Will wait patiently for your hypersleep chamber mod...looked very cool.

Upfitting an entire apron assembly into my game this weekend to give a nice workout to the electronics. Want to get as much finished and tested, so when the final metal component arrives, I'm done.

If I can get this installed and tested on bourbon night, my confidence is high it's as simple as I can get it...

Good to see your post Lior!!..and thank you for being a part of this custom project....sounds quite nice and exclusive...

Lots happening, and looks like I'll get these just in time....

A brief post with some updates:

a) A fully built lighting harness, laced appropiately, with all strobe effects has been running in my machine for a week...zero failures or impact on the game in anyway (it's electrically isolated from any Heighway components). Design is deemed "approved", and strobe controllers are being assembled.

b) Fab shop making great progress w the steel side of things. This will be the final mock needed to show something on the thread. Will hope for some point next week.

c) Art is in progress and looks amazing. Well wishes go to liorillusion , as his country is currently being hit hard by the virus. Health and family first. He's had a tough go as of late.

d) 10 of the 25 wiring harnesses are complete.

e) All Motion trackers in-house

f) As I type tonight, there are 10 apron kits that have not been spoken for with a deposit (at least). Obviously means " 3 of the 13" have decided to secure one. I only say this as a fact, and not to encourage or pusuade anyone to make any decision they are not completely comfortable with. I'll show something when I can, and as soon as possible, but nothing will be rushed just for the sake of showing it here. There will be plenty of pics and a few videos after everything is done.

g) Not much shift in "the list".

h) There will be absolutely, positively, no way another run of these will happen (probably guessing I'm getting asked quite a bit). I emphasize this as there really weren't enough hours in my day to do even these 25. I'm so happy some will get one (including me), but that is going to do it. Not in the mod business and never will be. The work put into this to get everything as I wanted/ built out is staggering. Will reiterate that I own the CAD file, Electronic diagrams, art files, and mold from liorillusion when everything is said and done.

i) So appreciative of all involved in this build!!!!! Could not have pulled this off alone, for sure....amazing energy on this!!

Enjoy your Friday....mark

Spelling typos here and there...

Updates (no pics...sorry): you have esp dtowndobe ....

- Lior's sculpts in my hand

- All harnesses complete and tested

- Met w Don (grumpy machine guy) today to physically place all parts (Sculpt, Motion Tracker, Acrylics, Decals, etc.). Even he was blown away w how it was coming together. Hard to do with him, he never seems very excited about anything. I just stood back and looked for a bit as vision is rapidly turning into reality.

- The Acrylics we're 1/4" short on the verticals so need to be redrawn, cut. This is why (for me) it's so important to get a fully built mock complete in physical form. Probably an oversight on my end to not verify, but only adds a few days. I'll be back over there next Wednesday. I treat drawings as cartoons until the mock is built.

- All (and I mean all) build pieces in house and am working on instructions/ Apron cards now.. Packing and shipping now become a priority checklist.

- Promised I wasn't showing this until it was DONE, so bear with me. I can't (won't) rush at this stage. There are massive amounts of "stuff" and literally thousands of ft of harness/ interconnect cabling, etc. to bring this thing to production grade (in full OCD mode now). My intent is to have everything built and tested to simply drop in the metal as a build step, pack and ship.

- Believe all but 3 have deposits paid in, so as predicted, could be gone before they are shown here.

- When the mock is complete to my satisfaction on all fronts, I'll post it, along w video. Until then, we wait.

- You'll like what you see. Of this I am now certain...enjoy your evening...mark

Yea, realized 25 wasn't going to make everyone happy, but I'm not in the mod business. More happy to just share what I was doing in my game w a few others.

Thanks for the interest....should be more of a fun read when everything put together and can post alot of the stuff here.

I've built this batch in entirety from "the inside out" - harnesses, strobe controllers, acrylics, art, etc. Waiting on the freakin batch of actual steel to be delivered to assemble and show.

The whole project has taken a couple weeks longer than scheduled (added a feature, and 1 acrylic redo)....pics soon....very soon.......mark

Glowing, strobing, Killer art, and steel .....mark

Had to put something in here as I wait ( and wait) for final steel to assemble...

Partial of cabinet and playfield harnesses that have already been tested ( I knew the ping pong table would prove valuable at some point)..

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Lol....I thought about it. I'll share some tallys of final build ( mm of cabling, connectors, crimps, etc. not $$) that went into each one of these after it's been shown and they are gone. Sort of staggering. Your mod will be represented properly, that I can promise.....

The only mock in my posession at this point is an old rev, physically cut and bent, to confirm certain elelments.

You can use CAD, Solidworks, etc. to draw pretty pictures, but ultimitely the "steel must hit the road" as things have to fit perfectly.

