TTA Games, Back from hibernation!

[charlieram]

Hi everyone, I have read a lot of the projects on here and it finally inspire me to create my own. It is very loosely based on Vewlix/Naomi cabs but it is stand-up not sit down. I wanted a slim design so have used an 26" LCD TV which i got for £95 from a mate.
 It is Built using 18mm MDF whilst the side panels are 2 pieces glued together, I put 6mm insert nuts into the inner Panels before gluing them together so now it can be Disassembled into its main components for filling, painting and if needed to fit in a car and easily assembled again after without showing any bolts. The main components are Control panel, Left and Right panels, PC/Sub box and Marquee.
I have recessed the control panel to fit 2mm thick plexi so it now sits flush. I just need to decide on a design for the overlay to go under the plexi and on the marquee, It will be Beat em up inspired but I don't know how yet. Progress will be a bit slower now (it's took me 3 weeks to get here) as I am in germany next week and camping in Ashbourne the week after.
Here's some Pics, I never took as many as i should but hopefully when i strip it down to start the sealing, filling and spraying I will take some more but as ever I might just get carried away .
Please let me know what you think.

[charlieram]

Some more pics showing the nut inserts,Inner side panels connected to the control panel and kick panel and PC box

[charlieram]

this is about the state of play at the minute but the rear Panels are now done but not took a picture of it yet. I had to tidy up the game room/shed !!!

Views from the front and back

[RetroGreg]

Awesome! I love these type of cabs. Can't wait to see it finished.   

[Epyx]

I like it a lot...very sleek. Looks like you could still sit on barstools if you wanted to. 

[charlieram]

I like it a lot...very sleek. Looks like you could still sit on barstools if you wanted to. 

Yep, I made the top of the CP 900mm from the base so it is the same as my breakfast bar, my youngest lad may need to use one of these.

Question, the monitor bezel is 6mm thick MDF and I am not sure whether to recess the back and put in some smoked plexi , I got my other sheets from ThePlasticPeople but they dont seem to do this on their site so does anyone know a cheap UK suplier and would this be ok with a LCD monitor or should i just leave it as is?
Another question about speakers this time, I was just gonna buy a semi decent 2.1 speaker system and mount the speakers behind and then use 4" speaker grills like these to cover the holes http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/phonocar-100mm-grilles.html , what do you think should i get these or go with speaker cloth (not sure how I would attach the speaker cloth though)

[drventure]

Nice job! I like the proportions.

[Epyx]

To partially answer your two questions:

Question, the monitor bezel is 6mm thick MDF and I am not sure whether to recess the back and put in some smoked plexi

I personally like a slightly smoky plexi/glass cover over the bezel. 1) it hides any imperfections in the mdf bezel and 2) it gives it a sleek pro finish that would compliment the rest of your design.

I was just gonna buy a semi decent 2.1 speaker system and mount the speakers behind and then use 4" speaker grills like these to cover the holes http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/phonocar-100mm-grilles.html , what do you think should i get these or go with speaker cloth (not sure how I would attach the speaker cloth though)

Hmmm normally I would just go with speaker grilles but for your design I think cloth would look better. For a great method of applying the cloth, take a look at Pixelhugger's Mission Control Project on page 35...that would look great for your purpose imo.  Using this method you could really contour/shape the speaker grille to fit the rest of the design.

[charlieram]

Thanks for the advice Epyx your really making me think now, do you mean cover the whole bezel with plexi?, had a play with Sketchup tonight and i was thinking of maybe a long speaker fabric across the top and then Smoked plexi the rest of the way down which leads to more questions!! what darkness should i be looking for when using an LCD, just found a website that sell smoked plexi but they mention 71% Transmission, the lower the number the darker it is, Now the biggie, You will see no screws or bolts on the cabinet unless you take a peek round the back so how to fit the plexi to the MDF bezel?? there isn't enough room to router a slotway like i did for the marquee.

[Epyx]

You will see no screws or bolts on the cabinet unless you take a peek round the back so how to fit the plexi to the MDF bezel??

I would use a combination of gravity and some type of outter trim you put on the back of the plexi. So maybe an outter strip of vinyl that surrounds the inner perimeter of the plexi (so the side of the plexi inside the cab has an outer rectangle of vinyl). On the back of that you could put strips of industrial velcro and hold it in place against strips of mdf on the inner cab sides.  Your cab is thin enough that removing the plexi bezel could be done from the back when needed to be removed, not the front. That way the front can be kept to look flush with no obvious holds etc for removing the plexi.

