my Agetec Sanwa mod

[leaveal]

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/4932/sam0054le.jpg
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/6161/sam0061vc.jpg
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/3183/sam0074nj.jpg
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/5790/sam0085gg.jpg


i had to mod this because the parts were way too used. :( the top plate was rusted, the buttons jammed a lot, the stick was ating weird, and the case was in bad condition. but i bought it for $12, so it's all good. :)

filing button holes = boring.

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Best I've ever seen, and there was a damn good one a few weeks back.
The only thing you "missed" was that start button. Why is that?

Is it still running the Agetec PCB?

Details on the metal plate fab, please.

[leaveal]

awesome, thanks. :D

i used the stock metal plate, and i just filed the holes open.

i didn't use the stock start button cause when i got it, it was dead. the switch was gone for some reason. O_o i couldn't just leave the hole blank, so i decided to just put it in there to plug the hole.

i'm into using external encoders now, so it's on a DB15 plug. i put the Agetec PCB on a project box too.

[SiLLiEMutAfuKA]

Hey that's a very nice job, that's my favorite color combo, white & red.

One question though, I know you have to widen the holes for the buttons, but what work do you have to do for the stick? Cause I'm interested to mod one and I heard the stick part is hard.

[True_Tech]

niiiiiiice

[leaveal]

thanks!

the stick part is easy IMO. here's what you have to do:

1. cut those "poles" off. that's where the stock stick was screwed onto.
2. dremel away some parts of the "box" that held the stock stick in. this is so that the Sanwa will sit flush.

if you've tried modding other sticks, this will be no problem.

i like this mod, since the stick is mounted on a recess on the surface. this causes the Sanwa to come up just as short as i like it. :D it's still too much work though.

[shrimpnoodles]

nice mod. quick question. what did you do to make the plate so shiny? did you put plexi on it? second is the art? how is that done? did you just print it on like a laminate sheet or something and just put it over the metal plate? please describe the process. thanks.

i got an advice for you regarding the start button situation. i thought about it when i did my mod, but since yours didn't work at all, perhaps you should just remove it, fill the hole with hot glue to almost to the top, take plaster and smooth it out then repaint it. i think it would be better to do that than to have a dead start. but that's me. if you like it's, that's all that matters.

[VR-Fist]

Looks supreme!

[leaveal]

i didn't use plexi or lamination. i used an acetate sticker sheet to cover the art. it's basically a huge piece of adhesive tape, so i covered the art and stuck the excess "tape" to the back of the plate.

that's a good idea about the start button. but i don't know, i don't think i wanna go take that apart that again. i may just use wood filler on the button's lettering and paint it red.

[laugh]

Hey, I got a beat-up agetec just like yours, except I didn't get it for $12 but my "friend" beat the hell out of it for me when he was supposedly "fixing" the stick.

My main concern is the amount of rust I see everywhere. I see rust on the top metal plate & its screws and the bottom plate. Since you used the same metal plate, what did you do about the rust?

[Kingbuzzo]

i didn't use plexi or lamination. i used an acetate sticker sheet to cover the art. it's basically a huge piece of adhesive tape, so i covered the art and stuck the excess "tape" to the back of the plate.

that's a good idea about the start button. but i don't know, i don't think i wanna go take that apart that again. i may just use wood filler on the button's lettering and paint it red.


so you printed the art, slid it ontop and put a sheet of tape over it? Sounds like that would be a bit tricky to line up properly. Must be very strong tape too. I might try this if the tape doesn't peel off anytime soon. Of course I'd rather have a plexi top, but I'm not sure there's even enough room for one on this stick =/


very nice mod

[Ramon]

What did you do for the paint job in general, to get it so nice and smooth on plastic and the metal top panel?

Step by step would be nice. (down to even the kind of paint you used)

Later,

[leaveal]

[Ramon]:

i don't remember the step by step process, because it was so long and i made so many mistakes. take a look at the Stick Building 101 thread. i'm sure they've written everything you need to know about painting there.


laugh:

i just sanded the rust away and stuck the art on. i'm not sure if that's enough, but it's been working well for me and the mods i've done. i don't know what to do about the bottom plate, though. i just leave rusty bottom plates alone for now, cause no one really notices them anyway :B

Kingbuzzo:

1. print the art on a white sticker sheet.
2. get the metal plate and sand / clean / dry.
3. stick a white sheet of paper on the metal plate with contact cement.
4. stick the art over the paper on the metal plate. to make sure it's flat, use a CLEAN ruler to place it on the plate. cut off excess.
5. cover the plate with the acetate. use the ruler here, too, and slowly. bubbles may form if the acetate isn't flat. that'll ruin everything. be careful of the acetate your using, though. some types of acetate get dirty pretty easily and are hard to clean.

and it won't peel. at least not in my experience. i've used this acetate in pretty much all of my mods, and none of them have peeled. i leave a LOT of excess acetate so i can stick that to the underside of the plate. that way, it's the underside that'll peel first.

