3D Printing a Full-Sized Computer Space Arcade Machine Replica | Part 1

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Watch part 2 now at kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4C9moqEgdVjppY

[@espressomatic]

You have to go metallic flake automotive paint like the originals. Iconic.

[@patricksamuel6594]

I have a friend who had a worn out old cabinet and below the clear coat is actual glitter. I was getting glitter all over my hands just touching it.

[@patricksamuel6594]

I wish I would’ve known you were doing this. I had the same idea and have actual 3d scans of both the one and two player computer space as well as the prototype space race in the Dallas arcade museum. Files are linked below..

[@mpschigoda1677]

Are your models available anywhere (GitHub, museum website, thingiverse, etc)? I'd love to print out one for my college's MakerLab "museum of historic replicas". Unfortunately we probably couldn't do a full size cabinet, but I'd still like to have a replica there.

[@lukethemaker322]

also interested in the files! I have a lot of 70s themed stuff in my house and a computer space would fit in so well.

[@Ehurst01]

It would be really cool to see how this one compares to the scans.

[@chewbaccabox]

I am also interested in the files!

[@AerFixus]

Very cool. Count me interested in those files as well. I built a functional 1:3 scale model a while back by hand but was looking to remake it now that I own a 3D printer.

[@Lethgar_Smith]

I played a blue one in the early 70's. I was so young I could just barely see the control panel. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it was the most futuristic thing I had ever encountered.

[@lennon4710]

I think doing an arcade archive blue would be perfect! Would make it clear it's a replica, make it your own, and be a nice homage to the original machine.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Nice idea 😎👍

[@ctrlaltrees]

Glad I could contribute, even if it was in a slightly unorthodox way 😅 Seriously though, this is incredible stuff. My hat is off to you!

[@NigelDraycott]

Love the Rees scale

[@victormarland9871]

I hope you calibrated yourself before you stood next to that cab!

[@smayds]

I'm glad your hat was off, it would have thrown the scale out of whack otherwise.

[@JenniferinIllinois]

Richard is an absolute legend!!!!! So is a 'Rees' an official retro gaming measurement now? 🤣🤣🤣

[@pnvgordinho]

Can I suggest that when you finish the arcade, before you put the electronics, make a fiber glass mold. That way you can not only make one arcade made of fiberglass but also can make other arcades.

[@netropolis]

I came here to suggest this! +1

[@domramsey]

The 3D STL files will allow people to do that much more simply and effectively.

[@pnvgordinho]

@@domramsey sure, but the idea of fiber glass molds is to make one in one piece and not in a thousand parts. Now, if you could get one of those giant 3d printers and print one in one go, the cad files would be great.

[@CypherReaper]

@@pnvgordinho with as many curves as this has you need the mold in many pieces in order to remove it after fiber glassing. But having screw points in the STL files would help keep it together while doing the fiber glassing.

[@Caroline_Tyler]

Yep! Exactly what I thought - finish the 3D printed cabinet, use it to make a mold and then from that create a proper fiberglass copy, much lighter and stronger.

[@tigheklory]

It would be cool if you made a 3D printed mold from the model and use that to make a fibreglass cabinet. The cabinet was designed to come off a mold as the original was fibreglass.

[@tigheklory]

I would suggest that you coat the print with fibreglass resin for a nice smooth finish.

[@mattffolliott-powell5105]

Yes, it really needs to be made from fibreglass to be authentic.. use the 3D print as a mould..!

[@mateibocancios]

You can make a mold in silicone or fiberglass from the 3d printed piece and then cast in fiberglass. That would be the better route. A 3d printed mold i feel would be a one time use kinda mold.

[@johnpickens448]

Great to see Richard again! He was one of the first 3D printing KZbinrs I followed. His tips and tricks helped me sort out many problems I was having with my homebuilt 3D printers. This was back when building your own was really the only way to get a good printer.

[@RichRap3D]

Thank you John, glad my early endeavours helped you with 3D printing. I hope to do a lot more projects.

[@MarlinFirmware]

This is just the kind of cool project that home 3D printing was made for, and if anyone can do it right it’s Richard Horne. We love retro computing, and what could be more retro than the first video game with a design that so accurately presaged the look of future arcade cabinets?! Bravo. We can’t wait to see what you resurrect next!

[@edlowry1]

Never noticed that the front control panel piece isn't centered in the original cab, amazing work 👏 ❤

[@victormarland9871]

It gives me hives... If I had the mad skills that Richard does, I'd make it in the middle!

