Hi everyone!
It's been more than a month that I've completed my long-term project, but I haven't had a chance to share it with you.
You have two choices: either skip to the bottom where you will find a gateway to the full gallery of my sim rig, or enjoy the reading, as the story might provide an idea or two for your future projects.
_____________
Yegor's Sim-Rig
I am very passionate about cars: started drawing them when I was two-three years old and drove a real one for the first time when I was six (it was a manual, of course
). However, my story related to the cars is even longer and this is about sim-racing, so I will tell you instead why and how I created a perfect sim-setup for myself.
It all started in 2005 when I bought my first new, fun car: a MINI Cooper S. It brought a grin to my face, thus I started following forums and car blogs trying to get the most out of it when one day, checking the morning posts on Jalopnik, I came across a short footage of a race-car carving the Nürburgring, after which someone's comment grabbed my attention. He said: “Watching this I can’t wait to get out from work and hit the ring on my GT4.” I didn’t know what the GT4 stood for. After a short search found out it’s a console game and has a very accurate Nürburgring track. I walked out from work and went to the nearest electronics department store, bought a PS2, GT4, Driving Force Pro wheel and headed home, connected everything and... Wow, it was so much fun! Apparently not enough with 27” tube, so the next day a new 42” plasma with B&W speakers and Yamaha receiver completed the setup.
At that point I thought I was done, but very soon a Playseat arrived which made everything so much better, however I wasn’t satisfied with the overall experience, quality, ergonomics, and so on, and started searching for alternatives.
The new Playseat and G25 wheel made the difference, a big difference, but--again--my nature of doing anything I do either perfectly or not at all, didn’t let me rest and brought me to the decision of replacing the G25 with Fanatec 911 GT2 wheel and ClubSport Pedals. After several months of waiting, it arrived. I liked it very much, so much, that I understood it just can’t be mounted on the Playseat, I definitely needed something else.
Almost a month passed with countless hours of search for the best rig without any obvious winner among all the sim-rigs in the market within price-range of up to $1500: either they looked good, or had good functionality, but not both. So I decided to make one and started the project in February of 2011 by first visiting the local hardware stores searching for anything that could be used as the frame.
The goal of my project was for it to be compiled with perfect ergonomics and adjustability, graceful and delicate design and exceptional craftsmanship accompanied by flexible features. Also, not a single bolt, nut, screw, wire, or any other constructional element must be visible, plus everything must be easily assembled and disassembled.
One of the key elements of the adjustment features was using a real car steering column as a mounting base for the wheel. An MKIV Golf column came in with help, which provided the ability to perfectly position the angle, height and distance of the wheel with just one locking mechanism. I also planned on using a car seat with a height adjustment option, but again I couldn’t find anything good within a reasonable price-range and settled on a Sparco R300 seat mounted slightly reclined on the rig base. All the other measurements of pedals, seat, and wheel relations to each other were taken off my MKVI GTI, which should have worked just fine for long hours of gaming sessions.
I gradually started buying parts and assembling the frame, but it was going very slowly. I didn’t have a final concept, but a mere picture of what it was going to be. Something was missing and that “something” put a halt on my project. I was wondering if it’s worth it at all to spend the precious time on it, and those thoughts caused me to partially pause the work for almost nine months. I would go to the garage, spend an hour or two without any valuable results until I realized it wasn’t about the game: it was about completing something that I had already begun. So I decided to enjoy the process and resumed the work. Very soon I started really enjoying every second I spent in my garage and everything went well from that point on with--of course--its routine complications. But the "biggest complication" arrived along the introduction of the Fanatec CSR Elite. I had to have that! Building everything around the GT2 wheel didn’t make sense anymore and the Elite replaced it requiring alterations in design and construction, which took weeks to accomplish.
Although I am proficient in technical drafting, I always create most of the parts of my projects' blueprints in my mind instead of through traditional sketching on the computer or paper and even though it brings insomnia along, it’s my own preliminary 3D application, which runs on the best processor of our galaxy [perhaps]--the human brain. Ironically it starts performing the best when the owner is finally set for bed time. I can clearly see everything during that time: solve the problems, fabricate parts, redesign sections, invent my own techniques of various tasks and so on, then wake up in the morning and continue the work the way it was outlined right before my vivid dreams. I used the Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign only once, when I needed to fine tune the shapes of the side panels.