[GaijinPunch]

Very nice. Agetec's about the only thing I can mod, but I like them. I always use the start button though... doesn't always work for some reason. You can read my other post about that. :(

One question though, I know you have to widen the holes for the buttons, but what work do you have to do for the stick? Cause I'm interested to mod one and I heard the stick part is hard.

You can widen the holes with a dremel. It's pretty easy. Takes a few minutes per hole. Just make sure you wear a glove b/c the metal plate heats up. :/ For the stick, check out this page (http://www.geocities.co.jp/AnimeComic-Name/4989/dc/dc.html). It's Japanese, but you can see the pictures. Again, dremeling works here, or good old fashioned "ripping out". As before, it is a pain, but I like it. I have no possible way of making a box, so this is the perfect mod for me. Clean enough to do indoors.

Here's my default one I did a while ago. Terrible soldering job... ugliest you can find, but it works.
http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~japangaming/gomi/stickmod.jpg

[shrimpnoodles]

anyone know where you can get acetate?

[leaveal]

try a school / office supplies store. it's REALLY hard to tell them what you want though, cause there are a dozen products called "acetate."

another name for the sticky acetate: book covering tape.

[GaijinPunch]

it's REALLY hard to tell them what you want though, cause there are a dozen products called "acetate."

Indeed. Worthless fact: Often prototype music (for DJs) is first recorded on acetate. Lasts about 100 plays and it's over.

[Ramon]

Quick Question;

For when you painted the plastic case, did you use any primer? Did you sand it by chance after applying primer? (this is what I do with metal panels) but I wasn't sure if the same rules apply for plastic.

Or did you just wash--dry then paint the plastic?

How many coats were necessary?

Later,

[Kingbuzzo]

i think using some good krylon fusion and some gloss is all you'd need to get nice results.


I looked up the acetate and this is all I could find

http://www.happcontrols.com/monitors/49519500.htm


is this what you used? I can't see this being the correct kind since it's only 1" wide :xeye:

[DrAgO_]

can u write instrucion how make this mod step-by-step ?

[GaijinPunch]

I looked up the acetate and this is all I could find

I think you would need soemthing a lot wider than this.

Here's my latest pink mod.
I'm gonna try that shit w/ the acetate. SOunds good. I bought some lexan but I don't like it being so thick.

http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~japangaming/img/pink.jpg

Mine's not as luxurious, but here's what I did.

-Unscrew everything
-Pull out the buttons, stick, and PCB
-See where the stick was? Shave that down -- make it flat and smooth, b/c whatever stick you use, the base will not likely fit in there.
-Shave the holes (on the metal plate) with a dremel.
-Put the buttons in
-Put the PCB in
-Solder it all up
-Solder the stick connections
-Put the stick in
-Screw everything back together
-Play games.

[shrimpnoodles]

this is closest i found online with the book covering/acetate but omg expensive.
http://www.shopbrodart.com/shop/cb/product.aspx?pgid=422

edit: these come pretty close
http://www.highsmith.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Production/Search.jsp?category=82713&A=43504&NeSave=222&NSave=790+403&Au=CategoryId&catalogId=10001&NaoSave=10&An=790+403&langId=-1&storeId=10001
http://www.highsmith.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Production/Search.jsp?category=83651&A=45311&NeSave=222&NSave=790+403&Au=CategoryId&catalogId=10001&NaoSave=20&An=790+403&langId=-1&storeId=10001

[GaijinPunch]

Not that bad is it... you get 25 of them. You could do quite a few mods! Might check it out. :)

[shrimpnoodles]

yes...but that's too much IMO. i'm only doing one mod for myself so at most i would need is 2 (1 just incase i mess up). But that wouldn't matter any more because i just screwed up a paint job on the face plate with bubbles, finger prints and blobs of paint. *sigh* my repaint to make it look better because it was dirty will turn out looking like shit and worse than before and now my hands are covered with paint.

[leaveal]

those reddi covers will be great. 25 pieces will be okay, since you might want to change the art sometime in the future, and that isn't removable like lexan.

[Ramon]:
one note: I HATE KRYLON FUSION. it's not smooth even after several coats, and it won't work for buttons. i used Nippon Pylox all the way and i'm happy. i didn't prime it anymore. all i did was wetsand and coat several times. i didn't count the coats, but i think it took me more than 5.

[KnightWarrior]

Nice Mod

Did those Joystick cause a blow out in the controller ports

[leaveal]

no. why would it? it's not even a dreamcast stick to begin with. :) (project boxes)