The Rebel Unit

Cthulhu visited in special attire for me this year to wish you all a very Merry Xmas and Happy Holidays.

How do you move a 1200 lb arcade machine safely? You do it in 1200 lbs of road cases of course!

So here's the unpacked brewery for The Rebel Unit. Yes, we will have home brewed beer on tap for our visitors and, ahem, employees. First brewing is this weekend. Wish us luck! And would Billy Carter be proud of us?

This is a test fitting for for the Pico Brew Z2. I was hoping it would fit here, but I was unsure. Well it can and does fit perfectly! I will build a table that will show off its dual brewing enclosures and lower kegs. Yes, soon you will be able to sample microbrew from The Rebel Unit when you visit!

Making crates for Viki. Yes, actual enormous road cases. Overkill, you betcha. I'm all about over-engineering.

What happened that's notable for The Rebel Unit over the weekend? Well Bari Jo, our President and CEO was honored with a trading card made of her from Walter Day. This card was given for bringing museum quality games to the pinball and arcade world. The ceremony was at The Museum of Pinball in Banning, which almost seems like our home away from home. Here's a few picts. Friends and family were also on hand for support. It was such a party. Thank you so much to Walter Day, John Weeks, Color Switch and everybody I'm probably missing.

Sometimes you've got to show an image to realize how awesome your project is. Hello Viki. Is she done yet? Nope, but she's getting closer!

Okay, I did very little beyond mounting the monitor today. Did I mention this is a 3D monitor? No, well they are cool when playing some games too. Anyway, I also just rested the control surface on top and also the GUI selection area for pictures. There's missing intelligent LCDs, brass plate, stained glass and light boards from the photos, but this is getting closer to completion. I hope the rest of you can share in my joy in seeing the progress. Does this not ooze quality too? Thanks goes out to my neighbor Phillip as we needed to move the base for room to mount the screen cautiously. The base probably weighs 350 lbs so it was a struggle!

In today's update, I've added the back, plus the footrest. Yup, that is a real brass footrest with custom designed and cast hardware. Also the wheel has its first test fitting of its wheel gearing. Wow is this awesome. The wheel turns using its own mechanisms!

And more work on Viki. I love putting this together. It's gets more beautiful with ever turn of a nut or bolt!

This year has been very tough for yours truly. However, I'm starting to get back into the swing of things and assembling Viki with the luxurious finished wood. She is beautiful and am hoping to bring her to Arcade Expo in the spring. Bari Jo

Here is the wheel in its alcove. Viki was designed with the dimensions of this space in mind. We also revamped the gallery just so Viki would feel natural in this space. Anyway with this there I can work on the main console.

We had to assemble the wheel early just so we could assemble the rest of Viki. What say you, AMAZING?

The Rebel Unit hosted a housewarming party last night for friends and neighbors. The community here is amazing and we christened the place with mezcal, whiskey and absinthe. Nothing is ordinary at the Rebel Unit!