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Author Topic: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet  (Read 73218 times)

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Woodshop Flunky

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PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« on: April 30, 2011, 05:37:50 pm »
********************************************************
UPDATE!!!  I've added a complete set of plans for this arcade cabinet:
http://files.arcadecontrols.com/details.php?image_id=3660
********************************************************

Well, this project is about finished.  Notice I said "about" finished. :)

To get a better scale of the project... here is my now five year old son playing the arcade.


...and an over the shoulder shot.  I'm really pleased with how all the art came out.  The marquee looks great lit up, but I'm running 9v instead of 12v through Groovy Game Gears marquee LEDs.  This seems better for this scale cabinet.


Here's a shot of the control panel.  The volocano buttons are not lit up... but they will be. :)


...and more CP.  You can see the detail of the overlay better... not much flash, but I think it works well with the sides and the marquee.


Another shot of the marquee...


My youngest helping out... just because kids are cute!


Thanks again to everyone.

I want to clean up the Sketchup files, and I'll be posting them soon.  :cheers:
« Last Edit: April 28, 2014, 07:46:06 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2011, 05:38:38 pm »
Okay, I've finally got sawdust on the shop floor, so I might as well add my own project announcement for the mini vertical MAME cabinet I'm building for my son's 5th birthday.

The Games: I've about decided to play vertical games only on this game.  Also, I'm not planning to load every game in existence.  Right now, I have a list of about 70 vertical games... mostly from the 80's and early 90's.

Front End: MALA :) I really like it.

Cabinet Size: My wife did not like the idea of me building a refrigerator sized toy for the house.  I showed her a mini MAME cabinet and she thought it was really nice.  So, the design is going to be a 3/4 scale cabinet (about 50 inches tall).

Cabinet Style: I originally was going to just scale down a Galaga cabinet.  However, I didn't like the idea of using something so recognizable, and then not having it be a faithful reproduction.  So, I looked around at other cabinets.  I really wanted this thing to look like the cabinets I played on in the 80's.  I liked certain things about different cabs.  My favorite was the Galaga/Ms. Pacman cabs and the Taito cabs.  I decided to see what I could put together from the two styles.  Finally, I ended up introducing Rastan to Ms. Pacman, played a little soft 80's music and let nature take it's course.


Their resulting love child was a 3/4 scale cab that had the features I liked best from the two.


Cabinet Theme: The name of the arcade is "American Ace".  My son likes airplanes and shoot'em ups, so I'm going to theme the cabinet after WWII American fighters.

The Brains:  I bought an Intel Atom motherboard, memory, power supply and hard drive.  I didn't feel like messing with older hardware.  In retrospect, I wish I had just bought an old PC off Craigslist (it would have been cheaper.... and couldn't have been any more frustrating. :))

Controls:  I picked up a U360 with an octagonal restrictor, some leaf switch GGG buttons, couple of standard micro switch buttons, four volcano buttons (for admin), a spinner from Ultimarc, and an IPac.

Montior: I’ve got a 17” CRT Pc monitor I’m going to mount vertically.  This is going to be a tight squeeze.  I’ll give more details as things get implemented.


I made a template out of 1/2 inch MDF.  I'll use this to route both side panels.  I made the template deeper than it will end up (I'll likely take an inch or two off the back.  I made it oversized so that I would be able to fit my monitor.  Once the monitor is in, I'll trim whatever I can off the back.


And some components I've collected this far...


« Last Edit: July 26, 2011, 11:39:36 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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LeedsFan

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #2 on: May 01, 2011, 02:48:05 am »
I quite like the profile of this cabinet. Good to see you are keeping the CP quite simple. Just a stick, spinner and four buttons. Many people try to cram in as much stuff as possible on their first build (I was guilty of this myself).

Not sure I like the way the monitor is laid so far back. I would personally have it more at 45 degrees. But I realise that the original Ms.Pac cabinets had their monitors like that. In actual use you will be using a stool I imagine. Will the angle of view be comfortable? You don't want to find yourself straining to get a more central view if that's how you prefer to play. (I don't mean "viewing angle" as per tft screens... you are using a crt so that's a non-issue. I purely mean for comfort)

emphatic

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #3 on: May 01, 2011, 06:30:03 am »
That spinner, is it mounted in a 30 mm hole like a button? If that's the case I would get a button plug as well, so you can just pull it out and plug the hole when you're not in a spinner-game mood. I really like the profile too.  :applaud:

Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2011, 02:27:53 pm »
Not sure I like the way the monitor is laid so far back. I would personally have it more at 45 degrees. But I realise that the original Ms.Pac cabinets had their monitors like that. In actual use you will be using a stool I imagine. Will the angle of view be comfortable? You don't want to find yourself straining to get a more central view if that's how you prefer to play. (I don't mean "viewing angle" as per tft screens... you are using a crt so that's a non-issue. I purely mean for comfort)

I actually was concerned when I started my design.  Theres a pizza place by my work that has a Ms Pacman machine.  I went there to check out the cabinet (even though their pizza is not that great).  Sure enough, the screen and CP were on the same plane; around 15 degrees I think.  Given that adults will be sitting down to play, the player's view of the monitor in relatively the same as a full size.  Also, my design has the monitor between 22.5 and 30 degrees.  I won't know for certain until the thing is finished, but I have considered that if viewing is uncomfortable, I could raise the angle and swap out an LCD (don't want to do that :))

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mgb

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #5 on: May 01, 2011, 08:04:15 pm »
I love the style of this cabinet.
Nice, simple, to the point like an arcade cabinet should be.
Verticals are great.
I like the angle of the monitor, that layed down angle makes for comfortable playing especially with verticle games.

Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #6 on: May 01, 2011, 08:50:54 pm »
Thanks for the compliments on the cab style; I really wanted to keep the lines clean and still maintain a very definite arcade feel.

So, today wasn't very productive.  My wife was co-hosting a baby shower after church today, so I had the boys for 4+ hours.  Needless to say, I didn't get into the shop today.

However, I was able to work on the computer, so I hacked a little on the MALA frontend.  I put a menu on the left and a large snapshot region on the right.  I want anyone 4yrs old and up to be able to walk up to the machine and figure out how to play with little or no instruction.  Also, I'm going to select the games that will be installed, so the player won't have to navigate a zillion games; probably less than 100 at any given time.

Like I said in my original post, the theme for this cab is WWII fighters.  I lifted the image of the Mustang from the web, and used a font modeled after the upcoming "Captain America" movie.  I've got the marquee started, but that one is a little more complex, so it will take me a while longer.  Anyhow, here's what I've put together so far.  I've got until the end of July to finish this project before his birthday, so I'm sure the artwork will change along the way.

EDIT-- The green I'm shooting for is going to be more of an OD green.  I'll produce the final version after I get the printed artwork back so I can match what I see on my screen to what the printer produces.
« Last Edit: July 26, 2013, 10:50:40 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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TopJimmyCooks

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #7 on: May 01, 2011, 09:02:24 pm »
That Mala Skin is "aces".  It's fun to do the vertical layouts and make them look good, I've found while setting up my mala.  However, if you're trying to do a unified horizontal/vertical pair, it's always harder to get the horizontal layouts to work as well.

oh, and it's a sweet looking cabaret cab too. 

emphatic

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #8 on: May 02, 2011, 03:45:15 am »
A very nice theme, but I'd try a smaller radius on the boxes, so they "hug" the screenshots a bit better. Or just skip the box for shots and put a fake drop shadow behind it.  :cheers:

Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #9 on: May 02, 2011, 07:17:19 am »
A very nice theme, but I'd try a smaller radius on the boxes, so they "hug" the screenshots a bit better. Or just skip the box for shots and put a fake drop shadow behind it.  :cheers:

I think you're right.  Something about the skin didn't feel right to me. Thanks! :)
« Last Edit: May 02, 2011, 08:31:24 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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mgb

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #10 on: May 02, 2011, 08:26:01 pm »
I agree with the minor changes that emphatic mentioned, but beside that, the menu looks great. Nice font.

Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #11 on: May 03, 2011, 12:24:48 am »
I made a little adjustment to the menu and snapshot windows.  I'm mostly happy with it at this point; so I'll put it aside for a while.  If I look too hard at this sort of thing, I start getting greatly diminishing returns on my effort. :)

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emphatic

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #12 on: May 03, 2011, 03:40:51 am »
 :applaud: So much better.

Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #13 on: May 07, 2011, 09:22:59 pm »
Given that this cabinet is 3/4 scale, I need to save as much room as I can.  I decased the monitor and made a board to mount the monitor.  Brass threaded inserts were put in the board to make things more secure.


I mounted the control board as well.  I'll have to drill out holes to allow the control buttons and power to be reached from the front side.


This is about how the monitor will be oriented in the cabinet.


Running MALA with my Mustang skin... this really gets me excited.  The lights in my shop kind of wash it out in the photo... but I think it is going to look awsome in the cabinet.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2011, 09:40:58 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #14 on: May 07, 2011, 09:34:18 pm »
I kept swinging between mounting the CRT tube on a board like this, and just mounting the PC monitor in the original case.  Besides saving space, this method will allow me to change things down the road if need.  The board that the monitor is mounted on is going to slip into a frame in the cabinet.  If the monitor goes out, or I decide to change it for a different CRT or even a 19" LCD, I can simply mount the new display on a board that fits the cabinets frame and I won't have to modify the cabinet itself.
« Last Edit: May 07, 2011, 09:38:22 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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jimmy2x2x

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #15 on: May 07, 2011, 09:41:26 pm »
Looking good!

How did you get the mounting hole for the monitor so accurate?

elkameleon

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #16 on: May 07, 2011, 10:07:47 pm »
Looking good!

How did you get the mounting hole for the monitor so accurate?


Measure 17 times, cut once  ;)

Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #17 on: May 07, 2011, 10:37:07 pm »
Looking good!

How did you get the mounting hole for the monitor so accurate?


If I can, I avoid measurements.  I only made two measurements while positioning the CRT; one for the width, and another for the height.  I didn't take pictures of the process, but I'll try to explain.