As for the speaker, great idea for placement...that could look really good.

[Flip The Switch]

Not sure if thats a mock up? but it needs a bigger screen!!

[charlieram]

Not sure if thats a mock up? but it needs a bigger screen!!

I know what you mean, I thought the exact same thing when I put it in, it's amazing how much smaller a 26" tv screen looks when it's surrounded by a mass of MDF. Unfortunately I don't think I will be able to pursuade my better half about getting a bigger tv, not to mention the lack of space, the internal width of the cab is 750mm and afaik LCD's go from 26" to 32". Hopefully when I open out the bezel a bit more to fit the screen better, instal some plexi and speakers it won't look too small, i mean 26" tv should be more than big enough don't ya think?

[Epyx]

Once you have the speaker fabric grille like you planned up there it will help with the size of the TV...I think using that space for the speaker is going to be key to balancing out the look and dimensions of the tv...but that is just my opinion.  I really don't think you need a larger tv.

[carljackson47]

Wow, you are surely a wood whisperer! The design was great, they look so neat despite the number wires you should hide. I wonder if your design is applicable for CRT tubes because I am thinking If I can use our antique TV.

[charlieram]

So got a bit more work done this weekend and i figured out how to mound the plexi with no bolts... I think. I have widened the guide slot where the bezel originally sat by 3mm so now the bottom of the plexi will be held in place by that, for the top I am going to sandwich it between the bevel and bar speaker that will go across the top, the speaker bar will have T-nuts inserted and glued before being covered with cloth which will allow me to bolt it in from behind with 3 screws, hopefully it won't bow out in the middle. started sealing the panels and filling holes in the CP too which made me think do I want to spend this much time painting everything and the answer is no so the PC/sub box will now be covered in Fablon as will the kick panel and screen bezel (which will be covered by smoked plexi anyway).
Here's some pics of the underside of the CP and some of me Prepping it for painting

[charlieram]

If anyone has sprayed MDF before can the tell me if I can spray primer onto the surfaces if they look like the above pictures or will I need to reseal the MDF? anyway some more pics of the side panels and the speaker bar taking shape. Can't do any more to that until I get my speakers and plexi as i will sandwich the plexi with the bezel and speaker bar before cutting any holes for mounting and speakers.

[charlieram]

Last Post until I get back from Stuttgart, just a few more pics really and to apologise for the quality of them, broke my camera in a drunken accident (Dropped it on the lens!!) so the iPhone will have to do for now, The PC box doesn't sit flush with the kick panel, it is roughly 2" back so air can travel under the gap at the bottom then through that 2" gap and will be vented out via 2 120mm fans on top of the rear panel of the PC box.

[charlieram]

Not got much done this week, other commitments but I am still active on this, It may take a few months as i dont want to rush it. I have sprayed the CP with filler primer and it is ready for its top coat, it will be sprayed white gloss as will the side panels and top and bottom marquee holders, I have decided on using carbon fibre effect on the kick panel, PC Box and Marquee behind the tinted perspex. I have spent a few hours on my CPO and even though it isn't finished I would like opinions on whether I am going in the right direction, is it too busy? do i need more characters or what? I am planning on adding a Soul Edge/Caliber or Dead or alive logo + Characters too but I am no artist and I have spent what seems like an age starting and restarting this TINY? part of the project.

opinions much appreciated good or bad, Thanks

[charlieram]

Ok so no comments  What about this one is it better, do you think I need any more on it?

[borals]

I like both.

Personally I prefer the second, the first feels a bit empty, although I'm sure someone will feel the exact opposite thinking the second is too cluttered. Can't go wrong with either.


Awesome cab, I can't wiat to see it finished.

I have a 4 player cab of my own with a pretty standard design, but I am going to make one in this cabs image for vertical shooter games.

DAMN SWEET!@

[Roo]

I like the CP art overall design, but I think it's sorta got that "random-arcade-characters-pasted-on" look.  I'm sorry if that seems harsh, I'm not trying to be mean!  It's just that the rest of your work looks so professional, it makes me want to hold the art to higher standards!   

My suggestion would be to tie the art together with a theme.  Fighting franchise X vs. Y (or x/cross as the kiddies are calling it these days!) is always popular, maybe you could pick two of your favorite and go that route?

Heh - check this out
http://shoryuken.com/content/street-fighter-cross-tekken-cross-dance-dance-1489/

[Rick]

My suggestion would be to tie the art together with a theme.  Fighting franchise X vs. Y (or x/cross as the kiddies are calling it these days!) is always popular, maybe you could pick two of your favorite and go that route?

I'm with Roo on this one - with a twist.  I'd LOVE to see a matchup of a fighting franchise with some 'non-fighting franchise'...  ...and something better than Super Smash Bros does.  Something like Street Fighter vs. The Smurfs, or something.

 

[leapinlew]

I agree regarding the artwork. The MK symbol being off center throws it off too.

Have you considered ditching the logos and using just the characters supersized? I like that look. I attached a oversimplified sample to give you some ideas in case you wanted to try that kind of artwork.  

Good luck, it's coming along nicely.

[charlieram]

Thanks for the input, oh well back to the drawing board for me then. I was thinking of ditching the MK stuff anyway, I will have to try and find some Hi Res Pics of characters and see what I can do, Spent most of my day filling and sanding, How tedious and boring that is, seems like I have been doing it for ages. I will have to draw a line somewher and start the spraying because as understanding as my missus is she thinks I am spending far to much time on a "What is it then?!?!?"

Cheers all, I will try and get a few examples up and maybe we can have a vote?

[charlieram]

A little update, all the panels that are being painted have now been filled and primed ready for spraying thank god so hopefully the build will speed up a little now, This has been the most time consuming part and probably still isn't 100% but it's the best I can do. I had to order some new spade connectors as I ordered the wrong size previously so now I can start my wiring loom for the CP, speaker mesh is now on order and paint will arrive tommorow as will the smoked plexi so I can also start routing speaker holes. I have decided to go for logitech X240 2.1 speakers, I have redone my CPO and I am pretty pleased with it, I could only really find decent images (that I liked) of VF characters so that is what I am going with and the 'Fight' is just to break up the empty space in the middle, I have Christened the machine 'TTA Games' which are my 3 lads initials. Heres some more pics

[Roo]

I like!  It's all looking great!  The CP box looks factory made and the artwork is awesome!

[charlieram]

I Got the CP panel wired up today and tried it out in mame, worked first time but i'm not sure about the buttons, they are very clicky, hopefully they will wear a bit or maybe I could deaden the sound with some fabric? Just as I thought things were progressing well disaster struck  I noticed part of the primer on the CP had cracked and upon further inspection it appears to not have bonded with the surface below and i was able to peel off about 40mm square, I am not sure why this happened but I think it may have been caused by the MDF sealer I used before priming. I now know that if you use a filler primer then there is no need to use a sealer, oh well we live and learn and this is all new to me.
One last thing before I go and strip my CP again! I don't know how you guys make your wiring look so neat in your CP's, Kudos to you all, my effort is below. Hopefully I can get it looking neater once the CP is sprayed and lined

[Roo]

Ah, I soooo feel your pain.  I thought I was all set with my primer base coat once upon a time...  then I added the laminate.  When I went to trim off the excess laminate I completely messed up the paint job.

Keep your chin up, your work so far looks amazing!!!    

I haven't got to the wiring yet myself.  I'm sure I'll be thinking of your comments when I do...  "How the heck do they make this look so easy on the forums???"

[charlieram]

Thanks for the encouragement Roo, I have just been reading your build post (very nice BTW) and it is certainly good to know the gods aren't just out to get me it's just that the filling and priming part was my least enjoyable and time consuming bit so far and I was really glad that it was finished, just noticed another crack in the primer so I think I am going to have to sand it back to bare MDF to get it to key in, Damn that MDF sealer
I need to keep posting progress on here to keep me on the straight and narrow otherwise I know I will just rush it and regret it later like I did with my first half hearted attempt to build a racing cab. I decided to cover that one with Fablon vinyl and it never really worked out which is why I decided to paint this one.

[R1V3R5]

Great looking cab. Really a Vewlix meets Naomi, and it totally works! Looks really, really great. 

Just wondering, how wide are the side support beams at the smallest spot? Because I want to build a Delta clone (sans the extra screen) and I'm concerned about depth when mounting an LCD.

