Author Topic: Project: Arcade Evolution (Wiring and Metalwork!) (Read 51334 times)

pixelObsession · « **Reply #120 on:** August 06, 2015, 07:31:07 am »

I really like the 3/4 perspective on the necromancer chick and think you should do the same with your heroine. There's something about straight at the camera heads that seem amateur to me in a presentation piece like this.

Malenko · « **Reply #121 on:** August 06, 2015, 12:06:38 pm »

the good girl's sword looks too short.

I think bad guys on the left would be better (still)

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #122 on:** August 06, 2015, 12:09:15 pm »

Quote from: Malenko on August 06, 2015, 12:06:38 pm

the good girl's sword looks too short.

I think bad guys on the left would be better (still)

The sword is a gladius (usually have a 20-24" blade)... they are short swords.

Malenko · « **Reply #123 on:** August 06, 2015, 12:34:29 pm »

Quote from: ZexisStryfe on August 06, 2015, 12:09:15 pm

The sword is a gladius (usually have a 20-24" blade)... they are short swords.

Im aware, I wasnt saying the gladius was too short, I was saying I don't understand the choice in weaponry?

You have her dual wielding gladius blades. Typically dual weilders would have a main offensive weapon like a rapier , and the offhand would have a parrying dagger like main gauche. Even Musashi used a katana and a wakizashi . I digress I get that its art, and more than that its YOUR art, and it doesn't have to world accurate in a fantasy setting, but I just wanted you to know why I thought what I thought.

rablack97 · « **Reply #124 on:** August 06, 2015, 03:43:14 pm »

looking good sir!!!!!

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #125 on:** August 06, 2015, 03:51:22 pm »

Quote from: Malenko on August 06, 2015, 12:34:29 pm

Im aware, I wasnt saying the gladius was too short, I was saying I don't understand the choice in weaponry?

You have her dual wielding gladius blades. Typically dual weilders would have a main offensive weapon like a rapier , and the offhand would have a parrying dagger like main gauche. Even Musashi used a katana and a wakizashi . I digress I get that its art, and more than that its YOUR art, and it doesn't have to world accurate in a fantasy setting, but I just wanted you to know why I thought what I thought.

You are quite observant! Actually the blade slung over her shoulder is a spatha, so it is the long blade. The blade choice has to do with the fact that the character is a reimagining of Princess Cassandra of Troy (the Oracle). Since ancient Trojan weaponry closely resembles both Greek and Roman weaponry I decided on the gladius/spatha combo for her. A bit unorthodox, but since the character isn't exactly a normal human I felt it was okay.

Malenko · « **Reply #126 on:** August 06, 2015, 04:04:24 pm »

Makes sense, the long blade is obfuscated from view by her head and cut off from the right. Since the blades look very similar in style I just assumed it was 2 of the same sword type, well that and I assumed she'd be right handed and have the long blade in her right hand. If its not too big of a pain in the dick, could I suggest maybe instead of having her with the sword on her shoulder, maybe have her have it in front of her crossing the blades so you can see the size relative to one another?

Still, I like it.

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #127 on:** August 06, 2015, 04:53:16 pm »

The kicker is she is right-handed... I had to flip the artwork to get her to fit on the left side.

Since I do have to redo the lineart for these ladies to make them higher resolution what I will likely do is elongate the blade a bit more to make it visible behind her hair.

DrZhark · « **Reply #128 on:** August 06, 2015, 04:54:50 pm »

Quote from: ZexisStryfe on July 29, 2015, 09:28:23 am

Quote from: rablack97 on July 28, 2015, 03:42:10 pm
Looks alot like GriffinDodd's Capcom build

Damn he must of been pissed he took down all his photos

You mean the fact I specifically called out his build (and Chance's) in the first post as a major inspiration didn't give away the fact that there would be similarities? The lower section (the black part) is meant to be a combination of Griff's Revolution and Lukensteinz's MK Viewlix. I liked this part of Griff's build particularly because it fixes my biggest complaint about cabinets that have 32" monitors- the massive flat piece of wood where the coin door is. Giff's design breaks up this area. The sides are actually the modified sides of Chance's Flynn build, minus a pac-man pizza slice.

