Finished (almost) Control Panels!!

I finally got around to putting the finishing touches on the control panels. All I really had to do was add the admin buttons (start, pause, insert coin and exit) to each of the control panels. The hardest part was finding the right buttons. I wanted them to be much smaller than the "action" buttons that you use to play and they also had to be black to match the overall look of my cabinet. I finally settled on mini-buttons from Radioshack. They can be found here for $2.50 each. They look great and are the perfect solution!

I guess I'm not 100% finished with these things yet but I am really close. I want to label the buttons somehow so players know what they do and I am thinking about switching out the white trackball for a black one so it matches. Anyway, here are the pictures:

This first overhead shot of the player 1 control panel shows the basic layout I used for all of the admin buttons. Each player's control panel has 4 admin buttons - 3 grouped together on the left (for insert coin, player start and pause) and 1 to the far right (exit game to menu).



This is the player 2 control panel (no spinner here).



The last picture shows the completed player 3 and player 4 control panel with the admin buttons installed. The white trackball is so distracting to me... I'm probably going to change it to a black one. I've seen people use pool balls as a trackball (they are the same size - 2.25") but I think if I can find a plain black one I'm just going to sue that. Also, for some reason this picture really emphasizes the outline of the trackball plate that you can see through the vinyl but in person it is hardly noticeable. Weird. I haven't added the t-molding to the side panels yet because I'm afraid it will be more difficult to open this control panel for wiring purposes. That will probably be one of the last things I do.



I've started ordering computer parts and they should be arriving by early next week so hopefully I will be making more progress soon - I'm getting there...

Thanks for looking!!