Author Topic: Project Ataray - Preserving and renewing (Read 12883 times)

Hammerfist · « **on:** July 05, 2012, 05:54:52 am »

Hi guys! Just yesterday got hold of an oldish arcade cabinet from 1991. It's originally made by Atari in Ireland for Finnish company that does business in the gambling/vending machine area. They don't deal with arcade stuff anymore though.

My plan is to combine the two, Atari and Ray by upping the rather ugly original look, with some Atari themed graphics and colors, yet still preserve the original look somewhat (all plans are subject to change

). I have planned to update the CP to some extent and maybe make it modular. From this..~~RAYTARI~~ Ataray shall arise!

The cabinet has the option to turn the monitor by opening the front and then just turn. Nice.

The problem we had to face when opening the cabinet, was the two sturdy cylinder locks, that kept the front "door" locked. What we did, was to remove the top that was fixed with six screws and glue, and then attack the locks from behind! Luckily we managed to do just that and very easily at that. Only damage that was done, was to the top cover underside, that was glued to the wood pillars inside the outer panels of the cabinet. So basically nothing major.

What was quite unnerving, was to realize, that when we carried the thing four floors upstairs, I had carried the whole thing (weighting at about 100-150kg) by holding from two handles screwed to the top cover, which was only attached with the screwes and glue

. Ok, good stuff can hold a lot, but still..

But on to the pictures!

The cabinet itself:

Cabinet from the side: As you can see, the sticker has been torn off partially (not by me). The sticker has a good color palette, which I have been thinking of incorporating to my Fortunes Whim -cabinet, but I'm considering the colors on this as well.

Cabinet from behind: Top was removed at this point, but it had two of the same kind of handles for carrying.

Factory markings: I really like this one

Then some weirdness. The cabinet has a coin slot on top of the CP. From there the coing drops to this:

This thing has a spring loaded mechanism at the rear (left on the pic) and a small lever-kind of thing. The smaller part (in far left) goes under the coin chute if it is pulled all the way back, but the coin rejection push button in front of the panel only pushes the bigger lever about 1 cm forward (see the small round detrition in the middle of the bigger lever).
These pics explain it a bit more:

There was a PVC-pipe about 10 cm long behind the rejection button, which most likely held the rod that pushes the big lever. But what I don't understand yet, is how the mechanism worked as a whole. Regrettably the coin handling system was not there, so we can only guess, unless someone has some solid info

Here is the cabinet open: As you can see, the door has hinges and opens very easily to make maintenance easy. The white label under the monitor says "monitor falling support". It's handle bar that can be pulled out and used as a support for the monitor. Neat. You can also see the parts I've mentioned and some more. Coin chest on the lower right, the "counter CPU" unit with its grey cable in the middle shelf and door, Jamma board in the middle and the power unit and transformer at the back.

Bottom half of the cabinet from closer: Regrettably it didn't have the coin recognition system anymore, but it did have a black box connected to the door labeled "Counter CPU" in finnish. So it's the system doing the counting, but at the moment it doesn't seem to work. On the right you can see the coin chest, but it as well is locked with a lock I don't have a key for

.

Here is the board of the monitor: I didn't have time yesterday to properly investigate the components. The monitor has a good picture BUT it takes about 60 seconds for the picture to center and it's a bit green for few first seconds. But after that the picture is really good. I had to adjust the setting a bit, but that was easy, since it has a separate control panel for settings.

Yes, it is Wells-Gardner 19K7601

And for those interested, here is the Jamma-board from component side: The game is World Rally Championship.

and from solder side:

Well, here ends the first report. I have only one evening behind me with the machine, so there might be some surprises yet to come, but all seems to be working ok, except the sound.

What I'm going to check next is the speakers, the connection to the speakers and if those are ok, then the Jamma-board itself.

More to come!

Malenko · « **Reply #1 on:** July 05, 2012, 04:26:03 pm »

instead of Raytari why not Ataray/ AtaRay ?

Hammerfist · « **Reply #2 on:** July 05, 2012, 05:12:46 pm »

Quote from: Malenko on July 05, 2012, 04:26:03 pm

instead of Raytari why not Ataray/ AtaRay ?