[charlieram]

Great looking cab. Really a Vewlix meets Naomi, and it totally works! Looks really, really great.  

Thanks a lot, They were my inspiration for this cab, I'm glad you can see the inspiration.

Just wondering, how wide are the side support beams at the smallest spot?

The narrowest part of the side panels is 140mm where the marquee is. I am including my sketchup model so you can take measurements or if anyone else wants to use the design feel free to modify it as you please, There are no structural supports in this model so you will have to figure it out yourself or just ask me what I used or would use differently in the future, the only difference between my cab and sketchup is the PC/Sub box which i made bigger for a number of reasons, mainly more structural support for the side panels but also to keep more distance between the sub and PC components (if the sub is small enough it could go behind the kick panel above the pc box instead). There are also no guideways for the marquee or bezel but that should be easy enough to work out.
Anyway enough chatting got to go and start spraying before the rain comes again heres the sketchup design with a sneak peak at one of the CPO/Marquee designs.

Why is it when it don't rain little flys decide to land on my paint!! now its raining so god knows when i'll finish, Good ol british weather!!

[charlieram]

So, the painting is all done ..........Sort of and I can finally get on with build. I need to make a new screen bezel as the one I made before wasn't square??? When I got my Plexi and offered them up they were out by a couple of mm on on side so over the weekend that will be my job, New bezel and speaker bar and hopefully get that bit done and also cover the PC box, Once that's done I can order my PC components, mount the speakers and mic plugs (wifes Karaoke bribe) and whatever else I forgot. heres some more pics

[R1V3R5]

Looking good!

Wait.... those aren't ball tops!?!?! Booooo!


Still looks good though! 


Also, I totally didn't read your original post where you said it was inspired by Vewlix and Naomi cabs. Then I said it felt like a hybrid of those two exact cabs! Hahaha! Only goes to show that you and I have great taste in arcade cabs. 

[Roo]

Damn, that's looking sweet!

The CP turned out really nice IMO!

[charlieram]

So, back again, I got the speaker bar,bezel and plexi mounted yesterday and today I covered the PC box and fitted some reflective rapping paper, speakers and light for the marquee.
The reflective wrapping paper was something my wife brought home the other day to wrap a B/Day present for one of my kids Friends, she had some leftover and I borrowed (read stole!!) it from her I then needed to find a cheap (read free!!) invisible way to mount the marquee lighting so cue a plastic coke bottle. I cut 6 strips of plastic 1" wide by roughly 7" long then formed them around the cold cathode tube, I then sellotaped them together (Blue Peter style) where they meet the tube, not to the tube just the two sides of coke bottle together and then screwed them into the Lightbox back panel, I would of stapled these but my staples were too short so I screwed them using small screws. So today I have been mostly recycling and saving the planet and not just spending too much time on my hobby (that goes out to the wifey!!). I'm hoping to get a price list of everything I used for the cabinet soon, in my head i figure it is around £300 ish (DOH! how wrong was I) but that could rise steeply when i check, no one tell my wife though

some more pics

[charlieram]

Wait.... those aren't ball tops!?!?! Booooo!

I Would Like ball tops but I'm Trying to build on a budget so maybe later, Glad you like it other than that

Damn, that's looking sweet!

The CP turned out really nice IMO!

Thank you, Without all of the motivation and inpiration of all the people on this board I don't think it would of turned out half as good but it aint perfect and I don't think it could ever be perfect unless it never got finished or at least took a few years (OND's Project springs to mind) but i'm just too impatient and i think my hobby has become an obsession hence my wifes lack of enthusiasm now. you cant see all the imperfections when I take pictures with my IPhone but soon when it's done I will take some 720p video and post it on youtube with a link and I will point out the niggles which one day I would like to fix.
Price list so far:
Monitor 26" sony TV                                                                                   : £95
MDF 2 x 18mm x 2440mm x 1220mm  (B&Q Trade price from a mate)                   : £30
MDF 6mm x 2440mm x 1220mm (B&Q)                                                            : £9.68
Joystick and buttons (EBay new)                                                                  : £20
Speakers Logitech x240 2.1,Dual blue cathode light kit, 2x 120mm fans (Ebuyer)   : £43.15
Screws & Bolts etc. (screwfix), Circa                                                            : £12
Plexi for Marquee/CP (ThePlasticPeople.co.uk)                                                : £15.27
CP/Marquee artwork x 2 (EBay-Print4Biz)                                                       : £34.50
Speaker Fabric, Power switch,mic plugs and wire (Maplins), Circa                       : £20.00
4.7mm Spade connectors x100     ( EBay)                                                     : £4.40
3mm grey tint Plexi Bezel cover 750mm x 727mm (PlasticOnline.co.uk)                : £24.19
USB Keyboard encoder (EBay-Scorpian XG2 controller)                                    : £24.90
White filler primer spray 8 x 400ml (B&M Discount store)                                  : £24
Gloss Black Self Adhesive Vinyl 900mm x 3M (EBay-Vinyldepot-retail)                 : £15.50
simonoz White gloss spray 12 x 500ml (EBay-Sueian10)                                   : £31.39
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL                                                                                                   : £403.98