1. I first made a template out of poster.  This was way more simple than trying to measure anything, and I could cut and tape pieces of poster to fill in any gaps.


2. Next, I drew straight lines from one opposite corner of my plywood board to the other.  Now I had the center of the board identified at the intersection of these two lines.


3. Then I measured the width and height of the poster template hole.  I set a compass to half the width and drew two arcs from the center equal to the width of the monitor.  These two arcs are what I used to align my template horizontally on the board.  I did the same for the height.

4. Once I had the template positioned, I traced and then cut it out with a jigsaw.

5. Now the board fit over my monitor, and I simply transfered the mounting holes to the board, and drilled them out.

Hard to measure wrong when you don't measure. :)
« Last Edit: May 07, 2011, 11:14:10 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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jimmy2x2x

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #18 on: May 07, 2011, 10:47:10 pm »
Nice technique and good explanation, thanks!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #19 on: May 07, 2011, 11:18:12 pm »
jimmy2x2x must be smarter than me. Could you go into a little more detail on how you used the compass? I'm more of visual kinda guy.

And how on earth did you get that monitor traced onto the poster paper? I've tried that myself and found that balancing the tube on its face like that and getting it to hold still while trying to trace around it is a real pain in the arse! 
"I know what a HAL 9000 is... I was wondering if HAL 7600 was his retarded cousin or something..."
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Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #20 on: May 08, 2011, 12:13:42 am »
jimmy2x2x must be smarter than me. Could you go into a little more detail on how you used the compass? I'm more of visual kinda guy.

And how on earth did you get that monitor traced onto the poster paper? I've tried that myself and found that balancing the tube on its face like that and getting it to hold still while trying to trace around it is a real pain in the arse! 

Sure...

I made only half the poster template first; that was a lot easier to handle since the poster piece was smaller.  Then I traced the first half onto another piece of poster to make the second half and taped the two together around the monitor.  I then cut a couple of scrap pieces to fill in some mistakes.  I kept the monitor face down on a towel most the time.


Using a compass beam I drew a total of four arcs from the center of the board.  For the yellow arcs, I set my compass to half the width of the template hole and then drew the two arcs.  For the blue arcs, I set my compass to half the height of the template hole and then drew the last two arcs.


At this point I have a template with a hole that matches the outline of the monitor.  Also, I have the height and width extents of the template hole marked on the board about the center of the board.

Now I place the template on the board so that the four sides of the template hole are tangent to the arcs (the arcs should just barely fit within the template hole).

If I've done everything correctly, then the template hole should be centered on my board horizontal and vertical.
« Last Edit: May 08, 2011, 12:15:51 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #21 on: May 08, 2011, 12:25:25 am »
In all fairness...

Positioning the monitor could have been done simply by placing the monitor on the board and eyeballing it into position.  Then transferred some critical points (corners and widest points), with pencil.  These points will keep you from cutting too much and scrapping the board.  With this done, you could just do a series of cut and test until you got what you need.

I just did it this way, cause that's how my mind works. :)

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emphatic

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #22 on: May 08, 2011, 06:21:43 am »
That looks awesome!  :applaud:

BlasterMaster

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #23 on: May 08, 2011, 10:50:46 am »
This is going to be a great build! Mind sharing the plans when you are done?

Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #24 on: May 08, 2011, 12:25:46 pm »
This is going to be a great build! Mind sharing the plans when you are done?

Yes, I'm doing all my design in Sketchup and I plan on posting the file when its complete.  That way, anyone who wants can either use it as-is... or make changes directly in Sketchup.

Thanks for the compliment, my son is certainly excited about the build. :)

« Last Edit: May 21, 2011, 10:37:27 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #25 on: May 21, 2011, 06:43:53 pm »
Spent a LOT of time in the shop today, and got little to show for it.  I picked up a sheet of black Formica laminate from Home Depot this morning and got the insides of the two side panels covered.


I got a little more done than just these sides today, but I'll wait until I have some more interesting photos before I post them.

Also, you can see the profile is not as deep as the previous post.  After I got the monitor mounted on the board, I was able to make sure how much room I needed, and I ended up taking two inches off the back end of the sides.
« Last Edit: May 23, 2011, 10:05:38 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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emphatic

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #26 on: May 22, 2011, 03:31:15 am »
Those profiles look hot!  :applaud: Laminate oozes quality as well.

BurgerKingDiamond

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #27 on: May 22, 2011, 07:28:04 am »
Dude, that fact that you're decasing a CRT instead of going the lazy route with an LCD makes this kick so much ass. And it's a vertical! did I mention it's gonna kick ass?
-Welcome to the Fantasy Zone.

Woodshop Flunky

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #28 on: May 22, 2011, 07:47:17 am »
Those profiles look hot!  :applaud: Laminate oozes quality as well.
Thanks!  I really like the other cabs I've seen here that were laminated.

Dude, that fact that you're decasing a CRT instead of going the lazy route with an LCD makes this kick so much ass. And it's a vertical! did I mention it's gonna kick ass?
I was frustrating over the battens yesterday, and asked my wife, "Why didn't I just take the blue pill?" :)  Anyhow, I'm sure the extra effort will pay off in the final product.  Thanks!
« Last Edit: May 22, 2011, 08:22:27 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Meph

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #29 on: May 22, 2011, 08:34:35 am »
I picked up a sheet of black Formica laminate from Home Depot this morning and got the insides of the two side panels covered.

What is the thickness of that laminate and where was it located in the store?  I went to my local Home Depot looking for the same thing and was told they don't sell it.  I got the impression the fool I was talking to had no idea what I was looking for.  I looked where the counter tops are and saw nothing.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #30 on: May 22, 2011, 10:25:19 am »
At any Home Depot that I have been it it is along the back wall where the prefab laminate counter tops are found.  There is much less of it on display now so I can see them all going to special order so they do not have to stock it.  In the counter top display area there is usually a board with laminate samples showing what they can order.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #31 on: May 22, 2011, 01:08:05 pm »
What is the thickness of that laminate and where was it located in the store?  I went to my local Home Depot looking for the same thing and was told they don't sell it.  I got the impression the fool I was talking to had no idea what I was looking for.  I looked where the counter tops are and saw nothing.

The stuff I have is 0.043 inches... that's really close to 3/64.  If you go back to the kitchen area, there should be an area with different counter top materials (including samples of laminates).  I had to special order it.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #32 on: May 22, 2011, 01:48:37 pm »
Yeah I think im going to have to special order it at my Home Depot.  I know a lot of people here get a black laminate in a roll but unless your wrapping it around corners, sheets seem much easier to work with to me.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #33 on: May 22, 2011, 01:53:49 pm »
Got some goodies from Groovy Game Gear in the mail.  I ordered a new black anodized spinner top to replace the red one I got from Ultimarc.  I liked the red one, but it seems just a hair too large for my control panel, and the anodized red didn't work for me.  I really do like this new spinner top.  It has a nice satin finish, and the smaller size seems better suited to my control panel.  Also, I think it is going to look nice with my volocano buttons.

I also got a new Hand-Candy joystick ball top.  I didn't mind the seam or the dimple on top of my old ball top, but I added this to my order to better justify the shipping (I know there's no logic in that :)).  Anyhow, I really like it now that I have it. http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=368


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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #34 on: May 22, 2011, 01:59:14 pm »
Yeah I think im going to have to special order it at my Home Depot.  I know a lot of people here get a black laminate in a roll but unless your wrapping it around corners, sheets seem much easier to work with to me.

I think the stuff in a roll is the self adhesive laminate.  This stuff is much thicker, and needs to be glued down with something like contact cement.  This post has really good information concerning the type of laminate I used.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=101315.0

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #35 on: May 24, 2011, 11:28:56 pm »
The laminate looks great. Definately a nice route to go.
When I got my laminate, I also had to special order it (from Lowes), Flat black Formica brand

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #36 on: May 24, 2011, 11:39:36 pm »
The laminate looks great. Definately a nice route to go.
When I got my laminate, I also had to special order it (from Lowes), Flat black Formica brand

Thanks!  Your Vertical Retrace build looked really nice with the laminate and helped me make the decision to go laminate.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #37 on: May 26, 2011, 08:13:37 am »
The laminate looks great. Definately a nice route to go.
When I got my laminate, I also had to special order it (from Lowes), Flat black Formica brand

Thanks!  Your Vertical Retrace build looked really nice with the laminate and helped me make the decision to go laminate.

Thank you. Now if I could only get off my butt and get working like you have done.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #38 on: June 01, 2011, 01:50:12 am »
After laminating the inner face of the side panels, I needed to put the battens on.  I'm completely confident that simply screwing the battens in place would have been sufficient.  However, I'm a little OCD when it comes to this sort of thing, so I decided I wanted to glue wood to wood, in addition to the screws.  To do this, I needed to remove the laminate where the battens would go.  Obviously, the battens need to be as close to a mirror image of each other on the two panels.  Along the bottom and the back was no problem since I could use the edge as a reference point. Since the top and front are full of curves, several of the battens were a bit more tricky.

I'm convinced there is NO way I could accurately layout the top and monitor battens twice.  So, instead of trying to duplicate my layout on the two panels, I did my layout only once on my MDF template.  Now, I was able to return the template to the side panels and remove the laminate identically on both panels. :)


And after all the batten locations are removed.


Getting the cabinet together square was a big concern for me.  The flatest surface in my shop is my tablesaw.  So, that's where I put it together.


This is what I was shooting for; no light coming through the rule of my square.  Of course, wood has a mind of it's own, and as I was screwing things down, the wood drifted slightly due to varying densities in the wood.  The final results are still very close to square, and I can't detect any variance without putting my square against it... so I'm happy! :)


One of the things I did that payed off was in cutting the panels that will connect the two sides all at once.  I set the fence on my table saw to 17.5 inches, and then cut the bottom, back, top, front door, etc.  Now all my connecting panels are exactly the same width; which will help tremendously when I try to keep all my joints tight.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2011, 09:52:09 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #39 on: June 01, 2011, 08:05:40 am »
Man that is looking good. :applaud:
I like the laminated inside, very nice touch.
Sure doesn't look like you flunked woodshop

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #40 on: June 01, 2011, 09:34:41 am »
Sure doesn't look like you flunked woodshop

No ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, for reals man, this is looking sweet! love the inset template you made!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #41 on: June 01, 2011, 09:39:14 am »
Wow! Very nice attention to detail  :cheers:   If it would have been me I would have taken the easier route and found an epoxy to glue the battens to the sides instead of pulling the laminate back off   :o  How hard was that to do?

