Gauntlet Legends Cab - added dragon bezel, wall paint

[vidmouse]

When I got my SCI cab (see my other project announcement) off the seller,
he was also kind enough to let me have this shell of a cab for free!
Looks like it could've been anything 4-player.  Always wanted a dedicated
4-player too, so I couldn't turn it down.  (otherwise it would've been scrap).



Already started a first "mod", getting caster wheels on this just so I could
work easier.

Heh... when taking photos of it, found this on the front.... wonder if he's related
to Saint?



Here's the concept art for what I want to do:



I really wanted to stick with a whole castle/fantasy theme... thinking I could make
some turrets and stick them up on the marquee, then get some chains to make
the CP box (which I still have to build)  into a "drawbridge", and finally, paint or
apply some fake stonework/brickwork to the sides, to give it a castle wall feel.

Let me know if you have some more ideas, thanks!

[Jdurg]

Awesome idea!  If you don't mind the added weight, I know there are concrete mixes that can be used to look like stone work.  It might add a great deal of mass to your cab, but for the true authentic look it might turn out to be worthwhile.  You can probably get an even lighter faux stonework created out of paper or plastic. 

[vidmouse]

Thanks!
I too thought of this but the added weight plus the sloppiness of working
w/ concrete makes this a bit unfeasible.

I'm going to sidewalk-chalk the sides up and even see if I like the look...
if not, chalk wipes off pretty easily.

I put the colors in the same order as Gauntlet but I'm thinking of
putting Red and Blue in the center, b/c that's where player1 and 2
will be most of the time if 4 are not playing, and yet it will still make
sense for Gauntlet b/c the colors will match.

Also thinking of the name.. either "The Gauntlet" or "Castle Gauntlet" are
coming to mind, but I'm open to ideas...

The turrets could be a real problem... like the CP box, they will make the
cab too wide to fit through a doorway so like the CP box, they'll have to
be removeable.  I'm also not sure what to make them out of yet...
am thinking about looking at some garden ornaments, to see if
that will work (could be costly, but might be easiest in the long run).

As you can see, no trackball here, just wanted a simple 4p panel.
I only opted for 4 buttons for all players but could be talked into
6 buttons for players 1 and 2.... please note that I'm not really interested
in a 6-button fighitng cab as I already have one.  I don't think any
4p game will require more than 4 buttons...?

With no trackball I'm ok with using a wireless mouse or similar access
as needed, but in reality will use Mala to just control everything from
the joystick panel.

[Doctor Ugs]

you can get some wallpaper with stonework on it.

No clue how you would apply wallpaper to a cab. Someone must've done it once.

Looks like an interesting project. have fun...

[deadsoulz]

I have seen vinyl flooring that looks like stone, and looked quite good.

[vidmouse]

I've only seen vinyl flooring 'round here that looks like marble...
but it's an interesting idea... the yinyl flooring may give the
greater appearance of 3-d w/o being too thick.  If I take some
that's printed like marble and cut it into "bricks", it could look very cool.

Expect this cab to go a lot more slowly than my Galaga
restoration, as there's more to do...

[GAJoe]

You might try paper mache.  Some chicken wire and old newspaper might make for a light, but visually appealing castle.

[deepblue]

I really like the idea of this cab. I say go for the real deal and use real brick/stones...or build it into the wall!!

[deepblue]

Actually, I just noticed this project next to yours in the list of threads...do the same thing exterior-wise as he did and color/texture it to look like rock!

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=74892.0

[GAJoe]

Actually, I just noticed this project next to yours in the list of threads...do the same thing exterior-wise as he did and color/texture it to look like rock!

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=74892.0

Yep, there's your paper mache.

[Jdurg]

Yeah, and once the paper mache shell is created, you could probably reinforce it with some fiberglass resins which won't add a ton of weight to it, but will make it INCREDIBLY strong.  That would look pretty damned cool!

Also, the turrets could be made from some solid wood that is rounded out on a lathe, then have it kind of slide down from the top where the T-molding would be.  This way you could quite easily remove the turrets in order to move the cab.  With some simple wiring tied into the marquee lights, you could use some colored plastic and some LEDs to light up the "windows" in the turrets.  That would look pretty damned cool.

For the CP, just make sure you use some water damaged, beat up logs that are cut and put together with plenty of knots in them. 

[vidmouse]

Paper mache'?  S'funny, I think I must've missed out in grade school
on that b/c I somehow got through without EVER having to make
anything out of paper mache.   

That stuff always seemed too fragile to me... guess that's why that
guy used PVA instead of a flour-water mix.  I supposed w/ the
fiberglass reinforcement it could still take a beating.

The question is, can I do all that and still get it through a doorway?
Need to measure and see how much clearance I've got....

