"Captain Arcade" cabinet

[vidmouse]

I had this extra cab from a couple of summers ago.  I meant to turn it into a 4p Gauntlet -type
cabinet but decided instead to go with a vertical monitor and pinball setup.  I am planning on
converting my original Arcadia 2007 cab into the Gauntlet-type one.



My plan is to have a sort-of Flash Gordon / Space Invaders inspired theme and have mainly
shmups and Visual Pinball running in FS mode.

Played around with some artwork for banner and created this and amockup:




I've started ordering parts, hope to show more on both builds soon!

[justinjstark]

I really like your marquee.  Good colors, good font, good arrangement.

[Ond]

I really like your marquee.  Good colors, good font, good arrangement.

+1 especially the font

[vidmouse]

Thanks!  I actually made the font myself, using shapes in powerpoint.
Right now I'm working on repairing part of the wood on the cabinet,
some of it was chipped off when I used my crowbar to remove some
unwanted parts.   

[BurgerKingDiamond]

+1000 for vertical screen

[emphatic]

Is that Batsugun I spy?  What size monitor will you use?

[eds1275]

You should make it more like Flesh Gordon than Flash

[vidmouse]

Monitor is 25" widescreen (really 24.6)... about 24.2 inches long.
Still trying to figure out the best aspect ratio to use, seems like
no matter what I try there are bars on the edge of the screen.

^^Any tips on this would be appreciated.

Unfortunately the PC I was planning on using took a dump today,
looks like I'll have to spend a bit more than anticipated...  

EDIT:
I did some searching and testing and think I have it figured out...
I'm going w/ a 5:4 aspect ratio... it may not be 100% game accurate,
but it fills the screen (mostly) which is what I wanted.  I'm also going to
play around w/ scanline effects in MAME to help things.

[eds1275]

Isn't there a stretch function on your monitor? I guess if it's a monitor, then probably not - but if it's a tv there should be.

[vidmouse]

Tested out my new monitor:

[BurgerKingDiamond]

Why not leave it 4:3 and then make your bezel to hide the unused screen area? Games are gonna be funky stretched like that.

[BadMouth]

Why not leave it 4:3 and then make your bezel to hide the unused screen area? Games are gonna be funky stretched like that.

You could get complicated and run it in a 4:3 (3:4?) window with a blacked out frame.
Then also have a marquee above or instruction card below (or both).
It would be a PITA to pull off, but it could be done and would be something different.

[vidmouse]

I may be going against standard here, but I actually wanted to go fullscreen
instead of trying to black out parts of the screen... it's actuallly part of
the reason I went this route...  the cab I currently have has a 27" landscape-oriented
tv in it, and that gives me a picture that is 16" tall.

Since I knew I wanted to vertically mount this new monitor, I wanted to take
full advantage of the screen size... 22" tall.  I don't mind the distortion I guess,
just take it in stride as a different playing experience.

I definitely can't mechanically bezel anything off, since I want to use it for
fullscreen pinball as well.

Update on the build:
just picked up an old pc from my mom's this weekend... I need to clean up the
files on it but I think it will work out ok.  I'm probably going to update the OS
though, as it's running Windows Me... 

[vidmouse]

Update:
Some photos of the cab itself. 
I'm using an old CP box from my 1st cab with a new panel on top... before I had a trackball
but that's now on my 4P cab.  I decided to go w/o one for this cab.  It's a little wide for
pinball, but it's actually more comfortable for me.


A closeup of the speaker mount and marquee light.  Just some stuff I picked
up at an office supply store.  I drilled a larger hole (about 5/8") for the volume
knob.  It doesn't go all the way through the panel, after I glue a knob on it it'll
be fine.  Wire nuts work great as knobs for this.
You can also see the start of the monitor mount and frame for this.


A little damage occured when I crowbar'd the old speaker panel and monitor
mount off of the cab in order to fit my new bigger monitor.  At the time I was
thinking of going with an even bigger TV, but reconsidered after playing around
with a cardboard mockup.  Unfortunately I left some big divots in the wood...
tried to get it fixed with some drywall plaster but it ended up being too much.



I have a fix in mind but haven't executed it yet... stay tuned.

[vidmouse]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I got a neighbor to help me move the empty cab to my basement, where I can finish the work.
I bondo'd the pieces that were broken before... did a little sloppy job, but with some sanding
and paint it should be ok.

I also finished hand-painting and clear-coating my CP artwork.  I based it
off of Space Invaders but it's not an exact match, as I just free-handed it.

[severdhed]

looks good

[taylormadelv]

Too bad you didn't cut a T-moulding slot before you started painting. That custom painted CP would look real nice with some black T-moulding.

[vidmouse]

You're right, it is too late to cut a T-slot, but maybe a painted black
border on the edging would help finish the look, thanks for the idea!

Got the cardboard bezel done this week, and finished the wiring.
The admin buttons aren't the right colors, still have to paint those, but
it's playable now.

(and hence, all work shall be slowed down 

[vidmouse]

A top-down look at the CP art:
link b/c the file is big

A couple more shots showing a pinball game loaded up:

[yotsuya]

Are you going to put a tinted plexiglass over that bezel? It'd look nice. I can't tell if it's that shiny normally or because of the flash.

[vidmouse]

Are you going to put a tinted plexiglass over that bezel? It'd look nice. I can't tell if it's that shiny normally or because of the flash.

A little of both.  The paint is a gloss black and I did you flash in most of the photos.
In person it looks way better.

I would like to get a tinted plexi but not sure where to get it from... any ideas?

[moonpatrol 4 lyfe]

Let me guess.  That was a TMNT or G.I. Joe cabinet

[vidmouse]

Let me guess.  That was a TMNT or G.I. Joe cabinet

Actually I have no idea.  The guy I got it from was going to throw it out, so I got it.
It came as a blank -- already just black, no monitor, no "innards", no CP box.
The original speaker panel had two speaker outputs -- looking on KLOV it doesn't look
like the TMNT machine photos they have.

I can't say if it was GI Joe or not.  I haven't tried to strip the sideart paint but I can
tell there was some light blue paint underneath, but this could have been a paint-over
as well.

The original T-moulding was speckled too--- not smooth like the new moulding I'm going to put on it.