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Author Topic: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet  (Read 44344 times)

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bperkins01

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #80 on: November 24, 2017, 10:54:47 pm »
Great Cabinet and Design - I like all of the details!

I'm 95% done designing mine - in fact - I just got my CP mock up working this evening so I can decide on the layout and test it with the monitor at the right height and angle.  There are a few items on your cabinet I plan on incorporating - so thanks for the inspiration.  :)

Are you going with hidden coin buttons?  or shifted ones?  or full on bending over and inserting coins?

I have the same door - but I think I'm going to do under panel (or maybe below the front edge) - coin buttons..
Looking good!
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krangbrain

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #81 on: November 25, 2017, 12:32:55 am »
Great Cabinet and Design - I like all of the details!

I'm 95% done designing mine - in fact - I just got my CP mock up working this evening so I can decide on the layout and test it with the monitor at the right height and angle.  There are a few items on your cabinet I plan on incorporating - so thanks for the inspiration.  :)

Are you going with hidden coin buttons?  or shifted ones?  or full on bending over and inserting coins?

I have the same door - but I think I'm going to do under panel (or maybe below the front edge) - coin buttons..
Looking good!

Thanks, and good luck with your CP design. It's one of the most important parts to get right since it's right in front of you.

I can't bring myself to install coin buttons, and nostalgia doesn't allow for them. Quarters or nothing! Although my back might disagree with me as time goes on. As a side bonus, I can give my kids a set amount of quarters and then... game over! Go outside! lol

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #82 on: November 25, 2017, 11:10:13 am »
Another vote for “without” the logo
***Build what you dig, bro. Build what you dig.***

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #83 on: November 26, 2017, 07:22:43 am »
Love the side art work!


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krangbrain

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #84 on: February 18, 2018, 01:04:36 am »
Ok, gotta get this build out of hibernation and finally finish it! Here's a marquee I whipped up. I put the logo on the side like the original Star Wars movie posters. What do you think? Anything you would change? Thanks for looking  :)


Niels Arcade

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #85 on: February 18, 2018, 06:30:14 am »
Superb marquee graphic, I like it a lot, great drawing style, nice!

Most marquees I've seen usually place the title in the center for maximum attention / focus point for your eye, but I totally understand how that would disturb the action scenery of the Tie fighters chasing the X Wing. I wonder how it looks like if you mirror the picture: the title on the left and action on the right (so the fighters flying right to left). But maybe Im just nagging here idk, bc it looks pretty awesome as is!!

Also, and this is just personal, I would change the astromechs reds to blue to like r2d2, but of course it doesnt need to be Luke's X-Wing.
I built a Star Wars themed arcade cabinet
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,147851.0.html

krangbrain

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #86 on: February 18, 2018, 11:24:52 am »
Superb marquee graphic, I like it a lot, great drawing style, nice!

Most marquees I've seen usually place the title in the center for maximum attention / focus point for your eye, but I totally understand how that would disturb the action scenery of the Tie fighters chasing the X Wing. I wonder how it looks like if you mirror the picture: the title on the left and action on the right (so the fighters flying right to left). But maybe Im just nagging here idk, bc it looks pretty awesome as is!!

Also, and this is just personal, I would change the astromechs reds to blue to like r2d2, but of course it doesnt need to be Luke's X-Wing.

Ah, how could I forget R2?! Good catch lol. Yeah, I agree about the dogfight being the main focus. I thought about putting the title in the center, but I couldn't come up with anything I liked except for slapping a tie and x-wing on either side. I don't know, maybe I should tinker with it a bit more.

Here are a few variations reflecting your suggestions. Also, I thought about taking out the border. Better? Worse? Doesn't matter?






Drnick

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #87 on: February 18, 2018, 11:58:08 am »
I like the look of no border :)  :applaud: :applaud:

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #88 on: February 18, 2018, 12:02:42 pm »
I would go for border + logo on the right.

Niels Arcade

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #89 on: February 18, 2018, 12:44:01 pm »
Now that you have mirrored it I must admit I like it better originally after all (with the title on the right side).

I like your marquee either with or without the red border. Losing the border gives a slightly less cramped / more spacious feeling, but I do like how the laser shots and X-Wing pops over the red border. I also wonder how the red border would look like without the thine white out lining.
I built a Star Wars themed arcade cabinet
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krangbrain

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #90 on: February 18, 2018, 01:45:43 pm »
It's hard to choose cause I like all of them. That's probably because there just isn't that much difference between them lol. For reference, the below pic is how it will look installed. The excess black on top and bottom will be covered by the retainers.


