The Retro-Geo project

[fablog]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to this forum and your help I've started my own first project. I was a total noob in woodwork, without any tools. 
I was in a hurry because I had 5 weeks to do a big part of this project (my wife was gone with my newborn to visit family in her country).

So far it's what I have done. it's a Mame Project clone, slightly modified...Thank you so much Koenig for sharing your drawings 
I hope to be able to finish this summer because with an 8 months old baby, a teenager and a wife, free time is very difficult to find.

Cement glue on side:


Side Slot cut (with some mistakes):


Formica applied and router flush trimed:


Testing wheels on base:


Holes drilled for wheels:


The other side of the base:


The 2 sides glued and screwed to the base:


As you can see I countersunk the bottom from outside and used black screws (not perfect but quicker):


Arcade mounted on his wheels:


Front:


Back:



Well, it's not perfect but it's beyond my expectations. I'm very proud after all those years reading this forum 

To be continued...

[Drnick]

Looking pretty darned good to me    The laminate really gives that professional finish.

[Seith]

Nice slim cab so far!

[EMDB]

I don't understand why you first laminate and then apply screws.  If you would have assembled the cabinet first and only afterwards applied the laminate on the sides it would have covered all screws.

[sabreerbasAlpha]

I don't understand why you first laminate and then apply screws.  If you would have assembled the cabinet first and only afterwards applied the laminate on the sides it would have covered all screws.

Ive got to ask the same question. What happened did you forget or something. I like the look though, But them screws..

[fablog]

Well, I was in a big hurry, I had only one day to assembly and laminate everything. For some reasons I didn't do the top so, if I wanted to assembly the base with the sides
 and get a solid result, I had to put the back too at this step. The question was how to laminate the back after assembly everything?...it was impossible. Maybe it wasn't the best solution but , for me, it was really acceptable to laminate before the assembly. The screws are black and are only at the bottom, it's not a big deal ant not ugly to see. My friends and family won't seen any problem 
Like I said before, I'm very new for manual work and I have few free time. I was very afraid to what I could accomplish with my two hands and I can say that I'm better than what I thought 

[sabreerbasAlpha]

Your off to a good start. I always like the look of the laminate flush cut like that. 

[fablog]

Hi guys,

I have some time now to follow up on my cab. I need your advice because I will laminate the inside of the cab but only the visible parts of the sides. My intention is to get a 3/4'' side thickness with a 5/8'' MDF + 2 sheets of 1/16'' laminate. Like that I will be able to put a 3/4'' T-molding. My problem is how-to do that after the inside holders (for the top, monitor support, etc.) will be glued? a1pharm did that on his cab (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,129725.msg1332544.html#msg1332544), he said he routed off the laminate where he was going to attach the 2x2's... What's the best way to do that?

Thanks!

[a1pharm]

Hi guys,

I have some time now to follow up on my cab. I need your advice because I will laminate the inside of the cab but only the visible parts of the sides. My intention is to get a 3/4'' side thickness with a 5/8'' MDF + 2 sheets of 1/16'' laminate. Like that I will be able to put a 3/4'' T-molding. My problem is how-to do that after the inside holders (for the top, monitor support, etc.) will be glued? a1pharm did that on his cab (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,129725.msg1332544.html#msg1332544), he said he routed off the laminate where he was going to attach the 2x2's... What's the best way to do that?

Thanks!

To route the laminate:

Use a plunge router.  Set the depth to be the same as the thickness of the laminate (1/16" in this build).  Use the guide that comes with the router, to set the distance from the side of the panel.  Use a 1/2" cutting bit.  Remember: you have some "fudge" room, because the thickness of the front/back panels will cover any small imperfections.

Let me know if this isn't making sense; I could snap some picks of what I'm talking about when I get some time.

Cheers!
 

[fablog]

Pics could be usefull for sure!

Thanks a1pharm 

[fablog]

My router is with a fixed base not a plunge. Is it possible to route off the formica like you said?

[rablack97]

My question is why didn't you just laminate inside and outside with full sheets?