[@edlowry1]

@@victormarland9871 yep that keeps me awake at night

[@RetroRecollections]

What an insane amount of work! When finished this will most definitely be a huge attraction for the Archive. I love it! 😮

[@fluffycritter]

With the cutting up of the model, Prusaslicer has a built-in part separation routine which also gives you registration pins to make the assembly easier. I'm surprised you did it the hard way.

[@GuillaumeLevasseur]

I like the idea of it being the colour of the original prototype. If you are going to make a museum replica of something, better do a replica of the most meaningful and unobtainable version of it.

[@einokeskitalo3217]

This was great, quite special! It was great to see Richard having so much fun with this video.

[@nixpix44]

No matter what year it is, that cabinet will always look futuristic. My vote is for the color blue

[@wesleynaylor9853]

I think it would look great in glossy pearl white with a little bit of glitter.

[@patprop74]

Richard has been part of the DIY 3d printing world since the very beginning of it all, to the Reprap community, he is just as important as Dr Adrian Bowyer.

[@peterynari]

Outstanding! The Retro Collective truly are a dream team. Just standing next to Computer Space is impressive, if I remember I saw one in a UK museum, but it was non functional.

[@kz.irudimen]

That cabinet is the most 70s looking thing ever

[@arcadesunday4592]

@22:01 Pacland! What an awesome project ! Appreciate all of you who have collaborated to create a Computer Space replica.

[@MrButtonpresser]

This is one of the most incredible and impressive things I've seen.

[@aeiouxs]

Incredible work Richard, and all those supporting him! If you plan to make another, then I agree with comments below - the first one should be gloss white. But if only 1, in Red or Blue gloss with flakes would be incredible, the AA already has a Yellow Pong machine iirc, so not yellow perhaps. Amazing stuff!

[@Endzs768]

that was amazing work, i didn't realize Richard was that talented with 3d modeling and 3d print work. outstanding

[@PurpleFoxArcade]

I have a Replicade collection. Computer Space at 1/6 scale would be an awesome addition. Saw this game at the Pinball Hall of Fame in Vegas. I have been twice and both times it was not working. Same one Rees is next to.

[@carymichaelayers6803]

I played one of the originals back in the 70s. It was in Denver Colorado at a place called Celebrity Sports.....went through as many quarters as my parents would allow. Fun, and not glitchy, like some of the others to follow....also there is one of the original machines in the movie Rollerball....again the 70s, not the remake. Cool job guys!

[@sn1000k]

I think given the promotional pic was liveried in yellow, I'd personally go with yellow. But then, I love yellow. That said, if you can come up with a good glitter-paint solution, red would be my choice. Hell, I can't decide!

[@eobet]

As an industrial designer seeing the process is equally fascinating and painful to watch. 😱🤯 It’s like building a car using only a sewing machine! If I would have known, I would have offered to do it properly in a nurbs CAD software package for free.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Richard responds to questions about his process in part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/a4C9moqEgdVjppY

[@thesword31]

A color-tinted and metal-flaked epoxy resin would not only make for an exceptionally durable finish, but it would add another layer of structural strength to it. It could be sanded, buffed, and polished. Being resin, it would look almost indistinguishable from the original fiberglass as that would have been made using a resin, with possibly a gelcoat on the outside that acted not only as a release/barrier layer from the original molds, but also the final finished exterior. This would be readily available material that is easy to work with, relatively inexpensive (compared to some specialty paints), and something that could be mocked up in very small batches and applied to some failed prints or test prints using the exact material that would go on the final product to test different colors and flakes. Amazing project, excellent work, and I cannot wait to see how this comes out no matter what path you choose. Hats off to the care and effort put into bringing this into the world.

[@nidzdotnet76]

That 3dprint could be used as a mould to make multiple fibreglass cabinets. Probably would be stronger too. Make 3 of them and get all colours.

[@RichRap3D]

You could also 3D print a negative mould, OpenSCAD has a nice script to make multi-part moulds from an STL master.

[@jasonsteverson4609]

White is in the movie Soylent Green. Yellow is in the iconic flyer. Yellow is also in Cornershop's "Brimful of Asha" video. I think Yellow should win. Special consideration to John's Arcade also being yellow.

[@joysticksnjukeboxes]

Richard is a national treasure! I think you should go with a color reminiscent of the originals, but a little different because it's a replica. Definitely something sparkly like metal flake.