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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #91 on: February 19, 2018, 01:23:04 am »
I like that version you posted last best, for what it's worth, but they are all good.

Mike A

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #92 on: February 19, 2018, 06:30:55 am »
Ditch the words "classic arcade". It is fairly obvious what it is just from looking at it.

My television doesn't say "television" on the front.
My car doesn't say "car" on the front.

krangbrain

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #93 on: February 19, 2018, 11:44:15 am »
Ditch the words "classic arcade". It is fairly obvious what it is just from looking at it.

My television doesn't say "television" on the front.
My car doesn't say "car" on the front.

Lol, well said. I'm glad you mentioned it, cause I think I agree with you.


Mike A

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #94 on: February 19, 2018, 11:53:07 am »
Much better. :cheers:

PL1

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #95 on: February 19, 2018, 01:09:12 pm »
1. The red border looks too wide.

2. Do you want both red and white strokes around the text or would it look better with just the white?


Scott

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #96 on: February 19, 2018, 01:41:58 pm »
1. The red border looks too wide.

2. Do you want both red and white strokes around the text or would it look better with just the white?


Scott

Thinner border without red in title:



In this one the border is the same size but I thinned out the red. Took out the red from the title, too.



I think the title without the red looks good, and between the two here I like the second.

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #97 on: February 19, 2018, 02:24:58 pm »
Text looks great.   :cheers:

The width of the red part of the border looks good, but the red on black on white border is stll the same width as the original border.

You may want to reduce the width of the black and white so the red to black to white border width proportions are more like the original.


Scott
« Last Edit: February 19, 2018, 02:34:24 pm by PL1 »

8BitMonk

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #98 on: February 19, 2018, 03:30:40 pm »
Is it playable yet? They never get finished once they're playable.

Very nice build, looking good.  :cheers:
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krangbrain

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #99 on: February 19, 2018, 04:17:23 pm »
Text looks great.   :cheers:

The width of the red part of the border looks good, but the red on black on white border is stll the same width as the original border.

You may want to reduce the width of the black and white so the red to black to white border width proportions are more like the original.


Scott

I like the text without the red, too. Thanks for the suggestion! It's nice to have extra sets of eyes. After looking at this thing a million times it's hard to decide if changes that I make are "better" or just different lol. I reduced the whole border in the first of the 2 pics I posted above, but I think only by like 80%. Here's the border at 50% thickness of the original.


krangbrain

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #100 on: February 19, 2018, 04:27:22 pm »
Is it playable yet? They never get finished once they're playable.

Very nice build, looking good.  :cheers:

Thanks!

Ha, it was playable, but I've put it out of commission because I didn't want my kids beating on it before it was done. At last I'm on the final stretch with this build :)

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #101 on: February 19, 2018, 04:53:48 pm »
Looks like you're headed in a good direction.    :cheers:

Since the latest is 50% of original border width, you might want to try 20%, 30%, or 40%.

A little bit of red goes a long way on that dark backround and you want the viewer's attention drawn to the ships, lasers, and text instead of the border, right?


Scott
P.S. White or yelow/gold for the text outline?
« Last Edit: February 19, 2018, 04:58:33 pm by PL1 »

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #102 on: February 19, 2018, 07:03:22 pm »
Looks like you're headed in a good direction.    :cheers:

Since the latest is 50% of original border width, you might want to try 20%, 30%, or 40%.

A little bit of red goes a long way on that dark backround and you want the viewer's attention drawn to the ships, lasers, and text instead of the border, right?

Here's the border at 40%. Any smaller than that and it looks like a solid red line, which is what I was trying to avoid with the black and white. I may as well change the design of the border altogether or change the color, which I am open to btw. I agree with you, the red does stand out, and I don't want it to have too much of a presence as to distract from the rest of the marquee.


P.S. White or yelow/gold for the text outline?

You mean in place of the white or surrounding it?

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #103 on: February 19, 2018, 08:02:34 pm »
You mean in place of the white or surrounding it?
In place of.

There's already quite a bit of white from the stars, Death Star backlight, X-wing, and "swoop".


Scott


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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #104 on: February 21, 2018, 02:26:03 pm »
1. The red border looks too wide.

2. Do you want both red and white strokes around the text or would it look better with just the white?


Scott

Thinner border without red in title:



In this one the border is the same size but I thinned out the red. Took out the red from the title, too.



I think the title without the red looks good, and between the two here I like the second.
I like the second one of these. In the last ones the border is too thin to my taste.

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #105 on: February 21, 2018, 08:09:11 pm »
In the end I've decided to keep the red border, but I did thin it 80% from the original one. I really appreciate the suggestions from everyone.  I've sent this file as well as the side art over to Brad for printing. Looking forward to getting it installed!