Yes, why not! Good idea

Only that my friend pointed out that Raytari sound almost like "ritari" which is Finnish for "knight"

Just add some Sir Arthur from G&G in the artwork and we're set

. Yeah, but I'll give Ataray some serious thought. It does sound a bit less cheesy, compared to Raytari.

But here's what I got done today:

I tested the speaker connections and they worked ok, so the problem is with the game. That can wait for some other time, but I'll see about fixing it. I took off the front supports holding the glass and CP in place.

The player 1 and 2 buttons. The only leaf switches in this cabinet

Removing the front gave me the possibility to measure the CP. It seems that it should be possible to fit almost any buttons in there, since the lowest point from top to bottom is 6 cm and highest (at front) 9 cm. I have to think about the way to make the CP modular, for example by making the top plate removable. The switches have been made by Cherry.

The CP removed

The top part of the front door has a hinge that lets the top part with the speakers and lamp to turn back, when a small metal plate is turned. This makes it easy to operate the speakers and lamp. I will change the speakers and maybe replace the lamp with LED-lamp. Maybe, because I want to see how it looks with the original style bulb it had. Just got to get a new one first.

Next up is buying some adhesive remover and start planning the graphics. Also got to remove that big ol' coin chest! We'll see if I have to remove the boarding from inside. I kind of hope I don't but since I'll be adding more stuff inside anyways, it might have to go.

More to come

Hammerfist · « **Reply #3 on:** July 06, 2012, 01:12:07 pm »

What do you guys suggest: The cabinet has the dull grey laminate covering the sides. Considering that I am going to paint it and get good quality print outs that I'll attach on top of the paint, should I even bother removing the laminate? I read this http://fixmycabinet.com/2009/01/04/remove-formica-from-cabinets/ and it says: "If you’re planning to resurface a cabinet or counter, it is not necessary to remove the existing mica. Just cover over the top of what is already there.". What I gather from this, it means that if you are going to laminate it with new laminate, but what about using paint? Thanks!

Edit: Seems that Well Fed Games got good results with painting over (yeah, I'm trying to wiggle myself out of the process of removing the laminate

) : http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=115324.0

Well Fed Games · « **Reply #4 on:** July 07, 2012, 12:08:22 am »

Quote from: Hammerfist on July 06, 2012, 01:12:07 pm

Edit: Seems that Well Fed Games got good results with painting over (yeah, I'm trying to wiggle myself out of the process of removing the laminate ) : http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=115324.0

Yeah, it came out ok, it looks like the laminate surface on yours is in good shape so as long as it is still bonded to the wood well I think it would be fine to paint, and the added paint thickness shouldn't be a problem for t-molding or anything. I did rough mine up pretty well with sandpaper to help the paint grip, but it was very smooth to start out with.

Now one of my current projects, had wood, then the original sideart, then some damaged black laminate on top of that attached by a thick layer of glue). For this project I stripped it down to the wood, since the layers were of varying (and unknown) condition.

That is a very unique cab, nice find! And World Rally is a fun little racing game... hope the board can have new life someday (and a fun fact, Galeco released its rom as one of the truly "legal" MAME roms!). I am with you on the color palette of that sticker, those stripes have a nice retro feel. If you were particularly creative, since your laminate is in good shape you could do full side art and bypass paint entirely on the sides (this coming from someone who loathes painting).

Hammerfist · « **Reply #5 on:** July 08, 2012, 10:54:57 am »

Quote from: Well Fed Games on July 07, 2012, 12:08:22 am

That is a very unique cab, nice find! And World Rally is a fun little racing game... hope the board can have new life someday (and a fun fact, Galeco released its rom as one of the truly "legal" MAME roms!). I am with you on the color palette of that sticker, those stripes have a nice retro feel. If you were particularly creative, since your laminate is in good shape you could do full side art and bypass paint entirely on the sides (this coming from someone who loathes painting).

Thanks! I'll do my best to make WRC work again as it should, no doubt.

Very good point with the full side art! I'll definitively look in to that option. Thanks! I found a place near here that does good quality poster prints, but those would need to have some kind of varnish on top, to make them durable. I know it's been done here before, but the durability seems like the biggest question to me.

