Team Fortress 2 Dispenser Mod

Standing Tall

Again, time for a quick check to make sure that the body of the Dispenser is standing right and that it's all nicely balanced and secure.

It's extra-super important at this stage that the monitor doesn't wobble - if the nuts are loose or poorly fixed then it'll be a nightmare to try and refit it all again later.

The most obvious problem judging from the look of the case at this point is that the bezel of the monitor is plainly visible - it needs to be hidden if this mod is to end up as perfect as it is intended to.

To this end, some simple plexi is again cut out to measure and then fitted into place. There's no bending or heating required this time, just some nice flat frames. They still have to be exactly right through - there's no room for error when screen space is involved!

Once the plexiglass LCD frame is cut off and fitted into place, as you can see in the quick test-fit below, it's time to start thinking about the decorations.


Team Fortress 2 has gone through several design revisions over time and though Valve's Raising The Bar book, which gives a precise history and insight into the making of Counter Strike and Half-Life 2, tells us that Team Fortress 2 was intended to have a gritty and urbanised look, what we actually ended up with was something quite different.

Of course, you can't just buy decals and stickers with these images and logos on. If you could then everyone would be slapping them on their cases and claiming it was a mod. What I did in the end was get a bunch of custom vinyl decals made and then applied them by hand.

After this amount of work had gone into the body of the Dispenser, we imagine his hands were shaking with nervousness! - Ed


After the first custom vinyl stickers have been added in, it's time to move on to the knobs and buttons that make up the front of the device. It's from these that, in the fictional gaming world of Team Fortress 2, your character would order all the weapons, health and ammo that they need.

Of course, that's a far cry from real life. In the game what you actually do is stand next to the Dispenser while your pockets fill up for you - but these details are important nonetheless.