Got my topper. I am happy with the sculpture and the art of it. The way it is installed seems like a prototype where it is okay to cover up a connector or have to assemble it while cables are plugged in at both ends. But I would have expected another rev to make it so it can be mounted and unmounted without disassembling the entire thing.
I am fixing that problem. I replaced the ethernet cable with 2 ethernet cables and a coupler. I cut the power cable and the 2 beacon power cables and installed some connectors. Now I can work on it off the machine and easily mount/unmount it if I need to move the machine or something.
The part I have not figured out yet is how to mount it without double-stick tape, velcro, or any glue. I think replacing the screws that hold the acrylic faceplate on with longer screws that go through into the top of the backbox is one option. Ideally, I would use nuts and bolts and no more of these self-tapping screws for things that may have to go on and off.
I can laser cut (or carefully drill) some new holes in the acrylic if I need to. The front two existing holes would hit the front bezel for the translite, so they would have to be wood screws. I will post what I wind up doing.
Both of the xeno's arms are way mismatched. They are basically royal blue and the body is grey-blue, and the tail is sky-blue. It's a bit nuts and it looks like she is wearing some arm length gloves, I guess she is a queen. I will write Lior and PB about it.
The only real problem I have is that my base is warped. It does not sit flat. I can get it assembled because the backdrop when tightened (although not too much with those threaded inserts being weak) holds it straight. I can lean into the warp if I put some spacers on the back and tilt it forward, then you can't see the gap that the warp causes. I am going to try heating it a bit and clamping it to a piece of plywood to try to straighten it out.
Also, the xeno tongue hangs out the side, looking like a puppy with side tongue. I will likely just glue it in straight.
And the tail drags along the head when it moves. Probably because of the warp. I have not played the game yet, but in test mode it can move to the positions, but it does move the head a bit. We'll see once I get the base straightened. I can also put a spacer on the rear head mount to lean it forward a bit.
One mod I am going to try is to put some red diffuser plastic over the front led strip. Maybe it will make the blue alien look darker and kill that reflection off the side edge of the acrylic.
Pretty cool thing it is, just posting what I am doing in case it helps. Besides the warp, it's all good and I am mostly playing around.
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