I've seen a few folks accomplish the piece method for the inside of the cab, but it was hella hard.

Plunge router allows you to set a depth and push the router down into the material, and then move it along a straight edge to complete the line.

You fixed base can do the same, being the depth is on 1/16 of an inch, you should be able to turn on your router and gently guide the router down into the material before continuing the cut...

It's like using a circular saw to cut into the middle of 4X8 piece of lumber.

[fablog]

Rablack, I was in a hurry when I laminated the exterior. Not enough time to to the interior, so...
Thanks for your advice about the router, will try it.

[fablog]

Today I screwed 2 European hinges to the kick plate.
Do you think it's enough for a 33'X27' piece of 1/2" MDF or a third hinge is safer

[fablog]

I put a third one. It weight 5kg!! I'm scared to put this weight on one side of the cabinet. What do you think?






I glued the side sticks for the monitor support. I used a polyurethane gorilla glue directly on the formica.




Here the vesa mount before to be screwed.


So much to do and so few time. I hope to finish before my retirement (I'm 36). 😁

Is it necessary to put a primer or something else on the raw MDF inside the cab?

[fablog]

Any suggestions?

[Louis Tully]

.

[fablog]

Thanks Louis Tully. I'm wondering if I screw the door directly to the side or it would be better to put another layer of wood on the side before. It's 5/8" MDF, I'm afraid the side is to thin for this weight. What do you think?

For the inside, I prefer to let it raw. Nobody will see it.

Sorry if my English is not as good as I would like. I hope everybody can understand me 

[Louis Tully]

.

[fablog]

2 weeks alone at home and my project progressed a lot.
My friend Nicolas helped me, he's cutting the coin door hole on the picture. He's a professional wood worker so everything was so easy for him. We fixed the supports for the CP and fixed the monitor at the right height. I changed my mind about the keyboard drawer, I taked it out, I will keep this cabinet simple.  No more front door too. Thanks Nicolas for your precious help!!

[fablog]

We cut a back door hole. It was too much trouble without. Now, it's not necessary to have a front door, this part will be fixed.

[fablog]

The next step is to buy a glass. I think about a 1/8" one. The local glass store give me the advice to buy a clear glass, check the dimensions and make adjustments if necessary. After that I could go to a specialised shop who can stick a tinted film on it. What do you think about that, anyone tried that with success?

[rablack97]

no man go smoked....cuts the glare down on the screen....not tinted with like a car, but smoked

 i think there is smoke grey or something its not black but smoked just enough to where its not clear..

[fablog]

Rablack97 why do you think that? What interested me with doing like that is that it will be more secure. I know I could temper a smoked glass but the provider won't accept a glass I tested the dimensions before. I will have the obligation to order them the whole thing and hope it will enter in my cabinet. I know that the width of my cabinet is not the same everywhere so I would like to do this part in two steps.

[rablack97]

Ok you seem to know your way around with tools etc....and im sure you own a measuring tape.

Measure the area inside your cab you want the glass to cover......measure 5-10 times if you have to.

The film will peel over time and it will look like crap.  I've done a few cabs and i have not screwed up and wasted a whole piece.

Glass cutters can get what you need w/i like 1/32 of an inch, its pretty accurate.

Go get some foam cardboard hobby lobby or a stiff piece of cardboard, take your measurements transfer that to the carboard, and keep playing around with it until you get the fit you need.

Take that to the glass cutter and say, match the glass to this template.

[fablog]

Good advice, I'll try the cardboard. It could be difficult to be super accurate measuring inside. Thanks

[rablack97]

nope just measure from inner edge to inner edge of your sides, top middle bottom.  measure from the front where tmoulding will go.

you'll do fine, its all trial and error, what you dont want is put in all this work and in a year it looks like crap......take your time and do you due diligence it will pay off later.

[fablog]

Thanks for the support rablack97

[fablog]

Another step done today. My friend Paulo helped me a lot with a very good idea for the glass mount. We used an U-shaped aluminium profile and bend edges to give a it a L-shape. It works like a charm as you can see with the pictures.
The glass is a light grey 1/8 tempered one.
The next step is to finish the CP. Anyone has a real dimensions drawing of a U-Track?

