Replay - modern, slim and upright. Finished photos @ post #15

[tom_g]

My 2nd arcade build,

main design considerations being

- must be slim line, as cannot afford to lose space or want a big bulky thing in the living room
- no t-molding or flat pack furniture looking assembly details
- simple and clean lines, modern looking with retro references
- high gloss paint finish
- 20 inch vertical screen that I got in a sale, but wish I'd sourced a 4:3 now in hindsight

As for the "- no t-molding or flat pack furniture looking assembly details", I'm just tackling this design with a different perspective, as a cabinet maker I see old arcades as being mass-produced and built down to a cost, whereas here I'm trying to make something more bespoke, where time isn't a constraint and craftsmanship can be commended (hopefully).

I finished this about 3 months ago and didn't really take many decent photos during the making unfortunately, so details may be sparse, any questions or comments please feel free to ask anything.

So to start... Having done a few sketches it was time to make a full size cardboard mock. I think this is always a good thing to do as it helps massively with getting proportions and ergonomics sorted and also starts to get you thinking about the best methods for construction.



IMG_1093 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


IMG_1092 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


IMG_1091 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


IMG_1090 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr

I didn't like the marquee size, much too bulky for the rest of the cabinet. As I planned on painting the arcade white, I made a few adjustments to the cardboard and gave it the once over.

Now there is a 'cut-in' to the side profile under the control panel, smaller marquee, plinth, smooth edges. Things like this help to stop it from just looking like just a box and a bit basic. Size wise, it's approx 560mm wide, 500mm deep and 1800mm tall. Although having an lcd screen in there means I could make it slimmer still, there are limits I think to what would look good, didn't want it to look too skinny. Looking at the photos of it, I think you get the impression that it (and other slim cabs in general) look too slim, strange even, maybe this is because we are so used to seeing cabs that are deeper. My point here being that even though it may look too tall and slim, that in real life when you are stood in front of it and as an object to use, it is not proportionally strange looking.


Photo 24-01-2012 18 12 48 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


Photo 24-01-2012 18 13 46 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


Photo 24-01-2012 18 12 48 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr

[tom_g]

So here I've moved briskly on and have put it together dry. Steps

- take measurements from cardboard mock
- trace side profile of cardboard mock onto MDF sheet
- cut out side profile using jigsaw. router other straight edges using guide rails
- copy route second side from other so they are identical
- cut all cross panels
- jigsaw then route out screen hole, coin door, speaker grill etc
- biscuit the panels


Was quite happy with how it was looking at this point. Having a cardboard one to sketch onto was good for sorting out sizes and positioning of the coin door, speaker grill, screen, controls etc.

The front coin door main panel and speaker grill panel are flush to the sides. The screen and control panel panels are recessed 6mm to take glass and plastic-

[tom_g]

.

[ark_ader]

Wow lots of clamps.  I wished I had room and lots of clamps like yours.

Looks nice.  What kind of display are you going to put in it?

[TopJimmyCooks]

Excellent craftsmanship.  Very nice shop to work in.  looking forward to more. 

[DaOld Man]

Looks good.

[Louis Tully]

.

[emphatic]

Nice paintjob! 

[griffindodd]

This is looking really great, I love the retro Buck Rogers paint job it's Groovy Baby!!! 

[tom_g]

Thanks for all the positive comments. The paint job design was also something I tried hard to get looking right, aiming to incorporate the buttons into a simple and striking design that has both a retro and modern feel to it.

Screen in, glass on-


Photo 29-03-2012 16 20 31 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr

For size comparison, I'm 6 foot tall here-


photo by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr

[Seith]

Awesome job so far!  You make it look so easy 

[SpaceHedgehog]

The paint finish looks fantastic. Any tips you can share?

[tom_g]

So onto the marquee.

Here are some of the ideas I started with- wanted something angular to tie in with the paint graphics. Was also conscious of it being clear enough to read.


REPLAY3. by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


REPLAY2 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


Photo 30-03-2012 17 03 18 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr

this was an adaptation of a font which I took into illustrator and tweaked with lots. Then got some perspex and had the lettering laser cut. I installed 2 strips of led's that are embedded in clear rubber for backlighting-


IMG_1414 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr

The perspex is actually white, but it's very hard to photograph due to the lighting behind.
So there is a white front perspex sheet with the lettering laser cut out and then behind this is a frosted white perspex sheet to diffuse the light coming from the leds. The perspex sheets are 'installed' from inside the cabinet, again to give a more seemless finish than having marquee retainers/ L shape corner strips or similar.


