FINISHED 2/5/14 Point Blank- PS1 based lightgun cabinet

[Well Fed Games]

Alright, I have mentioned it before, but figured it was time to make a new/official project thread for my PS1 lightgun cab. Basically, I am going to put a slim PS1 and an old 20" Emerson TV (s-video) into a gumball dispensing machine I got at auction for $25 (and then sold $40 of parts out of) in order to play Point Blank 1, 2, and 3, which got nice releases on the original PlayStation. (Don't mourn the gumball machine- it was neither pleasant to use, look at, or listen to.) It will basically be a thin, tall lightgun cabinet.

I have everything I need, just have to make some art and put it all together. I vectorized a marquee off of a jpeg at the arcade art site (attached below) and hope to work on the side art tomorrow (mostly going to be black and white circles- I am not following the arcade art 100%).

And again, this is what the machine looked like to begin with. The "holsters" for the guns are just going to be slots cut in the anged part below the front glass.

[Well Fed Games]

OK, looking for opinions- the never-meant-to-be-a-video-game cabinet is lending itself well to this conversion, but I am wondering if the 19/20" TV I am planning to put in there might be too small for a light gun cabinet. I guess the answer is to hook it all up and try but wanted to farm some opinions first. I have a 26" TV waiting for a project and another cab I could put it into...

so, 19" too small?

[Malenko]

why not a PS2? dont they play PS1 light gun games? then you get a few more games to put in there, like the Time Crisis series.

I dont think 19" is too small, unless you can find a bigger TV that fits that is.

[Well Fed Games]

Yeah, PS2 would work too, and will probably end up in there as well. Point Blank are my focus, and I like the fact the PS1 keeps me with a one-switch turn on for the cab without hacking anything. But I have already picked up Time Crisis 3 and Ninja Assault, so I assume some Guncon 2s will get bought as well.

the 19" is as big as I can cram in there... in fact I'll have to make a protrusion on the back door to accommodate the TV like you see in some cabarets.

[Malenko]

Then I dont think 19" would be a problem. I used to play a ton of duck hunt as a kid on a 13" TV lol  Do yourself a favor and get Time Crisis 2, its got a ton of extras with it.

[Well Fed Games]

So I have a new hobby- starting projects and not posting about them until the forum tells me:

Warning: this topic has not been posted in for at least 120 days.
Unless you're sure you want to reply, please consider starting a new topic.

Anyway, I've been putting feelers out for a proper gutted shooter cab, and a friendly KLOV'er sold me an empty Area 51 for a song. Very excited about it- just the cab I needed. The Fun-E-Ball cabinet going to the back of the queue again, but still have some ideas for it...

Anyway, the plan is still to do a Point Blank theme (marquee in Area 51-cab-proportions attached). A few noteworthy items:

-Planning to use a 26" TV, may not have to de-case it... lots of room in this cab.

-Planning on making the grey guncons red and blue with vinyl dye, will post my results with this.

-Access to the PS1 and games will be via the upper and lower coin doors... thinking about using these (http://www.twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1710&zenid=jh36nee338ksbovfurum0i3k23) to keep them shut.

-Sending marquee off to SoulDraw this weekend to try out that service. Picked up a NOS front art off a Point Blank 2 cabinet which should fit if my guesstimates are anywhere close. CP will be generic black vinyl and the sides will be painted solid white or black. New yellow t-molding will replace the bright green.

Anyway, should be a fairly easy project, despite working on a cocktail at the same time... but maybe I can drag my feet on it until the forum warns me of bumping the thread again...

[Well Fed Games]

Ok, got the marquee/sideart (which is just the marquee logo, bigger) sent off to SoulDraw. Which means i just paypal'd $35 to a guy in China named- I kid you not- "Shady Lee." What could go wrong? 

[mike boss]

What is SoulDraw ?

[Well Fed Games]

http://www.souldraw.com/ Chinese (I think?) based printing company. Cheap, but we will see if it is usable quality.

[PL1]

Jammin0 used them for his Ninja Monkeys build -- his recap is here.


Scott

[Well Fed Games]

OK, got the artwork today. Quality is pretty decent. Marquee could be a little thicker, especially concerning the blacks, but everything seems usable- no obvious issues of fuzzy printing or bad measurements. And it came exactly a week after I ordered it, not too shabby. $35 for a custom marquee and a 20x30" sheet of various stickers for the cab is pretty good.

[Brian74]

If I had any Photoshop skills I would be all over that!

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 2

[Well Fed Games]

attached pics- final red gun complete. Vinyl dye worked well (had to do extra coats on the orange gun tip for some reason, as opposed to the gray) and I added about 75 grams of weight (hot-glued metal bits) to give the guns more heft, since they are lacking the arcade-style recoil system. Very pleased with the result. I need to go back and do another coat of dye on the blue gun as I missed a few spots on those (I am actually doing two of each color, to have backup guns).

[Well Fed Games]

OK, finally got all the guns dyed and assembled so one pic of them all together attached.

[thatpurplestuff]

The guns look great!

[mike boss]

Looking forward to see the progress on this project.
The guns do look smokin'!!!!!

[Well Fed Games]

If I stay on this I should have it done by Christmas and be able to make some headway on assembling my cocktail before the end of the year.

Alright, current progress:

1. non-essential holes from the holsters and security bars filled with bits of wood dowel, sanded

2. new power switch installed on front bottom of control panel (pic attached)

3. Coin door restored- just needed a light paint, was in great shape (pic of new free play insert vs the old ones attached)

4. New monitor shelf cut and installed, Sansui 26" TV fits like it was made for it, no need to de-case. The shelf is removable and a spare of the same TV model will fit in the bottom of the cabinet. Another shelf below the monitor shelf will fit the spare guncons, playstations, etc. (pic of TV attached)

still to do:

1. cut an old 25" plastic bezel/shroud to fit- looks like it should. The fact that the TV case is black helps a lot.

2. bondo edges and scuffs

3. sand, repeat

4. paint everything black (sides might end up white, if I can mask everything easy)

5. install yellow t-molding

6. hack up old computer speakers for an amplifier (will power a new 6x9 speaker bought from Twisted Quarter.. the old one had soda spilled on it)

7. install electronics/wire up

8. screw "holster cups" (actually old atari power cable entry covers, painted and lined with adhesive felt)

9. Cut and apply artwork- bits I had printed and from some NOS Point Blank artwork I bought online

10. Shoot stuff!

[Well Fed Games]

OK, almost done... hung up on silly things, like:

Both TVs (same make/model) I put aside for this project (once in the cab- I made sure they were fine when I got them) showed discoloration in the corners. Could not figure it out. Tried de-gaussing with a fan and a soldiering iron, and all sorts of other methods found online. The fix? I had to turn the cab facing north. Every other direction, I get discoloration. North, looks great. CRT technology is maddening sometimes.

Edit: I don't know, maybe it is something in the wall/ceiling? I think I am going to move it to another room anyway.

But all I need to do now is relocate the cab to another room and cut a bezel for it out of a framing matte I got at a craft store. So far from playtesting the family really likes it!

[Well Fed Games]

And... done. Maybe not my finest work, but definitely happened on a budget, and nice to see pieces I've collected over time finally come together. And the Point Blank games are really fun.

In thinking about all the other cabs I considered making into a shooting cab I am really impressed how great the Area 51 cabinet design is. (Except for the speaker placement, but I don't plan on spilling anything into it).

So this is my second project I have made for my own home. Next up, a Tetris cocktail and my multi-Raiden.

[yotsuya]

Nice! I wish I could find an empty Area 51 cabinet.