And thanks for the short tutorial on the monitor mount. Cant wait to try it out. I went and bought a cheapy compass but I'm not liking it. What do you use?   
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #42 on: June 01, 2011, 10:10:22 am »
Thanks guys!

...
Sure doesn't look like you flunked woodshop

I was a machinist in the military and we had a seargent that use to tell us we were all a bunch of woodshop flunkies.  I loved it when he called us that!  I thought it was hilarious, and it stuck. :)

Wow! Very nice attention to detail  :cheers:   If it would have been me I would have taken the easier route and found an epoxy to glue the battens to the sides instead of pulling the laminate back off   :o  How hard was that to do?

And thanks for the short tutorial on the monitor mount. Cant wait to try it out. I went and bought a cheapy compass but I'm not liking it. What do you use?   

I set my router bit for about 1/16th of an inch and just ate it away with my router.  It wasn't really that difficult, but I don't think it was very good for my cutter.

I used a beam compass that my dad gave me from the 1960's when he was a draftsman.  You can make one pretty easy from scraps in the shop most likely.  One thing about how I centered the monitor... Once you have it centered, you still need to be careful not to rotate your template or the monitor will be rotated (I would just eyeball it).  Mine was slightly rotated because I forgot to do this.  I was able to fix it, since I made my board a little oversize anyway.
« Last Edit: June 01, 2011, 10:13:25 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #43 on: June 01, 2011, 10:15:11 am »
Sorry... I had a picture of a DIY beam compass I forgot to post.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #44 on: June 01, 2011, 02:10:44 pm »
This is looking really good.  Your woodworking skills are awesome!  /envy

Really liking the style of this cabinet. Looking forward to seeing the finished article.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #45 on: June 01, 2011, 02:52:44 pm »
Love the side template, great idea!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #46 on: June 01, 2011, 04:13:33 pm »
Very awesome progress.  :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #47 on: June 01, 2011, 05:06:13 pm »
Oh this is going to be a good one.

Following along now. :)

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #48 on: June 01, 2011, 05:59:14 pm »
Thanks everyone!  I'm just trying to keep up with the really nice cabs I've seen others post here.  :cheers:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #49 on: June 01, 2011, 09:33:28 pm »
Sorry... I had a picture of a DIY beam compass I forgot to post.


That is fricken cool  :applaud:  I'm making one this weekend!!
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #50 on: June 01, 2011, 11:05:57 pm »
I absolutely love this build.  :applaud: The cabinet shape is fantastic and the execution is perfect. Everything from the monitor mounting to the internal routed sections for a perfectly symmetrical assembly are just blowing me away. I can't WAIT to see this finished. Awesome job so far. You are going to end up with a magnificent machine!!!

Keep those pictures rolling...

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #51 on: June 01, 2011, 11:18:18 pm »
Nice work! I like the construction approach, keeping an eye on this one.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #52 on: June 03, 2011, 02:43:21 am »
Okay...  I've got less than eight weeks until I need to have this thing finished!  :dizzy:

The last thing I want to do is wait until the last couple of weeks, send my artwork off to be printed, and then find out that the colors on my screen are all out of whack compared to the printed product.  I also don't like the idea of paying for all the artwork if the previous situation occurs.  So, I've decided to push ahead and get just the marquee ready for print.  If it comes back different from what I see on my monitor, I have time to adjust things, and the price of just the marquee won't break the bank.

Before I send it off though, I want to put it out here to get some fresh eyes and opinions.

Let me know if anything seems off, or if there is something I've done that doesn't work well for a marquee.

One note... Since I made the final render, I've decided to change the props from white with black highlights, to white outline and white highlight (like the rest of the plane).

Oh... and the plane is a P-47, but I didn't try to stick it 100%, so if the panels or something like that isn't accurate... I'm okay with that.

Thanks everyone! :)

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #53 on: June 03, 2011, 05:29:08 am »
The marquee looks... ace.  :laugh2: Seriously, it looks fantastic.  :applaud: I would have added bullet sprays coming out of the plane's guns, possibly piercing the AMERICAN ACE text, perhaps even a 3D looking, blurry bullet coming at you. Anyway, this is turning out classy as hell.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #54 on: June 03, 2011, 05:15:26 pm »
The marquee looks great  :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Control Panel - 05 May)
« Reply #55 on: June 05, 2011, 10:14:37 pm »
The marquee looks... ace.  :laugh2: Seriously, it looks fantastic.  :applaud: I would have added bullet sprays coming out of the plane's guns, possibly piercing the AMERICAN ACE text, perhaps even a 3D looking, blurry bullet coming at you. Anyway, this is turning out classy as hell.

Good idea... I didn't think about bullets on the marquee, but I might be putting som bullet holes on the side art.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Control Panel - 05 May)
« Reply #56 on: June 05, 2011, 10:14:56 pm »
Started work on the CP this weekend.  Here was what I thought would work:


However, when I placed my hand on the spinner, the left side of my hand kept hitting the joystick... didn't like that.  :badmood:

So, I thought I might reposition things a little so my left hand isn't bumping the joystick when I'm using the spinner.  I switched things around and wonder what you guys thing I can do to keep things comfortable without making the CP too ugly.

Here is the layout with things swapped:


Thanks! :)
« Last Edit: June 05, 2011, 10:19:46 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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emphatic

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Control Panel - 05 May)
« Reply #57 on: June 06, 2011, 05:53:30 am »
How about:



The spinner is "out of the way" and I personally think controlling games like Arkanoid will feel much better this way. This also makes it possible to place the buttons and stick in a more ergonomic position. Rest your hands on the panel for the best fit. 

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Control Panel - 05 May)
« Reply #58 on: June 06, 2011, 08:18:50 am »
I can't use my spinner comfortably with my left hand, I'm right handed.  Definitely do some test playing before you commit to not having any buttons on the left side of your spinner. 

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Control Panel - 05 May)
« Reply #59 on: June 06, 2011, 09:10:39 am »
Now I'm thinking of not adding the dial.  I did a MAWS search for Parents, Good drivers, Vertical orientation, and Dial controller.  There were only 19 returns.  Out of the games listed the following are the only ones that seem interesting:

Arkanoid (love it)
Cosmic Chasm (never played in the arcades, but looks interesting)
Moonwar (never played, but got a score of 70% in MAWS)
Redline Race (my kid might like it :))
Tempest (love it)

So... is it worth putting the dial on?  I know this machine is not going to play all games... so should I just ditch the dial and put Arkanoid and Tempest in the same bucket as Karate Champ and TRON?  ???

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Control Panel - 05 May)
« Reply #60 on: June 06, 2011, 09:20:45 am »
I bought a GGG Turbo Twist (that mounts in a 30 mm hole like a button) but I never use it as spinner games are just too gimmicky for me. Everything I want to play works with a joystick and 3-4 buttons (and that's just because I play modern shmups).

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Control Panel - 05 May)
« Reply #61 on: June 06, 2011, 12:31:30 pm »
So... is it worth putting the dial on?  I know this machine is not going to play all games... so should I just ditch the dial and put Arkanoid and Tempest in the same bucket as Karate Champ and TRON?  ???
I don't know, the two games that would make a dial even worth it is Arkanoid and Tempest (I like Free Kick as well, but it's just Soccer Arkanoid).
If you really like those games it's good to add a dial.

Personally, on my one cabinet with dial, I've been considering taking it out because I find the two or three games I can play with it just doesn't warrant the CP space.
Now-a-days I find myself mostly playing Shmups, Fighters and Beat-em-up games, so a joystick and buttons is all I need.
Getting those to feel great with a good layout is key to a lot of those types.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Control Panel - 05 May)
« Reply #62 on: June 06, 2011, 02:31:13 pm »
...I personally think controlling games like Arkanoid will feel much better this way. This also makes it possible to place the buttons and stick in a more ergonomic position. Rest your hands on the panel for the best fit. 

Yeah... I messed around with it this morning (just letting my hands fall on the CP naturally).  Definitely 'feels' different than it looks when I was laying the controls out. :)

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Bending Laminate - 11 May)
« Reply #63 on: June 11, 2011, 11:26:14 am »
Minor update today...

The sides of this cab are curved at the top and I wanted the entire top to be curved as well; so I cut the top so that it would flex.  I kept a few strips thicker so that I could screw the side panels in from the side.


One thing I did that made things easier for me was to make the top oversized initially.  This way I could position the top and use the back edge as a reference for the angle to be cut... avoiding as many measurements as I can. :)  I marked the waste to cut and then moved that line back a half inch.


Once I made my cut, the piece fit nicely and was even with the back.  Now when I put my backing on the cab, things should be nice and flush! :)


Six weeks and counting... Must work faster! :)
« Last Edit: June 11, 2011, 11:30:40 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #64 on: June 20, 2011, 03:03:56 pm »
Like I said in one of my earlier post, I'm working more on art than anything else right now since I can work on construction while the artwork is being printed.

That said, I did do a little more in the shop this weekend.... :)

The bottom panel for the marquee area butts against the back panel, which needs to meet the monitor frame at 90 degrees.  The monitor frame position meets the CP (which needs to be 3/8 inch from the front of the cab).  So, I put together a temp CP to make sure all these things lined up correctly before I glued and screwed the marquee panels in place.  Also, you can see how the monitor fits in the frame. :)


This is an older photo, but it shows how I beveled the top (and also the bottom) marquee panels so I could put a thin marquee retainer without getting shadows.  I also beveled the battens just for good measure.


I used a piece of angle aluminum to make the marquee retainer.  I had to cut it down on my tablesaw since it was 3/4" on each side.  I ended up with 3/4" on one side and just under 3/8" on the other.  The 3/8" side will be facing out.  Since I didn't like the idea of trying to push a 3/4" strip of aluminum through my table saw, I drilled the mounting holes in the strip and then used them to mount the piece onto a 3/4" board that I could then safely push.  I also routed a channel in the top and bottom marquee panels so that the retainer can sit flush.  My intent was to either paint or have the parts black anodized... but I kind of like them all metal looking.  I'll wait until I get the Marquee art back to decide.


And with two pieces of Lexan.  The fit is snug... in fact, I have to loosen the retainer just a little to let me slip the sheets in.  I then thighten the retainers up, and there is very little play left.


This is a really crappy photo, but I just LOVED the way the back came out.  Everything lined up great and you can see there are no light gaps (the garage door is up and it was a very sunny day).


Five weeks and counting!  ;D
« Last Edit: June 20, 2011, 04:55:16 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #65 on: June 20, 2011, 03:11:08 pm »
Excellent!  :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #66 on: June 20, 2011, 03:23:36 pm »
nice work on the marquee holders. chroom looks nice, i still dont know how you removed the black laminate for the wooden holders for the panels  :dunno

They are very well cut out !

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #67 on: June 20, 2011, 03:33:57 pm »
looking good   :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #68 on: June 20, 2011, 04:28:34 pm »
I am still loving this build. Your cabinet looks factory made. The cuts are all so clean and well planned out. Thanks for posting more pics!!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #69 on: June 20, 2011, 07:21:59 pm »
This cabinet is looking great.  One of my favorites by far.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #70 on: June 20, 2011, 11:23:19 pm »
Thanks everyone for the positive comments! :)

A forum like this offers a lot to this hobby.  For me, it really is fun to read what others are doing and to post my own work.  Also, this forum really helps to educate; I've learn so much from the people who post.

So... here is a TINY nugget I forgot to mention that might help someone (it would have helped me) :)  Always start your routing on the least visible area of your cabinet.  Placing and removing the router is the most likely time for me to slip.  Here is where I was lifting the router off the piece and it tilted just slightly!  Of course the second it happens... it's over you have your flaw.  Anyhow... don't start or finish your routing on your most visible face. :)


nice work on the marquee holders. chroom looks nice, i still dont know how you removed the black laminate for the wooden holders for the panels  :dunno

They are very well cut out !

If you look back a few posts, you will see that I cut holes in my MDF template.  I put a bushing guide on my router and dropped the bit 9/16" (1/2" for the MDF template and 1/16" for the laminate).  Then I placed my MDF template back on the now laminated plywood and clamped it down.  Using the cutouts in the MDF template, I routed away the laminate and about 0.020" of plywood.  The end result was a very clean bare wood surface to glue the battens on.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #71 on: June 21, 2011, 11:35:57 am »
Great job so far this is a really clean cabinet, shame about the router slip, at least you had the nerve to take a router to yours.  If someone as skilled as you had a slip, I know now I would of destroyed my cabinet trying it, and probably anything else in my proximity.

Anyhow, don't let it put you off, you have too many people waiting for the end result now, don't let us down!  :applaud:
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #72 on: June 21, 2011, 01:07:44 pm »
Fantastic Progress so far.  What size is your crt?  You now have me thinking about mounting my 21" vertically!

Keep up the great work! :)
If its interesting I'm interested!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #73 on: June 21, 2011, 02:27:47 pm »
Great job so far this is a really clean cabinet, shame about the router slip, at least you had the nerve to take a router to yours.  If someone as skilled as you had a slip, I know now I would of destroyed my cabinet trying it, and probably anything else in my proximity.

Anyhow, don't let it put you off, you have too many people waiting for the end result now, don't let us down!  :applaud:
That slip was the first one I had on this build and I just had to sit down for a minute and take it in... :(  Looking on the bright side; the nick will mostly be covered by the t-molding... and I will NEVER start routing on a good face again. :)

Fantastic Progress so far.  What size is your crt?  You now have me thinking about mounting my 21" vertically!

Keep up the great work! :)

Sorry, I wasn't able to read your post for staring at your avatar.  ;D  Okay, my CRT is 17" and actually fits very comfortably in this size cab (3/4 scale).  If I had made this full size I'm sure I could have put a 19" in there... maybe a 21" even.  Getting rid of the monitor housing really saved a lot of room.  The most limiting factor was the angle of the monitor... the higher the angle the further the yoke moved toward the back of the cab.  My monitor is angled at 22.5 degrees and is very comfortable to view while seated.  I think the Galaga cabs were around 15 degrees (which is where I started from).
« Last Edit: June 21, 2011, 02:31:23 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #74 on: June 22, 2011, 09:01:48 am »
Great job so far this is a really clean cabinet, shame about the router slip, at least you had the nerve to take a router to yours.  If someone as skilled as you had a slip, I know now I would of destroyed my cabinet trying it, and probably anything else in my proximity.

Anyhow, don't let it put you off, you have too many people waiting for the end result now, don't let us down!  :applaud:
That slip was the first one I had on this build and I just had to sit down for a minute and take it in... :(  Looking on the bright side; the nick will mostly be covered by the t-molding... and I will NEVER start routing on a good face again. :)

Fantastic Progress so far.  What size is your crt?  You now have me thinking about mounting my 21" vertically!

Keep up the great work! :)

Sorry, I wasn't able to read your post for staring at your avatar.  ;D  Okay, my CRT is 17" and actually fits very comfortably in this size cab (3/4 scale).  If I had made this full size I'm sure I could have put a 19" in there... maybe a 21" even.  Getting rid of the monitor housing really saved a lot of room.  The most limiting factor was the angle of the monitor... the higher the angle the further the yoke moved toward the back of the cab.  My monitor is angled at 22.5 degrees and is very comfortable to view while seated.  I think the Galaga cabs were around 15 degrees (which is where I started from).



Thanks Woodshop Flunky! you've solved two problems for me, mounting my marquee and how to mount my crt.  I'm going to stick to horizontal for now but will make a vertical board as well that I can just bolt in..

My avatar is part of a self-healing hypnosis thing I'm working on.. if you stare at it long enough you feel bubbly :)
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #75 on: June 22, 2011, 02:05:36 pm »
Committed to a marquee and sent the file to Game on Grafix to have it printed.  I only made a few changes to the one I posted a while back; mainly that the prop is now spinning.  The image is 17.75 inches wide at 300dpi... so the actual marquee has a lot more detail than can be shown here.  The airplane seems lighter since I scaled it down so much.

The Game on Grafix site says that it usually take about 5-10 day to print and then ship.  Has that been the norm for those of you that have ordered from them?  Just curious since I still have the CP and the side art to have done.

« Last Edit: June 22, 2011, 02:11:23 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #76 on: June 22, 2011, 04:44:36 pm »
Crap!  :banghead:

I just noticed that the marquee has a thin white line going across the bottom of the prop!  It might be covered up by the bottom marquee retainer... but Murphy will probably have none of that. :)

Now I want it back from from Game on Grafix even more (to see if it will show).

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #77 on: June 22, 2011, 05:09:25 pm »
Crap!  :banghead:

I just noticed that the marquee has a thin white line going across the bottom of the prop!  It might be covered up by the bottom marquee retainer... but Murphy will probably have none of that. :)

Now I want it back from from Game on Grafix even more (to see if it will show).

email them and ask if you can provide an updated image if they haven't started work yet!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #78 on: June 22, 2011, 06:04:50 pm »
One thing I've learned from the projects I've made is to get the artowrk first and then work around that. It's just too problematic to expect the artwork to be measured EXACTLY how you want it to be once your cabinet is done. The only way to be sure of that is to be priniting it yourself. On two occasions now I've had to have artwork reprinted (a bezel and a marquee) because size instructions were not adhered to. And when I'm in the UK and the printer is in the States that's just a waste of my time.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #79 on: June 22, 2011, 06:10:51 pm »
This is progressing beautifully, it's always pleasing to see quality craftsmanship in action.  Router slip you say?  I wont show you the results of my router going into fits recently (can't blame the router, I was being impatient)  :cheers:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #80 on: June 22, 2011, 06:18:10 pm »
When slotting on my first control panel, I was 90% done when the router got away from me. man I was ticked.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #81 on: June 23, 2011, 01:08:13 am »
Not wanting to wait for my print to return, I made a black and white version of my marquee to scale on my printer to see if the line on the prop would be covered by the marquee retainer.  First, the print is being held on by the retainers only; I didn't sandwich the print between the lexan sheets.  This is why the print looks a little wavy in places (the A in American).  Also, the white line in the center is the seam between the two sheets of paper.

These photos are really grainy since I took them with my iPhone and had only my overhead shop lights.

Anyhow...


And for the closeup...
Yep! There's the line just ABOVE the bottom retainer.


Okay, so the line is not actually very noticeable in the whole scheme of this build... but I do hate it being there.  So, options:
1. Just live with it (really doubt anyone would notice if I didn't point it out).
2. Correct the mistake and see if Game on Grafix could use a new version instead of what I sent them.
3. Just bite the bullet and pay to have another one printed.

My gut instinct is to not opt for choice number one (I'm convinced it's a sickness :)).  Since I sent my flawed copy to Game on Grafix 4 days ago, it is likely that I can't update the file at this point, but it might work.  That leaves me with choice number three.  Fortunately, this marquee only cost $23 (including shipping); so it won't really break the bank to have it redone.  The family could just skip one meal at Rosa's Cafe and recoup the loss. :)

I'll see how I feel in the morning!  :-\

This is progressing beautifully, it's always pleasing to see quality craftsmanship in action.  Router slip you say?  I wont show you the results of my router going into fits recently (can't blame the router, I was being impatient)  :cheers:
Thanks Ond... you're build is awesome.  I really hope when you're finished, you post some pics of the recovered UFO you reverse engineered it from.  :applaud:
« Last Edit: June 23, 2011, 09:40:22 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #82 on: June 23, 2011, 03:24:03 am »
When you get the marquee replace it with a spitfire and some British flags.  That's what your build needs.
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #83 on: June 23, 2011, 07:16:40 am »
When you get the marquee replace it with a spitfire and some British flags.  That's what your build needs.