I'm also wondering how to make the rock pock-marks... textured
paint?  (like the kind for textured ceilings)

I'm wondering if an easier solution will present itself.... I have an
idea but have to do some shopping and report back later
(probably will take awhile, have some work stuff coming up
that will delay me)


I wasn't sure what to put in the turrets yet.  When I originally
pitched this idea to some guy wanted a special "Rampart" cab,
I thought about putting extra speakers in them, but now it
just seems the wrong config for that...  besides my cab already
has speakers mounted...

Another couple of thoughts:
- add a treasure chest or greedy dwarf graphic over the coin door area,
   waiting to take people's money.  Maybe a dragon on top of a pile of
   gold, ready to eat more
- I also do some action figure customs, somehow incorporate my fantasy
  themed figures into this... maybe they'd go in the turrets, or maybe in
  a cutout window/shelf on the side.  (ie looking out of the window in
  the castle)
- drawbridge:  Jdurg's comment aside, this might be a combination of
  metal and wood-looking stuff, but it's still got to be smooth to the touch
  (hey YOU play a marathon gaming session w/ a CP built of rough-hewn
   wood and tell me how comfy it is!).  I'm also wondering about keeping
  w/ the four color layout, as the original Gauntlet does, but maybe the
  buttons are enough...

[Jdurg]

Heh.  Well, with the beat up wood I assumed there would be a Lexan overlay on that for protection and comfort.   

For the walls, you could make them removable by having them bolted through the side to the inside, and then when the T-Molding goes on it will cover up the seams.  When you need to move the cabinet, you just unbolt the molded sides and they pop right off.  You'd just need to access the bolts up and down the sides.  Or, figure out how to use plastic clips that you just need to squeeze and push out to unlatch them.

[Zebidee]

It just occurred to me that you could make the turrets with an old bit of pole cut into two pieces, with a slot cut at the back to mount them onto some kind of bracket screwed into the wood at the corners of your cab.  You can cut the arrow slits out with a chisel.

The roof part of each tower could be made from someting like thin iron or 'tin', such as an old tin-can (eat some beans!), with some appropriate blackened weathering look added.  Just flatten a tin can, then roll up the tin-can sheeting with a point at one end and cut off the excess with some tin-snips.  You can use your chisel to carefully bash some shingle edges into it, so long as you don't mind your chisel getting a bit blunt (you can re-sharpen the chisel on a brick or some concrete).  I don't think that you have to worry about neatness too much, because it would only add to the old and weathered appeal.

Anyway, those are just my simple ideas on how to do it cheaply ....

[TOK]

I think it'd be badass if you did this to it instead!

[vidmouse]

I found a couple of websites with some interesting painting ideas,
the look better than I would've thought:

http://www.bhg.com/homekeeping/faux-stone-wall/ (may
have to click a continue button with this one

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/cr_painting/article/0,,HGTV_3282_1385777,00.html


and just weird, while searching for "making castle walls" I came
across the "Bubonic Plague Role-Play" -- y'know, for the kiddies. (what the?!)

http://www.proteacher.com/cgi-bin/outsidesite.cgi?id=12129&external=http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-S2000/Symons/bubonic.htm&original=http://www.proteacher.com/090074.shtml&title=Bubonic%20Plague%20Role%20Play

Good idea on the turrets, Zeb.  One other thing to consider is that there's another style of turret I hadn't thought of:


although I think I like the cone-style better.

[Zebidee]

Oooo .... I kinda like the flagpole, and the bastions/crenellettes at the top would be easier to recreate than a cone....

[SavannahLion]

If there's a local one in your area, take a trip to a professional theatre.... The old fashion kind where people actually have to stand up on a stage and do this funny thing called, "acting.".

Some theatres have better painters than others, but I haven't been to a theatre yet that doesn't have something resembling stonework in their backdrop collection. Hit up the stage hands at a good theatre and they might let you take a look/see at their backdrop and how it's painted/textured/whatever.

Another avenue you might take, other than vinyl flooring, is faux stone vinyl siding. I personally think the stuff looks outrageously hideous and there are way too many morons that have no idea how to install it properly (Installing faux stone siding on a garage door does not look good). But in your application, it might work out OK. I don't recall ever seeing a real life classic castle up close, but something like siding from ABCHomeCenter might fit the bill.

[Havok]

What about this kind of paint?

http://www.metropartsmarket.com/craftpaint/krylon-c4s1.html

[vidmouse]

Ooh, that's cool. Have to check that out, thanks.  Could save a lot of time.
I'd probably end up using it in combination w/ some of the other techniques above,
as I still want the stone/brick-and-mortar look, not just colored stone.

[vidmouse]

Whew... I know it's been a long, long time since I've worked on this but life got in the way.  Been having fun though.  I think I might be having the itch to get back into this again, been playing around with a few ideas.  Let me run this panel design by you first:



No trackball b/c I just plan to have a mouse tucked away somewhere inside,
won't really plan on using one.  (already have a trackball cab).

On the sideart, I'm going to do some shopping today for medieval-type
Halloween items... had an idea to do more than just castle brickwork,
maybe also hang some weapons from the sides too...

Let me know what you think, thanks!

Vid

[Zebidee]

... maybe also hang some weapons from the sides too...

Yeah, that'll be convenient when the player with the elf steals or  shoots the food one time too many ..... takes the game to a new level of interactivity (tic)!

Have you given up on angling the side joys in?  Some people have quasi-religious views about NOTangling the side joys, but I've done it for two 4-player cabs before and it has worked well.  Or maybe I'm better off just not raising this subject .... 

[facesmiths]

I apologize in advance if this come out weird as I am on a new install on my old compaq machine. (wireless just up and died and now is doing fine so I guess I need to do the same for my laptop.) anyway I wass just going to say...

for the turrents you can use the cardboard tubing from a neon sign store ( they get the glass tubes shipped to them in it) or carpet store. or lastly a sticker making shop that used vinyl off the roll or any other material like the  placement tape (comes in like 6 to 8 foot wide rolls like super low tack masking tape) any of those will be pretty strong almost like a tube made from MDF but a bit more of a grain so it is actually stronger when considering the effect of banging a corner of MDF vs. these tubes. as for the sides I know home depot carries some sort of plastic type of bricks and such in big sheets. just an idea

[Benevolance]

Home depot also carries 'stone' facade spray paints now. I think they are done by Rustoleum. But they are not cheap. Around here they run about $9 a can. And if the stone paint covers like the 'iron' spray paint I used, you will need a lot of paint. It took seven cans to finish the lower half of my cabinet, and even then I am not 100% happy with the final coats. It could probably use another can or two to touch up.

But leaving aside the cost issue, the final appearance is awesome. The colour and texture comes out looking top notch.

[vidmouse]

The trip to the Dollar Tree was more fruitful than I could've hoped for.  For $6.35 (incl the tax) I got:

2 turrets:   WOODEN birdhouses! -- they're PERFECT cylinders with cones on top!
2 shields  (silver with golden dragons on them)
2 stone gargoyles (got them in case I misjudged size on the turrets)

The turrets are a little bit small but I think I can make them work and not feel bad forever.  Plus I like the idea that they're wood and thus will last as long as the rest of the cab.  Unfortunately the cab doesn't have a flat top; it's sloped (like TMNT -- for
all I know it could've been a TMNT machine) and the figures look weird on top.
I suppose I could build some kind of flat platform on top to let them perch later...
Just don't want them ever toppling down, they're HEAVY!

I didn't get any swords yet b/c the Dollar Store swords looked kinda dinky.
I went to a Halloween store as well and "hit the jackpot" --- they had just
about ANY type of sword I could want.  But, since I hadn't taken any measurments
yet and didn't even see what it would look like with my new shields in place I decided
to wait for now (still will probably go back for after-season clearances to pick up
a few just for fun!)  They may not even go on the cab, just on the wall behind it...

As for the brickwork/stone work, I"m seriously contemplating cutting some irregular stonelike shapes out of cardboard or thin wood and gluing them to the side panels, then painting them a different shade gray then the "mortar", and call it all "good enough".  Part of me is thinking, go for more realism, or more for what I would be likely to find in an arcade if someone ever came up with this idea?

The Halloween store also had some big honkin' fake chains for $10... have to compare against the local ACE hw store though... something tells me I might want the real thing just for the chink-chink effect when they rattle.

Something else I'm considering theme-wise to tie it all together:
Call it "Merlin's Gauntlet" or some such thing, and have the power
up sequence look like you're entering a dungeon.  Then have the
main game select screen look like two torches burning with a scroll
description:

"Merlin challenges you to defeat him!  Dare you best him in all
these contests of wizardry and skill?  Choose your fate!"

Maybe even some background music like light fantasy minstrel
music and torch fire going..

something like that...

again,  thanks for the comments, keep em coming...

[Benevolance]

Sounds cool.

Maybe even some background music like light fantasy minstrel
music and torch fire going..

Heh heh. When I read that, I imagined Greensleeves on a harp, playing in an endless loop...

[vidmouse]

Did a little more Halloween shopping tonight at Target...
their selection of weaponry was so-so...

Funny, it felt like I was in some kind of bizarre RPG,
looking over "average" swords...

but the funniest thing was when I looked closer at some
of the Target tags... I didn't copy it down, but I'm pretty
sure one of the swords was tagged, "One size fits all".

