R-Pod MkII Custom Rig Build - VR Enabled

[ericleroi]

It sits about 65cm from my eyes which is pretty much what the monitor on my desk is. The middle of the screen is level with my eyes - I spent quite a bit of time getting the position just right.

Had the screen been a little taller/larger, as I suspect fatkrakr's is, the bottom of the screen would have been lower. As it is, there's no overlap between the bottom of the screen and the wheel i.e. it doesn't obstruct it at all.

 

[ericleroi]

Backing board has been cut for the rubber inlays with it now glued in-place:



Test fit:



Temporarily leaning against the side:



Edit:

With aluminium bars. There will be mesh behind the bars:

I've routed the channels and cut the aluminium bars:

 

[Carson79]

What are your plans for isolation?
I've an MDF rig with 10 tactile units and a 1500 watt sub woofer, but any rig with tactile needs isolation.
I was planning on getting a couple of these
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B009XU1BHE/?tag=gtplanetuk-20
because of the large footprint, mine is an enclosed mdf base with a flat bottom. They might work for yours?
Beautiful work, I love the updates. If I'd the skill and tools this is the rig I'd of built, with the addiction of triples

 

[ericleroi]

I will be building a base for this, something like:



I plan to cover it in a rubber which looks like asphalt:



It will have LED lighting underneath to avoid the 'dot' effect' (i.e. set back from the edge).

For isolation, I have these:



They're rated at 80kg each (laying flat) and are cheap. I sourced them from here:

http://www.shakercentre.co.uk/aspbi...roductsID=115&content=g44_shock_absorber_pack

I already have some under my seat base:



Yes, triples when I can afford it!

 

[ericleroi]

Vinyl backing to accentuate the mesh:



Mesh sections for the front panels:



Loose fit:



Close-up:

 

[fatkrakr]

It sits about 65cm from my eyes which is pretty much what the monitor on my desk is. The middle of the screen is level with my eyes - I spent quite a bit of time getting the position just right.

Had the screen been a little taller/larger, as I suspect fatkrakr's is, the bottom of the screen would have been lower. As it is, there's no overlap between the bottom of the screen and the wheel i.e. it doesn't obstruct it at all.

From looking at the pics I think its more to with the height that we run our wheels. The top of my wheel rim is just about my chin level, I think you run yours a bit lower than that. Im using triple 23" monitors.

 

[ericleroi]

You just made me go and check fatkrakr. Mine is chin height too!

 

[fatkrakr]

Ok ,lol, I went and checked mine as well. It is actually a couple of inches higher than my chin.

 

[Jonnio]

This is amazing, makes mine look like something a caveman could be proud of!

 

[ericleroi]

Thanks Jonnio I have a few things to build for it once the main rig is complete.

Latest picture:

 

[JogoAsobi]

Damn, that's looking good!!!!!!!!
To say you are a craftsman is an understatement. 👍 👍

 

[ericleroi]

Thanks JogoAsobi. My experience has only been acquired through several other game related projects. I had no knowledge of woodwork a few years ago.

 

[Carson79]

That make's this rig even more amazing, I thought you were a Joiner/carpenter 👍

 

[ericleroi]

Thanks Carson79. I've always enjoyed building things, especially as I work in IT and produce little of substance these days. It fills a creative gap.

I have a day off today to sort a few things out but I'm also determined to spend some time on this.

Just started on sorting out the dashboard section. Ive created some spacers to give it a more interesting profile:



These attach to the front sides:



The reason they don't extent all the way is that I will need to trim the sides a little to allow clearance for the buttons on the dash. I will attend to that once the dashboard fascia is in place and I can see what's what.

Profile:



Top view:



I'll sort the paneling on these side pieces out next.

 

[ericleroi]

The cutouts for the dashboard sides have been done. Just the beveling and inlay work to do now:

Rough cut:



Router guides:



Flush trimmed:



Cloned:

 

[ericleroi]

Just about finished the dashboard sides. There's still a little bit to do on the inside pieces.

Beveling:



Inlay (I had to be very careful with the depth of the router bit as these pieces are 6mm thiner than the others I've been shaping):



Profile:



Top view:



I need to get the ribbed rubber inlay sorted next.

 

[ericleroi]

The backing board and rubber has been cut:





Here are all of the side pieces dry assembled:

 

[ultimate]

Isnt better to pick white paint MDF instead of raw MDF like yours?
I think it would be easier to paint on white paint MDF even though it sightly more expensive

 

[left888]

Fantastic build "ericleroi" I've only skimmed over your thread but it is simply amazing. Kudos on a great job. Tomorrow I'll sit down and read the whole thread.

 

[ericleroi]

Isnt better to pick white paint MDF instead of raw MDF like yours?
I think it would be easier to paint on white paint MDF even though it sightly more expensive

If the build was less intricate, that would possibly be worthwhile. The flat surfaces are actually quite easy to prepare and paint. The beveled edges are where the main effort is spent, filling and finishing.

Fantastic build "ericleroi" I've only skimmed over your thread but it is simply amazing. Kudos on a great job. Tomorrow I'll sit down and read the whole thread.

Thanks left888. I hope you enjoy the journey through the build

 

[ericleroi]

Well I've been thinking about lighting and as I'm too tired to do any real work on the rig tonight, I decided where I wanted to place the lighting. This is just an initial view and subject to change.

I'd ordered some LEDs a while ago but also some connectors. The idea will be to run connected strips in certain parts of the rig:



The first location will be here:



Which should provide lighting dispersed like this:



I will then attach some to each of the spacers on either side:



This should drive light down the side of the rig:



The third location will be under the monitor hood / shroud (but set back to provide more dispersed light):



And the forth will be underneath the grill section on the front:



I'll fit a single toggle switch on the dash to activate it all. I don't want to make this overly complex or elaborate.

 

[ericleroi]

I wanted to complete the dashboard sides so I can start filling and sanding as soon as possible. I've chamfered the inside faces and cut out the access panels. It's the usual sandwich approach:









I need to keep making progress, no matter how small.

 

[redskinfan1982]

That thing is pretty sick lookin'... Lots of craftsmanship, and a beautiful design... I really like how this thing looks...

 

[ericleroi]

Thanks redskinfan1982. It started out as just a basic list of features and a concept of how it would look and has evolved from there. It's very difficult to plan everything upfront and you often have to see how it turns out in real life before moving on to the next stage.

 

[ericleroi]

This morning I have prepared the LED strips for fitting; cutting to size, stripping wire, testing, hot gluing and testing again.



Side location:



I will drill small holes through the side panels for the the cables.

Testing:



It's very difficult to capture this type of light on camera unfortunately:

 

[ericleroi]

I've just spent the last few hours filling and sanding:






At least the weather is nice today.

I've also managed to get the first layer of undercoat on. This is great for showing up those areas which need a little more work:



I'm aiming to get all the flat black applied to these this weekend.

 

[ericleroi]

Redesigned the wallpaper for the rig:

 

[ericleroi]

5 hours of phase 2 of filling and sanding later, the panels are finally ready to paint. Here they are in their unflattering, naked state:





A bit of painting, sanding and painting:

Flat black first coat after sanding:



Second coat waiting to dry:



Managed to get a bit of wiring / testing sorted out.

Bits from the electronics store:



Wired to a toggle switch:



Hurrah, it works (electrics isn't my strong suit):

 

[ericleroi]

Well it looks like I'm out of time for the weekend. I can carry on with the painting during the week.

I managed to get 2 coats onto one of the side panels - fortunately it looks like the 8 or so hours prepping were worthwhile:

 

[ericleroi]

Final progress pictures for the weekend. I couldn't resist getting this assembled: