The Starcade (FINISHED)

[Blanka]

No, I was wrong, it was Supercade.

[Dalgaard]

But regarding this artwork, I feel like it is being wasted on an arcade.

This needs to be on a disco ball spinning jukebox.

Hehe, I guess you're right. It's not that "arcady" to look at, but im still really happy with it. Once im done, Im hoping to use it as a jukebox too 

[Dalgaard]

Haven't been able to work on the cabinet for a while Don't you just hate it when real life interferes with your all important hobby!?

Anyway, I finally found some time to do a bit of work. Not much and nothing big - but it's still an update

	I finally got my 3/4" T-molding. I ended up ordering it from the US, even though I could have gotten it from UK (I live in Denmark), but the UK shop didn't sell arbors and slot cutters. Took about 2 weeks to get here, but I guess thats normal. My wife thought I had ordered her something nice...she was kind of disapointed after she opened it
	I had to buy the slotcutter and arbor from the T-molding shop as well, since the cheapest set I could find here in Denmark would cost about 50$ ! Well...I guess there is a connection between price and quality...since one wing of the slot cutter was barely attached when I opened the package! I decided to remove it, so it wouldn't fly off whilst routing and cause all sorts of havok. It still works, but I had to cut slower that I normally would have.
	Here is the router im using, which is highly recommendable. I've been using it for all sorts of projects and it's never let me down.

[Dalgaard]

	I primed everything using an oil based primer. Mixed in 10% terpentine and it seems to have primed everything really nice. I'll sand it with some really fine grain and paint it twice with some semi-gloss black oil paint. But for now it's just primed white. I guess I could have added some black in there, so the primer had become grey, but im sure two coats of black will cover it nicely.
	Cutting the slot for the T-molding was easier than expected...Although being the newbie that I am I reckon I should have cut the slot BEFORE assembling the cabinet. Just incase something had gone wrong - like not getting the slot 100% centered. Luckily everything worked out perfect Also...I don't recommend doing this indoors...It will easily cost you 2-3 nights on the couch
	I installed a small section of T-molding to see how it would fit. Luckily its perfectly centered and the 100ish degree angle that I have on top of my cabinet doesn't seem to cause any problems.

Next up: Sanding, black paint, more sanding, black paint...dry for about 1 week and the add the artwork Can't wait to get the artwork on this!

[Le Chuck]

But regarding this artwork, I feel like it is being wasted on an arcade.

This needs to be on a disco ball spinning jukebox.

Hehe, I guess you're right. It's not that "arcady" to look at, but im still really happy with it. Once im done, Im hoping to use it as a jukebox too 

I would take that theme and extend it right onto the wall behind the cab.  Maybe do a room wrap.  That would be awesome.  Get some blacklight paint or find a place that can print in flouressing dye for the art so it lights up like a TRON.  You do that and people will come to worship before it. 

Build is looking great.  Good progress. 

[opt2not]

No, I was wrong, it was Supercade.

Wasn't there another Starcade in history some time with groovalicious artwork?

There was a Starcade game show on TV back in the 80's, where contestants would compete at playing arcade games. I downloaded all the episodes a couple years, pretty interesting to watch. Not something to follow along, but cool enough to have running in the periphery at your next arcade party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starcade

[Le Chuck]

There was a Starcade game show on TV back in the 80's, where contestants would compete at playing arcade games. I downloaded all the episodes a couple years, pretty interesting to watch. Not something to follow along, but cool enough to have running in the periphery at your next arcade party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starcade

I dug up an article almost a decade ago about Mark Walsch, the kid who won a Cliff Hanger on Supercade.  He talked about how the show was and how once he got his Cliff Hanger cab home he played it so much that he toured local arcades beating the game blind folded or using only his feet on the controls.  Really good peice but I can't seem to find it...

[Dalgaard]

So I've been sanding and painting for a few weeks now...gah. I used a semi-gloss oilpaint, that has a really nice finish, but honestly I HATE painting  + the whole house stinks of terpentine...who needs braincells? I really regret not using laminate...sadly I couldn't find anywhere they sold it...but nevermind...im done painting now ... or i might give it one last finegrain sanding and one last coat of paint...but its looking good!

So after the painting I thought I would start on the sound system, which was the part I'd been dreading the most I really have no clue about audio...