[@pnvgordinho]

Tell Richard to check out plasticity 3d. He would do that geometry in minutes.

[@VinnyBagOfChips]

a metallic blue with big fat sparkles, you know 70s style is the way to go 😎😂

[@electricadventures]

Fantastic video for the team! That is a supreme effort from Richard it looks fantastic so far (you can see his gleeful look when he showed it to you all for the first time). I can’t wait to see how the rest comes together. A perfect addition to the museum to take visitors through the history of video games. I really hope to visit in the new year and check out the finished unit myself.

[@Rob.Coleman]

Simply stunning, huge kudos to Richard for an incredible achievement 👍👍👍.

[@ches74]

I shouted out INSANE! at the start of this video, then Neil chimed in with the same :) Keep up the great work.

[@properjob2311]

Excellent way to showcase the 3d printing capabilities of Heber

[@k1darklord871]

for a sparkle finish that does not cost the earth but works really well (it did on my guitar anyway) try clear lacquer (spray) and cosmetic glitter, you spray and whilst it is still tacky you sprinkle the glitter on top (its very fine almost like a dust, I think its used in nail polish type stuff). Then you knock off the excess (or if you have the means use a compressor to blow it off) then lacquer over the top and it works really well.

[@patricksamuel6594]

That is exactly what Atari did. I've seen glitter rubbing off of a cabiner

[@davidretrogamesplayedbadly3533]

Very cool mate, really enjoyed watching this come to life. Such an iconic shape, so very 70's. I reckon the yellow mate. 🥰

[@nightbirdds]

Metalflake Yellow. Of the produced ones, I always felt that one looked the best.

[@trickysoft]

Amazing project, looking forward to episode 2 :) In the later 90s, I was asked to code an arcade game using a heber pluto board and a very shonky compiler ;) The prototype spent some time in a couple of pubs, but I don't think they ever made more :(

[@NotMoreGames]

My biggest concern is the integrity strength of all those pieces…with the weight of itself plus fittings and monitor I would be afraid of the joins coming apart like a broken Lego set especially if you ever needed to move it. I would have felt more confident if there had been a metal frame/skeleton structure…or at least metal pins used with every join like dowels but perhaps I’m under estimating the strength of the materials and joins. Good luck guys. 😊

[@simonstapletondotcom]

This is amazing. Can't wait to see the final product. Keep it white, AND add the metallic flake.

[@raggersragnarsson6255]

Such an iconic shape of retro futurism type cabinet for the game. I was born in 71 and I never saw this machine in the wild. Its beautiful. Now I can at some when I visit at last. Amazing 3d work from the master himself. Good luck with the rest of the project. As if you don't already have enough to do lol. But this is a very special moment for sure. Well done everyone so far. Awesome times ahead. Makes my boring day a little better too!

[@retrogameon]

Fantastic! This is the coolest project I've seen in a long time.

[@lawrencemanning]

Soylent Green! There somone said it. 😂

[@Banderpop]

Yup. Lots of angles of Computer Space and you even see the game running with the panel beneath the screen lit up!

[@From_Heller]

What an amazingly beautiful project guys. Congratulations and all the best. I am partial to any of the glittery colors of the commercial machines, mostly red or yellow, but I'm sure any color you choose will end up looking perfect.

[@peterwarner9572]

I think painting it in the yellow metaflake paint of the cabinet in the advert, with a poster sized print of the advert alongside it will make sure people understand what the cabinet is and the context of the time when it was new. Whatever you do, it'll look great I'm sure!

[@pajaco6502]

in-chuffing-credible!! I cannot wait for the next part!! but honestly getting this as close to the original as possible (yellow/gold) would be the way I would go and then wait for people's jaws (even more) to drop at the archive when they realise it's a replica =)

[@Ur11]

Great job, Richard! I agree with others that the next phase would be to use that as a base / master pattern for creating subsequent fiberglass moldings, after all you've done the hardest part!

[@thepillock]

15:00 I need to know how much filament was used but I don't understand kilometers, miles or furlongs. How many Rees of filament were used?

