Moon Patrol scratch build - 100% complete

[PixelPaul]

WOW, your stencil job looks awesome! You're doing justice to one of the all-time classics!! Well done. 

[elvis]

Warm test with everything in the cabinet.  Getting internal wiring done slowly.

[elvis]

It was pointed out I don't have any good shots of the monitor mounts.  Here's an older one I took, but I'll try to get some better ones later.

[mvolke1]

Been enjoying your build! The art is gorgeous. Glad to see another Raspberry Pi builder out there, too.

[stefano]

 
Awesome build!!! Awesome painting!!! And congratulations for your family united in such great project!

[elvis]

Brisbane storm season sucks.  The cabinet survived this round, however.  Although it was a close one.

[swaffar]

great stencil work there!  i might do an original retro-style stencil sideart when i finally get around to building an upright.

[elvis]

Another step closer to completion.  Getting excited!

Terrible lighting/reflections in these images.  Apologies.

[adder]

superb

when your friend sees it for the first time can u film it so we can see his reaction      it could be quite emotional

[elvis]

superb

when your friend sees it for the first time can u film it so we can see his reaction      it could be quite emotional

He's a pretty private guy, so I won't be filming him.   

But I can already see what his reaction will be.  I'm really looking forward to giving this to him.  The plan is to just leave it at his business (I can get one of his employees to help me put it on site when he's not around), and wait for him to find it.

[yotsuya]

Not using T-molding?

[elvis]

Not using T-molding?

My router literally exploded and nearly killed me on my last project. I'm using iron on moulding for this cabinet, until I can get the nerve up to buy another router.

[Frank Drebin]

Not using T-molding?

My router literally exploded and nearly killed me on my last project. I'm using iron on moulding for this cabinet, until I can get the nerve up to buy another router.

yeesh, what happened?  Was it something preventable?

[elvis]

yeesh, what happened?  Was it something preventable?

I fired up the router as normal - nothing out of the ordinary.  I'd done an entire cabinet before that project, and this was the second cabinet I was getting through.  I'd done nearly all of the cabinet, and was just routing out a few pieces for the control panel. 

As soon as I hit the power switch, the router shook violently and I heard a really loud sound.  I powered down immediately and the bit was completely missing.  It had torn one of the three chuck teeth out and gouged a huge track around the chuck. 

I then saw the bit across the other side of the shed.  It had narrowly missed me, and embedded itself deep into a piece of timber on the other side of the shed.  Had it been off by a few degrees, it would have torn through my mid section like a bullet.   The stainless steel shaft had bent 90 degrees, and the bit was pretty badly mangled.

I'm extremely safety concious.  I check all my tools regularly, and ensure bits are in straight and tight before I fire up any rotary tool (hand drills, drill presses, routers, etc).   This was just a freak accident.  I've met one other person who had the same thing happen to him on his CNC machine, putting a hole in his shed wall.  Similarly, just a freak accident.

It was a few years back now.  I still haven't had the guts to go out and buy another router.  For now, I'll stick to iron-on molding until I specifically need a colour I can't find.

[elvis]

So I can't figure out if this is the most useless idea I've ever had or not.

I was wandering around Officeworks the other day, and spotted some cardboard that was extremely reflective, for about $4:



I decided to see if it would make a nice reflective backing for the marquee light.  So I cut a chunk out, and decided to test it behind my fluorescent light:



Here's it without (the marquee is an original 1982, which is a nice touch for this cabinet):





And here's it with the reflective backing:





The light is definitely more direct.  Without the marquee, and standing directly infront, it was much brighter.  Also there was a lot less ambient light spilling back into the cabinet, which I liked.

The end result, however, wasn't that big of a difference.  The marquee isn't lit up that much more than before.

Anyways, it was a fun waste of 15 minutes.

[elvis]

Complete!  More photos with internal detail coming soon.

[opt2not]

  Very nice! 

[talkgeek]

That looks fantastic 

[emphatic]

Love it.

[markc74]

For a second I thought you'd used an LCD because of the screen squareness.  Nearly had a 'whhhhhyyyyyyy!!!' moment but then realised it was a flat crt. Bonus points.

Looks amazing. Definately the best repro I've ever seen and and my favourite classic cab to boot 

[elvis]

Definitely a regular curved CRT, not a flat one.

[jennifer]

     That really did turn out nice.... I do feel the cardboard marquee reflector is a bit sub-par however, It would be better to chop up a cheap shoplight (or some other kind of reflector) rather than start a fire.

[elvis]

     That really did turn out nice.... I do feel the cardboard marquee reflector is a bit sub-par however, It would be better to chop up a cheap shoplight (or some other kind of reflector) rather than start a fire.

I don't think there's any risk of fire.  There's nothing in that top section that gets even remotely warm.

The aim was to keep costs down as far as possible.  To get some other sort of reflector, I'd be looking at $30-$50 minimum (yeah, welcome to buying stuff in Australia), versus the $5 I spent on that.

Either way, it added little to the light output behind the marquee, so if it's a risk I'll just remove it.

[jennifer]

    Im not saying it is, just doesn't seem real safe to me.... The rest of the cab However, is really cool.

[elvis]

Some internal detail:

Glass removed, control panel open, coin door open:



The budget coin door in action.  It's a steel access panel with a hole cut in it, and a regular mechanical coin mech.



Peering behind the control panel (and my terrible wiring), seeing the clips that hold the control panel down, and clamp the glass down as well:



Inside the cabinet, and more ugly, ugly wiring.  You can also see the CP clips again.  RPi on the wall powering the game.  The buttons on the back of the coin door are for the TV and volume controls, as well as an "exit game" button.  My budget coin box is there, in all it's glory.



Heading up a bit, wide shot of the back with the monitor exposed.  Wires running up the side power the fan and light.  Molex connectors on everything so that the monitor can be removed on a sliding shelf with ease for future repair.



I've soldered some extension wires to the TV controls (the buttons are visible in one of the photos above).  Lots of hot-glue "spider web" in that shot.

[yotsuya]

Looks awesome, my friend!

[elvis]

Cabinet was delivered today. My friend returns from holiday on Saturday, and will find it waiting for him then. I'm very excited.

[elvis]

Loaded up, heading to it's new home.

[whitebabylon]

Hi,
Nice cab build. I am a noob and I was wondering a few things.
How did you round the corners of the entire 'cade. Was it just cut like that? What did you cut it with.
How did you screw all your parts together while hiding most of the screws?

[elvis]

How did you round the corners of the entire 'cade. Was it just cut like that? What did you cut it with.

Circular saw for the straight cuts, jigsaw for the curves.

How did you screw all your parts together while hiding most of the screws?

Countersunk holes and putty.  Remember to putty after at least one undercoat, which will prevent the putty from shrinking back too far into the timber after your final paint job (a handy tip from a builder, who gave me the same advice when gap sealing architraves).

[elvis]

Delivered to one very happy recipient. 

[shrunkenmaster]

Great job dude, he must be very happy!

[taylormadelv]

Looks a nice! I love Moon Patrol!

[elvis]

All CAD, artwork, etc is up on GitHub now:
https://github.com/danmons/arcade