I love the Spitfire!  :applaud:  And I'll rename it, "Finest Hour"! :)

EDIT: I use to play the mess out of this game when I was younger.
« Last Edit: June 23, 2011, 09:11:58 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #84 on: June 23, 2011, 07:20:59 am »
A little sleep helped (emphasis on little). :)

The distance between the line and the bottom retainer is just under 1/16 inch.  I could just shave that much from the bottom of the print and everything will drop down that distance.  The line should then just barely be covered by the marquee.  Also, everything else should still look okay... 1/16 inch shouldn't throw the look off.

Whew!  I can still take the family to Rosa's.   ;D
« Last Edit: June 23, 2011, 07:23:46 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #85 on: June 23, 2011, 10:59:41 am »
When you get the marquee replace it with a spitfire and some British flags.  That's what your build needs.

I love the Spitfire!  :applaud:  And I'll rename it, "Finest Hour"! :)

EDIT: I use to play the mess out of this game when I was younger.


Me too, was great with the Ju-88's coming in accross the channel!
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #86 on: June 23, 2011, 02:42:23 pm »
all of a sudden I'm thirsty for some milk....
« Last Edit: June 23, 2011, 02:47:49 pm by BurgerKingDiamond »
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Marquee Retainer Installed)
« Reply #87 on: June 23, 2011, 02:46:26 pm »
.
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #88 on: July 05, 2011, 03:02:35 pm »
Minor baby update today...

I finally finished the side art and the control panel.

The side art was an absolute BEAST to work with.  The entire file is raster at 15000x7600 pixels.  There was a ton of different layers, and my computer only has 4gig... it was a mess to work with.  :banghead:

So, there is a ton more detail in these graphics than I can display on the screen, but you get the idea of what I was shooting for with the WWII fighter theme.


I tried to keep the CP super simple... just some outlines and a couple of labels to keep it from being too boring. :)  Remember the CP wraps, so the player slect buttons will be on the front.


Back to making sawdust! :)
« Last Edit: July 05, 2011, 03:04:10 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #89 on: July 05, 2011, 03:04:26 pm »
Bloody brilliant!

This is going to be a stunner   :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #90 on: July 05, 2011, 03:08:30 pm »
That is some awesome and unique artwork!  :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #91 on: July 05, 2011, 03:22:51 pm »
very nice, i love everyting you do, very good at gfx as well. You almost need wings on your cab  :laugh:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #92 on: July 05, 2011, 03:30:35 pm »
Can you tell me how you cut the wood/planned the side art accurately?


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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #93 on: July 05, 2011, 04:53:12 pm »
Very nice artwork!  :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: For the sideart, do you have the other side mirrored with the text horizontally flipped so it will face the right way?

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #94 on: July 05, 2011, 05:00:47 pm »
Thanks everyone! :)

...almost need wings on your cab  :laugh:
Little wings would give me a nice place to sit my drink! :)

Can you tell me how you cut the wood/planned the side art accurately?
This was a BIG deal. :)  So here's what I did...

1. I designed the cab in Sketchup, but that is just "theoretical" until I actually start building the thing.
2. With the Sketchup design in hand, I build the template that will drive the development of the entire cab.  Once I get in the shop, I always deviate a little from my design, so after I make my MDF template, I go back to Sketchup and update it so that it reflects the real thing.


3. Sketchup allows me to save a bitmap of my design, but there is no associated resolution per inch.  That's no problem, since what I really want is an accurate shape.


4. In Inkscape (I'm too cheap for Illustrator :)), I load the bitmap from Sketchup and then trace a "Master Outline" over it.  This master outline is a vector image and has pixel per inch information.  I really wanted to make sure I had things right, so I had the "Master Outline" printed full scale at Kinkos for about $8.  I brought the print home and place it over the MDF template and made sure I had not made any sizing mistakes.  (Didn't think to take a picture of this... sorry.)  The fit was great, so I moved on to the actual graphics.


5. The "Master Outline" will never get printed and I just use it as a reference for all my vector drawing.  I created all my components as separate layers and then saved them off as bitmaps.  After I had all the bitmaps, I used GIMP (I'm too cheap for Photoshop :)) to work the design into what I wanted.



The side art in my previous post show the profile just for clarity sake.  The actual print is going to be a rectangle 50" high by 25.5" wide (1/2" oversized all around).  I'll fit it to the sides and trim the excess.  This should give me plenty of wiggle room.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #95 on: July 05, 2011, 05:02:54 pm »
Very nice artwork!  :applaud: :applaud: :applaud: For the sideart, do you have the other side mirrored with the text horizontally flipped so it will face the right way?
Thanks!  Yes, I reversed the image, and the USA reads correctly on the left and right sides.  I uploaded the images today to be printed... they were nearly 500megs each!  :dizzy:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #96 on: July 05, 2011, 05:55:30 pm »
This is going to turn out really nice with the overall theme, and the execution. Nice cabinet design, great looking artwork....I'm looking forward to see it done!   :applaud: :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #97 on: July 05, 2011, 08:22:24 pm »
Beautiful work.  Very well integrated design concept and graphics  :applaud: :applaud:
« Last Edit: August 12, 2011, 11:17:43 am by BobA »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #98 on: July 05, 2011, 10:29:29 pm »
Awesome job on the artwork! Great attention to detail! :notworthy:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #99 on: July 05, 2011, 11:04:01 pm »
Really a fantastic original design. Can't wait to see it all printed!
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #100 on: July 05, 2011, 11:35:25 pm »
I know I'm just piling on at this point but that is the best original artwork I've seen in some time.  If 1942 cabinets only looked that good.

 :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #101 on: July 06, 2011, 04:51:52 am »
Looking great my man.  Can you make it more spitfirey? :p
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #102 on: July 06, 2011, 09:27:16 am »
Thanks again for the compliments!  My wife is getting supper ready for this to be finished... I've been spending a lot time on it (but I think that's the nature of having such a hard deadline like my son's birthday).

Looking great my man.  Can you make it more spitfirey? :p

I know that would look great!  Swap out the green and aluminum for camo, replace the star and put in a white bottom in place of the check pattern.  Modeling those exhaust ports at about the level of the CP would really set it off!  :cheers:
« Last Edit: July 06, 2011, 09:29:59 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #103 on: July 06, 2011, 10:32:01 am »
Wow!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #104 on: July 07, 2011, 05:43:11 am »
Awesome  :o

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Finished Artwork 05 July 2011)
« Reply #105 on: July 07, 2011, 10:49:50 am »
Great to see some original artwork that is seriously on point. Well done my man  :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #106 on: July 14, 2011, 06:14:03 pm »
Got the artwork in today!  Kudos to Game on Grafix for a top notch print job... and quick too!  :applaud:

My crappy iPhone pictures do not do justice to these prints.

Side panel...


Control panel overlay...


Marquee...


Nine days to go! :)

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emphatic

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #107 on: July 14, 2011, 06:42:35 pm »
But, why is the sideart all scratched up like that?  :laugh2:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #108 on: July 14, 2011, 06:46:49 pm »
But, why is the sideart all scratched up like that?  :laugh2:

That's the first thing my son asked.  ;D

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emphatic

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #109 on: July 14, 2011, 07:20:42 pm »
I know from experience just how awesome the gameongrafix stuff is, so I bet you're itching to put it in place.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #110 on: July 14, 2011, 08:56:09 pm »
the artwork looks awesome. great detail on the side art and that cpo is perfect.
When this cab is complete, please post some good full pics. I'm looking forward to seeing them

I'm looking forward to getting my cpo done by game on grafix in a couple of weeks. I bought one of their generic cpos a while back when they were still called mame marquees and I was very happy with the quality

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #111 on: July 15, 2011, 01:49:40 am »
very nice  :applaud: And yep to bad about the scratches  :P

Does the cpo have this scratch proof material? used for bullet proof glas?


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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #112 on: July 15, 2011, 10:02:47 am »
What would a project be without screwups... right?

On the CP... look at the proximity of the joystick and the player one select button.  No problem if I had a flat CP, but the overlay is going to wrap around the CP so that the player select buttons will be in front.  Now, the joystick and player one select buttons WILL occupy the same space (I should have listened more closely to quantum physics theory in college... who knew  :dunno).

Lesson: Fit a test CP before sending artwork to be printed.

*sigh*  This is not what I want to tackle one week before his birthday party. :)

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #113 on: July 15, 2011, 10:26:49 am »
Does the cpo have this scratch proof material? used for bullet proof glas?

According to gameongrafix... yes.

It has a very fine texture to it, and it feels very durable.  I couldn't be happier with gameongrafix.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #114 on: July 15, 2011, 11:29:48 am »
I had the same problem with my first cab. I installed the flipper buttons on the side as the last thing todo. And i didt have enough space, so i bought some Seimitsubuttons like these

http://www.arcadeshop.de/Seimitsu-Buttons-Seimitsu-PS-14-DN-CP-black_931.html


that will fit for sure, just route out some wood from the inside

According to gameongrafix... yes.
It has a very fine texture to it, and it feels very durable.  I couldn't be happier with gameongrafix.

Ill try Gameonegrafix for my latest cab, i hear nothing but good news.

Whats wrong with mamemarquees btw?
« Last Edit: July 15, 2011, 11:33:42 am by Martijn »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #115 on: July 15, 2011, 02:11:53 pm »
Ill try Gameonegrafix for my latest cab, i hear nothing but good news.

Whats wrong with mamemarquees btw?

MameMarquees is now GameOnGrafix. They changed the name.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #116 on: July 15, 2011, 04:09:58 pm »
I just wanted to say that this is easily my favorite (current) project on the site.

Not only are you a very skilled craftsman, but you possess the common sense to know that "just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should." It's refreshing to see someone exercising a bit of restraint on their DIY cab.