Well, you should see my first cabinet... It is almost the same as you posted. I haven't posted any pictures yet as I've been shy and I'm yet to finish it. It is missing the CP overlay and side artwork. My cab is heavily inspired on MVC2 and Grounds for divorce. I did some modifications, it is somewhat modular so I can carry the upper part that contains an LCD TV and a marquee LCD monitor and it separates from the bottom part that has the subwoofer and computer.

I browsed many different cabinets and thought for quite some time before deciding to that design. Then I spent two months designing it on Sketch up. I'll post some pics soon. I thank Griffind for his inspiring design. I don't think he is pissed... who knows?

I designed a small electronic circuit to modify the door coin, so you can use the coin reject buttons to work as credit buttons, but with one caveat: that function is disabled / enabled with a key switch and there is an LED that shows if the option is active (green) or deactivated (red). If anybody's interested, I can post pictures and a circuit diagram. It is quite easy to do and I love it

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #129 on:** August 06, 2015, 09:59:07 pm »

Quote from: DrZhark on August 06, 2015, 04:54:50 pm

Well, you should see my first cabinet... It is almost the same as you posted. I haven't posted any pictures yet as I've been shy and I'm yet to finish it. It is missing the CP overlay and side artwork. My cab is heavily inspired on MVC2 and Grounds for divorce. I did some modifications, it is somewhat modular so I can carry the upper part that contains an LCD TV and a marquee LCD monitor and it separates from the bottom part that has the subwoofer and computer.

I browsed many different cabinets and thought for quite some time before deciding to that design. Then I spent two months designing it on Sketch up. I'll post some pics soon. I thank Griffind for his inspiring design. I don't think he is pissed... who knows?

See, you hit the nail on the head with this post, Zhark. I am building this cabinet so that it can easily be split in two as well. I rent so I tend to move every year or two, so I needed something that could be easily moved. I am not sure why Griff removed his pictures, but I doubt it is that people were copying his design. After all, imitation is the greatest form of flattery and all that...

I do find it odd that my design is called out for it similarities when looking at them from the side they are not similar at all-

Only the coindoor section is similar (in the front). That said, as I previously stated both his MvCR builds were huge influencers for my decision to build a new cabinet, so there are worse things to be compared to!

DrZhark · « **Reply #130 on:** August 07, 2015, 12:00:07 am »

Well my cabinet is really not as slim as yours. I don't think it will pass that side to side test with MvC2

The cabinet is missing the artwork. My photoshop skills are non existent. So until I get the artwork, I won't be adding the t-moulding. I'm not happy with the red ball on the 4-way joystick.. I didn't want to make a frankenpanel, but ended up doing one (live and learn). I started from scratch with zero woodworking experience.... so It has its flaws but I'm happy with it.

Here's a close up of the modified coin mechanism:

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #131 on:** August 14, 2015, 03:08:35 pm »

See I would love to do a screen for the marquee but I haven't found any that would even come close to fitting. 32" x 8" is a very odd aspect ratio, but honestly I haven't found anything even close.

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #132 on:** September 12, 2015, 11:49:21 am »

Well, it only took a year and just under over 4 pages but, I got wood!

I was able to find a CNC hobbyist and he was nice enough to cut the entire thing for me for under $400, including materials. I will still need to run some of the pieces with angled sides through a tablesaw (note... need tablesaw) but I am well on my way. I also picked up about 36" of 1x2 dimensional lumber for ledger boards.

While waiting for the wood to get cut I have also been working on the high res versions of the previously posted sideart, it took me a while, but they are finally complete-

So now that I have the wood, I have a question about castors... I am looking for this unit to have 4-way motion on it wheels do to the fact that the unit is too wide to slide through many doors normally (34.5"). Because of this I am looking at using 4 swivel castors along with 2 stabilization feet once the unit is in place. Does anyone think this would be a problem?

Also suggestions on where to buy the castors would be great too...

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #133 on:** September 12, 2015, 01:36:02 pm »

So as I moved some of the pieces from one room to another I noticed that the side parts of the cabinet were taller than a door frame... that was odd, so I measured it- 81 inches tall. I went back to my SketchUp documents and looked there- 74 inches tall.