[@raegun]

Great work! Some things to make your next endeavor a bit easier: Infill is often optional if you just increase the perimeter count(wall thickness). At a certain point, infill becomes only really useful as wall support on certain wall curves and shapes, but with the amount of smoothing you'd have to do anyway, you can skip a lot of it. Lightning infill can also be useful for some of that and would as a result use far less filament. You can always fill with expanding foam if the hollow sound annoys you. For very large gaps, even spackle can work on big parts. Especially if you follow up with automotive filler primer. Tho resin coating definitely wins the smoothness award. Finally, 3D goop is neat in that it chemically welds, but superglue bonds are usually stronger than most layer joins anyways, so you don't have to goop it all :)

[@bazza5699]

how clever is richard? the man's a machine.. respect

[@RetroWK]

Wow! I love these types of projects. Very well done! Looking forward to part 2.

[@JayPase]

❤ this faithful re-creation of the 1st Arcade cabinet ever in history! I was thinking with the 89 pieces how this could be turned into a business model for a Lego like home arcade cabinet line that you build yourself. The licensing would probably never work but one can dream 😌

[@poqeteer]

I remember that game. I played it up in Reno, NV while my parents gambled. I got pretty good at it. Got it to go to the white screen. Probably the only game I was actually good at. Nice video. Maybe now I have a reason to buy a 3D printer... Or 20... Or not. BTW I seem to remember the one I played was red, but that was 50+ years ago.

[@MichaelTavel]

Amazing project! 695 hours to print on those Prusa bedslingers! Ugh. Time for some pritner upgrades for the next one! :D I definitely want to stop by and check this place out and see this machine in person! Thanks for the sponsorship Heber!

[@kelvin1316]

I don't know how I worked making 3D models in Sketchup now that I am using an online CAD service. Seriously makes producing models so much easier, especially where you have hard angles.

[@MarcKloos]

Nothing wrong with a replica. I have about every model of ZX Spectrum and couldn't find a Samsung SPC-650 (back then Samsung made Spectrums for Sinclair, they also sold them under their own name). Since I only found photos of it, I made a replica with a custom Letraset logo and a professionally printed bottom sticker. Not as impressive as this Computer Space cabinet but I'm chuffed because it looks the part! (If someone does have this Samsung, contact me! If only to confirm the innards of said micro)

[@Jef_Vermassen]

Heber is fricking awesome. So glad that you and Neil have access to that knowhow.

[@kins749]

The most epic project I've seen in a long time, simply amazing. My vote for YELLOW

[@GoodwinsPlace]

It looks amazing. Such a talent to sculpt something with so many curves just from images. Metallic red would be my choice.

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Red is my favourite too, thanks Craig

[@gunier.j.kintgenanimations]

Silly question: Are you going to be using a B&W CRT screen for the game? On color CTR's, there's a grid behind the glass called the Mask, which is used to separate the Red, Green, & Blue electron beams. If you use one of those screens, the image it'll produce will always be limited to 480p, regardless if the signal is raster or not.

[@PeterMountUK]

As I said on the early access - WOW, did not expect entire cab to be printed!

[@Ariannus]

Great work, can't wait to see this finished. I'd personally go for Red, I think that it's the best looking of the original colors.

[@Slim_Chiply]

The metallic colors are really cool, but because Soylent Green had such an impact on me in my formative years, I have to go with white.

[@CASFAN]

That’s a really impressive project, but factoring in the time and cost, I do wonder whether building a wooden last (or lasts) and using GRP would be a better option (and more authentic to the original). Making the wooden last(s) would have been tricky and taken a lot of time, but once done, producing the cabinets would have been relatively easy. Still that is an outstanding project and a superb result 😊.

[@SianaGearz]

A vague rule of thumb is that if you take a certain length of standard filament, this means the 3d printer toolheads laid about 10 times the lengh of bead of molten plastic, at least that would be so for 0.55mm wide bead. 0.6mm bead is a little less bead length, 0.4mm a fair bit more just about double. So let's say 45km in 700 hours, gives you average print speed of around 15h per kilometer or 18mm/s. That seems a little slow, but if you lose half the time in acceleration and deceleration and half in non-print moves, heat up and cooldown, it's perhaps not so far off. Certainly potential to run faster. If i had to print it in a short time on a single printer, i would make single wall prints, possibly epoxy reinforcement paper on the inside, and then expanding construction foam fill.

[@ClassicTrialsChannel]

If its not already been said. there is a Yellow one of these in the video by Cornershop - Brimful Of Asha

[@Kikay0n]

I was wondering if you could work a puzzle like key into each piece so that lining them up and joining the bits would be easier in future? I’ve never 3D printed anything so forgive me if that’s a silly question. :) Awesome video!