Tasteful, and well-executed. :cheers:

emphatic

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #117 on: July 15, 2011, 04:27:29 pm »
Also, the start buttons, there are some pretty short leaf switch buttons out there. If you measure your available space, perhaps there's something to be done to solve this.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet
« Reply #118 on: July 15, 2011, 06:22:13 pm »
I'll continue to pile on the praise- not just for the cab, but documenting it so well (so folks like me can learn)! Once your family is enjoying the finished product, you definitely have to post those plans... I have a 17" monitor telling me it wants me to rip off your design.  ;D

This is going to be a great build! Mind sharing the plans when you are done?

Yes, I'm doing all my design in Sketchup and I plan on posting the file when its complete.  That way, anyone who wants can either use it as-is... or make changes directly in Sketchup.

Thanks for the compliment, my son is certainly excited about the build. :)


Completed projects: Pac bartop (Plug & Play), 30th Anniversary Pac cab (MAME), Point Blank (PS1), Centipede (arcade hardware- light restore), VS. Super Mario Bros (arcade hardware- light restore) Tetris Cocktail (SNES), Arcade Classics upright (60-in-1, then MAME), Multi-Raiden (arcade hardware). Pac Man vs.(Gamecube),

Working on: Pinball Re-theme, Homebrew arcade arena shooter

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #119 on: July 16, 2011, 12:46:18 am »
I just wanted to say that this is easily my favorite (current) project on the site.

Not only are you a very skilled craftsman, but you possess the common sense to know that "just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should." It's refreshing to see someone exercising a bit of restraint on their DIY cab.

Tasteful, and well-executed. :cheers:
+1 exactly

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #120 on: July 16, 2011, 07:42:15 pm »
Thanks again for all the positive feedback... it really helps! :)

Made some progress with the monitor and bezel area.  I used black picture mat (with black interior) for the bezel.  The glass is 1/4 inch "gray" (have no idea what percentage that is).  Under the shop lights, I can barely see some details through the gray glass and the minor bezel provides a small sense of depth.  I was concerned I wouldn't like this arrangement, but now that I've seen it... I'm very satisfied with the results.  ;D

I've shown the monitor mounted before, but this image shows how I blacked out the insides of the frame that holds the monitor board.


Since my bezel is flat, and the monitor is all kinds of curved... I made an MDF spacer to raise the bezel high enough to clear the edge of the monitor.


On top of that I put the actual monitor bezel.


The easiest way for me to trap light leaks was to make another "minor" bezel that sits on top of the monitor frame.  This prevents anyone from looking directly toward the edges of the main bezel or the MDF spacer.  If you look straight on, the minor bezel hides the light leaks.  If you look at an angle, the light is not visible.  I tested it at all sorts of angles with my garage door up (another blistering sunny day here) and there was no light leaks. :)


These are the individual components... MDF spacer, main bezel, minor bezel.


To keep everything from sliding off, I mounted a strip of aluminum on the front of the monitor frame.  I mounted it so that the strip is just a little proud of the glass so that tokens or quarters can be placed there. That's the kind of stuff its all about for me. :)


And a very anxious customer.


EDIT: The monitor looks small in the last image because it's swimming in a sea of black.  When viewing it in the flesh, it is very easy to distinguish the sides of the cab and it doesn't look so small.


Seven days and counting. :)
« Last Edit: July 17, 2011, 01:26:09 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #121 on: July 16, 2011, 07:58:40 pm »
Man, that's one lucky kid!  ;D

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #122 on: July 16, 2011, 10:43:08 pm »
Quote from: Woodshop Flunky

Very pro-looking!  :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #123 on: July 17, 2011, 03:12:32 am »
very nice, what material is the black bezel made of? It has a great factory finish.

Will you still be using that 2.0 speaker set? This cabinet needs deserves something better  :D

Nice to see you using glass, cause when i saw you putting coins there, i thought that would scratch a lot on plexi

How many days you got left?

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #124 on: July 17, 2011, 03:46:08 am »
Looking good! You cut those bezels out really neat.  :applaud:

How is it working on the project in the weather you are having? I saw some weather reports for USA here in the UK yesterday on Fox News and it seems you've had some scorching weather for some time now. We had a couple of nice weeks a month or so back (nothing like the temps you been getting though) and working in my garage got a bit uncomfortable at times.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #125 on: July 17, 2011, 09:30:19 am »
very nice, what material is the black bezel made of? It has a great factory finish.

Will you still be using that 2.0 speaker set? This cabinet needs deserves something better  :D

Nice to see you using glass, cause when i saw you putting coins there, i thought that would scratch a lot on plexi

How many days you got left?

The bezel is just black matting used in framing pictures.  I got mine at a local craft store, "Hobby Lobby", but any frameshop should be able to get it.

Sadly, I know NOTHING about speakers.  I plugged those crappy ones in a few weeks ago, and it sounded like I was playing the game on my phone. :)  I was talking with a coworker and mentioned that I was going to have to buy a new set of speakers.  He told me he had a set of Cambridge Soundworks speakers he wasn't using anymore, and that needed a good home.  The price was right (free) so I figured I'd give them a try.  Honestly, I didn't think the older games from the 80's would sound any better on this system than the crappy one I had.  So, when I got them home, I hooked them up and loaded Donkey Kong.  WOW!  The sound was incredible compared to the 2.0 speakers, and the subwoofer was sooooo nice. :)


I've got six days left that I can work.  :o  I plan to put the CP together today, and button up the back.  I've got the coin door installed and all the construction (short of the CP) is finished.  The PC is running and has MALA and MAME installed.  So, after today I've got to do the wiring, lay down the art, and install the t-molding.  I also have all day Friday off from work.  If I get into a crunch I could also take Thurday off (or maybe just a half day).
« Last Edit: July 17, 2011, 10:00:20 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #126 on: July 17, 2011, 09:37:22 am »
Looking good! You cut those bezels out really neat.  :applaud:

How is it working on the project in the weather you are having? I saw some weather reports for USA here in the UK yesterday on Fox News and it seems you've had some scorching weather for some time now. We had a couple of nice weeks a month or so back (nothing like the temps you been getting though) and working in my garage got a bit uncomfortable at times.

The summers here can be brutal!  I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex and its been 100+ every day for too long now.  I don't remember the last time it rained.  My parents and sister live in west Texas and they haven't had any rain in 10 months.  Actually, it's more bearable in west Texas than it is here due to the low humidity and the fact that they are at about 3500 feet and here we are at about 800.

Anyhow, you have to be DETICATED to work in my garage during these summer days.  :cheers:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #127 on: July 17, 2011, 09:43:30 am »
A 2.1 system can do miracles for older titles. Twin Cobra for example has a low frequency kick that can't be heard unless you have a subwoofer. Sounds awesome with it.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #128 on: July 17, 2011, 03:55:42 pm »
Thats funny for the speakes, i have the same cambridge dtt3500 for my new cab. But after listening to them some more i was positive i will be unhappy with them, for your size cab its great!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #129 on: July 25, 2011, 12:26:40 pm »
Had my son's birthday party this past weekend, and it went great; the arcade was a big success!   ;D

I was really surprised the kids, even the ones a little older (10-14), seemed a bit confused as to what to do with the arcade... I think the coin mech threw them.  They had never needed quarters to play a game at home before. :)  Once they warmed up to it though... it was a lot of fun.  My wife and I also set up the Wii and our Xbox so the kids could play some familiar games as well.  My nephew, who is 15, commented that these old games really require a lot of fast coordination and were really fun.

Anyhow, it was a blast!

So... pics?

Well, It's been a blur at my house the past couple of days, so I'll have more pics and do a more detailed write up in a few days; after the family heads back home.

Here are a couple of in work photos I took Friday... less than 24hrs before the party.  The t-molding was a little bit oversized by design, and I trimmed the edges with a chisel.  Nice thing about my distressed side art... slipping with the chisel doesn't really show up. :)


One thing I really liked about the side art was how the metal finish came out.  You can also see the latches I used for the control panel.

« Last Edit: July 26, 2011, 11:59:59 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #130 on: July 25, 2011, 12:52:30 pm »
Fantastic work Woodshop Flunky!  Not sure you deserve your handle  :applaud:
If its interesting I'm interested!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #131 on: July 25, 2011, 02:01:46 pm »
A little thanks to all that have contributed to this very helpful forum...   :cheers:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=113290.0

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BurgerKingDiamond

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #132 on: July 26, 2011, 07:47:11 am »
Man I would love to play some shmups on that thing.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (Artwork Arrived 14 July 2011)
« Reply #133 on: July 26, 2011, 10:19:25 am »
I'd love to throw some coins in that baby's slot!

mmm ;)

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #134 on: July 31, 2011, 03:12:55 pm »
I've updated the original post as well...

This project is about finished finally.  Notice I said "about" finished. :)

Of course, there are a few loose ends to wrap up.  I don't have the LEDs for the volcano buttons or coin door hooked up, and I'm still tweaking the software and frontend.  But basically, this thing is finished and plays great!

Thanks to everyone here who posts.  The information I got from this forum really helped with this build.

To get a better scale of the project... here is my now five year old son playing the arcade.


...and an over the shoulder shot.  I'm really pleased with how all the art came out.  The marquee looks great lit up, but I'm running 9v instead of 12v through Groovy Game Gears marquee LEDs.  This seems better for this scale cabinet.


Here's a shot of the control panel.  The volcano buttons are not lit up... but they will be. :)


...and more CP.  You can see the detail of the overlay better... not much flash, but I think it works well with the sides and the marquee.


Another shot of the marquee...


My youngest helping out... just because kids are cute!


Thanks again to everyone.

I want to clean up the Sketchup files, and I'll be posting them soon.  :cheers:
« Last Edit: August 01, 2011, 12:37:48 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #135 on: July 31, 2011, 04:00:19 pm »
Its been a real pleasure following your build, you've done an ''ACE'' job  (geddit?) ;D

Seriously you did an amazing job and have been a great inspiration, hope the whole family enjoys it too!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #136 on: July 31, 2011, 04:04:55 pm »
Its been a real pleasure following your build, you've done an ''ACE'' job  (geddit?) ;D

Seriously you did an amazing job and have been a great inspiration, hope the whole family enjoys it too!

