Star Wars cockpit... operation back to life ^^

[GermanCoasterBoy]

wow it has a very nice graphic.    
What a year made it?
Dominik

[DarthNuno]

wow it has a very nice graphic.    
What a year made it?
Dominik

  1983

More details on KLOV 

[DarthNuno]

Back on this 

Well, for some reason the old CRT I've putted inside that cockpit doesn't work anymore 

Why did I put a CRT for emulating a vector game such Star Wars  ? Well I guess it was an easy solution at the time and I didn't think too much ... I was young 

I'm not able to find a true color vector monitor here in Europe... and it would be a miracle if I find one *working* & a working Star Wars board *working*  ... I don't want to spend $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to import an 'untested' or 'maybe working for 1 hour' vector monitor + Star Wars 'maybe working' boards  I still keep an eye for that of course...

So I'll continue the emulation way... because I'm really using that cab for playing the game (in my all time top ten). This cockpit is not a collector item... it lives ... I want It play the game when I want 
In addition some great progress has been done regarding the vector emulation  Check this out : AAE.

I already tried this emulator with Asteroid and the result is *amazing*. I plan of course to test it with Star Wars, because that game is now  working in that emulator 

So... let's remove that 15Khz CRT 



and replace it by a 31Khz monitor, that will draw better vectors than the previous 15Khz 

[slowcade]

I have the boards, but I'm not sure how to test them without a vector monitor. Do you know?
I also have a full set of original manuals for the cockpit.

[DarthNuno]

I have the boards, but I'm not sure how to test them without a vector monitor. Do you know?

I'm sure 'Level 42' will have an answer to this  He's the master of the Star Wars boards    André please ? 

[Level42]

I have the boards, but I'm not sure how to test them without a vector monitor. Do you know?
I also have a full set of original manuals for the cockpit.

If you have an oscilloscope you can use that to see the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1zI8tmQ-T8

[DarthNuno]

It's time to replace the old & broken roof. Starting from this 



The old Plexiglas roof (top part) and the new one :



The old & broken Plexiglas roof (back part) and the new one :



Bye bye 



And here's the cockpit with the ULTRA LIMITED new roof (top + back) repro ... made in Amsterdam Rotterdam  . (Europe) ... only 2 set in the world !!! One for me, the other for Level42 







From the inside   



That black color on the Plexiglas is just wonderful 



A general view 



Next step... to repair all the water damages and the 'Dark Side' of this cockpit (the last picture shows the 'Light Side' of it... not as damaged than the other one).

 

[Level42]

HAH, glad I see you got them installed OK !

They look pretty dark ! A bit darker then I had expected. (Not too dark I hope ?)

How did they fit ?
How do you like the bends ?

I do have to say you hurt my feelings a bit though:
They're definitely NOT from AMSTERdam but from ROTTERdam. I guess you don't care much, but me, being born in Rotterdam, having spend my entire youth there and still living close to it, Amsterdam is like the arch-enemy. It's just one of those things...
I don't like Amsterdam and that's mildly put..... I won't elaborate here but it just sucks

The only good thing I've ever found in Amsterdam was................my Star Wars Cockpit !!!!

O well, it's not _that_ important of course The important thing is that you hopefully are satisfied with it !

[DarthNuno]

They're definitely NOT from AMSTERdam but from ROTTERdam. I guess you don't care much, but me, being born in Rotterdam, having spend my entire youth there and still living close to it, Amsterdam is like the arch-enemy. It's just one of those things...
I don't like Amsterdam and that's mildly put..... I won't elaborate here but it just sucks
The only good thing I've ever found in Amsterdam was................my Star Wars Cockpit !!!!

LOL. OK André, I can understand  I've just corrected it 

How did they fit ?
How do you like the bends ?

No problem at all. Perfect match for me 

[DarthNuno]

OK, let's bring the cockpit from the v1 into the V2, because I need space to work around it.

First mission, remove the remains of some part of scotch located at the base of this side 



Let's do it with my usual product 



It's working but... opss....    ...beware ... that product remove also the paint behind the scotch 

[Level42]

Yikes....couldn't you "roll" the scotch residu off with a finger ? Hard work, but definitely the safest.
Or use a (new) sticker and very shortly stick it on the old scotch residues and pull of again immediately (with two hands) to get the sticker to "eat" the residu.

At least put something over that nice new carpet before you ruin it 

[DarthNuno]

Yikes....couldn't you "roll" the scotch residu off with a finger ? Hard work, but definitely the safest.
Or use a (new) sticker and very shortly stick it on the old scotch residues and pull of again immediately (with two hands) to get the sticker to "eat" the residu.

Yes, I'll do a mix of that 
I'm using a piece of unused  blue carpet under the cockpit in order to protect the carpet in place 

OK, regarding the water damages, a lot of work 

Let's start with this corner + the base of the side 



I apply 'PRIMER' for wood first.

Because there's too much space to fill, I'll apply a first layer of 'bondo' (wood filler) :



Next day, a second layer of bondo...



...and I finish by sanding it :

[DarthNuno]

An other edge to repair... see   



It requires few layers of 'bondo' 



I don't have too much empty space in the lair, so I cannot put the cockpit lay down on one side  I've to work on that position... which is not easy  But it's ok   



Notice the piece of 'blue carpet' under the cockpit, in order to protect the original blue carpet from the V2 

[DarthNuno]

Let's start to paint on that side.

Usual protection 



and the paint :



The second edge of that side... same work :





Before  :



After :



It better isn't it ?  But I'm not happy with the blue color used  It doesn't match the original cockpit blue color. I'll see what I'll do for that...

[DarthNuno]

...and back on the other side... The one that supposed to be against the wall. This is why there are so many scratches 

Ok similar work than previously. A lot of areas to fix  ... here's some of them :









Let's fix the blue color on the edges...





...and now the black color :



Done 



The worst thing on this side is ... Darth Vader... too damaged  ... Ok let's try to fix 'him' 

Let's use this set of colors :



Before :



After :



OK, not perfect but far better than previously isn't it ?