	I bought this used Logitech Z4 soundsystem for about 50$. I thought it would be simple and easy to install in the cabinet...I was wrong. Due to bad planning I had already screwed/glued in my speaker panel in place, which meant I had almost no room to install these...What to do...I think I'll be unable to do a clean cutout for these speakers and adding a speakergrill on an already installed speakerpanel sounded like a bad idea... But then I got the idea to use carspeakers, since they could be installed from the front and only needed a simple round cutout to be installed... plus they already came with a nice speakergrill.
	These are the speakers I want to use...Small 4" speakers from XZound with decent sound. It would have been so much easier if I could just use the speakers that came with the Z4, but im hoping these will work just fine
	Should be easy to install from the front. I already have the 100mm holesaw thats needed to install them. The "metallic" look is horrible though...I'll paint that black once I get my hands on some black spraypaint.
	I thought I was in the clear until I realised the Z4 needed an RCA connector from the speakers. Obviously the original speakers were factorymade with RCA, but my carspeakers used standard speakerwire...So how to connect speakerwire with an RCA cable? I went to the local Hi-Fi shop and the guy told me, that it wasn't really possible...something about mixing voltage and current? (I didn't really understand what he was saying to be honest...) So basicly he told me that I had to rethink my whole soundsystem
	I was getting kinda desperate and some pages on the web said the same thing that the Hi-Fi guy had told me, and some pages said that it was an easy fix? I bought some RCA cable and cut off the RCA connectors in one end. I felt kind of stupid having bought this nice, new cable and then cutting it in half, not knowing if this would work So is it going to work? I don't have time to test it now, but I'll find out tomorrow

[Dalgaard]

	Ok, so I removed the insulation from the wires and simply soldered them onto the speakers...It works! They play really nice with both effects and music. So im very happy with the sound system.
	Since I needed to paint the speaker mounts black, I decided to make my bezel at the same time. I simply cut some 3mm plexi to fit and masked the screenarea it with some electrical tape and paper to get razorsharp edges.
	Then I sprayed the speaker mounts and the backside of the bezel with black spray paint.
	Here's the cabinet with the speakers and bezel installed Except for my greasy fingers all over the place, the whole thing looks great I think. The controlpanel is missing, since thats whats im going to work on next.

[Seith]

Can't wait to see this project come together  great hack with the speakerwire, I will have to keep that in mind when I get to doing my project later this year!

[Vigo]

  It's looking nice!

I can't wait for the artwork to go on there. It reminds my of the Zwan artwork.

[dandare]

Amazing artwork!

[Dalgaard]

	First part of my order arrived a few days ago Opening these boxes and finding all these goodies inside is somehow very satisfying...for a noob like me it's a big thing getting your very first arcade parts. I ordered this stuff from arcadeshop.de since they had the shaft extensions that I need. Good service and fast delivery. They were a bit more expensive, which is why I didnt order all my stuff from them.
	The first thing I wanted to do was the standard "one button" powerup thing. I opened my Lenovo/IBM machine and obviously IBM didn't use the standard two wire powerbutton, that I was expecting to find. Instead there was 4 wires!?...as usual I have absolutely no idea what I was doing, but I decided to simply remove 2 of the wires and try and use the remaining two...opting with one yellow and one black wire. Don't ask me why. I felt like a bomb-technichian for a second...or not really.
	I test fitted the red arcade button and lucky me...it worked and I didn't even blow anything up. So I extended the original powerbutton wires with these plugs and some old speakerwire I had lying around.
	I haven't soldered anything since the 8th grade but I manage to get the other end of the wire soldered to the microswitch.
	My first arcadebutton installed and the one button powerup is working Happy days!
	Next up was installing the powerplug so I wouldn't have to have any cables sticking out of my cabinet. Found these shielded crimps and fitted them to the plug. Hope it's safe enough?
	Again bad planning had me biting my nails...I would have to cut the subwoofer speakergrill hole on a near finished cabinet. I had never before cut a "big" hole with a router so I was really nerveous about this part. I had a circlecutting rig for the router, but I had never used it before...luckily it turned out ok...sort of. The hole was too big...about 2-3 mm
	Since this is on the back of the cabinet, im not too worried about it's appearance, but still it feels better when everything fits. I tried adding a small insulation-foam-thingy and it kind of worked...except now the grill was too big so it was really difficult to fit the grill and some of the foam-thingy got pushed in too deep.(
	After a few tries it sorta fits. Not 100% happy with it, but it will have to do. Again...its on the back of the cabinet, and im not smart enough to figure out how to fix it.(

[Dalgaard]

When I look at other peoples projects, their controlpanels are a lot different from what I had in mind. People use a more "boxy" design and I think it's because it's easier to access and maintain since you can install hinges and what not? But when I designed this cabinet I didn't plan for a boxy controlpanel, but just for a simple flat one...Since I've never before owned an arcade I have no idea how often I will have to get into the controlpanel to replace switches or wires.

The boxy design seems to be the way to go around here, so I'll definately do that the next time I build one of these

I figured I would have to do something so my panel could be removed and installed unlimited times without wearing out the screw-holes in the mdf.

