TobiKomi Scratch Build - -7/20/2021 - 100% Complete

[tomstewdevine]

Quack... I mean nice work man, I like the casters.

[wp34]

This build is looking ducking good man! 

EDIT:

It's a sign...you need to make it a duck hunt machine.

That actually would be hilarious.  We have ducks at our house all the time.   

Quack... I mean nice work man, I like the casters.

Thanks!

[zinger]

Nice! Where you spinning around in circles when spraying? Not sure how you got a circular ring on the plastic.

So what's the plan for the laminate? Next weekend?

[wp34]

My daughter made the circle painting a hovercraft she and a friend are making for a physics final.

The laminate depends on the weather. I'd like to at least get the coin door area laminated by Wednesday. We shall see.

[wp34]

The laminate came in on Tuesday but I ended up needing to touch up the black on the top of the cabinet and didn't get to work on the laminate until last night.



I forgot how much fun it is to laminate.


Since I had already drilled the coin door holes in the wood I carefully drilled through the back of the laminate.   There is a backer board under the laminate and I used a smaller bit to start the hole and a larger bit to finish it.  I'm not sure the two bits were needed but I was trying to avoid splits.





I can never resist seeing how the coin door will look.




There was enough time to laminate the grill area but not enough to flush trim it.  I let the piece sit over night and will route it today after work.

[wp34]

Mixed results on the grill tonight. 

My 3/8" flush trim bit would not fit in between the grill so I had to use my 1/8" spiral trim bit.  It is an upward bit and I was concerned this would lift the laminate off the wood.  Adding a sacrificial board on the top should alleviate this concern. 

I pre-drilled between each grill a hole big enough for my bit to fit in.






I'm not super happy with how this turned out.  Trimming the laminate actually went quite well but the original grill I routed wasn't perfect and the laminating process highlights some of these imperfections. 





Since the grill comes off pretty easily I may redo it at some point using Johnrt's method.  Right now I'm going to focus on getting the cabinet done.

[zinger]

Bummer about the speaker grill! I think you should redo that once you get your energy back up for it. You'll feel better about it and you have plenty of laminate left over too.

I'm routing my speaker grill out this weekend with the laminate already on it. I'm probably going to have similar results. I'm building a rather intricate jig with different size spacers to try and get it right the first time. We'll see! Otherwise, I have enough wood and laminate to redo it like 3-4 times.

[wp34]

Bummer about the speaker grill! I think you should redo that once you get your energy back up for it. You'll feel better about it and you have plenty of laminate left over too.

I'm routing my speaker grill out this weekend with the laminate already on it. I'm probably going to have similar results. I'm building a rather intricate jig with different size spacers to try and get it right the first time. We'll see! Otherwise, I have enough wood and laminate to redo it like 3-4 times.

Cool.  Post some pics when you are done.  I'd like to see how it goes.

Right now I'm trying to get the cabinet done before my daughter's graduation party next weekend.  When I start working on my Pac Man cocktail this summer I'll redo the grill. 

[wp34]

Here are some shots of laminating the sides. 

I kept the template I made in case I wanted to do another Nintendo cabinet later.  It also made cutting the laminate much easier.  Zinger mentioned he only needed two pieces which surprised me at first.  But you can see here there is plenty of laminate left over.



I can never get all the air bubbles out just using a j-roller so I like to let the laminate rest under some weight for a couple of hours before I route.  First I placed a piece of plywood down and then found anything heavy in the garage to put on top.  No kitchen sink but I would have used one if there were.



My daughter helped me with the second side and suggested we use boxes of tile we have for a kitchen project I haven't gotten to yet.  This worked fantastically.







Here she is in the house waiting for assembly.  A while ago I picked up some repro Nintendo flat t-molding from Chomping Quarters.  This stuff is really great and I highly recommend it.

[wp34]

I decided to redo the computer for this and use Windows 7 with AttractMode.  I'm running into some issues wiring up a button to start the computer and would like some advice.

There is a detachable PCB that is connected to the motherboard with a ribbon cable.  The PCB controls the power and front USB/Sound inputs.  The CPU temp cable also plugs into it.

