Project Announcement: Super Spacefortress Macross - 100% Complete

[yotsuya]

OK, for ZapCon 14 this year, I want to take one of my games to be a part of the show, but since I've got newly rescreened control panels for my Missile Command and my Asteroids, those are out. My Moon Patrol cab needs some serious refurbishment, so that's out for the while. They had two Centipedes last year, so that's out. Everything else is running MAME, and MAME isn't allowed at ZapCon, so I decided to pursue something I've wanted to do for a long time.

As a kid, I was a big fan of the show Robotech, and as I got older I learned that it was a re-translated version of the anime Macross. I got to know Macross and became a big fan. There are a couple of Macross games in MAME, and I actually saw the original, Super Spacefortress Macross, in real-life in a mall in Yuma, Arizona about 20 years ago. Recently, I was able to finally procure an original Macross PCB (thanks for keeping an eye out, Neph!), and I've always wanted to build a cabinet for it. My goal was to use a Dynamo HS-1, but I haven't been able to find one for a good price.

Recently, I saw a Twin Tigers in a Centipede conversion that looked good. Also, I saw Opt2Not's Alpha One project, which is pretty much what I wanted to do. I was able to obtain a gutted, stripped Centipede cabinet that had no coin door, no metal parts, no bezel or marquee, just the wood and a monitor that the owner told me had no chassis. Last spring, I got another gutted Centipede cabinet and rebuilt that sucker from scratch (had to buy ALL the non-wood parts), so I feel I did my diligence in restoring a Centipede. This one will be a JAMMA cab that houses Macross, but allows me to really plug in any vertical SHMUP games.

More to come.

[BadMouth]

What are the legal ramifications?

[pbj]

Will you have to pay licensing fees?  What if you give away free slices of pizza or own Beavis and Butthead VHS tapes?

 

(I just found out about Goode Family.  Ick.  Wish I hadn't.  Big fan of that guy's work but he's stuck in the 90s)

 

[yotsuya]

Amended the first post. B&B gif was just a placeholder, but here it is because I love it:

[pbj]

Retheme it to Beavis and Butthead.  There's still time.

[Le Chuck]

I'm so glad this isn't a machine dedicated to those weird creepy-ass gifs of that one dude clapping.  *Shivers*

[yotsuya]

Retheme it to Beavis and Butthead.  There's still time.

I love B&B, but nah!

This one is getting the full custom treatment. The original PCB was a kit, and the artwork was ---smurfy---, so I'm gonna Griff it up and do my own thing.

[yotsuya]

Here's a mockup, first draft. BTW, the control panel is a Centipede, but this is a two joystick SHMUP. Also, the Marquee has changed.

[yotsuya]

Artwork:

Here's the original marquee that came with the JAMMA kit:



Not only can I not find one, or the image in high res, but I really don't like it. I decided to design my own, incorporating the original Japanese title rather than the English translation:



Once I am done, I will be more than happy to share the artwork. I do it for the community.

[yotsuya]

Side art:

I haven't been able to find any kit side art anywhere, so I made my own. This is a pretty iconic Macross graphic, so I made it into the side art, plus added the Banpresto logo since they made the game.

[yotsuya]

Community feedback time:

I was planning to do black sides, but the mockup model has these grey sides that I hadn't painted in Photoshop yet, but what do you think? I'm kind of liking the grey.

[PL1]

@ "Not By Mikonos" watermark.

In case you're looking for instruction cards, there are two of them available here and here.

 


Scott

[yotsuya]

@ "Not By Mikonos" watermark.

In case you're looking for instruction cards, there are two of them available here and here.

 


Scott

Bro, those were the first things I got many moons ago! 

[yotsuya]

Controls:

Way back when, I posted THIS about a joystick I used to play 1942 and found it performed really, really well for an 8-way. RandyT helped me identify them as MCA Australia joysticks. I have since sourced two of them, cleaned and rebuilt them, and will be using them for this project. They're black. I'm also going to be buying either some GGG True-Leaf buttons or Illuminated IL buttons for this. I'm going with red and blue per player, as shown on the cards Scott referenced. I'm trying to decide if I want to use my NephRings on this project as well.

Edit: Holy crap! I just noticed I'm like 57 posts away from 5000.

[Le Chuck]

Duder, you gotta go grey and red, it's original, it has a nice futuristic militant vibe that calls to the gundam robot thingymabobbers, nobody does it, and it looks baaaaaaaaaaaaad aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssss.  That is all. 

[yotsuya]

Duder, you gotta go grey and red, it's original, it has a nice futuristic militant vibe that calls to the gundam robot thingymabobbers, nobody does it, and it looks baaaaaaaaaaaaad aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssss.  That is all.

That's what I'm thinking. Bright red t-molding to match the red in the logo. Black for the front, and a grey for the sides. Light or dark grey?

[yotsuya]

Control Panel-

The cabinet came with a control panel that I am not going to use because I don't want to cut it up. I am using it, however, for measurements and angles, since I am lucky enough to have access to a metal shop. I've made and bent my own CPs before, so this should be pretty easy, too. Over the years, I've learned that I like using metal for CPs as opposed to wood.

