Daviea
Permanently Banned - See: Ram Controls Forum Secti
Reproduction Missile Command 2.25" Mini & 4.5" Maxi Trackball Units by RAM Controls
I figured it was about time I show off the progress with the Missile Command 2.25" Mini Trackball units (for cabaret and cocktail games) and 4.5" MAXI Trackball units (for upright and cockpit games as well as all the Atari "sports" games: Football, 4-player Football, Basketball, Baseball and Soccer).
I've completed all of the aluminum parts (upper plates, lower plates, standoffs, bearing supports, etc) as well as the encoder shafts, balls, encoder wheels and retainer plate (plexiglass top plate). I made just enough of the radial encoders to ship 20 complete 4.5" trackball controllers, but I'm now waiting on the full production run before I ship anymore (few weeks).
- The aluminum top plates and bottom plates are made from 6061 T6 sheet aluminum, laser cut to perfection and line grained (gives it that cool brushed aluminum texture while cleaning up the laser slag).
- The 4.5" unit shafts are precision machined from stainless steel, precision ground and QC'd to hell and back.
- The 2.25" shafts are precision machined from steel, hardened, precision ground and QC'd to hell and back.
- The 4.5" unit encoder wheels are made from 90A polyurethane material. A little soft, but nearly impossible to break, unlike the OEM counterparts. If those fingers get caught on anything, the OEM ones snap off easily. The repro ones? Noway. Perfection!
- The 2.25" unit encoder wheels are precision etched stainless steel parts, nearly identical to the OEM counterparts. Originals worked great, no need to change this one.
- The balls (both 2.25" and 4.5") are both made by the OEM who made them for Atari, so these are original parts, no even reproductions, really. Perfection again!!
- The other aluminum parts are dead-on matches to OEM counterparts, all made from 6061 T6 aluminum bar stock, precision machined to spec.
- The acrylic (plexiglass) retainer plate is not pictured, but it's precision laser cut and then put through a secondary machining to get the countersinks and inside bevel. They look SO nice!
All in all, this will be a nice addition to the line-up of reproduction controllers offered by RAM Controls.
The following pics were taken tonight right before this post. I decided to show off some of my very latest work to keep you guys interested. Check out the pics.
I figured it was about time I show off the progress with the Missile Command 2.25" Mini Trackball units (for cabaret and cocktail games) and 4.5" MAXI Trackball units (for upright and cockpit games as well as all the Atari "sports" games: Football, 4-player Football, Basketball, Baseball and Soccer).
I've completed all of the aluminum parts (upper plates, lower plates, standoffs, bearing supports, etc) as well as the encoder shafts, balls, encoder wheels and retainer plate (plexiglass top plate). I made just enough of the radial encoders to ship 20 complete 4.5" trackball controllers, but I'm now waiting on the full production run before I ship anymore (few weeks).
- The aluminum top plates and bottom plates are made from 6061 T6 sheet aluminum, laser cut to perfection and line grained (gives it that cool brushed aluminum texture while cleaning up the laser slag).
- The 4.5" unit shafts are precision machined from stainless steel, precision ground and QC'd to hell and back.
- The 2.25" shafts are precision machined from steel, hardened, precision ground and QC'd to hell and back.
- The 4.5" unit encoder wheels are made from 90A polyurethane material. A little soft, but nearly impossible to break, unlike the OEM counterparts. If those fingers get caught on anything, the OEM ones snap off easily. The repro ones? Noway. Perfection!
- The 2.25" unit encoder wheels are precision etched stainless steel parts, nearly identical to the OEM counterparts. Originals worked great, no need to change this one.
- The balls (both 2.25" and 4.5") are both made by the OEM who made them for Atari, so these are original parts, no even reproductions, really. Perfection again!!
- The other aluminum parts are dead-on matches to OEM counterparts, all made from 6061 T6 aluminum bar stock, precision machined to spec.
- The acrylic (plexiglass) retainer plate is not pictured, but it's precision laser cut and then put through a secondary machining to get the countersinks and inside bevel. They look SO nice!
All in all, this will be a nice addition to the line-up of reproduction controllers offered by RAM Controls.
The following pics were taken tonight right before this post. I decided to show off some of my very latest work to keep you guys interested. Check out the pics.