Thanks!  ;D

I've still got a couple more posts that I will add; detailing a few things on the cab, like volume control and the CP wiring... no wires here.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #137 on: July 31, 2011, 04:27:17 pm »
Very well done  :cheers: , whats your next plan? ;)

And how did you solve the front button problem?


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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #138 on: July 31, 2011, 04:35:15 pm »
Very well done  :cheers: , whats your next plan? ;)

And how did you solve the front button problem?



I'm really thinking of making a two player, all in 1 control panel that I can hook up to the living room TV.  There are some really great horizontal games that I think would play great on the big screen.

To get the front button to fit, I had to take my Dremel and "eat away" about a 1/4 inch square area of the joystick black base.  I don't think I compromised the strength any significant amount.  You can't see it in the photo.  It was just pure luck that the button didn't affect the restrictor plate or the circuit board of the U360.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #139 on: July 31, 2011, 05:01:31 pm »
 :applaud:

Awesome build. Eventually I will follow in your footsteps to create my own build. Can't wait to see what's next.
I need a house to put stuff in, instead of an apartment with stacks of boxes.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #140 on: July 31, 2011, 05:52:00 pm »
Really nice work getting the front buttons working in that tight space.  :cheers: So awesome seeing your son enjoying it as well.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #141 on: July 31, 2011, 08:14:00 pm »
What a great result!  I'm impressed that you added that extra touch of ageing/distressing the artwork as well.  A very classy cab and one lucky little fella!

 :cheers:

Ond

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #142 on: July 31, 2011, 11:07:00 pm »
That artwork is insane! Did you make all of it in inkscape?

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #143 on: July 31, 2011, 11:13:45 pm »
Turned out fantastic  :cheers:

Great to see the little fella enjoying it ;)

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #144 on: August 01, 2011, 11:09:28 am »
That artwork is insane! Did you make all of it in inkscape?

Thanks!

No, I didn't use Inkscape exclusively.  I made all my line art in Inkscape, but I did all my final work in Gimp.

For example, on the marquee, I did the font, the star and the plane in Inkscape.  But then I used Gimp to make a grid background.  I brought each layer of the Inkscape components into the Gimp image one at a time.  Then I added dirty or metallic textures.  Drop shadows were added, and I adjusted the overall color values.

Gimp was really the star of the show.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #145 on: August 01, 2011, 06:32:01 pm »
Wow dude - I have to say I am thoroughly impressed by this build.  The artwork is fantastic and I especially love your CP.  Must have cost an arm and a leg to get it printed.  Such a nice, clean cabinet.  The profile is especially pleasing to the eye.  When I see a project come out as nice as this one it motivates me to get back in the shop!   Great job all around.  :cheers:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #146 on: August 01, 2011, 09:03:19 pm »
I was really surprised the kids, even the ones a little older (10-14), seemed a bit confused as to what to do with the arcade... I think the coin mech threw them. 

Same thing happened with my 6yo nephew.  :lol
When I had to leave he was still just hitting the coin and start buttons randomly until it let him play.
He had no concept of the process of putting a quarter in, then pressing start.

I'm envious of the quality of this cab.  It's hard to believe that CP isn't a from production model.
Like everything else on the cab, it just looks right, as if an entire design team had spent months on it.
 :cheers:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #147 on: August 02, 2011, 10:24:59 am »
Thanks to everyone for the encouraging feedback!  :cheers:

Wow dude - I have to say I am thoroughly impressed by this build.  The artwork is fantastic and I especially love your CP.  Must have cost an arm and a leg to get it printed.
I'm glad you like it.  Bella's arcade is really what got this build off the ground.  My wife and I were very impressed with your daughters mini arcade and it really helped sell my wife.  :applaud:

The marquee was about $23 and I wasn't going to have an arcade without a marquee. :)  The CP and the side art was about $170 dollars together.  So, the art was really the most costly "single" expense on this build.  As I was getting to the end, and eating through my budget, I considered just leaving the sides black laminate.  The game would still look nice, and play just the same.  However, my wife really pushed me to have the art printed once she saw what I had come up with.

One thing I learned, for first time builders, add about 50% to your budget.  I made a lot of purchasing mistakes just because I wasn't sure what I was doing in some cases.  I've got enough spares right now to make another CP minus the iPac board and spinner. :)

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #148 on: August 02, 2011, 11:23:20 am »
Excellent build! I love how that CP turned out.   :cheers:

I like how you say it's "finished".... because they never really are. There's always one or two little jobs that always need doing. Really enjoyed following this build because your woodworking skills were brilliant. You must be really proud of this.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #149 on: August 02, 2011, 11:44:59 am »
Awesome! I didn't realize how tiny it was.
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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #150 on: August 02, 2011, 12:21:19 pm »
Awesome! I didn't realize how tiny it was.
Yeah... it only stands about 4ft 2in tall.  :o  My wife says it's "cute".

I know others who have built mini cabs have said this before, but it really is very comfortable for an adult to play while seated.  When I'm playing, it feels about the same height as what I remember from cocktail cabinets in Pizza Hut during the 80s. :)
« Last Edit: August 02, 2011, 12:27:11 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #151 on: August 02, 2011, 12:47:36 pm »
Excellent build! I love how that CP turned out.   :cheers:
Thanks!

The CP is really one of the areas of the build that I spent a lot of time on.  Part of what I do for a living is develop human machine interfaces.  I know from an engineering mindset, it is very easy to include the kitchen sink when designing this sort of thing.  I really had to keep reminding myself that my CP was going to be a trade off; some games are just not going to be playable with this CP.  I'm really going to miss TRON, Defender, and Karate Champ :(.  Anyhow, I tried to focus on getting the most bang for the buck while maintaining a CP simple enough for a caveman! :)

Of course the "next" build is going to have to try and capture these missed games. :)  I love Shrunkenmaster's mini TRON, and I'd nearly build a dedicated TRON cab like his just for that game.
« Last Edit: August 02, 2011, 12:50:09 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #152 on: August 03, 2011, 10:34:41 am »
I've tried to post the Sketchup model, but I can't zip it up enough to attach it to this post.

Any ideas?


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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #153 on: August 03, 2011, 11:27:25 am »
I've tried to post the Sketchup model, but I can't zip it up enough to attach it to this post.

Any ideas?

I don't have any experience with it, but Gozer's arcade models are stored here:
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/
(upload button is in upper right corner)

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #154 on: August 03, 2011, 01:51:54 pm »
Thanks to everyone for the encouraging feedback!  :cheers:

Wow dude - I have to say I am thoroughly impressed by this build.  The artwork is fantastic and I especially love your CP.  Must have cost an arm and a leg to get it printed.
I'm glad you like it.  Bella's arcade is really what got this build off the ground.  My wife and I were very impressed with your daughters mini arcade and it really helped sell my wife.  :applaud:

Thanks - I'm glad it helped sell the wife.  I'm sure she is more than happy with what you ended up with.  That thing would look great in a kid's room and he would be the envy of all of his friends!

You could try uploading your .skp file to Megaupload and then just putting the link in your signature block or something.  That should work.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #155 on: August 03, 2011, 07:00:10 pm »
we have a sketch up file repository here, Please post it!!!!

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #156 on: August 09, 2011, 01:03:58 pm »
Okay, so I've been able to upload the Sketchup file of my cabinet to http://files.arcadecontrols.com/categories.php?cat_id=34

The most significant part of this file is the side profiles.  They are accurate to the build I've documented in this thread and have been dimensioned.  The battens and interior stuff are a little different than what I built, but those areas will not be seen and might need to be adjusted anyway depending on what internal components are used.

One thing to note... The depth of the side panels just barely fits the 17" CRT monitor I used.  As I mentioned in one of my first posts, if you are going to use a CRT, then make the sides about 2" wider until you can fit your monitor and make sure how much clearance you have.  At that point you can remove the extra width so that the cab isn't too chunky.  That's what I did anyway. :)

Thanks again!  :cheers:
« Last Edit: August 09, 2011, 01:11:14 pm by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #157 on: August 09, 2011, 07:24:56 pm »
How did you come to settle on 4 buttons for player 1?   Are there specific vertical games that you wanted 4 buttons for?

Thanks

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #158 on: August 09, 2011, 09:17:32 pm »
How did you come to settle on 4 buttons for player 1?   Are there specific vertical games that you wanted 4 buttons for?

Thanks

The 4th button is there for "just in case".  I did a MAWS search on vertical games with 4 buttons and there was 88 results.  Some of the games looked like they might be fun so I figured I might as well put it on.  Also, when I compared a 4 button layout to a 3 button, the right side of the CP seemed a little "light".  So the fourth button served an aesthetic function to help balance the CP.

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #159 on: August 09, 2011, 09:29:58 pm »
Thanks for the info.  I did the same search in MAWS and found some 4 button games that I was not familiar with.  Will have to check them out and decide on 3 or 4.


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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #160 on: January 14, 2012, 03:02:19 pm »
Dragging this one up for those that may have missed it, like me.
 
Really nice job. Such a cool looking little cabinet. The artwork is beautiful.  :applaud:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #161 on: January 19, 2012, 05:18:32 pm »
Dragging this one up for those that may have missed it, like me.
 
Really nice job. Such a cool looking little cabinet. The artwork is beautiful.  :applaud:

Thanks!  :cheers:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #162 on: January 19, 2012, 06:04:42 pm »
Oh snap!  Thanks for bumping this, for some reason I missed seeing this project finished.
It turned out excellent!  I love everything about this cabinet, from the artwork, to the size, to the construction. Clean clean clean! The perfect shmuppy cabinet! Leaf switch buttons, octo-gated U360...  :drool
Very inspiring.  :cheers:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #163 on: January 19, 2012, 07:48:35 pm »
Wow, very nice cab!  :o

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #164 on: February 26, 2012, 12:24:36 am »
I missed this one too. You know, I think I can count on my thumbs the number of times people have made me seriously jealous of their cabinet art. ROM's fusion and Jarrett's Space Paranoids. This makes three. The distressing is nothing short of genius! The whole feel of the cabinet as a P-51 Mustang is AMAZING and the CPO is the sort of thing I would have tried for months to get right and never come close. It's just perfect.