It turns out that when SketchUp converted the SKP file to a DWG/DXF file, it changed the measurements for some reason. It upscaled everything by 1.1015625.

Expensive mistake...

brucelee00 · « **Reply #134 on:** September 12, 2015, 01:59:28 pm »

Quote from: ZexisStryfe on September 12, 2015, 01:36:02 pm

So as I moved some of the pieces from one room to another I noticed that the side parts of the cabinet were taller than a door frame... that was odd, so I measured it- 81 inches tall. I went back to my SketchUp documents and looked there- 74 inches tall.

It turns out that when SketchUp converted the SKP file to a DWG/DXF file, it changed the measurements for some reason. It upscaled everything by 1.1015625.

Expensive mistake...

That is most certainly a bummer, sorry to hear that. I had this same thing almost happen to me when I was having someone just cnc a side template for me from one of my sketch up designs. For some reason, I had this inclination to ask how his cnc software was reading out the measurements and sure enough they were off. I tried exporting the files from sketchup so many ways even download a trial of autocad to see what was going on... long story short his cnc software took .eps an adobe Illustrator format so what i did was make sure the camera view was in parallel projection, export a 2d graphic and chose .eps file format and selected the default 1:1 option and his software read everything correctly. If you decide to have this redone I would still make sure his cnc software is getting the correct read out to avoid another expensive mistake.

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #135 on:** September 13, 2015, 10:13:00 am »

I was able to get the software to export properly. It seems like the bug was tied to the 2014 version of Sketchup. Once I updated the file to version 15 it exported properly. Well, at least I will have a lot of spare wood to practice stuff on...

EvilNuff · « **Reply #136 on:** September 18, 2015, 10:24:44 pm »

I really love your artwork, looking forward to seeing this progress! I am definitely going to check out your art link.

Knievel · « **Reply #137 on:** September 20, 2015, 02:21:21 pm »

Evolution eh? My lawyers will be in touch...

EvilNuff · « **Reply #138 on:** September 20, 2015, 02:47:47 pm »

Quote from: Knievel on September 20, 2015, 02:21:21 pm

Evolution eh? My lawyers will be in touch...

Uh-oh then don't look at the cab I am planning when I finally get around to posting it...

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #139 on:** September 20, 2015, 06:42:01 pm »

Okay, lets try this again...

So my CNC guy was nice enough to recut the majority of the pieces for me (I will take care of the simple pieces on my table saw) for half the cost and in less than a week. I am currently waiting on said table saw to arrive from Lowe's and then I can get started cutting everything up.

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #140 on:** September 27, 2015, 11:05:36 pm »

The saw has arrived and was immediately put to work!

Alright even though I spent the weekend making way too many trips to Lowe's after repeatedly forgetting to get things, I was able to actually get some wood cutting done. All the wood for the lower half of the cabinet was completed, including all the angle cuts and the corrections from the first botched CNC cut.

After that I spent the day cutting up ledger board and attaching it to the sides of the lower cabinet-

Just an observation... I f'ing hate ledger board. Way more time consuming than I remember. Next step is to drill a few holes for the power and the clamping knobs to hold the lower cabinet to the upper cabinet. Then I can start putting this guy together.

Scotty_C · « **Reply #141 on:** September 28, 2015, 08:11:24 am »

Nice progress!! Liking this build. What size ledger board did you go with?

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #142 on:** September 28, 2015, 08:41:04 am »

I ended up going with 1x2s, but of course they are actually .75x1.5s

EvilNuff · « **Reply #143 on:** September 28, 2015, 08:53:45 am »

Good choice for a saw, those portable bosch's are good quality with a nice riving knife for safety.

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #144 on:** October 03, 2015, 07:54:28 pm »

Quote from: EvilNuff on September 28, 2015, 08:53:45 am

Good choice for a saw, those portable bosch's are good quality with a nice riving knife for safety.

Yes, I am quite happy with it performance so far. The safety features are definitely one of the big reasons I went with this saw.