PL1 · « **Reply #6 on:** July 08, 2012, 11:11:18 am »

Quote from: Hammerfist on July 08, 2012, 10:54:57 am

I found a place near here that does good quality poster prints, but those would need to have some kind of varnish on top, to make them durable. I know it's been done here before, but the durability seems like the biggest question to me.

You might want to check out GameOnGrafix (high quality) or Souldraw.com. (low cost)

Mini-review of souldraw's work in this post.

Be sure to get lamination over the printing and you'll be fine.

Scott

Hammerfist · « **Reply #7 on:** July 08, 2012, 05:25:28 pm »

Thanks Scott, Souldraw was new to me. Will check them out (bummer that every order from outside EU that goes over 43,44 euros will have taxes and customs added to the sum back here..).

Meanwhile: I made some quick mockups with PS. White and black version with one version of "Atari stripes".

The idea is there, but they seem to be missing the X-factor

. But this is one idea to build on.

Edit: just did some with game graphics and they surpass these easily.

PL1 · « **Reply #8 on:** July 08, 2012, 05:52:21 pm »

Here are a few more images to throw into the blender:

Atari Age Marquee

Atari rainbow logo (and others) in an .AI file.

Scott

Malenko · « **Reply #9 on:** July 08, 2012, 07:42:02 pm »

I *really* like the black, maybe drop the little Atari logo cause the big one in the back does the job.

Mat · « **Reply #10 on:** July 09, 2012, 01:09:23 am »

It might look cool if the red stripe on top flowed into the sides of the control panel instead of ending right above the CP.

Hammerfist · « **Reply #11 on:** July 09, 2012, 04:29:23 am »

Fixed the black version with the CP aligned red stripe, boosted the colors a bit and realigned the stripes as a whole, to match the cabinet. Thanks for the feedback guys and that rainbow logo was a good find! I'll try something different next, so that I won't get too "close" with just one idea

Also had some fun with Joust

PL1 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 09, 2012, 03:07:01 pm »

What if you extended the red onto the side of the CP like this?

Scott

Hammerfist · « **Reply #13 on:** July 09, 2012, 05:13:13 pm »

It kind of gives a too big of a spread on the stripes. Not my thing, but thanks for the thought

.

Currently trying to get that pesky coin chest out. It's giving me hard time, since the bottom compartment has been built around it. That means I have to saw the wood off from around it and after that the back needs to be chiseled and then sanded to get smooth. The chest has something under it that has too much friction for me to be able to just pull it out

. Probably some kind of rubber mat. But yeah, it's coming along.

Also bought the base paint. Skimped on buying adhesive remover (for now) since I'll try to remove the old adhesive with dish soap and water. Probably not going to work, but don't feel like spending that 20€ on one tin can of adhesive remover for just two smallish patches, not just like that.

I really would like to make that CP modular, but I don't have the slightest clue how much the local metal shops would charge for the work. Options being 1. Make the needed button holes for both players and leave the layout at that OR 2. Make the CP modular and do..well, what ever I feel like, including using which ever controllers I feel like

. ~~Number two feels much better, number one lazy and boring~~ .

EDIT: I think I'll drop the modularity on this one, maybe do it later if I feel like it. I'll add buttons and make the CP look good with paint and maybe an acrylic layer, with art beneath it

Here is a quick mockup of the possible two player config. See the striped line, that represent the two parts that make the CP. One is the CP plate that has the controls and the other is the CP box. What I thought was, that I would add a hinge inside the CP box at the player side, that is as wide as the opening for the CP plate. Then the CP plate would have a matching "pair" under it. You would attach the CP plate to the CP box by bringing the hinges together and the sliding a bit to the side, so that the hinges would become interlocked. Then you would set the CP plate level with the top of the CP box and since the CP can already be accessed from the bottom, you would push two levers under the CP plate that would go under the cabinet side part of the CP box, and by doing that, lock the CP plate in place.

This would of course cause the possible CP art have a "frame" caused by the CP box.