IMG_1416 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr

So from the side it has a 3-d effect as the front perspex is 4mm thick.


IMG_1417 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr

I have some decent photos coming next, much better than all these camera phone ones.

[Louis Tully]

.

[SpaceHedgehog]

Thanks for the painting tips 

[tom_g]

here are the finished photos


replay_002 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_017 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_005 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_020 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_019 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_014 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_015 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_012 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_011 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_009 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_033 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_032 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_029 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_024 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_028 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_035 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_046 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_047 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_049 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr


replay_050 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr

all photo were taken by Owen Richards - http://owenrichards.co.uk/

[tom_g]

also forgot to add,

it has wheels at the rear,
adjustable height feet at the front,
lockable back door,
fan at top rear,
power socket at rear (to accept a standard kettle type plug/lead),
power breaker plug (extra safety),
& a coin box inside.

[shponglefan]

Been following this thread since inception and must say, it turned out very nice!  Sleek, simple and stylish.  Good job. 

[Player 3]

Definitely a modern style for a modern room. How exactly does that coin slot work? Does the coin get returned on inserting it?

[Santoro]

Love how it came out.  Very different, great craftsmanship,  and it has a manufactured vibe. 

good work!

[javeryh]

Badass.  Really nice job.

[Drnick]

superb work.  I like that you obviously moved it around the house to show how it would look in different locations,  Looks classy in all of them, but I like the first location, Ties in with the wall art

[Nephasth]

Wow, this has been since May?

[Unstupid]

Dude... There is a girl playing in your machine...  You are going to be like a hero too all these noobs! 

Nice machine... About your marquee... Is it actually viewable or is it just the camera that makes it look all washed out?

[tom_g]

Thanks for the kind comments, much appreciated.

@Player 3 - Coin Mech - Put coin in the top slot, if accepted it falls through the mech, sends credit signal and coin drops into the internal coin box below. If the coin is rejected it is returned out of the lower slot. If a coin gets jammed, turn the reject lever and the coin is returned out of the lower slot. These mechs are available on ebay. This model only accepts one type of coin at a time, you put a 'sample' coin in the mech, and it compares all coins entered to this 'credit' coin.
There is a better model made by the same people which I have also, where you can program it to accept different coins and give pulses/credits depending on which coin has been deposited.

@Drnick - yep, that evening did involve a bit of shuffling the living room around but I think it was worth it for the photos. Really happy with how they came out.

@Nephasth - the photos were taken in May yes, but the arcade was finished again about 2 months previous to this as it lived in the workshop for a short time.

@Unstupid - marquee - yes it's the camera that makes it look all washed out. There isn't a lot of contrast between the white gloss front perspex with the letters cut out and the rear frosted white perspex, plus the brightness of the 100 LEDs make it a tricky one to photograph. I originally had a third LED strip in there too (so an extra 50) but this was a bit overkill and the two strips give a good even diffusion.

[Nestafari]

I did not understand the style of your cab..With those strange colorz and artwork...

But now that i can see the cab alive..I just think it s a very well done job.

I also like the bixie on the side !

[flashlight]

I replied over on kotaku but thats not the appropriate crowd for constructive comments.

I love the minimalist retro look and glossy finish, though it needs some trim (chrome) to stand out against the white background of the room.

Given the range of games youre running the vertical screen and control scheme work perfectly, its obviously not designed to be a monster all in one 4 player system, its a great walk up and play system, while at the same time being a great "art" decorative piece.

[tom_g]

Thanks flashlight,

Those highly negative comments on kotaku really mis-understood the arcade's purpose. Simplicity is the key for this. The most played games on my other arcade (mame machine with 1000's on it) are the absolute classics from the 80's which is why using a 60-in-one game card was the perfect choice. We never ever get bored of Donkey Kong or Ms Pacman and anyone can simply turn the arcade on and play a game without me having to worry if Windows is all running properly.

At one time I even considered having just one button instead of two, but then felt the 2 buttons tied in better with the stripe graphics and of course have functionality in 3 of the games.

[javeryh]

Don't worry about it dude.  The 12 year-old mouth-breathers posting on Kotaku from their parents' basement don't know anything about video games unless it involves shooting people in the face.