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #145 on:** October 03, 2015, 08:00:22 pm »

Well it has been a productive few days...

First off I have drilled the clamping holes in the side of the lower sections-

These holes will allow me to clamp the lower section to the upper section once complete. I will be doing this with a combination of six star knobs and wood insert lock nuts in the outer/upper part of the cabinet. This way the two halves can be split apart when needed (ie- moving).

After finishing that it was time to start assembly!

It took the better part of two days (largely waiting for glue to dry) but I was able to finally finish the assembly of the lower half of the cabinet.

Next weekend I will begin on the upper half.

BGoulette · « **Reply #146 on:** October 04, 2015, 12:56:31 am »

Those angles looks great!

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #147 on:** October 19, 2015, 05:31:28 pm »

So I have a question for all you lurkers out there... particularly those of you building Flynn clones (or Chance could just chime in himself)-

How much space do you put between the front glass/plexi and the monitor screen? Do you put them right up against each other or leave a gap?

ChanceKJ · « **Reply #148 on:** October 19, 2015, 08:40:43 pm »

Back of my glass is about an inch or so from the bezel of the TV.

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #149 on:** October 19, 2015, 09:42:58 pm »

Quote from: ChanceKJ on October 19, 2015, 08:40:43 pm

Back of my glass is about an inch or so from the bezel of the TV.

Thanks Chance, that helps. I am in the process of assembling the upper portion of the cabinet and was wondering how far back I needed to put the support board for the mount.

ChanceKJ · « **Reply #150 on:** October 19, 2015, 10:23:38 pm »

I'd put the tv as far back as you can with a mind on the clearance for cables from the back. Give it that "floating in space" look. As long as you black out the inside well enough.

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #151 on:** October 25, 2015, 05:25:28 pm »

I have made quite a bit of progress this week!

Over the course of the week I ended up prepping the sides of the upper half of the cabinet to be assembled-

Once I got the measurements for the TV mount all set I started assembly!

I also began assembly of the control panel box-

once that was completed...

Viola! Fully assembled and mocked up together!

Next step is to begin hiding the errors and filling the cracks with Bondo, but that will have to wait until next weekend. I have also ordered the artwork for my control panel from GOG, complete with a paper template so I can begin drilling the button/joystick holes in the control panel. After that it is time to build a paint room!

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #152 on:** November 17, 2015, 01:52:10 pm »

It has been slow going over the past few weeks but I have definitely been making good progress!

First off I got my Control Panel Overlay art from Game On Grafix. I ordered the adhesive backed art with a template. Using the template I was able to successfully drill the holes for the button in my CP lid-

After that I made the 1.5" slots around the joystick for the clear tubing (as per the Flynn build). This was a PITA lining everything up properly and I ended up having to fill the holes with Bondo and redrill-

Speaking of Bondo, I have begun filling the imperfections in the build with Bondo in order to prep for painting. I never thought I would go through a 2 lb can of Bondo on one project.

I have also installed the Euro hinges into the Control Panel to make sure everything lines up properly-

I was lucky as I have exactly 0 inches of clearance on the front of the panel!

Next up is building a 8'x8'x7' ChanceKJ-approved paint room and I will get to work priming and painting!

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #153 on:** November 22, 2015, 08:46:07 pm »

Well, this has been a busy week.

Over the course of the week I was able to build my paint room (ah, the joy of working from home)-

This room is 8' x 8' x 7', built from 2x4s and plastic tarps. There is also a duct with a 6" ventilation fan attached, leading through the finished portion of the basement to the basement door. I thought I had ventilation covered...

So I began to primer.

First off, I am using the 2-in-1 primer/filler for the initial coat. I am actually quite amazed at how much the Bondo work shows through as darker splotches (it is very visible in the pictures). Is that normal?

Secondly, my attempts at ventilation were not sufficient. Unfortunately the unfinished part of my basement (where I do my work) has no door/windows. The entire condo smelled of paint for several hours after the first day's session of painting. To those of you who had to paint indoors (ie- didn't have a garage)- any suggestions on how to better ventilate? It is 40°F here and I would rather not have all my windows open all day again...

reptileink · « **Reply #154 on:** November 25, 2015, 05:05:25 pm »

Couple of venting questions:

What type of vent are you using? Is it one for painting/fumes? I ask because most bathroom/kitchen vents contain brush motors. This can be extremely dangerous as the brushes cause friction (small sparks) which could ignite certain paint fumes. You really want to use a brushless motor fan.