Ok..time for some sleep, hope I made some sense

Hammerfist · « **Reply #14 on:** July 10, 2012, 04:13:01 pm »

So...I finally managed to cut the wood from top of the coin chest, but..when I tried to pull it off from the bottom, surprise surprise, it didn't budge! Well, I rammed an iron bar under the door and what do you know, two bolt screws keeping the chest tightly attached to the bottom. It was possible to open the closest of the the bolt screws, but the second was too far for any normal wrench. I would like to keep the chest intact, so I'll drill a hole in the bottom and make a opening with a jigsaw. Under that there is the actual layer where the bolts are, so I'll probably make enough holes around the screws to hit the bolts loose with my hammer..of Thor, which I managed to bend today while battling with the Coin Chest of NotGonnaBudge! (see pic, very related).

on upnote, I managed to wipe the sticker glue. What I need to figure out now, is if I want to remove the old t-moldings or repaint them (doesn't sound like a good idea). I don't want the glue in the molding to rip the wood apart either though. Any ideas or additional options for the t-molding guys?

edit: to answer my own question about the t-molding, it seems that repainting the t-moldings is the way to go.

Hammerfist · « **Reply #15 on:** July 12, 2012, 02:55:43 am »

Finally! The coin chest is removed.

I cleaned the cabinet surfaces from glue, sanded a bit and today I'll start with the painting. And now to ordering the J-PAC..

Malenko · « **Reply #16 on:** July 12, 2012, 08:39:52 am »

Quote from: Hammerfist on July 12, 2012, 02:55:43 am

And now to ordering the J-PAC..

Don't forget, to push out the 15Hz signal you'll need something like ArcadeVGA or Soft15

Hammerfist · « **Reply #17 on:** July 12, 2012, 10:02:17 am »

Yeah, I'm starting with Soft15Khz

Most likely going with Radeon 4850.

Hammerfist · « **Reply #18 on:** July 12, 2012, 02:38:53 pm »

Ok, so I've decided to stick with the original look. I'll be using a rubber tape to outline the stripes and then use paint. I believe it's gonna look really good! I'll add the Atari sticker, but I'll check if in the middle is the best location. Oh yeah.

Malenko · « **Reply #19 on:** July 12, 2012, 03:14:19 pm »

maybe move the sticker to the bottom left? I love the big logo in the back and I think the little logo detracts from it . Your cab , your call, just trying to give feedback =)

Hammerfist · « **Reply #20 on:** July 12, 2012, 03:53:01 pm »

Feedback is always welcome!

I've tried the little logo in the left corner and it's not bad, but I'm still undecided. Luckily adding the sticker is the last step, so I can try how it actually looks before sticking it

So eventually you'll be either shaking your head up and down or sideways

Hammerfist · « **Reply #21 on:** July 12, 2012, 04:18:40 pm »

Any tips on Joysticks that have 7,6 cm x 6,65 cm screw distance? I don't see any reason why normal j-sticks couldn't be installed either way, but 7,7 is between the horizontal and 6,7 between the vertical screws. This would let me leave the original sinked screws. Thanks!

EDIT: I just realized that I should be able to change the mounting plate on some joysticks. Still gotta look more into this. That might be the answer. Was thinking of using Sanwa JLW-TM-8 sticks, but they have very different measurements than my CP has.

PL1 · « **Reply #22 on:** July 12, 2012, 05:04:35 pm »

Quote from: Hammerfist on July 12, 2012, 04:18:40 pm

Any tips on Joysticks that have 7,6 cm x 6,65 cm screw distance? I don't see any reason why normal j-sticks couldn't be installed either way, but 7,7 is between the horizontal and 6,7 between the vertical screws. This would let me leave the original sinked screws. Thanks!

+1 to Happ Supers (below) modded with the LS-32/Zippyy joystick upgrade kit from Paradise. If you order the Supers from GGG, ask Randy if he can hook you up with the upgraded switches. (GGG only lists them as a "SmoothJoy Switches (Installed)" upgrade on the Zippyy stick.)

Scott

Hammerfist · « **Reply #23 on:** July 13, 2012, 06:30:13 am »

Seems like a good option, especially with the quiet switches, but I just figured out that my current sticks are actually Suzo 500 -series sticks

Only difference is that mine are missing the two plastic restrictor plates for 2-way, but I don't see any actual need for those now. Probably gonna get a set of Versa-Ball 2's from GGG.