For the main skeleton structure I used two rails from a set of closet parts, which connect all the pre-drilled L shape metal bars, which themselves are the bases of the seat, steering wheel and the pedals. Various thickness MDF and several types of wood boards were used to make all the panels. The side panels also play structural role in the construction. The rig itself is carried by 6 casters (4 under the seat and 2 in the front, each rated at 80 lb. load) and easily accommodates people from five up to seven feet tall. The overall structure is extremely strong and sturdy, but the best part is that all the panels can be assembled literally in about 15 minutes. All the connections between the CSR Elite wheel, ClubSport pedals, TH8 RS shifter, InterfaceOne, Buttkicker are done on the rig, which enables it to be completely autonomous when not in use. All the connections to the rig are done in the front compartment (you will see it in the pictures), which houses the AC female jack, USB and RCA keystone connectors, and additional two keystone ports in case I need to add a feature or two.
Several yards of black vinyl, automotive carpet and about 10 cans of glue were used to wrap all the panels and parts and everything was done exceptionally well. In fact, when I wanted to hire an upholsterer to replace the red fabric on the seat with orange, he saw the finished parts and wouldn't believe that I did those without any prior experience. He mainly was astonished on the part that covers the steering column. I wrapped it with one piece of leatherette without any cuts, which truly was the most difficult one. Another very time consuming part was making the cover of the back side of the wheel's base: it had to cover the gap between the base and the the rig, but also allow the steering column to fully move up and down and back and forth.
I worked hundreds of hours and never settled with simply satisfactory results. To convert the red stripes of the seat to orange, for instance (was too expensive to reupholster), took me 16 hours: 9 hours to paint with prime and 7 hours to apply the orange. And the finished result? it looks and feels like a leatherette, which perfectly matches the CSR Elite's base orange color. By the way, I used regular glossy water base paint from Home Depot. Even the inner parts of the rig were finished in a certain way so that they look pleasant and all the hidden sections were carefully covered.
I am posting several images here, but you can view the full gallery at the link below. There are 180 images however. It might seem too many, but I posted all those photos to provide the best possible viewpoint of how everything was made. I filmed the assembly process and several functional movements as well, but wasn't able to edit the video to post. I will definitely update when the clip is ready.
There is much more to share and talk about, but I believe this is enough for now and all I can say to conclude my lengthy story is that I am very-very happy with the end result. As I planned initially, the rig is very comfortable, practical, has the features I wanted, and is pleasing to look at and I call it YSR, which just stands for Yegor's Sim-Rig.
I greatly appreciate your patience and thank you for reading! I also would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who helped me with this project and, why not, to all those who didn't.
Here is the full gallery link:
YSR Full Gallery
It's been more than a month that I've completed my long-term project, but I haven't had a chance to share it with you.
You have two choices: either skip to the bottom where you will find a gateway to the full gallery of my sim rig, or enjoy the reading, as the story might provide an idea or two for your future projects.
_____________
Yegor's Sim-Rig
I am very passionate about cars: started drawing them when I was two-three years old and drove a real one for the first time when I was six (it was a manual, of course
). However, my story related to the cars is even longer and this is about sim-racing, so I will tell you instead why and how I created a perfect sim-setup for myself.It all started in 2005 when I bought my first new, fun car: a MINI Cooper S. It brought a grin to my face, thus I started following forums and car blogs trying to get the most out of it when one day, checking the morning posts on Jalopnik, I came across a short footage of a race-car carving the Nürburgring, after which someone's comment grabbed my attention. He said: “Watching this I can’t wait to get out from work and hit the ring on my GT4.” I didn’t know what the GT4 stood for. After a short search found out it’s a console game and has a very accurate Nürburgring track. I walked out from work and went to the nearest electronics department store, bought a PS2, GT4, Driving Force Pro wheel and headed home, connected everything and... Wow, it was so much fun! Apparently not enough with 27” tube, so the next day a new 42” plasma with B&W speakers and Yamaha receiver completed the setup.
At that point I thought I was done, but very soon a Playseat arrived which made everything so much better, however I wasn’t satisfied with the overall experience, quality, ergonomics, and so on, and started searching for alternatives.
The new Playseat and G25 wheel made the difference, a big difference, but--again--my nature of doing anything I do either perfectly or not at all, didn’t let me rest and brought me to the decision of replacing the G25 with Fanatec 911 GT2 wheel and ClubSport Pedals. After several months of waiting, it arrived. I liked it very much, so much, that I understood it just can’t be mounted on the Playseat, I definitely needed something else.
Almost a month passed with countless hours of search for the best rig without any obvious winner among all the sim-rigs in the market within price-range of up to $1500: either they looked good, or had good functionality, but not both. So I decided to make one and started the project in February of 2011 by first visiting the local hardware stores searching for anything that could be used as the frame.
The goal of my project was for it to be compiled with perfect ergonomics and adjustability, graceful and delicate design and exceptional craftsmanship accompanied by flexible features. Also, not a single bolt, nut, screw, wire, or any other constructional element must be visible, plus everything must be easily assembled and disassembled.