I can get the computer to start up by jumpering the two posts I circled.



Here is a shot of the other side of the PCB.  The black button in the middle is the power button and correlates to the posts on opposite side.


I made a stab at soldering some wires to the posts I circled last night without much luck.  Any suggestions on how I should wire this power button?

[Le Chuck]

desolder the switch and stick the wires through the holes and solder as usual. 

BTW, just seeing this for the first time.  Looking good my man

[wp34]

Thanks Le Chuck.  The "solder as usual" part is new to me.  Do I need to insert another pin or can I just stick the wire through the hole and solder it?

desolder the switch and stick the wires through the holes and solder as usual. 

BTW, just seeing this for the first time.  Looking good my man

[yotsuya]

Stick them through,  then solder.

[wp34]

Stick them through,  then solder.

Thanks.   

[wp34]

You guys are as good as your word.  Thanks Yots and Le Chuck.   

It doesn't look pretty but it worked the first time.

[wp34]

My daughter's favorite movie is Wreck-it-Ralph and her favorite game is Donkey Kong.  So you can see where I am headed with this. 

We have been planning a build for several years and have finally made some sawdust fly today.

The goals: 

- Make the cabinet look like new.  Neither of us care for the fake "lived in" look of the Disney built cabinets
- Use an original Donkey Kong joystick
- Use an arcade monitor
- Don't get carried away trying to replicate a Nintendo cabinet perfectly
- Get the cabinet built at a significantly faster rate than my previous efforts   

[jdbailey1206]

Stay away from the forums for a couple of months and wp34 sneaks a Fix It Felix build under my nose.  Nice build!

[wp34]

Thanks JD.  I appreciate it.  Hoping to get her finished here in the next few weeks now that the weather is starting to improve.

[Wyo]

I've been watching this thread for 2 years.  looks great so far! When do you think the other 14.4% will get finished? Or is it done? 

Edit: Duh, you just answered my question. Haha

[wp34]

I've been watching this thread for 2 years.  looks great so far! When do you think the other 14.4% will get finished? Or is it done? 

Edit: Duh, you just answered my question. Haha

I made the ago-old mistake of making it playable for my daughter's graduation party.  A partially finished playable cabinet is a bad thing.

Also had to build a deck and tile a kitchen before I would let myself work on any arcade projects.  Those are both basically done so...

[jdbailey1206]

Those are both basically done so...

So let us see your cabinet 100% finished!

[wp34]

So I decided to get this one finished.  The two issues I've had with it were the coin door and the front grill.  I've used Anycoins on several of my cabinets and really love them but just couldn't get the ones made for Nintendo coin mechs to work well. A couple of weeks ago while looking for parts for another build I saw that Arcadeshop had replacement coin mechs for $18 and I decided to bite the bullet and spend the money.

These are advertised as being adjustable for tokens but I had to file the openings slightly so that tokens would fit.


Once the opening would take tokens it was just a matter of adjusting this stop slightly.  Much easier than getting the Anycoin to work consistently.


I sold the Nintendo cabinet I was using to base FiF on so I had to build the coin box and holder from pictures and measurements I found online.  It isn't exact but I'm happy with it.








We glued a token from a favorite local barcade to the knob.  Nobody will see it but my daughter and I but we thought it was a fun touch.


I know it seems dumb but I am so excited to have this cabinet accepting tokens.  Our guests were forever confused by the shifted combination of buttons to add credits.  Next I'd like to find a method for exiting to the menu that is more straightforward than hitting Player 1 and Player 2 at the same time.   I really don't want to add another button to the control panel though.

The front grill did not come out as well as I would like.  Nobody notices but me but I'm going to fix it anyway once the weather is consistently warmer.

[javeryh]

Hey - great build.  I would have loved those mechs for $18 when I built mine!  I think I paid close to $100 for them.

For the admin stuff, I used the lip of the DK and added an Exit button to the far left and Coin and Pause to the far right.  You can’t see them at all (and the coin door still works).  The link is in my sig if you want to see some detailed pics.

[Arroyo]

Well done wp34, I didn’t even know this one still needed work.  What I’m most jealous of though is that your daughter is into it, enough that she asked you to build a cabinet.  Mine appear to be most interested in climbing them, and occasionally entertain dads enthusiasm with an obligatory game.