There was no CP for the kit, apparently, so I'm going to do my own. I'm going for a minimalist approach, striving to design something that you'd see on a real machine. Here's is my first draft - the blue should be a bit bluer, less Cyan. Not sure why the .jpg I exported looks like that, but I'll fix it before I print it.

[wp34]

I hate to confess I don't remember this game.  I like your mock-up though it looks great.  Le Chuck is right the Grey/Red is the way to go.

[yotsuya]

Most people probably never saw the game, but I bet a number of you 80s kids remember Robotech, which is what Macross is based on.

[Nephasth]

Very cool, man! Zapcon is right around the corner, looking forward to the quick progress. I'll be taking notes for one of my new machines...

[yotsuya]

Thanks, Neph. I appreciate you giving me the heads up when the board showed up on eBay.

[Nephasth]

Anytime!

[pbj]

Now kiss. 

 


Go with light battle ship grey.  Gives it that military look.

 

[yotsuya]

Go with light battle ship grey.  Gives it that military look.

 

Yeah, light grey might be the ticket. I need to see if I can find that in an acrylic enamel.

[emphatic]

  @ watermarks.

[Le Chuck]

I'd do the sides in the light grey like PBJ said but do the front and interior panels in gunmetal, the extra tone will add depth

[yotsuya]

Hmmm..........  I was thinking black, but I'm intrigued by that color choice, LC. Do you know if I can get acrylic enamel tinted?

[Le Chuck]

Hmmm..........  I was thinking black, but I'm intrigued by that color choice, LC. Do you know if I can get acrylic enamel tinted?

If you call around to a real paint store rather than a big box I'm pretty sure they can custom mix any color you have a code for - either that or drop by and grap a chit off the wall.  If they can't any decent auto shop can, just tell them it's not for a car and they will leave out some of the hardener and thinners. 

You can also buy white base at Michaels or similiar craft store and mix your own but I'd try a paint shop first. 

[yotsuya]

Hmmm..........  I was thinking black, but I'm intrigued by that color choice, LC. Do you know if I can get acrylic enamel tinted?

If you call around to a real paint store rather than a big box I'm pretty sure they can custom mix any color you have a code for - either that or drop by and grap a chit off the wall.  If they can't any decent auto shop can, just tell them it's not for a car and they will leave out some of the hardener and thinners. 

You can also buy white base at Michaels or similiar craft store and mix your own but I'd try a paint shop first.

There's a Sherwin-Williams around the corner from me. I'll hit them up. Thanks!

[yotsuya]

Buttons:

OK, I'm planning on using one red and one blue button per user, for a total of 4. Should I stick with regular ones, or do you think LED buttons would be a nice enhancement? Either way, I'm going with leafs, but I've trying to decide if I want to add a little bling. Thoughts?

[Gamester]

Buttons:

OK, I'm planning on using one red and one blue button per user, for a total of 4. Should I stick with regular ones, or do you think LED buttons would be a nice enhancement? Either way, I'm going with leafs, but I've trying to decide if I want to add a little bling. Thoughts?

Maybe just do illuminated rings around the buttons to keep it subtle?  I've always liked that look.

[Le Chuck]

Get froggy and do some ninjasquirrel style buttons.  That'd be tight. 

[yotsuya]

Maybe just do illuminated rings around the buttons to keep it subtle?  I've always liked that look.

Yeah, I was thinking maybe that. Since there was never a dedicated game, the sky's the limit, but I don't want to overdo it as well. 

Get froggy and do some ninjasquirrel style buttons.  That'd be tight. 

I WISH I was that talented.

[yotsuya]

Just went outside to do the primer coat. Two coats, all done. The beauty of living in Arizona.

Monitor:

OK, I mentioned that the guy that sold me the cabinet told me that there was a tube in there, but no chassis. When I got it home, I looked closer and realize that the chassis WAS on the monitor. Since it was mounted horizontally, the chassis was UP in the cabinet where it could not be seen. Gleefully I hooked it up to a JAMMA harness and iso transformer, fired that sucker up, and got a nice picture. 

So I have two options- I can use this monitor (and I am leaning that way). There is some color burn in that you can't see during the game, but you can see during the all-white splash screen. It's not ideal, but hey, free working monitor.

The other option is to shoehorn in a 25 inch K7000 that I have! It will fit, tightly, and pretty much take up all the bezel space. But is it TOO big? This isn't a Dynamo made for a large rotated monitor. This would require some work on my part, which I'm willing to do, but I'm afraid it might be too much screen. It is a burn-free monitor with great color, though.

Thoughts?

[Nephasth]

Shmups on a 25" monitor > shmups on a 19" monitor

[yotsuya]

Shmups on a 25" monitor > shmups on a 19" monitor

I agree, but look at the mockup. Too big?

[Slippyblade]

I'd stick with the smaller screen.  If that mock-up is accurate, I think the larger screen would be overwhelming.

[yotsuya]

I'd stick with the smaller screen.  If that mock-up is accurate, I think the larger screen would be overwhelming.

Yeah, thanks, Slippy.

[Drnick]

Stick with the smaller, It just looks better.  (Proportion wise).

[Nephasth]

Stick with the smaller, It just looks better.  (Proportion wise).

That's what she said!


Not.