Second, what CFM rating is the fan? A weak "pull" will not fully vent to the end of your run

Speaking of your run, how far is it? for your cubic footage, you need to have minimum 60 CFM vent motor. This will pull the fumes up to 50 ft. Also know that any 90 degree angles add 5 feet to your total run length.

Lastly, what type of vent hose are you using? Just regular plastic/foil vent is still a bit porous, and will let fumes out. You want rigid venting to really contain anything. Also, your venting should attach to the fan INSIDE your box. Obviously, you want to make sure your box is also as air tight as possible. Duct tape or aluminum tape helps seal any connections too.

This may seem like overkill for a temporary project, but hey, you asked

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #155 on:** November 25, 2015, 07:18:15 pm »

Thanks, Reptileink.

So I am using a 250CFM 6" duct fan. No brush motor. It is a straight 25 foot run of flexible ductwork (with insulation covering) to the back door. The ductwork definitely works, as I now have a primer grey circle on my backdoor screen, it just seems like fumes are getting out of the paintroom. As you suggested my next step is to use duct tape to seal the connections. I actually purchased two 20" high-velocity shroud fans and tested them out while painting today, and those seemed to help dramatically.

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #156 on:** December 01, 2015, 06:23:15 pm »

I have a question for all of you master woodworkers/builders out there...

I am finishing up the second coat of primer on the cabinet as we speak and am about to begin the paint coats (will be using Rustoleum Spray paint). I am planning 2-3 coats of paint. This has been my process so far-

1.) First coat of primer/filler combo (light gray).
2.) Sand coat with 220 grit.
3.) Second coat of primer (dark gray).
4.) Sand coat with 320 grit.

My original plan was to do continue on and do this next-

5.) Spray first coat of paint.
6.) Sand with 320 grit.
7.) Spray second coat of paint. (for interior surfaces I will stop here.)
8.) Sand with 320, then 600 grit.
9.) Spray final coat of paint.

My question is this- How do you guys finish the paint after spraying? Am I off on my plan? I have seen several different techniques (don't sandpaper the last coat and put a clear coat on it, wet sand the final coat up to 2000 grit then polish with SwirlX, etc) and was curious what do you guys do to finish the paint on your cabs? I am very weary of wet sanding since the underlying wood is MDF...

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

DeLuSioNal29 · « **Reply #157 on:** December 01, 2015, 07:09:59 pm »

Lol. I usually do 220 grit on every coat. Then the final coat doesn't need any. You've been watching too much of John's Arcade. :-)

ZexisStryfe · « **Reply #158 on:** December 02, 2015, 12:56:50 pm »

Ha! Maybe... I think what I am going to end up doing is sanding the initial paint coat with 320 grit, then leave the last coat and cover with a satin clear coat. On interior surfaces I am just going to put on the initial coat and the clear coat.

vwalbridge · « **Reply #159 on:** December 02, 2015, 02:42:39 pm »

Correct me if I am wrong but aren't you completely covering your sides and CP with vinyl artwork?

How much exposed paint do you really have?


Main	Restorations	Software	Audio/Jukebox/MP3	Everything Else	Buy/Sell/Trade
Project Announcements	Monitor/Video	GroovyMAME	Merit/JVL Touchscreen	Meet Up	Retail Vendors
Driving & Racing	Woodworking	Software Support Forums	Consoles	Project Arcade	Reviews
Automated Projects	Artwork	Frontend Support Forums	Pinball	Forum Discussion	Old Boards
Raspberry Pi & Dev Board	controls.dat	Linux	Miscellaneous Arcade	Wiki Discussion	Old Archives
Lightguns	Arcade1Up	Try the site in https mode		Site News


Unread posts \| New Replies \| Recent posts \| Rules \| Chatroom \| Wiki \| File Repository \| RSS \| Submit news