Nice work!

[wp34]

Hey - great build.  I would have loved those mechs for $18 when I built mine!  I think I paid close to $100 for them.

Thanks!  I don't recall seeing those mechs for sale when I started the build.  I spent quite a bit of time "refurbishing" the original mechs and even bought a few replacement parts.  It was with some reluctance that I gave up and bought these replacements. 

For the admin stuff, I used the lip of the DK and added an Exit button to the far left and Coin and Pause to the far right.  You can’t see them at all (and the coin door still works).  The link is in my sig if you want to see some detailed pics.

Actually I put my power button under the lip and I got stole the idea from your build.      

I have debated putting the exit button on the other side as you did but have wondered if my guests will find it easily.  Do you have issues with folks using your hidden admin buttons without assistance?

BTW - It sure was fun going reading through your build log.  Brought back a lot of great memories.

[wp34]

Well done wp34, I didn’t even know this one still needed work.  What I’m most jealous of though is that your daughter is into it, enough that she asked you to build a cabinet.  Mine appear to be most interested in climbing them, and occasionally entertain dads enthusiasm with an obligatory game.

Nice work!

Thanks Arroyo.  I feel pretty blessed that each of my family members has an interest in some part of the hobby.  My wife and two of my three kids each own a cabinet.  My daughter though is the most interested.  She will text me pictures of games she has played when her and her friends are out at a barcade.  The best part is when she complains that someone has put the wrong joystick in a cabinet.  She gets so disgusted I love it!

[javeryh]

Actually I put my power button under the lip and I got stole the idea from your build.      

I have debated putting the exit button on the other side as you did but have wondered if my guests will find it easily.  Do you have issues with folks using your hidden admin buttons without assistance?

BTW - It sure was fun going reading through your build log.  Brought back a lot of great memories.

Putting the power button there is a much better idea than where I put mine... on the back of the cabinet in the most out of reach place.  Need to fix that some day...

Guests usually "get it" after explaining once how credits and exiting back to the gamelist work.  I keep a bowl of quarters next to the cabinet and encourage guests to use that instead of the credit button, which helps too.  I isolated the exit button on purpose so it wouldn't be hit by mistake but for yours with the power under there too I'd be a little afraid of people turning it off accidentally.

I can't believe it's been 10+ years since I built that thing.  It still works great and I still don't play it enough.  The family likes it but only when I'm down there playing on it.  It is rare to come home from work and see one of the kids using it. 

About 6 years ago we went through a renovation so the cabinet was in storage and the temperature change caused one side of the t-molding to split and the side art to peel completely off.  I need to fix those things as well as relocating the power button one of these days.  Maybe I'll carve out a weekend this summer and freshen things up a bit.   

[meyer980]

Oh man, how did I miss this build as a fellow FiFJr. person myself!

What version of the game did you end up running (software)? The DragonKing edit on top of the disney leak? Or something different?

The cabinet looks great. I used those same coin mechs, they're a great deal.

[wp34]

I ran into focus issues using the leaked version, Howard's wrapper and AttractMode.  For now I'm using Sjaak's version but I haven't requested an unlock key for it.  I'm still hoping to get the focus issues figured out at some point.

Your Coleco build is pretty freaking amazing by the way.   

[wp34]

There were a few things left on this I was planning to do but my daughter got a place of her own and asked to have it.  I buttoned up a couple of little things and we delivered it yesterday.  Time to let it go.  She's already attacking my high scores which makes me happy.

[javeryh]

Freaking beautiful.  I love this and I really love that your daughter wanted it for herself.  I'd give up my DK in a second if my daughter wanted it in her place someday.   

[wp34]

Thanks Javeryh.  I'm going to miss the cabinet but am really happy she wanted it and will enjoy it.  Now I need to decide what to do with the newfound space.   

[meyer980]

Still a great looking machine. Congrats to your daughter on making space for the important things (dog and arcade) in her new place!

[wp34]

Still a great looking machine. Congrats to your daughter on making space for the important things (dog and arcade) in her new place!

Thanks!