Hey gents - I'm Mike from BC and have been pouring over the threads here for a few weeks. The snowball started for me after watching and purchasing a 'Vader' 2600 from eBay with about a dozen games. Down the rabbit hole I went starting about a month ago and I've been obsessing over a build since plugging in Space Invaders - ironically, the first game I ever played at about 5 years old.
To date, I've amassed some casters, white T-mold, the necessary shank and bit, buttons, 2 zippyy controllers, an RPi3, a Xin Mo dual board and have been mocking up my plans in Sketch-Up by following the Jakobud drawings. Like many here, I came a cross a number of discrepancies - especially when working on the artwork and sourcing out parts from Mike's et al. I've yet to pull the trigger on the brackets and have been searching for some pro DIY mounting options to house the bezel and marquee.... still looking.
Most recently, I stumbled upon Gaetan's plans and felt like I'd hit the jackpot (thank you, if you're reading). I've since re-worked the artwork in illustrator for the sides and have a solid vision moving forward.
Personally, I love the shape of the DK3 cab, but I'm not crazy about the artwork. For this build I want to have something that looks a bit different but tasteful utilizing the early Industrial Era artwork - kind of modern pop-art. As such, I found some stuff by Tom Whalen, recreated his artwork in illustrator and then reworked it to fit the curves / layout of the cabinet. I've done the bezel and marquee as well and just need to work out the control panel - I'm not sure if I should use 1 joystick or 2.
So far, I've set up the Pi and have a few games along with a plywood control panel to keep me inspired
. So far my wife and daughters are pretty excited - nostalgic for my wife, and a whole new world to my young daughters as Atari has been their first exposure to video games. I have 2 joysticks and 7 buttons set up for each, plus the P1 / P2 buttons but so far, we haven't used the second controller.... wondering if this is redundant.
Anyway, my two sheets of 3/4 MDF are sitting in the garage ready to make some dust in the morning. In hindsight, (had I found Gaetan's plans earlier), I'd have bought 15mm MDF and smaller T-mold, but 3/4 it is, at least for the sides and shelves.
I'm looking forward to finally getting started and appreciate all the information and trailblazing that's been done here. Thanks for the well-documented write-ups, photos and inspiration.
Here we go...