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CONSTRUCTION
NOTES:
(Last Updated 06/01/06)
This is our very first offering
since we've opened up our doors for business. Our design is a
modified version of James Marous original design. Our modifications
include zinc plated base, hard anodized black aluminum top plate
with intricate details, universal PCB mount and translucent
roller.
Our initial prototype, which was
an exact duplicate of the original design, took 2 weeks to
produce. From that point, design changes were discussed before
attempting a second prototype unit (which has since become known as
the pre-final
production model). This model included every update and
modification found in the
final unit with the
exception of the translucent roller, hard anodizing and mounted lamp
underneath the frame.
The final unit is
a "beautiful piece of workmanship", according to several
outside sources. The first thing you will notice is the sleek black top plate and the glossy finish of the translucent
roller. It's truly a perfect match for a game as special as
Major Havoc.
The
encoder PCB bracket is a logical progression from the original
two-piece design. The one-piece design we've incorporated is a
"retrofit" part which means it will fit all previous
versions of the repro controller, provided it was based on the same
design released by James Marous. Features of this
"upgrade" are as follows: Compatible with the newest
Happ Controls "RED" boards (with all the surface mount
parts close to the edge) as the two-piece design will damage the RED
boards, installs very easily (if you ever tried to reassemble
the two-piece bracket, you'll see the benefit here), compatible with
RAM Controls custom encoder PCB's when made available. The
top plate being made from aluminum is a major upgrade. No
previous repro builders were willing to take on the higher cost
associated with manufacturing this part from aluminum. The
benefits of this material are many. It's not prone to
cracking, breaking or melting unlike it's plastic counterpart.
The harder material allows extra detail to be incorporated into the
design. The small rounded sections at each end of the roller
are much closer in detail to the original production roller used in
Major Havoc. The hard black anodizing adds a beautiful sleek
finish to the plate. The
translucent roller is the single most important upgrade to our
design. It clearly sets ours apart from any previous attempt
to recreate this controller. The translucent roller was an
incredibly elusive item to produce correctly. We first sampled an acrylic
material which gave us the closest color match using a non-original
material. We then tried
several color mixes of urethane which gave us a similar feel and
weight, but the color and texture were off. Finally, after
months of digging through our archives, we were
able to locate the OEM for the original roller that Atari
used. This enabled us to produce an
*exact* match for the original roller which is perfect on all
accounts, material, color and size. It's all within original
Atari spec. This means the part is
essentially, "OEM" You won't find a better
replacement roller than this one. The best part about this
being OEM is that the roller will install in an original Major Havoc
controller and all previous reproduction controllers.
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