Building a Donkey Kong Cabinet

[GameKing]

Hello,

I love arcade machines, but where I live (the Netherlands) there aren't many to buy... and if there are any, they are not original, bootleg or different cabinet.
So this is my first post and I started building my own DK Cabinet.

I will post pictures of my progress later...

[GameKing]

 
First I looked up the web for the original sizes from the DK cab. Finally, after hours (really!) of calculating, tracing, erasing and calculating and tracing again - I'm done with the side of the cabinet! The measurements of the cabinet plan I got were in inches, so I had to convert them into centimeters first.
I'm using 15mm or 5/8" thick MDF. After the time consuming procedure of calculating and tracing where all middle panels had to connect with the sidepanels I could finally began to cut them out with the jigsaw

After that I have cut every piece in the measurement that I need


When the bottom frame was installed it was time to put the casters (wheels) on. Measured out where they had to come, drilled the 4 holes (5mm) for each caster and put the bolts trough. I used bolts this time because of the weight the casters must be able to handle.
The idea of this bottom is really nice. When the cabinet is standing it rests entirely on the wooden frame. You don't see the casters because they are on the back and are about 1mm above the floor. But when you tilt the cab just a little bit backwards all the weight is left on the casters, leaving the cabinet off the ground.

[GameKing]

For the bottom I build a rectangular frame but out of wood instead of MDF. Because MDF is not really sturdy, corners damage quickly when dropped on the floor.
When done sanding it I attached it to the underside of the cabinet with woodglue and screws from the inside of the cabinet. 45 degree cuttings and assembly of the frame.

Next thing to do was to create the speaker grill.
I drilled two 6mm holes next to each other to be able to put the jigsaw in and cut the straight lines.
After the rough cuts were made I used a file to fine-tune the slots.At first I was a little unsure of how it would turn out but it looks really good and straight!

When this was done I could assemble the speaker panel to the cabinet

[GameKing]

I can lock the control panel tight in place. The CP board itself has a slight angle of about 15 degrees on the bezel side, because the panel is mounted under that angle. So it al fits nicely with no gaps.

I taped the bezel in place just to see where i wanted to monitor to be, considering all the artwork alongside the bezel.


For the backside of the cab I started out putting the top- and bottom panels in place.

[EightBySix]

Nice neat work. Looking good.

[EightBySix]

Double post 

[GameKing]

Nice neat work. Looking good.

Thanks man, Is everybody on holiday?...cause your the only one who has comment

[Le Chuck]

Love these classic nintendo homages. Keep it up!

[kixfan]

Thanks man, Is everybody on holiday?...cause your the only one who has comment

Very Nice!   

[opt2not]

Lookin' good so far, though it's posted in the wrong section.
This should be posted in Project Announcements.

[jennifer]

    That is nice work....That frame is wood on the originals, the thing is however they get all busted up over time then the game tips off to one side. The
cab is plywood 5/16 if Im not mistaken....Centimeters? Lets not tell Jennifer, She will be up all night converting it back to inches, (Giggle).

[DaOld Man]

Looking good! I would like to build a donkey kong cab one of these days.

[wp34]

Next thing to do was to create the speaker grill.
I drilled two 6mm holes next to each other to be able to put the jigsaw in and cut the straight lines.
After the rough cuts were made I used a file to fine-tune the slots.At first I was a little unsure of how it would turn out but it looks really good and straight!

That is really impressive.  I wouldn't have thought to try that with a jigsaw but it looks great. 

Very nice work.  I almost missed this since it was in the Restorations section.

I've been getting a nagging feeling to build a DK from scratch but turn it into a Fix-It-Felix.
http://animatedviews.com/2012/wreck-it-ralph-gets-extended-preview-burton-talks-frankenweenie/

[GameKing]

Love these classic nintendo homages. Keep it up!

Very Nice!    

Thanks

Lookin' good so far, though it's posted in the wrong section.
This should be posted in Project Announcements.

Okay, sorry for that...

That is nice work....That frame is wood on the originals, the thing is however they get all busted up over time then the game tips off to one side. The
cab is plywood 5/16 if Im not mistaken....Centimeters? Lets not tell Jennifer, She will be up all night converting it back to inches, (Giggle).

Well yes you are right, but I'm going to put a lots of layers of paint on it and I used 5/8... Haha I can save you the trouble: building plans  

Looking good! I would like to build a donkey kong cab one of these days.

Yes, you should right away

[GameKing]

That is really impressive.  I wouldn't have thought to try that with a jigsaw but it looks great. 
Very nice work.  I almost missed this since it was in the Restorations section.

Thank you, I really took my time with it and was very glad with the result
Yes, I made a mistake with posting in the wrong section

[GameKing]

I resprayed coin door in front of the cabinet, also I have cut out the best place for ther coin door and finished up painting the whole cab.



I have finished the marquee.

[GameKing]

The paint is not color-matched with an original DK baby-blue cabinet like I wanted, but this color looks great none the less! It a premade color called "Azure blue" from Flexa.

Originally I was planning to use one of the paint color-codes people used who refurbished their original DK cabinets and have their paint color-matched. But since those paint-codes are (almost) all for American paintbrands and USA shops, they are of no use to me I reckon. So after searching for the right color for a long time I happen to stumbled upon a can of Azure Blue.

[Sjaak]

Great job. Nice to see another arcade fan from the Netherlands.

Just wondering, where did you get the coin door?

[GameKing]

Great job. Nice to see another arcade fan from the Netherlands.

Just wondering, where did you get the coin door?

Hi Sjaak, thanks! Yes I'm a hugh fan
About the coin door. when I bought the Dk cab it wasn't in a original cabinet, because it's a bootleg and mainly they used standard cabs and changed the games from while to while.
So, this is the one, which was in the cabinet.

But if your looking for one, there easy to find on the internet.

Btw which machines do you have?

[rCadeGaming]

Wow, that looks amazing.

[emphatic]

  Great start! 

[Sjaak]

Btw which machines do you have?

I have a custom made Galaga cabinet, a Space Paranoids cocktail and just finished working on a Pac Man Battle Royale replica. (links are in my signature)

[Spyridon]

FYI, the back should be black if you want to be like the original

[GameKing]

FYI, the back should be black if you want to be like the original

Thanks for the info, but I like it this way 

[GameKing]

I did not liked the lit for the joystick(it came with the joystick), so I looked around for a other one, so this is the one I used;

[GameKing]

the CPO is mounted, finally It Did not turned out so very well with the first plexiglas I used. The second time was much better

the instruction sticker;

[RexOdatis]

Coin mech face plates. Tried paint remover on them because I would like to see how the faceplates looked like underneath the thick ugly paint. If I'd sanded it right away I would have a lot of scratches from sanding on them before even deciding wether to paint them or just clean them.

[GameKing]

well, that's personal offcourse, but I would recommend to paint it, cause a scratch is easily made on the surface