	Here is my panel...a simple flat design with a slight angle.
	I wanted to change from normal screws to bolts, so I drilled a 6mm hole and bought some M6 bolts.
	I also got my hands on some of these which should carry the panel just fine. I don't even know what these are called but it seemed like the way to go?
	Drilled a 11mm wide and 13mm deep hole in my 19mm MDF. This way it doesn't go all the way through.
	They were not easy getting in straight, since they have a tendency to angle when you screw them into the mdf. Nevertheless I got all 4 of them in and they feel like they're not coming out any time soon. They break the mdf a bit when you fit them, but you won't be able to see this once the controlpanel is in place.

[wp34]

Looking good so far.   

Nothing like routing/drilling a finished work-piece huh?  Takes nerves of steel.  I've had the same thoughts as you about bad planning. 

It may be a little bigger than you wanted but that circle looks awful good for your first try.   

[Dalgaard]

Looking good so far.   

Nothing like routing/drilling a finished work-piece huh?  Takes nerves of steel.  I've had the same thoughts as you about bad planning. 

It may be a little bigger than you wanted but that circle looks awful good for your first try.   

Thanks

Planning...I didn't really do much of that before I started this. I just started and that is definately something I'll want to do different next time around. My nerves can't handle all this stress

[Dalgaard]

	Another shipment of goodies arrived today This time from Gremlins Solution. It took more than 3 weeks to get here, but everything was neatly packed and I've only noticed a bent microswitchconnector on one of the joysticks. I've ordered the JLWs since a lot of people recommended those. They seem really good, at least a lot better than the X-Arcade sticks that first got me started on this project I'll also be using an IPac 2, which seems really easy to set up.
	Since the general colortheme of my cabinet is orange, I ordered some orange ball tops to go with the JLWs.
	I also ordered some battops, since thats really what im used to playing with. Unfortunately they don't come in orange, so they had to be in black. All my playerbuttons are going to be black anyway, so maybe black is ok. Im not entirely sure if im going to use the balltops or the battops. I guess I'll have to wait and see what looks best when the cabinet is closer to completion. What do you guys think?
	I need some advice on what wires to use? I have tons of these installation wires in all sorts of colors...but they're rigid single strand and not the soft multistranded wires that I've seen most people use. Anyone have any recommendations on what wires to use? Think these will work?

[alfonzotan]

	Another shipment of goodies arrived today This time from Gremlins Solution. It took more than 3 weeks to get here, but everything was neatly packed and I've only noticed a bent microswitchconnector on one of the joysticks. I've ordered the JLWs since a lot of people recommended those. They seem really good, at least a lot better than the X-Arcade sticks that first got me started on this project I'll also be using an IPac 2, which seems really easy to set up.
	Since the general colortheme of my cabinet is orange, I ordered some orange ball tops to go with the JLWs.
	I also ordered some battops, since thats really what im used to playing with. Unfortunately they don't come in orange, so they had to be in black. All my playerbuttons are going to be black anyway, so maybe black is ok. Im not entirely sure if im going to use the balltops or the battops. I guess I'll have to wait and see what looks best when the cabinet is closer to completion. What do you guys think?
	I need some advice on what wires to use? I have tons of these installation wires in all sorts of colors...but they're rigid single strand and not the soft multistranded wires that I've seen most people use. Anyone have any recommendations on what wires to use? Think these will work?

They should be fine.  When I ran out of the arcade "kit" wires I'd bought from Ultimarc, I just grabbed a spool of generic doorbell wire and finished up with that.  No problems.

[menace]

Yeah as long is its small and pliable--whatever you have is fine--stranded bends easier than solid so many find it easier to work with it the tight confines of a control panel.

[Dalgaard]

Nice bit of progress today Got my artwork from the printers!

	Artwork applied!
	Another picture from the side... Some people have said, that they feel this artwork is wasted on an arcade and should be fitted on a jukebox instead. After seeing the artwork in place, I have to say im really happy with it. And finding a universal theme thats not tied to one single game was hard for me.
	The controlpanel...Im not looking forward to drilling this... There is a faint line about ½" from the top, where the controlpanel is put together...where it says "Volume, Pause and Exit". I had hoped the artwork concealed this, but it doesn't really cover anything. I don't think it's too bad though. The drawer under the controlpanel blends in nicely I think
	Applying t-molding
	Rubberhammer = need to have

[PIZZ]

Looks pretty cool! what kind of material is it printed on?

[Vigo]

  Lookin' awesome. I love how you have the rainbow on the side art wrap around and match the front art.

[Uncle Monkey]

It's not wasted, it looks great, it's unique, and you like it.....bump the haters.....

[Le Chuck]

Wow. 

[Dalgaard]

Looks pretty cool! what kind of material is it printed on?

It's a laminated vinyl foil. The same thing they use to "wrap" cars in when applying fullchasis commercials.