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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #106 on: February 21, 2018, 08:25:23 pm »
Text looks great.   :cheers:

The width of the red part of the border looks good, but the red on black on white border is stll the same width as the original border.

You may want to reduce the width of the black and white so the red to black to white border width proportions are more like the original.


Scott

I like the text without the red, too. Thanks for the suggestion! It's nice to have extra sets of eyes. After looking at this thing a million times it's hard to decide if changes that I make are "better" or just different lol. I reduced the whole border in the first of the 2 pics I posted above, but I think only by like 80%. Here's the border at 50% thickness of the original.



Bingo! You’re almost there!
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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #107 on: February 21, 2018, 08:38:48 pm »
Why would the XWing fly into the TieFighter’s line of fire? Seems kinda strange making that turn into the laser shot path...

krangbrain

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #108 on: February 21, 2018, 10:48:14 pm »
Why would the XWing fly into the TieFighter’s line of fire? Seems kinda strange making that turn into the laser shot path...

Good question. I guess Luke was a little reckless his first time around.  ;D

bperkins01

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #109 on: February 22, 2018, 08:22:36 am »
Somewhat related question - are you doing the graphics yourself?  What software are you using?
I'm having someone do mine since I have zero artistic ability..  but at the same time.. I like DIY..

and - you special ordered your marquee brackets - are they custom angles?  I have one at 90 deg (easy)  one at 110 Deg (less easy)
Have not found a way to do the 110 yet.  Can you point to a vendor?

Looking great!
« Last Edit: February 22, 2018, 02:55:33 pm by bperkins01 »
My Arcade Cabinet Build and other projects here:
Centipede, Joust, Joust Cocktail, Asteroids, Galaga, Ms. Pacman Cabaret, Defender, Space Invaders Cocktail
https://bperkins.wordpress.com/

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #110 on: February 22, 2018, 05:43:28 pm »
Somewhat related question - are you doing the graphics yourself?  What software are you using?
I'm having someone do mine since I have zero artistic ability..  but at the same time.. I like DIY..

and - you special ordered your marquee brackets - are they custom angles?  I have one at 90 deg (easy)  one at 110 Deg (less easy)
Have not found a way to do the 110 yet.  Can you point to a vendor?

Looking great!

Yes, I did the graphics myself which is why it took so long to complete. This was my first time trying to create artwork like this so there was a significant learning curve, but I'm happy I did even if it's not quite as good as what it could have been if I hired a professional. Everything was created using Inkscape. I'm sure Illustrator would have been better/easier, but I didn't want to spend money on a program that would likely only be used for this one project (my next project will probably be a TMNT restoration - don't tell my wife), and to be honest, Inkscape seemed to do the job just fine.

Ah, the annoying brackets. It was a challenge to get those things. I needed 1 bent at 118 degrees and another like 78 degrees or something. After looking around town quite a bit I found just ONE metal shop that would make them to my specs out of steel. They did not turn out well. They twisted from the bending process and just weren't passable. The shop refunded me the labor cost but not for the sheet of 16ga steel. It was cheep, like $15, so I didn't complain. It was worth the attempt cause the only other option I had found at the time was online retailers who bend custom angles. The cost to go with them would have been upwards of $100 for just the two brackets! Finally, I found this guy on eBay (looks like he's no longer selling) who made them for me out of aluminum. He messed up the first set, but replaced them and they turned out ok. Sorry I can't be more help in this area. If anyone else knows a guy that can make these types of custom brackets out of steel like on original machines without charging an arm and a leg, looks looks like he's got 2 customers already.

Thanks for checking out my build, bperkins01. I check your build thread regularly. It's coming along very nicely!

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #111 on: February 23, 2018, 07:48:49 am »
Thanks for the info - I'll look into Inkscape. 

I planned to laminate the inside edges on my cabinet too..  Glad to see it works :)  I blew up a sheet of laminate last night cutting it..grrrrr.. 
Super impact resistance - tears just like paper.  I plan to have an update on that this weekend. 
I may have a good plan B for the brackets.. 

Keep up the good work!

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #112 on: February 27, 2018, 12:05:12 pm »
Yes, I did the graphics myself which is why it took so long to complete. This was my first time trying to create artwork like this so there was a significant learning curve, but I'm happy I did even if it's not quite as good as what it could have been if I hired a professional. Everything was created using Inkscape. I'm sure Illustrator would have been better/easier, but I didn't want to spend money on a program that would likely only be used for this one project (my next project will probably be a TMNT restoration - don't tell my wife), and to be honest, Inkscape seemed to do the job just fine.
 