 

[vidmouse]

Life got in the way of me working on my cab but in a way it worked in my favor I think...  it let me rethink my plan a bit, and what I really wanted.
Current thinking is to do the design on my CURRENT cab (pictured left) and just do a new CP box.  As far as the free cab I got, not sure what to do w/ it yet, may salvage the coin box and glass for parts..



Mock up on the right...

With this design I get to have four players AND keep my pinball buttons.



Big reason for not wanting to keep the original as-is and have the 2nd cab as 4-player? -- space... recently got an itch to build a cockpit cab from scratch and will need the space for that.

[Zebidee]

You know what vid - if you don't get your Gauntlet cab done soon, then I'll go and build my own!

Curious 4-P panel design you have shown. Didn't we go through a heap of 4-player control panel designs with you about like two years ago?

Another suggestion for you is to do up the old 4-player cab, then use it to replace your current cab. Your current cab is pretty good and would make a few $$ for your project kitty (meow!).

[vidmouse]

Thanks for the kick in the pants.
I'm takin' a vacation day today and swear I'm cutting wood.
Will take some progress photos at the end of the day.

[vidmouse]

Took a little longer to put together than I thought, but I like the results.  I opted to go with an unpublished plan I had which I guess is similar to a lot of other 4p panels out there (?)

Some things I did different this time:
- didn't slot for T-molding.  Instead, went the cheap route and used my router's curved 1/2" bit to make the edges you see.  Let me know what you think!
- the panel's only 45 inches wide... I can get away w/ that b/c I don't use a trackball mounting plate.  (router helped there too)... it's still good for pinball if you consider my height and armspan.  Probably not universally good, but I'm the main player.

Note the cutting's done but the paint is not.  Not sure if I want to go all black or try to simulate some wood color like in my prior mockups....

[Zebidee]

Ahhh, a traditional, simple layout - the kind I like best.  Looks like you've got all the hard bits done already!

[vidmouse]

More work done this week.  Added a wood grain finish to the top by adding several coats of black, then, brown paint, then sanding down, then staining with a brown stain.... ended up with a VERY nice finish.... looks like real antique wood grain and it's silky smooth too:



The box underneath is basic black.  Right now I have it on my original Arcadia 2007 cab as I will use that to playtest until I get more parts for my Gauntlet cab, so don't worry about the color clash right now.

Also finished a working DIY spinner from VCR parts.  Haven't figured out the mounting completely yet, but
playtested it with Tempest and ooooohhhh what a difference... can't believe I've gone this long without one.

[vidmouse]

Added my homemade VCR spinner... VERY proud of this one, as it's been sitting around in planning for over a year.  Finally got around to doing it and can't believe the play value.  If you do not have a spinner for your cab, don't cheat yourself, Get one!  (even if you have to buy it)  Mine is made from a broken VCR head, old ball mouse (Compaq -- the boards are SHORT), an old bolt, and heh, a wine cork to act as a shaft extender.  I'm sure there's a joke in there somewhere.  I used an overhead transparency to do the encoder wheel and it works great... it was a little jittery at first then I realized I didn't need multiple layers for rigidity... and in fact I had them misaligned.  I stripped it down to  1 layer and it works swimmingly.

Oh yeah, and duct tape.... every good project needs duct tape.   

[vidmouse]

I know I haven't posted on this in a long, long while, but here's an update:

I decided it was easier to convert my 1st cab, Arcadia 2007, into the
Gauntlet Legends cab.  I've already mounted the 4p CP box, just need to
add the castle decoration.

To do the wall, I used cardboard from a washer box, cut into various "stone"
shapes.  I tried gluing them to the side panels at first, but ended up using a
staple gun to really make them secure.

Next I added some drywall plaster to the edges to remove the cardboard-like
look of the edges.  Here's where I am as of tonight:





The spackle even covers up the staples and any holes in the cardboard.
Once it sets I'll add more photos with paint and etc added.

Oh, and I still have the blank 4p cab... it's becoming my "Captain Arcade"
cabinet (see my other posts in Project Announcements).

[vidmouse]

Created this dragon bezel out of cardboard today.
(from the same box as I used for the castle wall)
Tape, hot glue, and faux stone paint, then hand-painted
the dragons, fire, and black stone window sill
with acrylics. 

[vidmouse]

Finished another layer of paint on the wall facade and
mounted the monitor bezel:



Hmm.... will probably have to hand-brush some black onto the
walls to make the sculpt really pop out.

Hope you enjoy, let me know what you think!

[eds1275]

Looking good! If I may offer some advice, have you considered dry-brushing some darker gray over the "stonework" to give it more colour?

[vidmouse]

Yeah, I'll either do that or use black to bring out the stonework some more.
Not done yet

[sstralkowski]

Looking great!  I love it.