The print quality is not perfect, but it's pretty damn good. I can't recommend this, if you expect a 100% perfect print quality, but if you can settle for this result, then it's highly recommendable. Maybe different shop use different printers, so the quality could vary I guess.

Another big advantage is, that it's very easy to apply since the laminate is applied (by the shop) before the vinyl is added to the cabinet. That way the whole thing is rigid and it's impossible to get bubbles and other bumps.

Not too expensive either...400ish dollars with the laminate.

[Dalgaard]

Wow. 

It's not wasted, it looks great, it's unique, and you like it.....bump the haters.....

Lookin' awesome. I love how you have the rainbow on the side art wrap around and match the front art.

Thanks guys!

[PIZZ]

Looks pretty cool! what kind of material is it printed on?

It's a laminated vinyl foil. The same thing they use to "wrap" cars in when applying fullchasis commercials.

The print quality is not perfect, but it's pretty damn good. I can't recommend this, if you expect a 100% perfect print quality, but if you can settle for this result, then it's highly recommendable. Maybe different shop use different printers, so the quality could vary I guess.

Another big advantage is, that it's very easy to apply since the laminate is applied (by the shop) before the vinyl is added to the cabinet. That way the whole thing is rigid and it's impossible to get bubbles and other bumps.

Not too expensive either...400ish dollars with the laminate.

Ya it looks great. Im going to look into it. Looks better then the prints I was going to do on my cab.
White t-moulding would be pimp on this cab for sure!

[05SRT4]

Everytime I look at the artwork it makes me want to drink an orange soda, I love it.

[Pixelhugger]

Looks fantastic all put together like that!! I don't think the jukebox comment was hating per se, more like an affirmation of how groovy the overall look turned out. 

Can hardly wait to see the orange balltops in place.

[Pixelhugger]

@dalgaard: Er det Twilight sagaen i baggrunden? Ville godkende andre SWAT medlememmer?

[Le Chuck]

@dalgaard: Er det Twilight sagaen i baggrunden? Ville godkende andre SWAT medlememmer?

It's amazing what we can learn by the innocuous backgrounds of our build pics isn't it 

[wp34]

 

Clever idea using laminated foil.  That really looks great!

[Dalgaard]

@dalgaard: Er det Twilight sagaen i baggrunden? Ville godkende andre SWAT medlememmer?

Google-translate? Hehe, cool. The books belong to my wife...Honestly!

It's amazing what we can learn by the innocuous backgrounds of our build pics isn't it  

True, true

[Pixelhugger]

Google-translate?

Heh yep. I should be careful tho. God only knows whats coming out on the other side. My boss used it on a margarita recipe once and it told him to add 1 medium sized fragmentation hand grenade instead of a pineapple.

[Dalgaard]

	Ok this was by far the most nervewracking part of the build. I wasn't sure how the laminate would react to the drill and I had thrown away the leftover pieces that I cut away when I applied the artwork. Luckily it was pretty easy to drill...
	Also drilled holes on the sides for the coin/flipper button.
	The backside of the CP isn't very pretty, but now it was time for one of the most satisfying parts of the build. Installing the components...
	...and wiring them. Cable management? Don't need it... I just know I'll regret this at some point...hehe. But for now I live with the dream, that my arcademachine will work for the next 20 years and that I'll never have to fix anything in there
	Tadaaa...CP finished! Tomorrow I'll install it and set up the IPac...and hopefully play my first games on the Starcade.

[emphatic]

That artwork is awesome!   I think it looks like the extended shafts make 'em a bit too tall, but maybe it's just the pictures.  

[Dalgaard]

That artwork is awesome!   I think it looks like the extended shafts make 'em a bit too tall, but maybe it's just the pictures.  

It's actually not a big difference on the shaft length.



3,5mm of shaft is visible from the dustwasher to the bottom of the balltop. My CP is 16mm thick.

This seems just right for my hand

[Dalgaard]

So the controlpanel is mounted and I've programmed the IPAC...! I love my new arcade!

Now comes the slow process of setting up frontend and emulators...and I've already encountered my first problem, that I really have no idea how to fix

Im using Hyperspin as frontend and running Mame 144 from that...so far so good. Everything works...but when I launch a game via hyperspin, some of my controls don't work (e.g. "UP" and a few others)...if I launch the game through MAME alone...and not through hyperspin, everything works fine...When I press TAB and check the controls, everything is set up correctly it seems. Im clueless and it's really starting to get on my nerves. I've spend 3 hours trying to locate the problem so far...

[Drnick]

Hyperlaunch?  Try disabling it for mame. The option is in HyperHQ somewhere under wheel settings.  I believe this will resolve your issue.

[dandare]

Stunning!

That is one fine looking cab!  i could look at these pics for ever, you should hire a fashion photographer to do a photo shoot!
(not that there's anything wrong with your pics)

Good job sir!