- Type of project: Restoration / Modification
- Cabinet type: Full-size upright
- Screen orientation: Horizontal
- Custom mods: Control Panel, Monitor, Artwork
- Build status: Initiated
Introduction:My first contact with arcades was somewhere in the beginning of the 80s, I was around 10 and my first game was Space Invaders Deluxe, the one with a monochrome monitor under an overlay of color stripes. From there Kangaroo and Borderline were the next passions
I grew up with some arcade venues in my city so I had the opportunity to check and play lots of different games. My all-time favorites are Shinobi, R-Type, Double Dragon and Golden Axe to name a few. I then got into Spectrum, Amiga, PC and Consoles, but nothing like the golden years of arcade.
Around 15 years or so I got the bug to build this project when a friend of mine got his cabinet and we researched together how to hookup the JAMMA interface with the keyboard, controls and monitor.
After all these years I finally decided that it was time to get to work, I bought a generic Spanish make cab (Cirsa Laser, Unidesa) from a local arcade retailer with no monitor that served its last days as a NeoGeo MVS system. Its in pretty good shape but has some water ingress damage on the bottom.
Its the perfect starting point for what I have in mind, since my wood skills are far from perfect to embrace a build from scratch project.
After getting the cab I had to move to another house forcing me to delay this project. After 3 years I finally have the chance to get things moving so I started trimming the parts-list and ordering some stuff (the part/expense list will be included in the end).
Concept:The cab has an ugly generic artwork with some grid lines and maker logo on the sides and CP that will be fully removed. I have already decided that the art concept/idea will be based on a space theme with orange as the main color for art and t-molding.
I will be doing the marquee, bezel, control panel and kick plate but still havent decided on the side art if any.
I have thought initially to keep the metal control panel and make a 6 button per player layout but since I want to include a trackball and a secondary 4way controller, I have decided to incorporate a full size MDF cp with some light-gun action as well. This will involve some cutting on the sides but let's see how it turns out.
I have acquired a real cheap 21 CRT computer monitor that will be decased and hooked up via VGA.
Cleaning up:The first stage was to strip the JAMMA and power cables, glasses, accessories, brackets, etc. and giving it a good clean job.
I soon realized that I had to repair the bottom panel and the foot rest area on the front side
Nothing better than giving the cab a new shape to end the water ingress issues
The lower area of the kick plate will be covered with aluminum diamond plate and the sides with t-molding so no harm done, I guess...
The casters are in place so it's time to move on and repair the sides.