Second coat of base paint on. Getting there

bluemini17 · « **Reply #24 on:** July 14, 2012, 05:20:49 am »

great machine! I live up the road from Tipperary. its great to see yet another machine being re-born

gbeef · « **Reply #25 on:** July 14, 2012, 12:57:40 pm »

looking sweet never seen this kinda machine before. person pref i like the white design. But Atari was black..
Keep it up

Hammerfist · « **Reply #26 on:** July 15, 2012, 03:34:02 pm »

Thanks for the comments guys! Just got the first layer of black on the sides! The paint is half matte, so we'll see how it'll eventually turn out, but should be great with the stripes and all! Still haven't got the perfect idea for the front, but it's coming along.

Hammerfist · « **Reply #27 on:** July 18, 2012, 03:35:53 pm »

Quick update. Just got the paint for the stripes today and got the old locks redone. This means that now I can use a single key to open all the locks this thing has, which is great. I also got the CP layout and coloring quite much sorted out. I'll start work on that, when I've got the cab painted. Also decided to paint the t-moldings black, but instead of the same black I used on the other areas, I'm thinking of going with a glossy black.

Electronics are still all missing: PC, "new" speakers + woofer + amp

On PC front I'm thinking of getting an Intel E8400 and Radeon 4850/4870. This seems to be a decent setup for running most games and the price for that is in a decent budget. I had one of those at some point, so I know they overclock quite nicely with just air

. It seems that some ppl are shelling out for 2500 / 2600 range of intel CPU's but at the moment it comes too pricey and I'd rather start small and work my way up from there

The cab has room for a pair of 3,5 inch speakers so I'm trying to find a pair of good, older speakers (Pioneer, sony x-plod etc..). I was also thinking about those active, small subs, but I've never actually tried or even heard one in action and I they would propably cost a bit more. On the other hand they are small, so it's easy to fit one in.

Few pics about the painting progress..

Malenko · « **Reply #28 on:** July 18, 2012, 04:09:07 pm »

looks really good

Hammerfist · « **Reply #29 on:** July 18, 2012, 04:10:50 pm »

Thanks Malenko

I would also appreciate, if you guys could help me out with this one:

When the coin is inserted to the machine, it goes trough this chute (see attached pic).

The chute drops the coin downwards (from far left on the pic) and from there it most likely has gone to the coin mech, which was not there anymore when I bough the cabinet. Since this is something I haven't seen before, I haven't figured out yet, what kind of mech goes with this. I was thinking that I could build an infrared gate to recognize that something has dropped from the chute, but I want this to have an actual mech. There is basically no room for attaching the mech straight to the coin slot and I like the sound the coin makes when dropping trough the chute

. Got knowledge/ideas? Thanks guys once again

Hammerfist · « **Reply #30 on:** August 02, 2012, 01:38:14 pm »

Update time!

Took my time painting all the panels with the base and then with the black. Some panels took four layers to get them looking proper. Didn't feel worth updating at that time, but now I've got the first stripe (orange, middle) finally done. Had to paint it six times to get it looking as I wanted, and it came out great!

Next bit is a bit more challenging since I need to tape over the orange and I'm a bit worried, that the paint will peel of when removing the protective tape. The tape has a very mild glue so it should be ok and of course I'll let it dry properly. Damn I'm happy with the orange stripe (and with the black base for that matter

).

Attached a pic of the insides as well (before and after). Still needs some tidying, but the painting is done. I left the "JAMMA-side" to it's original state

I couldn't get a better pic of the stripe with my camera(phone), but this is the best without messing the color (much). The color is bit cheerier than in the pic. Gives you the idea how it looks now.

Next update with next stripe

Malenko · « **Reply #31 on:** August 02, 2012, 03:26:06 pm »

that looks tits!

Hammerfist · « **Reply #32 on:** August 04, 2012, 06:10:15 pm »

Thanks Malenko! Couldn't agree more!

