Waiting for laser cut parts, prepping what I got.

Umbilical quick release connector - gotta take some measurements for the cap.  I am trying to decide if I want to pay for a USB cable that is just a little longer than the one I have.  I kinda want the umbilical to be exactly what I want when I put it together because there are a lot if pieces that go into it and I don't want to regret one of the 3 cables being a little too short.  But it's a little wasteful.

This was painted black with chrome hardware. I sanded it down and stained it, and applied some gun blue to the hardware to darken it nicely. I figure there should be part of the terminal that has a little natural beauty to it.  This photo is terrible.

Laser cut aluminum pieces for terminal arrived today! Have to dismantle and check fit before paint. I already know I need to drill one of the holes a little.

Here's the updated umbilical. Hand twisted 3 cables 10 feet each, 8 feet after the twisting into a single cable. Ends wrapped with wax string and a fun synthetic pink stuff I found at the local used art supply store that I couldn't resist. I don't know how to do cool wrapping where the ends are invisible so there's electrical tape holding it together. I'm not too bothered about the Russian military quick release connector failure, as I think this looks pretty nice as well and is much more solid.

This is the failed Russian military connector. The hdmi cable was quite difficult to take apart and map to the pins, and I was very proud when I put it together for the first test and it was successful. Then I added the relatively simple usb connections and they worked just fine but the hdmi connection failed at that point. I troubleshot it for a while and then gave up. It never felt that secure anyway, I always felt like it was a single jolt away from coming apart at any moment. The white stuff is "liquid electrical tape" I added it to improve stiffness and prevent shorting between wires. It was great except making a mess when troubleshooting. Sad to see this sitting on the reject shelf but onward and upward! I may come back to it in the future.