Mortal Kombat II MAME cabinet

[RabidRabit]

First, I'd like to thank everyone here and at KLOV.  Without the combined knowledge of others I wouldn't have even known where to start on this thing.

So, backstory:  It all began as a wee child watching Silver Spoons.  Oh how I envied that bastage Ricky Schroder with his wall full of arcade machines.  Unfortunately, my family's finances ran more along the lines of Punky Brewster so it was a mere pipe dream. 

Fast forward to about a decade ago when I discovered MAME and vowed to have my own cab running all of these magnificent games.    Originally I intended to build my own cab from scratch but a while back I ran across a Craigslist ad where a local arcade was giving away an empty cabinet to anyone who brought their own hand truck.  So, I borrowed a hand truck and pretended like I owned it.  It must have worked because the proprietor never asked for any papers on the dolly and I rolled a mostly stripped black Midway cabinet out the door.

It turned out to be a Mortal Kombat II cab that had the sideart painted over solid black.  A little bit of Citristrip and a lot of elbow grease later I've nearly gotten all of the paint off.  The side that is completely stripped is in great shape.  The other side I've been struggling with a bit more.  It has a few scratches and dings and the paint on the white parts is being stubborn but it should look okay after a little more effort and some touch-ups.

The basics:
Original MKII cab minus control panel and monitor
GPWiz-40
2x Omnisticks (only one is switchable between 4 and 8 way)
Happ horizontal buttons (probably going with 8 buttons per player plus two pinball buttons on each side)
24" Samsung LED monitor
Mortal Kombat poster for CP art
Plexiglass top for CP
Red T-molding

I was originally planning on using a CRT TV but got tired of looking at either TVs that weren't quite right or were just ridiculously priced so I broke down and decided to go with a widescreen monitor.  Besides that will let me play some of the newer PC fighters that I'd really like.  It's a trade-off but one that I can live with.

Still need to buy:
Marquee
Marquee light
Front glass
Hardboard for monitor bezel

Here are some pics of where I'm currently at with the sidart and the progress I've made on building the CP box.

The finished side:




The unfinished side:




The CP box in progress:




Thanks for taking a look.  More to come as progress is made.  Any comments or advice welcomed.

[BAMBOO]

My best cabinet I have is my MK cab.  Those things are put together really well.  Looks like you have your work cut out but it wont be a too bad build.  I am about in the same place your are with my project.

Good luck.

[yotsuya]

I commend you for staying original on your CP design and not slapping a huge CP on there that doubles the width. Kudos! 

[Juggrnt1]

Thanks for the pics of your work. I hope you've completed this project by now. I'm currently restoring my MK2 cabinet while building another to be skinned as a MK9 MAME machine and the pics of what other people have done really help me answer questions.

[Syko]

I acquired the same exact cabinet last fall that someone painted over the sideart as well with green paint and turned it into a World Class Bowling machine. Made me want to cry when I realized which cabinet it was originally. MK has always been my favorite so I have vowed to get this cab up and running even if it must be as a MAME. They cut a trackball into the original CP so I have to redo that as well. I can't wait til spring rolls around so it warms up enough for me to get back outside and work on this cab. Good luck with your build too!