One of the key elements of the adjustment features was using a real car steering column as a mounting base for the wheel. An MKIV Golf column came in with help, which provided the ability to perfectly position the angle, height and distance of the wheel with just one locking mechanism. I also planned on using a car seat with a height adjustment option, but again I couldn’t find anything good within a reasonable price-range and settled on a Sparco R300 seat mounted slightly reclined on the rig base. All the other measurements of pedals, seat, and wheel relations to each other were taken off my MKVI GTI, which should have worked just fine for long hours of gaming sessions.
I gradually started buying parts and assembling the frame, but it was going very slowly. I didn’t have a final concept, but a mere picture of what it was going to be. Something was missing and that “something” put a halt on my project. I was wondering if it’s worth it at all to spend the precious time on it, and those thoughts caused me to partially pause the work for almost nine months. I would go to the garage, spend an hour or two without any valuable results until I realized it wasn’t about the game: it was about completing something that I had already begun. So I decided to enjoy the process and resumed the work. Very soon I started really enjoying every second I spent in my garage and everything went well from that point on with--of course--its routine complications. But the "biggest complication" arrived along the introduction of the Fanatec CSR Elite. I had to have that! Building everything around the GT2 wheel didn’t make sense anymore and the Elite replaced it requiring alterations in design and construction, which took weeks to accomplish.
Although I am proficient in technical drafting, I always create most of the parts of my projects' blueprints in my mind instead of through traditional sketching on the computer or paper and even though it brings insomnia along, it’s my own preliminary 3D application, which runs on the best processor of our galaxy [perhaps]--the human brain. Ironically it starts performing the best when the owner is finally set for bed time. I can clearly see everything during that time: solve the problems, fabricate parts, redesign sections, invent my own techniques of various tasks and so on, then wake up in the morning and continue the work the way it was outlined right before my vivid dreams. I used the Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign only once, when I needed to fine tune the shapes of the side panels.
For the main skeleton structure I used two rails from a set of closet parts, which connect all the pre-drilled L shape metal bars, which themselves are the bases of the seat, steering wheel and the pedals. Various thickness MDF and several types of wood boards were used to make all the panels. The side panels also play structural role in the construction. The rig itself is carried by 6 casters (4 under the seat and 2 in the front, each rated at 80 lb. load) and easily accommodates people from five up to seven feet tall. The overall structure is extremely strong and sturdy, but the best part is that all the panels can be assembled literally in about 15 minutes. All the connections between the CSR Elite wheel, ClubSport pedals, TH8 RS shifter, InterfaceOne, Buttkicker are done on the rig, which enables it to be completely autonomous when not in use. All the connections to the rig are done in the front compartment (you will see it in the pictures), which houses the AC female jack, USB and RCA keystone connectors, and additional two keystone ports in case I need to add a feature or two.
Several yards of black vinyl, automotive carpet and about 10 cans of glue were used to wrap all the panels and parts and everything was done exceptionally well. In fact, when I wanted to hire an upholsterer to replace the red fabric on the seat with orange, he saw the finished parts and wouldn't believe that I did those without any prior experience. He mainly was astonished on the part that covers the steering column. I wrapped it with one piece of leatherette without any cuts, which truly was the most difficult one. Another very time consuming part was making the cover of the back side of the wheel's base: it had to cover the gap between the base and the the rig, but also allow the steering column to fully move up and down and back and forth.
I worked hundreds of hours and never settled with simply satisfactory results. To convert the red stripes of the seat to orange, for instance (was too expensive to reupholster), took me 16 hours: 9 hours to paint with prime and 7 hours to apply the orange. And the finished result? it looks and feels like a leatherette, which perfectly matches the CSR Elite's base orange color. By the way, I used regular glossy water base paint from Home Depot.
Even the inner parts of the rig were finished in a certain way so that they look pleasant and all the hidden sections were carefully covered.I am posting several images here, but you can view the full gallery at the link below. There are 180 images however. It might seem too many, but I posted all those photos to provide the best possible viewpoint of how everything was made. I filmed the assembly process and several functional movements as well, but wasn't able to edit the video to post. I will definitely update when the clip is ready.
There is much more to share and talk about, but I believe this is enough for now and all I can say to conclude my lengthy story is that I am very-very happy with the end result. As I planned initially, the rig is very comfortable, practical, has the features I wanted, and is pleasing to look at and I call it YSR, which just stands for Yegor's Sim-Rig.
I greatly appreciate your patience and thank you for reading! I also would like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who helped me with this project and, why not, to all those who didn't.
Here is the full gallery link:
YSR Full Gallery
Last edited:
)