[fablog]

I worked on the CP today. My friend Paulo did the design below using the sega Player 1 and 2 layouts from Slagcoin. Staples did the printing and I cut all the holes.  A great team work! I did the joysticks and pushbuttons holes with a forstner bit and my drill. The big U-trak hole was done with a router and a Jasper guide.

[fablog]

Leds wiring done! I used molex and it was much harder than what I thought.

[fablog]

The tools I used.

[fablog]

I used threaded insert to mount the 2 U360. It was my first time with inserts and I practiced a lot with spare MDF before. The more important was to find the correct drill bit for the pilot hole. It was a lot of stress when I begin to drill in the real CP I had to be careful to not drill to much because the other side is laminated. You can fill MDF with Bondo but not with laminate!!

[fablog]

The U-trak was a little bit more complicated because you have to identify where will be the the insert holes. I put black sharpie ink on the U-Track back and put it on the MDF to do marks. It was good enough.
The Ultimarc U-trak threaded inserts are very good but if you want to practice with them, don't forget that you cannot pull them out easily, they are pushed inside and not screwed.

[fablog]

As seen on the Flynn's Arcade and Nephasth project, I modified my IL pushbuttons from Arcade Paradise. The led's wire are cut if you use their leafswitch as is, no problem with other switch. You have to put them lower in the pushbuttons drilling another hole. It's easy but you have to be careful to not drill the wires during the operation.

[harveybirdman]

Good job on making sure the monitor fits the design without looking ridiculous, are you going to mask it to 4:3 with a bezel?


Also, very tastefully done LEDs my friend.

[fablog]

Thanks
I plan to use the monitor on widescreen for games like MK. I'll mask the glass's back to 16:10 with black paint.

[mgb]

This cab is looking very sweet. The laminate looks great.
as aside note, if you haven't done anything with those bottom screws through the laminate, one way you may hide them is by having a metal kick plate kinda thing around the three sides.

Those buttons don't come with the LEDs in them??
what leds are you using?

[yotsuya]

As seen on the Flynn's Arcade project, I modified my IL pushbuttons from Arcade Paradise. The led's wire are cut if you use their leafswitch as is, no problem with other switch. You have to put them lower in the pushbuttons drilling another hole. It's easy but you have to be careful to not drill the wires in the operation.

Yeah, when Nephasth originally did that modification to those LEDs on The Beast many years ago, I knew I had to do it too. It worked out great.

[fablog]

Good idea mgb I'll really think about it. The buttons came with the led inside, they are IL-lumination RGB 5VDC led's from Arcade Paradise. I don't think they are really compatible with leaf switch, you will cut the wire. No problem with another kind of witch.

[fablog]

As seen on the Flynn's Arcade project, I modified my IL pushbuttons from Arcade Paradise. The led's wire are cut if you use their leafswitch as is, no problem with other switch. You have to put them lower in the pushbuttons drilling another hole. It's easy but you have to be careful to not drill the wires in the operation.

Yeah, when Nephasth originally did that modification to those LEDs on The Beast many years ago, I knew I had to do it too. It worked out great.

Thanks Yotsuya. I didn't want a Christmas tree but I liked the idea to show a little light for the buttons used for every game.

[yotsuya]

As seen on the Flynn's Arcade project, I modified my IL pushbuttons from Arcade Paradise. The led's wire are cut if you use their leafswitch as is, no problem with other switch. You have to put them lower in the pushbuttons drilling another hole. It's easy but you have to be careful to not drill the wires in the operation.

Yeah, when Nephasth originally did that modification to those LEDs on The Beast many years ago, I knew I had to do it too. It worked out great.

Thanks Yotsuya. I didn't want a Christmas tree but I liked the idea to show a little light for the buttons used for every game.

Yeah, that's how I used them, too. I was hesitant, but Neph made it really easy to do and he answered questions that I had.

[mgb]

Good idea mgb I'll really think about it. The buttons came with the led inside, they are IL-lumination RGB 5VDC led's from Arcade Paradise. I don't think they are really compatible with leaf switch, you will cut the wire. No problem with another kind of witch.