I've had a working version of the harness you see in my game for almost 2 months, but I would tweak it, etc. then once finally happy, I used some of my employees (A/V Technicians....good ones) to build the lot of 25. Kneissl has done an absolutely amazing job with the actual strobe controller mech. Instructions and such are done.

In true steel fab land I've found its much harder to get them to pay attention to the little things that mean alot to me. Being a large shop, they are amazing, but the process has taken a bit longer than I had hoped (really not too bad, given what is happening). If you read through this thread you get an idea where I'm going. I can only say they have the final "living mock". When I get my first mini batch back for approval, I can share with all the elements (Lior's art, etched acrylics, finish, lighting, etc.) in action, the way it should be presented. Only way I'm comforatable showing it, and keeping my word w Lior that his work will only be revealed on the final product in the thread.

As much as it's killing me to wait, I'd rather do that than have any regrets on how it turned out. It will be shown here....soon. The apron itself is exceeding my vision, and worthy of the effort and the game itself.

Was at the main fab shop Thursday....still in line...steel is super slow ( I got bumped by some bins of steel getting rushed for some COVID assembly)....

Build is 100%, and they promised I'd have the lot in 4 weeks to ship.

I'll get something on here this week hopefully. Six week delay from my promised date is frustrating, for sure. Under estimated the snail pace of the world currently.

I figure the thread will be flaming soon enough. Tell your friend it is coming...

You're doing amazing things!!! While the wait can be agonizing at times, the final rev of this kit really exceeded what my vision was...suspect the delay will be the last thing on anyone's mind...

Sooooo close!!!! Once the cat is out of the bag, there will be many, fun and frustrating stories to be shared in the creation of this thing. It will be deserving of it's place on the game....

Nothing has stalled. The second comment sort of represents why I chose to not share the early part of the journey in the thread.

This was never about a competition (as I'm not competing), or "another apron" or whatever, rather what I was finally able to get built and be able to share with a few in the community. There is no other apron for me, this is what was going to happen and be built, regardless.

It quickly turned toxic for me to post regular updates here, and chose instead to post to a private owners group, who has been fiscally committed since day 1 (many have paid in full). The vast majority reached to me to secure their spot. Is what it is. There, I can post, get constructive input, and avoid the nonsense I knew would come by throwing it out here in the early stages.

These are sold (unless someone chooses to get out due to whatever), and I'm sorry that my approach had to shift.

To the owners group - you will see the final rev first, along w Lior (due to be assembled and shipped shortly after the Thanksgiving break...all 25 got built at once).

Lior's detail on the HR Giger inspired medallion is off the charts...the best I've seen from him (that says alot). The fabrication of the apron is absolutely perfect and mimics the original geometry perfectly, and the strobe....well, let's just say the engineering behind this was extremely solid and the effect devastating.

Acrylics and finish are different from this proto video in the final being made (obviously cards are glossy and just what I had...those change), and will post when I've got them boxed, ready to go.

Appreciate everyone's anticipation. I own the approx 60 day delay...had to get it right....mark

For this thread - I can share

Let the games begin....

Just the VE's

It turned better than I'd hoped/ envisioned, and the build exceeded expectations (they just make amazing stuff). Suspect you will enjoy the details when I post the one actually going out the door. Will give some shots of all the sides, lightboxes, attachment method, etc. Devil in the details as they say.

In fairness to the fab guys, I got pushed back a few times due to them making some pretty important COVID related parts first. The industry has had to be very fluid to keep up with whatever a company believed (believes) is needed. No way I was even going to hint that my project should keep it's place in line during this craziness. Grateful they were able to get it finished for me.

There's more to see......

We looked at several HR Giger pieces, and I loved that approach....imagine hand-sculpting, painting a resin inspired version to a 3" diameter w the level of detail Lior brought....crazy stuff!!!! A perfect medallion if I've ever seen one...

$625.00 donation to Pinside = check

Apron kits finished and being shipped = check

Black Zinc electroplating w Lior's sick hand sculpted, painted medallion inspired by HR Giger w his magic = off the charts!!! I have many powdered aprons, this different approach fit the theme perfectly.....

The wait, crazy time and effort was worth it. A couple pics, and I'll fire up the strobes/ lighting and post again in the next couple days.

A bit creepier acrylics installed - owners get these and the original Xenos

Thank you to the Alien community.....a bad ass game has gotten some much needed love....

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Hope you enjoyed some of the journey as much as I did!!! I'll post some of the build pics in the thread in the near future. Certainly wasn't about the $$$ ( whew) , but more of a purpose driven solution to an aspect of my favorite game.

I play the game often, as it's now quite solid. The apron kit really tied alot of things together for me, and was certainly a challenge fulfilled.

Most excited about being able to share it with a few...I'll anxiously await some pics...