[@SaintKaede]

Absolutely incredible. It's a great idea and I have no more words than that. I hope one day I can see it in person. I know there are a lot of suggestions of colors for it and I don't truly mind the color just that it has the game it represents such a moment in arcade and gaming as a whole either way. Since you asked though I have THREE picks 1. Maybe the most made color if there is one. 2. The least made color so there is now one more of that. 3. If there was an original prototype or color that the two guys though it should be in the end. Cheers everyone and I hope to visit one day.

[@TheJamiepaterson]

What an awesome project! I vote for the blue metallic

[@battonfive]

Great job! Really impressive design and construction. Nailed it 🙂

[@retro_reflections]

Absolutely extraordinary work, much respect to Richard - can't wait to see this beauty complete and working! (And my vote is for the electric red paintjob!)

[@jasongooden917]

I just got my first 3D printer 2 weeks ago and this man has an army of them... 😳

[@ichi1681]

I agree with some of the other comments, make a mould from the 3d printed cabinet and then make the final cabinet out of fibreglass. For the cabinet paint finish, have a look at house of kolor as they have a lot of metallic paint that might match the original colours.

[@SpaciesArcade]

Alex, this is mind blowing! I saw the title and I'm like seriously WTF!....WOW just WOW!

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks Gregg, hope your well mate

[@DrMrProfessorPatrick]

This absolutely remarkable! I've actually been wanting to build my own Computer Space replica for years (since the cost of an original is prohibitive), specifically the green 2 players one, and I'm amazed at how this turned out! I hope Richard will make his model available online. Would love to tackle this project myself.

[@therushden]

that Richard, he's as clever as a chap with three heads!

[@MarshalArnold]

Wow, that is very impressive! Great job!!

[@GeorgesChannel]

Great video! Well i favour the white one, because i remember the machine from the movie "Soylent Green", but the ancient Greeks always placed their Temples in that way, that they also took the surounding environment into the consideration. So i suggest, depending where you place and show off the machine (lighting, which arcades will be next) you should choose the appropiate color.

[@richardloxley]

I vote for yellow, like in the classic flyer. Or original white would also look nice. But excellent work, and it will look great whatever you decide!

[@Alibm80]

Magnificent British engineering

[@wolfbeast80]

Computer Space, honestly, is one of the arcade technological milestones, and it preceded Space Invaders by 7 years! I'm looking forward to exploring this one. The 70s wasn't only the decade of experimentation but of innovation, so much magic happened then in the arcade and music industries 😊 3D printing the Archives own Computer Space, well, all the more reasons to visit, can't wait to set foot in the door 😀

[@MrBaskins2010]

love how youtube knows i've been printing for ten years but insists on showing me "prank videos" instead of something wild like this

[@bazodee2]

Boss level tinkering.

[@hadesmcc]

This is astonishing, great work!

[@pdrg]

Glitter-style - wonder if you can borrow the old fairground sign-writer "flambuoyant" paint style - they used to paint silver then a transparent coloured overpaint, perhaps coating in glitter then a transparent, tinted overpaint?

[@dmcmoose]

Oh Richard is sooo sneaky. How on earth did he keep all this hidden from the rest of the gang? Well done, heck of a job!

[@SobieRobie]

You are in UK, make it racing green.... or union jack style!

[@nigeltrigger4499]

It is such an iconic design. It reminds me of the 1960's bubble TV

[@DaveRepairs]

richard well done and I can see your getting more and more involved with KZbin which is a good thing, very well done. If anything, I am thinking the Yellow colour and might not need to sparkle it, although if you did sparkle then maybe the Blue as it won't fade like the Red. However the less risk colour would be Yellow as your eyes don't detect varations in Yellow colours unlike other colours. Perhaps, you need a Car-shop sprayer involved at this stage and maybe put a request out for one for an advert !

[@RetroRicc]

Wow, wow, wow. This is just incredible. Mind = Blown

[@LeeFiero]

So beautiful! It must be white! Next one can be any color you want..

[@CaptNRetro]

This channel is fantastic

[@TheArcadeArchive]

Thanks mate, hope your well

[@johnknight9150]

I think it would be a bit pointless to go to all that effort of authenticity and then put a personal spin on it. I'd personally go for that simple stock yellow, which is going to look much more iconic.

[@AntneeUK]

I don't think I ever realised that the controls weren't centralised until I saw this

[@KennyTew2]

That’s brilliant! I don’t think it should be white though, I’d go for either yellow or red to match the originals as closely as possible