I couldn't those on their site. I found the ILs with clear rims and black plungers but that's it.
I know I can just get the less seperately.
I wish they had the short ones

[fablog]

They are here: http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/button-leds/100-il-lumination-rgb-5vdc-led.html
They were shipped to me installed inside the pushbuttons.

[fablog]

À little update today: I changed the 2 yellow reject buttons of my coin door for red ones. Bought them at Playdium (Montreal) for 16$ CAD.
Only 4 screws to unscrew for each reject button, very easy!

[fablog]

I put the T-molding tonight. Seems OK. There are some imperfections because I made mistakes cutting the T-slot, it's not evenly centered. I doubt my friends and family will notice that. The more complicated thing was to notch the T-molding for the corners. I use a hair dryer for helping me to bend correctly the T-molding and a rubber mallet.

[fablog]

Here the final result.

[mgb]

Nice,
  I'm a huge fan of black cab with white t molding

[fablog]

Blip and Vertical retraces were my inspiration for the black and white style
I'm still thinking about the graphical design I want for the CP and the marquee. All the other parts will stay in black.

[fablog]

Speakers mounted. The hardest part was to find the covers with the right dimensions.

[fablog]

My top is cut and laminated with Formica. I'm wondering if it's really necessary to put a fan to evacuate hot air.  I will play very rarely but I'll play PC games like Mortal combat X (CPU and GC intensive). My config is : gtx 650 + I3 4150 + corsair RM 450. What's your opinion?

[Locke141]

My top is cut and laminated with Formica. I'm wondering if it's really necessary to put a fan to evacuate hot air.  I will play very rarely but I'll play PC games like Mortal combat X (CPU and GC intensive). My config is : gtx 650 + I3 4150 + corsair RM 450. What's your opinion?

This is coming along nicely. I don't think you would need a fan you have a vent on top and some kind of air in take near the bottom convection does wonders, but adding one would be cheep and easy.

[fablog]

Thx Locke. I've thought about that all day long and I think I'll keep it simple. No vent, no fan. I'll check the temp and if it's too much hot I'll drill holes in the top. I don't think it will be necessary because I won't normally play long enough and I could open the back door for very long sessions with friends.

[a1pharm]

You don't need a fan/vent/holes.  There's a lot of volume in that cab, and as long as the ambient temp of the room is less than the interior temp of the cab, you'll have a sufficient gradient to "pull" heat out - even through a relatively good insulator like wood.

Your project is coming along nicely - you're in the home stretch, keep going!

Cheers!
 

[fablog]

Thx A1pharm to confirm what I think

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[fablog]

Guys, I need your opinion. What do you think of this CPO? Good or bad idea? Better on the front panel and nothing on the CP or not? Any other idea? My artistic skill is very low!

[harveybirdman]

Front of CPO for sure.

[yamatetsu]

Front of the CPO + something matching for the marquee.

[fablog]

Thx fir your comments, front panel it will be. I will modify the strips  and the triangle first, they're too big.

[yamatetsu]

[fablog]

It's very inspiring Yamatetsu, thank you!

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[ppv]

Hello neighbor! Nice build! followed.

[fablog]

Thx PPV. Always happy to know a neighbor in this forum.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[fablog]

Next step: paint the glass. What paint do you recommend?

[fablog]

I had some weird reactions with my U360, in game or in Hyperspin, like the wheel spinning alone. Moreover it was complicated to configure in some emulators. I don't like to have the buttons separated from the joystick. And, right now, I have no use of the analogic mode. So I used the output mode with my Ipac UIO. I cut the end of the wires included with the UIO and use molex instead. The U360 is still powered by USB so I had only for pins to connect: Up, Down, Left, Right. Well,  it's perfect now; so much time lost trying to figure what was happening!

[fablog]

News here:
It's not anymore a noname projet but the Retro-Geo project  I liked a lot the Neo-geo AES system so...
Haven't post here since a long time but below is the actual state.
Everything is working and I play a lot with my little girl (6 years old). My wife hate it but nothing special here!
 


