would be the perfect art.

[scottpe]

shimoda, thanks for the feeback. I may play with the positioning of the logo a bit and see how it looks. There is obviously room to move it down, as there isn't much going on below it, but I just have to make sure that doing so won't just create a visual imbalance somewhere else. The left-most edge of the logo is already pretty far below the top edge of the cab, and the right edge is more or less equal distance from the top and bottom.

It's definitely a tightrope act...

[shimoda]

Good point on the overall placement. Here's an idea, and I say this knowing its rather specific, but how about moving the probe droid into that space just a bit and either adding the generators or an ion cannon into the left part of that blank space. It would still leave plenty of white space there so the whole side isn't too busy while balancing out the overall image. It really does look sharp. Wondering where you'll have it printed. I think if it would be okay, I really would like the possibility of using this. I grew up on Star Wars and couldn't think of a better theme for a pin cab.

[scottpe]

So beautiful Spring weather has arrived in Texas, and with it, my opportunity to get moving on the 'outside' portion of the build. Woodworking has begun!

I won't go into lots of detail about this process, but I will say, if you have access to professional tools (full size table saw, router table, large work surfaces), the job is a lot easier. Unfortunately, I don't have access to those items. But, with a few key tools, and some extra time you can achieve the same results.

The tools that I have found to be invaluable for both my Arcade build and this Pin build are:

- Circular saw with a fine tooth blade

- Jig saw with wood finish/smooth cut blade

- Metal saw guide (worth its weight in GOLD)

- Clamps to hold the saw guide TIGHT (but without damaging the wood)

- Big T-Square

- Big 'L' Square

- Accurate ruler (in my case with Millimeters, since I'm following metric plans this time)

- Router (best tool ever?)

- Assorted Router bits (Flush trim bit, 1/16 slot cutting bit for starters)

- Router circle jig

I make almost all of my cuts with the jigsaw, guided by the metal saw guide. The jigsaw is just easier to control, and the blade is much smaller/narrower, so it makes more accurate cuts than the circular saw. But, the circular saw is invaluable for one simple thing: 45 degree cuts, as needed for the front and back joints of the cab.

I tell you, the age old adage of 'measure twice, cut once' was in full effect. In my case, it was measure 3-4 times, cut once. Can't tell you how many mistakes I saved myself, when I realized on my 3-4th measurement that something was off, especially after working for a few hours. That ruler gets harder and harder to read right when you're tired!

So anyway, here's a few snaps of the process so far:

Woohoo, a finished side! Exciting right? Yeah, until I realized I was a little too careless with my cutting on that piece and screwed up the dimensions of the top. Lesson learned. Luckily there was enough ply on the second sheet to make a new one.

Hey, a puzzle!

After a while I became a machine; I got to where I could cut the pieces to within a fraction of a millimeter tolerances. But all of the working on the ground sure took its toll on me physically. After two days of kneeling, leaning over, measuring and cutting ad nauseam, boy am I sore! So a table saw not only would have probably taken 1/3 of the time, but it would have saved me a lot of back pain. Ah well, I guess it's like a woman giving birth, the pain only lasts a short time, but the reward continues on.

Now that all of the shapes are cut, I have to start working on all of the detail work like holes for fans, subwoofer, coin door, buttons, etc, etc.. Stay tuned!

[rotoforever]

Looking good so far, keep us posted!

[scottpe]

So decided to give my body a break after two days on my hands and knees doing the woodworking and tweak the artwork a bit more. So here's round 3...

For this version I decided to open up the logo a bit by getting rid of the border around it and taking the character images from the background and integrating them into the lettering. I think it opens the scene up a little and helps blend the logo into the background action better. Also added a couple more details, like some rebel artillery. One of their cannons didn't fare so well against the imperial onslaught.

There will inevitably be some adjustments required once I complete the construction of the cab, but from a design perspective I think I'm close to calling this 'good enough.'

[richie_jones]

Wow really impressive stuff...

[mameman]

loving it, the bit thats throwing me off a little is those 2 laser shots bottom right, assume they would be coming from the cannon but the angle looks a little off for it to be possible. likewise with the one closet to the tie fighter, no way that could have come from the falcon based on the other beams.

[Gilrock]

Those two laser shots look like they originate from the 2 legged walker to me. It has the fire coming out the end of its barrel. Looks great!

Gil

[mameman]

i thought that also but they are a different color.

Those two laser shots look like they originate from the 2 legged walker to me. It has the fire coming out the end of its barrel. Looks great!

Gil

[scottpe]

Thanks for the compliments and feedback guys. Taking mameman's comments into account, I made a couple tweaks. I tightened up the spray on the Falcon's quad cannon, adjusted the trajectory a bit and did some color matching on the AT-ST laser blasts/muzzle flash. Also moved the AT-ST's closest laser blast even closer so it's totally obvious where the shots are coming from (plus makes sense for the muzzle flash and the laser exit to be in closer succession anyway).

[DeeGor]

Looks like professional quality. Something you would see on a real pin.

[mameman]

sweet, little change makes a big difference. now my eye is draw to the red border around the tie fighter

nit picking now, but if the falcon is off in the distance, which clearly it is, how does the last laser burst thats almost upto the tie fighter manage to be in front of the star wars logo. that would have to mean the logo was further back than the falcon and its not. I agree we are bordering on retail level here. one thing to keep in mind based on that its unlikly if we were talking retail that they would put anything that would impair the brand logo (star wars logo). just my 2 cents.

still loving it.

[scottpe]

sweet, little change makes a big difference. now my eye is draw to the red border around the tie fighter

LOL, well, I know it's not really visible in the small pic here, but it's actually a red glow. That's where artistic license and stylizing comes in a bit. Not going for 100% real life accuracy (EDIT: lol, can you say oxymoron?) here. It's the whole red=evil symbolism...the same red glow is around the Death Star...

nit picking now, but if the falcon is off in the distance, which clearly it is, how does the last laser burst thats almost upto the tie fighter manage to be in front of the star wars logo. that would have to mean the logo was further back than the falcon and its not.

I think maybe you're not considering the perspective correctly here. The Falcon is definitely behind the logo and the Tie is in front. Both are flying diagonally toward the 'camera'. The laser blast is following that same path and has just passed the logo. Maybe my brain is just seeing it different, but the fact that you're seeing it that way means maybe I haven't quite nailed the visual cues to reinforce that spacial relationship well enough. Not sure what I could do to improve it though...

And yep, we're verging on geek-out status here.

[scottpe]

@DeeGor, thanks for the compliment!