Soooo.....I was a bit off the mark with the cost but still if I put one of my PC's that I have lying around in, it's not a bad Price but I am treating this build to new components and my budget is £200 give or take a little which will include MOBO, PSU, HDD, GFX, CPU and Memory, shopping will start next week but I won't order until payday (28th) which gives me plenty of time to finish off the little bits so until then I think I will be testing all the software I will be using and obviously reading these forums like an addict!

[Roo]

Thank you, Without all of the motivation and inpiration of all the people on this board I don't think it would of turned out half as good but it aint perfect and I don't think it could ever be perfect unless it never got finished or at least took a few years (OND's Project springs to mind) but i'm just too impatient and i think my hobby has become an obsession hence my wifes lack of enthusiasm now. you cant see all the imperfections when I take pictures with my IPhone but soon when it's done I will take some 720p video and post it on youtube with a link and I will point out the niggles which one day I would like to fix.

Meh, there's lots of little imperfections all over my cab already and it's only 25% done if that.  I don't sweat them, I doubt anyone would notice except me.  And I'd bet everyone on the forum, except maybe Ond and Pixel would say the same thing!   

I think the look and design is excellent, especially the CP - it turned out really nice.   

TOTAL                                                                                                   : £403.98

Soooo.....I was a bit off the mark with the cost but still if I put one of my PC's that I have lying around in, it's not a bad Price but I am treating this build to new components and my budget is £200 give or take a little which will include MOBO, PSU, HDD, GFX, CPU and Memory, shopping will start next week but I won't order until payday (28th) which gives me plenty of time to finish off the little bits so until then I think I will be testing all the software I will be using and obviously reading these forums like an addict!

Well unless the current exchange rate is like $4 to the pound, you're doing way better than me!   Oh God, I hope the wife doesn't see that remark...   

[charlieram]

Well Im bored at work and thought I'd let you know what I've been up to. I ordered the pc components and it came to £250 with delivery and for the spec I don't think it's bad at all. Phenom x2 555 black edition processor, cheap asrock mobo with ucc, 2gb ddr3 @ 1333mhz, HD 4550, samsung f3 500gb hdd and 500 watt psu, the motherboard allows you to unlock the two extra cores on the CPU if your lucky enough to get a good one and guess what! I now have a quad core mame machine running at 3.1ghz per core , lucky me eh and it all seems stable without even having to tweak the voltages or anything, I am using hyperspin as the frontend and I'm in the process of getting all the bells and whistles sorted but the only problem with that is when I get sidetracked and start playing the games, it is good fun though and hopefully I will have it all finished within the next couple of weeks just need to order different marquee lighting as the cold cathodes are too blue(I thought they might be) so I have seen led strip lights on eBay (60 bright White LEDs) for £10 delivered, I think I will give those a go and then hopefull I'll get some better resolution pictures and video up of my 'finished' cab

I think I'd better go and get some work done!!

[charlieram]

A few more teaser pics until I get my Marquee lighting and a decent camera and/or video.

[charlieram]

No pics this time, I took some with my lads Camera but I can't find the USB lead anywhere  My paint has started to crack on the CP so that will be my next challenge when the sun comes back out and I am thinking of putting in a Dark tint plexi window in the kick panel to see all of those lovely components but for now the games play well, the karaoke works and I also have Voice control ADMIN! (Had to make use of the karaoke feature somehow)
 Anyway, I entered my arcade cab into XFX Europe's compo for best rigs (PC's) and I just won something!!

Keep building and see you all next summer