The cab I made for my daughter a few years ago found its way to Kotaku and while a lot of the comments were nice, a ton of them were basically saying "this sucks" and the overall tone was very negative.  I didn't think anyone could hate a mini (and super cute) pink arcade cab but there you go.

The first idiot poster took the time to write a numbered list of why your cabinet sucks and basically every single thing he wrote is factually inaccurate - not a ridiculous opinion - factually inaccurate.  It's unbelievable (and actually quite funny).  Don't let it get to you - all of us here know how awesome your cab is and how it does exactly what you set out to do.   

[Ond]

This is a great project and well documented build!  I like the design process from cardboard mock-up through to art design and painting technique.  Nice clean build  .

Thanks for the motivation I've found here, my return to project work is imminent.

 

Ond

[Typefighter01]

Love it I too was a little worried about your choice of cab art, but it really turned out looking totally original and retro.

I wouldn't waste a second on the Kotaku comments, looks like it was completely lost on them. No offence to the Kotaku guys, but it's a site for reviewing the latest Halo release, has nothing in common with what is being done here...

[Yvan256]

Just viewed this build thread for the first time. I've got to say, you really nailed the retro/modern look. The paint job is awesome, the glossy coating makes it even better and I've got to say this is one of the cleanest, simplest yet awesome marquee I've ever seen. 

Do you have pictures of how it's build? The plastic sheets, the LED strips, etc? Any photos of this "sandwich" of technology?

[tom_g]

It's hard not to get annoyed when Kotaku took my photos without asking, wrote an article, didn't take the time to simply drop me a note to say it had been featured and then it was wholly misunderstood. With every cab that you make you're making decisions every step of the way, the final result has 100% been down to choices you have made, and so I felt like I had to respond and correct them.

I don't have any photos of the marquee build, it's simple though.
There are two 5mm thick sheets of perspex cut to the same overall size. The outer or top sheet is the solid white coloured sheet which has been laser cut along the lettering outline. The letters are then removed to leave the Replay text as holes. Placed behind this sheet is the frosted sheet which diffuses the LEDs. The two LED strips are attached to a mdf board towards the back of the marquee box so there aren't any light hotspots. The LEDs came embedded in rubber strips of 50 which turned out to fit the arcade width wise perfectly. There are lots of examples of such LEDs on google. So as the LEDs are quite bright, the whole of the marquee is lit, but because the lettering is 'missing' from the top layer, this is the brightest, as less layers.

On my computer screen, this photo gives the best and most accurate view of how it looks in real life during the daytime-


replay_005 by tom.goodfellow, on Flickr

A tip on sourcing perspex/acrylic sheet for marquees- if you go down to you nearest supplier they will probably have a cut-offs bin with lots of plastics for sale that they can't sell. This is good for testing different thicknesses, surface finishes and levels of transparency.

[Yvan256]

Thank you for the description of the marquee, I'm going to need something similar for a very compact project.

[thatpurplestuff]

Love how the body of the arcade and the CP are one cohesive unit... a lot of times an arcade will have a great body and great control panel, but when they are put together they don't quite look like they were supposed to go together.  The simple design and great choice of paint really make this cab shine.

[surface tension]

Tom, this is an awesome cabinet and I love the minimalism and choice of colour. I've been trying to find the time to make something like this for myself, but such a thing doesn't seem to exist these days.

I totally understand how you felt with Kotaku crowd too as the same happened when our tables hit their website. The majority of the readers are negative and it's just for the sake of it. We just had to ignore it and try not to take it personally... easier said than done, I know. Just a quick look around the web on other sites, and the comments will remind you why built this gorgeous piece of kit.

The photos look amazing and it's great fun having a photo shoot.

Hopefully I'll get around to making my minimalist upright one day.

[kahlid74]

Great job man.  I like the simplicity in an age where we all feel like cramming as much as we can into/on cabinets.  I appreciate the craftsmanship too.  Fantastic.

[boomerbrian]

Love the clean lines. Great job.

[TPA5]

I'm mostly a lurker here, but I just had to comment. Being in a big fan of modern/minimalist design I had to just say that your cab looks completely amazing. A totally unique take on an arcade cab!

[tom_g]

thank you again for all the kind comments!

I sold and shipped the arcade about 7 weeks ago now, never intended to make it for sale but I can always make another slim cab one day. I do miss it and was sad to see it go.

Next up I'm making a two-player more neo-geo 1990's type of arcade, trying to keep it simple but already they are so many more buttons & extra joystick to cram in...