The only thing that would make me any more jealous would be flight jacket leather wrapped ball tops. I've seen your sig for a while, but seeing it all together here... it's just so well done.

Huge kudos. I'm glad I didn't see this one until I finished mine.




« Last Edit: February 26, 2012, 02:35:35 pm by Pixelhugger »
Project mega thread HERE

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #165 on: February 26, 2012, 01:09:34 pm »
+1 on the artwork.  This cabinet is fantastic.  The design looks modern but would also feel right at home in an arcade back in the day.  I like the little touches like the north-south-east-west designation around the joystick.   :cheers:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #166 on: March 02, 2012, 12:53:48 pm »
@Pixelhugger:  :notworthy:  Your work is certainly a gold standard around here!  Thanks for the thumbs up! :)

@wp34: Thanks!  The joystick graphics looked a little naked at first... so I figured a pilot would want to know heading. :)

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #167 on: March 03, 2012, 12:20:36 am »
Awsome build btw! :applaud:
« Last Edit: March 03, 2012, 12:24:05 am by PIZZ »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #168 on: March 03, 2012, 12:21:31 am »
Kids have it made these days.. I woulda given my left nut when I was that age to have an arcade cab in my house!   :lol

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (FINISHED 2011/07/31)
« Reply #169 on: March 03, 2012, 02:26:26 am »
 :applaud: I just wanted to say thanks for making an absolute inspirational machine.  I honestly  did not take notice to it until recently.  I told my wife that I was thinking of making a mini cab that was Taito-esque. I immediately started looking for inspiration here and was amazed to come across what is not only the perfect match of look and feel I hope to capture, but it is a well documented walk through of an exceptional machine.

If my project gets off the ground, I will be more than happy if it meets even a degree of the caliber of this cabinet.  :cheers:

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (UPDATED 26 Mar 2012)
« Reply #170 on: March 26, 2012, 10:24:32 am »
Thanks again everyone for the kudos...

Cheers!  :cheers:
« Last Edit: May 04, 2012, 12:03:01 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (UPDATED 26 Mar 2012)
« Reply #171 on: May 12, 2012, 09:18:38 pm »
One more - missed it last year...

FANTASTIC cab.  The bar has really been raised since I was last active around here a few years ago. 

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Re: American Ace - Mini Vertical Cabinet (UPDATED 26 Mar 2012)
« Reply #172 on: June 29, 2012, 12:10:02 pm »
Well done sir!
Thanks for all the detailed info as well. 

 :notworthy:



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Re: (updated 03/26/2012) Mini Arcade - American Ace
« Reply #173 on: January 24, 2013, 04:23:56 pm »
This is a fantastic build, it's easy to see all the attention to detail that was put into it.  I am going to try to build something similar for my kids (and for me ;D) and as a total noob to woodworking your build looks extremely intimidating!

Random question:  I love the idea of using glass over the monitor, it gives a very professional look IMO.  Does the glass just rest on top of the monitor bezel (I believe you referred to it as the "minor bezel" in one of your earlier posts), or did you install it at a steeper angle relative to the monitor position?

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(updated 03/26/2012) Mini Arcade - American Ace
« Reply #174 on: January 24, 2013, 05:11:41 pm »
Great work



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Re: (updated 03/26/2012) Mini Arcade - American Ace
« Reply #175 on: January 25, 2013, 09:23:21 am »
Bah how did you all miss this gem?  He did a kickstart and everything off of it!

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Re: (updated 03/26/2012) Mini Arcade - American Ace
« Reply #176 on: January 25, 2013, 10:30:21 am »
.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2015, 03:16:59 pm by Louis Tully »

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Re: (updated 03/26/2012) Mini Arcade - American Ace
« Reply #177 on: January 25, 2013, 02:17:48 pm »
Bah how did you all miss this gem?  He did a kickstart and everything off of it!
Join dates bro. ;)

American Ace  --- also known as "'Merrrrrrkin Ace" is one of my favourite cabs on this site. Kids, you could take many queues from this one.

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Re: (updated 03/26/2012) Mini Arcade - American Ace
« Reply #178 on: January 31, 2013, 11:14:57 am »
Thanks for the kind words everyone!   :cheers:

Doesn't seem like it's been nearly 2yrs since I started this build.  A couple of weeks ago, my youngest (nearly 3yrs old) told me he wanted me to build him an arcade.  I think it made my wife a little nervous.  ;D

This is a fantastic build, it's easy to see all the attention to detail that was put into it.  I am going to try to build something similar for my kids (and for me ;D) and as a total noob to woodworking your build looks extremely intimidating!

Random question:  I love the idea of using glass over the monitor, it gives a very professional look IMO.  Does the glass just rest on top of the monitor bezel (I believe you referred to it as the "minor bezel" in one of your earlier posts), or did you install it at a steeper angle relative to the monitor position?

Yes, the glass just sits on the bezels... gravity does all the work.  The aluminum strip at the bottom keeps it from sliding off when I remove the control panel.

Don't let your lack of woodworking experience slow you down.  There are plenty of folks here that had little to no woodworking experience right before they made all our jaws drop.

This has been the coolest toy ever.  Earlier this week some friend came over, and we ended up playing Galaga.  And just yesterday, I sat down and played Raiden before going to work.

You and your kids will love it. :)
« Last Edit: January 31, 2013, 11:44:55 am by Woodshop Flunky »

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Re: (updated 03/26/2012) Mini Arcade - American Ace
« Reply #179 on: January 31, 2013, 12:30:57 pm »
Don't let your lack of woodworking experience slow you down.  There are plenty of folks here that had little to no woodworking experience right before they made all our jaws drop.

Aint this the truth, I'd never even picked up a router before being inspired by builds like American Ace. Get out their people and grab a power tool, what could possibly go wrong!!!!!!!!!
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Re: (updated 03/26/2012) Mini Arcade - American Ace
« Reply #180 on: January 31, 2013, 03:08:13 pm »
what could possibly go wrong!!!!!!!!!

Famous last words.   :laugh2:


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PLANS - American Ace Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #181 on: April 27, 2014, 08:02:01 pm »
Hello all.

I wanted to let everyone know that I uploaded a complete set of plans for my American Ace Arcade cabinet to: http://files.arcadecontrols.com/details.php?image_id=3660

It's been several years since my build.  Since then, I did one failed, and one successful Kickstarter project.  And I also sold the plans on my own website.  Kickstarter and my website were a lot of fun, and I learned a lot.

However, I've decided to stop selling them, and make the plans available to anyone who would like them.

Plans are included for a mini cabinet like I originally built, and also a full-size cabinet.  There are also some full size templates you can print, as well as some contruction notes.

-Archie

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #182 on: April 27, 2014, 08:35:40 pm »
This still stands as one of my all time favorite projects. Kudos to you for sharing the plans  :cheers:
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Le Chuck

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #183 on: April 27, 2014, 09:20:30 pm »
This still stands as one of my all time favorite projects. Kudos to you for sharing the plans  :cheers:

Ditto!  Way to give back!!!!

yotsuya

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #184 on: April 27, 2014, 10:59:52 pm »
I still have the plans I got from your Kickstarter campaign. One day, I'll make it!

Kudos for all you've given to the community! This is just the icing on the cake.  :cheers:
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #185 on: May 08, 2015, 06:39:26 pm »
Reviving this one to throw in my kudos to this build!  I built a WWII Aces inspired cab as well but it was my first woodworking project so it's nowhere near the quality as yours.  Good work!

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #186 on: August 04, 2015, 07:29:49 pm »
This build is absolutely fantastic! - Many, many thanks for sharing the plans!

Is there ANY chance you could share the artwork files with us at all as well?

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #187 on: June 27, 2016, 12:03:39 pm »
Been lurking for awhile. Just wanted to say great job on the arcade. Also at the same time I have used your plan to build a few. here is one of the two players versions i have just completed...

 Thanks again and great job..
« Last Edit: December 20, 2016, 01:54:27 pm by hellquib »

Malenko

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #188 on: January 31, 2017, 10:36:29 am »
Been lurking for awhile. Just wanted to say great job on the arcade. Also at the same time I have used your plan to build a few. here is one of the two players versions i have just completed...

 Thanks again and great job..

Totally should have called that "Kid Thunder"


Just bumping this thread because its one of my fave builds, and the documentation is outstanding.
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Woodshop Flunky

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #189 on: August 20, 2017, 04:53:46 am »
Been lurking for awhile. Just wanted to say great job on the arcade. Also at the same time I have used your plan to build a few. here is one of the two players versions i have just completed...

 Thanks again and great job..

Wow... you're build is really nice.  I saw your pics, but it took me a minute to realize what I was seeing.  I haven't seen that same profile and control panel on another cabinet.

Again, great job!  http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/Smileys/default/drinking08.gif

Complete mini arcade cabinet plans available.

yotsuya

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #190 on: August 20, 2017, 12:39:40 pm »
I still have a set of unused plans I got from Kickstarter!
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

Malenko

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #191 on: August 20, 2017, 08:38:55 pm »
I still have the plans I got from your Kickstarter campaign. One day, I'll make it!

Kudos for all you've given to the community! This is just the icing on the cake.  :cheers:

I still have a set of unused plans I got from Kickstarter!

ever going to use them?
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yotsuya

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Re: PLANS - American Ace - Mini Arcade Cabinet
« Reply #192 on: August 20, 2017, 10:07:00 pm »
I still have the plans I got from your Kickstarter campaign. One day, I'll make it!

Kudos for all you've given to the community! This is just the icing on the cake.  :cheers:

I still have a set of unused plans I got from Kickstarter!

ever going to use them?
I dunno.
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***