Hammerfist · « **Reply #33 on:** August 21, 2012, 02:06:00 pm »

Well hello there! To put a stop to the rumors that I decided to move to Siberia and stop this arcade nonsense

, here are some pictures of the finished artwork (just stripped the last tapes off like 5 minutes ago)

Edit: Oh, and thats tape on top of the t-molding.

Edit2: I totally forgot to explain why the design changes so drastically; I started doing the curved stripes from the original design, but the curves just didn't come out as I would have wanted. This led me to decide on the new design, since I wanted the end product look professional, which the curves would have not. Ok, yes, if I would have used hours trying to make the curves look good, I might have gotten them right, but I wanted to get this project done this year

. And I'm very pleased with the end result!

Well Fed Games · « **Reply #34 on:** August 25, 2012, 07:00:03 pm »

Man, that is really sharp. Nice job! Any particular paint suggestions/tips on replicating fine stripes like that?

yotsuya · « **Reply #35 on:** August 25, 2012, 11:34:07 pm »

I like that better! Great job!

Hammerfist · « **Reply #36 on:** August 28, 2012, 07:39:16 am »

Thanks guys! Well fed: well, I would suggest using a roller as I did. It takes time away from the process and the result is much smoother right from the get go. I painted six layers so that the black won't be visible trough the stripes at all and to get a slight elevation difference from the black surface. It might not be visible from the pics, but because of the elevation difference, the stripes look even more like they were made from sticker/vinyl tape. If you would look them from up close, you would see that the surface is not totally smooth, but this is due to the roller type I chose and on some part because of the paint. Had I chosen a foam roller instead of a felt roller, it might have been a bit smoother. I yet lack the knowledge to be sure of this, but this is what I suspect. Someone else could share their knowledge on this.

The frame and CP have now received their base coating so next up is to give them their final color. Regrettably I forgot to take pics of the CP right after making the new holes for lower buttons. I had to use chemical steel to fix it, since the drill was not straight and the holes didn't come out perfect

. Chemical metal and some sanding did the job though!

Hammerfist · « **Reply #37 on:** September 04, 2012, 07:36:58 am »

Some updates:

I've painted all the parts now (multiple times). The paint for the frame and CP needs to dry for two weeks to reach its final hardened state. That kind of sucks, since I can't really install them yet because of that

. I'm waiting for the final part for the PC, but I've been configuring Hyperspin with my desktop PC and it's coming along nicely.

What I still need to think trough, is the final wiring, since I want to have the option of using the World Rally (or any other JAMMA board) if I feel like it. Basically the whole wiring still needs more thinking trough.

I ordered the front glass yesterday, but that takes three weeks to arrive..so more waiting! I also have the marquee and bezel art unfinished and actually I'm still missing the idea for the marquee. Area for it is really small, since I want to use the original plexi, which has cool colors and so on. So the area for the art is only about 20cm x 6cm. I also called a company that makes prints on glass, to ask about the price for printing the marquee on the front glass. Price was a bit too steep, so I'll be checking other companies and other options. could be that I'll make a print and press it between the glass and frame. Should work perfectly. Just need to get the graphics finished.

Here is a shot of the CP with the buttons (yeah, I did make a really small scratch on the surface while installing these, but luckily it's something no one else can really see

). There was a scratch in the CP to begin with, you can see it next to the closest black button, but I felt like keeping it there, to remind me of the origins

I'm just super happy with the outcome so far.

Hammerfist · « **Reply #38 on:** September 05, 2012, 02:04:47 pm »

Did some designs of the bezel graphics. Lets play a game: guess what game this design is from (basically almost a direct copy

). The logo is my Axe of Awesome (too cheesy?) and also an inside joke which I still might have to point out to my friends when they see it

. Tried it with the mock-up of my design and it looks really good. What I'm still undecided with, is if I should put something to the top and/or bottom part. Tried an Atari logo, but that didn't work.

Hammerfist · « **Reply #39 on:** September 05, 2012, 02:19:34 pm »

Next up: graphic design for the side of the cabinet. Tried some gradient coloring and I feel that that is the best design, but here are two versions, one with gradient and one without. I also experimented with the size of the graphic and atm this feels good.


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