As you can see, the only thing missing are graphics to decorate it. Any idea? I was thinking to something in black and white, in wireframe, maybe with the metal slug theme. I think I won't put any graphics on the sides. I found something interesting today. It's not in B&W but it's a start:



Cheers!

[DaOld Man]

Looking good.
I like the metal slug theme, but you got to do the sides too, and CP of course.
(Coming from a man that has not put any side art on any of his builds.)

[fablog]

Thanks! I don't know for the sides because during the last 2 years I was looking for an inspiration but I'm still with no clear idea of what I want. So, I was thinking maybe a minimalist thing would be better. I'm really not an artist

[javeryh]

I actually think you only need art on the marquee for this one.  Something subtle.  Everything else is minimalist and looks good as is, IMO.

[fablog]

I actually think you only need art on the marquee for this one.  Something subtle.  Everything else is minimalist and looks good as is, IMO.

Yeah maybe only a marquee with the picture of Metal slug I found and the title Retro-Geo.
What do you think about some white decals for the CP?

[javeryh]

I actually think you only need art on the marquee for this one.  Something subtle.  Everything else is minimalist and looks good as is, IMO.

Yeah maybe only a marquee with the picture of Metal slug I found and the title Retro-Geo.
What do you think about some white decals for the CP?

Some white stripes would probably look good on the CP and the coin door panel.

[fablog]

I share here my CP 3D model my friend did for me. Could be useful if you need help with the U-trak dimensions.

[fablog]

ls anyone know where I could find the R-type logo font please?

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[PL1]

ls anyone know where I could find the R-type logo font please?

To be clear, are you looking for the marquee font . . .


. . . or the title screen font?


I haven't found either one.   


Scott

[fablog]

Hi Scott,

The second one. Me too I looked a lot yesterday and found nothing. I would like to write Retro-Geo with this font and use it as a marquee.

Thanks anyway

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[PL1]

Tried again with a quick-and-dirty vectorization and cleanup.

There are some similar fonts, but no exact matches.

To see the close-but-not-quite results, use the attached png with the photo font identifiers on sites like these:
https://www.whatfontis.com/
https://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/


Scott

[Ond]

Very slick cab, I love the clean lines.  So you want the logo as in the original style but Hi-Res?  I can generate for you.  Take a few days.

Some repro work I've done in the past...

[fablog]

Thanks OND for the good words!
I appreciate your proposition to help me. I'm not really sure about what I want. I'm very bad to make any art. I was thinking to something very simple: only the words Retro-GEO using a metallic font like R-type. I've found something inspiring today:

What do you think?


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[fablog]

Thanks OND for the good words!
I appreciate your proposition to help me. I'm not really sure about what I want. I'm very bad to make any art. I was thinking to something very simple: only the words Retro-GEO using a metallic font like R-type. I've found something inspiring today:

What do you think?


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[Ond]

I will do the words Retro-Geo in the R-Type font for you.  Same look.

[Ond]

Just a sample.  I can make the font thinner or whatever you like.  See what you think.

[fablog]

Wow, I like it a lot!! Thanks OND. Do you think something red could be added to match the joysticks color? Just wondering

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[Ond]

Wow, I like it a lot!! Thanks OND. Do you think something red could be added to match the joysticks color? Just wondering

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Glad you like it, here's another version.  I've thinned the font to match the R-TYPE font more closely and made it red.  Note this is not a downloaded font, this is an OND scratch font.  This is only a low-res sample.  Send me your marquee dimensions in metric and I will share a Dropbox link to a final Hi-Res image for printing. 

[fablog]

OND you will end a more than 2 years long thinkering about a marquee. I knew you were a fantastic builder but didn't know you were a skilled graphic designer. I love your work and I will print it as is. The dimensions are 66cm by 11 cm. Thanks a lot! Thanks also Scott!

Fabien

[Ond]

Happy to help out with this pleasing build.  Check your messages for your links to the full resolution artwork. 

[fablog]

Who's printing on translite nowadays in Canada?

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