I figured you were an artist by trade, that’s pretty amazing.  Were you using existing images as a guide (like tracing), or did you do it all freehand?  The detail on the death star and the x-wing is impressive.

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #113 on: February 27, 2018, 07:10:10 pm »
I figured you were an artist by trade, that’s pretty amazing.  Were you using existing images as a guide (like tracing), or did you do it all freehand?  The detail on the death star and the x-wing is impressive.


Hey Arroyo, thanks for the compliment! I traced the x-wings and tie fighters from pictures I found from a 3D model site. Can't find the exact pictures right now but it's like this one here. For the death star I rendered a wire sphere in Inkscape and used that to draw it while referencing LOTS of pictures from drawings, movie clips, comic books, etc. At first I attempted to draw the x-wing freehand but nothing I created looked right. I'm more resourceful than artistic lol.

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #114 on: April 11, 2018, 01:10:34 am »
Hey guys, I'm back with another update. I'm excited but also sad to finally be nearing completion of this thing; I feel like I won't know what to do with myself during my spare time when this is over!

With the artwork in I got to preparing the marquee area. I hadn't closed it off or covered the speakers yet, but I didn't want any light to shine through the speaker grills. My problem was that with the TV extending all the way to the top of the inner cabinet (you'll be able to see this in pictures below) there is no room to access the speakers from behind in case they needed attention. In addition, I wanted an enclosed box to diffuse and reflect the light behind the marquee so that it would light up evenly. So, I bought some foil tape and rubber foam weather stripping:



Next, with 1/8" MDF I measured and cut out a piece that would work as the back to the marquee box. I scribed the corners to accommodate for the batons. Then I covered the piece with foil tape:



I then took the weather stripping and created a barrier outlining the posterior portion of the marquee area to which the back piece could abut, and covered the sides, top, and bottom with foil tape:






Gravity holds the board in place as it leans toward the back of the cabinet. The weather stripping is soft enough so that there aren't any cracks for light to sneak through while also eliminating the possibility of the board vibrating from sound. It's easily removable in case I have to work on the speakers. Problem solved!

I bought some LED tape and followed as a guide for installing it. I like how the LED tape kit comes with a dimmer so that the brightness can be adjusted to my liking.

Here's how it looked at that point:



Now that the marquee box was finished there was another dilemma: light bleeding out of the sides of the marquee. I read that others have used the same foam weather stripping shown above, so I bought the thinnest I could find (3/16" thick) and gave it a try. It worked very well, but I wasn't satisfied with it because it created shadow lines on either side of the lit marquee that were each 3/16" thick. I needed something thinner, but not too thin, so I tried some of this foam mounting tape I had laying around.



I laid out a strip on wax paper, cut strips about 1/4" wide, and carefully adhered them to the sides of the cabinet just behind where the marquee sits. Here's a pic showing that.



I removed the red backing prior to placing the marquee. The color of the tape is grey. I thought it might be too thin, but it worked perfectly! No shadows, no light bleed.

Finally, to ensure the marquee was centered vertically I held it in position and marked the panel just below it with a pencil. Then with that line as a guide I took a staple gun and drove staples on both sides of the lower panel for the marquee to rest on. I made sure that the staples didn't stick out beyond the thickness of the marquee.

Here's one side with a staple:



The marquee resting on the staple:



With the marquee sitting in place on the staples it was easy to position the marquee retainers and use a Vix-bit (celf-centering bit) to predrill holes for them. I then fastened them down with screws that were spray-painted black.

Here's the completed marquee!



Oh, I almost forgot. The marquee was reverse printed by Lucian045. I purchased 3/16" Plexiglass from a local glass shop and followed to adhere the "stickers." It was a little more difficult than I anticipated but it turned out great!

Next up: side art installation.



Laythe

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #115 on: April 11, 2018, 01:40:07 am »
Looking great.   :applaud:

bperkins01

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #116 on: April 11, 2018, 08:04:17 am »
Very nice!  I like the speaker grills too   :applaud:
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DeeDub76

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #117 on: April 11, 2018, 08:16:12 am »
I love this cabinet, especially the artwork. Great job!!

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #118 on: April 20, 2018, 10:45:55 am »
And you, young krangbrain. We will watch your career with great interest.
« Last Edit: April 20, 2018, 10:50:37 am by bogaboy »

superhippieman

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Re: Star Wars Themed Upright Cabinet
« Reply #119 on: April 25, 2018, 12:27:26 am »
This project is awesome! Can't wait to see it all finished!!!