VIDEOTRON (2 player Bartop for the kids) - video tour uploaded

[Jimbo]

So it's more or less finished, this is how it turned out - nothing like how it started, LOL.  It had about a bazillion theme changes, lots of hours in the garage prepping panels for paint or artwork, but lots of fun.  Thanks everyone for your advice and feedback during the build - I learned a lot, as always.  The full thread follows these pics...





And here's a video tour...



------------------------------ FULL THREAD FROM FIRST POST STARTS HERE ------------------------------

While my other "long term" Jimbovision cab project is continuing slowly (I'll update the project thread soon), I've started another shorter-term project for my kids - a bartop arcade running Retropie.  My aim is to be able to give this to them as a gift at Christmas.

Goals: -

• Control panel for 2 player Arcade/MAME games with a trackball and spinners
• 8bitdo controllers for retro console/computer games
• Storage Space for 8bitdo controllers and mini-racer wheels

I have designed it in Sketchup...







I've chosen 2 x Dominux8 leaf switch joysticks. I'm so impressed with the Dominux8's on my existing cab that nothing else would do for this build.  I wanted a trackball for Centipede/Missile Command/Marble Madness/etc, so have gone with a Happ 1/4" one.  The spinners are TurboTwist2's along with 5" Mini-Racers for Super Sprint and similar.

I chose 4 buttons per player as we don't play fighters and it would have made the Bartop wider than I'd have liked.  I've added a "Hyperspace" button between the spinners for Asteroids, Defender etc.  I think I can just about play Defender OK with this CP layout.  Front panel has 1P Start/Coin and 2P Start/Coin buttons.

So that's MAME... for console/computer games (mainly NES/SNES/PS1/Megadrive/N64/C64/Speccy/Amiga) I've bought a couple of 8bitdo SN30 Pro controllers.  Happy playing these with controllers rather than the arcade controls (well, maybe except C64/Speccy/Amiga will use the CP controls).

I wanted a storage box behind the marquee to store the 5" mini-racer wheels and the 8bitdo controllers.

The monitor is a Dell 19" (£30 GBP on ebay). It's a 5:4 monitor with 1600x1050 (I think) resolution.  Even with the RetroArch CRT shaders applied the games look great and run very smooth on this monitor - even scrolling seems smoother than I've seen on other newer LCDs. 4ms response time and seems to have very little input lag.  The Benq gaming monitor I tried recently absolutely sucked (very choppy scrolling) compared to this old beauty.

I'll have a Raspberry Pi 3 B+ inside, and have got an Adafruit 20W amplifier to power the 3" speakers.  Plan is to have an IPAC2 as the keyboard controller.

The control panel will be 2.5mm thick mild steel, bent in 2 places so the spinner panel sits around 45 degrees.

I haven't got a theme in mind yet, clearly something to go with my chosen name "The Arcade Time Machine".  I don't know why I called it this, other than I think it'll be cool when the kids ask "Dad, can I play on the arcade time machine?"   Ideas for theme/artwork welcome (buttons/trackball/balltops that are coming are white).

Size is 530mm wide, 500mm deep, and at highest point (top/front of marquee) 640mm tall.

Just waiting for controls and materials to arrive, then I'll get cracking.

[Richie_jones]

Looking forward to it..

[barrymossel]

I like the storage on top. Might consider something like that for my build as well...

[javeryh]

I am intrigued by the metal CP.  I wish I knew how to work with metal!

What are you going to do about 4-way games, if anything?

[Jimbo]

I am intrigued by the metal CP.  I wish I knew how to work with metal!

What are you going to do about 4-way games, if anything?

Metal's not so bad, cutting just takes longer   I got mine CP cut to exact custom size (293x500mm) from the seller on ebay. I've just now received it and it's perfect.  I don't have a brake for bending it, and I need it bent in 2 places so I'll use a local company for that, they'll probably charge me £10 or so.

I'll be adding USB ports on the back of the bartop, so I'm hoping for 4 player games I can use extra controllers plugged in (or Bluetooth).  I think Retropie is pretty good at setting that stuff up.

[javeryh]

I'll be adding USB ports on the back of the bartop, so I'm hoping for 4 player games I can use extra controllers plugged in (or Bluetooth).  I think Retropie is pretty good at setting that stuff up.

I meant 4-way like Pac-man and DK, etc. (not 4 player)!

[Jimbo]

I meant 4-way like Pac-man and DK, etc. (not 4 player)!

D'oh

I opted for a trackball instead of a dedicated 4-way.  I have a 4-way on the cab at work, and it rarely gets used tbh.  People just use the player 1 8-way joystick (It's also a dominux8, which for me is good enough).

[Mike A]

I have a 4-way on the cab at work, and it rarely gets used tbh.

 

[Jimbo]

I have a 4-way on the cab at work, and it rarely gets used tbh.

 

Don't get me wrong, I love using the 4-way and prefer it over an 8-way for those kinds of games... but most people at my work are not retro nuts like me and don't really care what the joystick is as long as it works.  They are all spoilt rotten on the cab at work with rubber-grommet joysticks, buttons with leaf switches, CRT with groovymame etc... and they don't even know it!   

But I also grew up on a C64, where an 8-way joystick was the norm. I'm totally used to using them for games like DK, Pacman etc since the home computer versions were the first versions I played.  So whilst yes, in an ideal world I'd have one on the bartop panel, there's not enough space, and the trackball trumps it for me as it gives more games my kids can play.

[barrymossel]

I'll be adding USB ports on the back of the bartop, so I'm hoping for 4 player games I can use extra controllers plugged in (or Bluetooth).  I think Retropie is pretty good at setting that stuff up.

You might want to look into this then: https://github.com/meleu/RetroPie-joystick-selection (and maybe this as well: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6624/change-controller-name/).

[Jimbo]

I'll be adding USB ports on the back of the bartop, so I'm hoping for 4 player games I can use extra controllers plugged in (or Bluetooth).  I think Retropie is pretty good at setting that stuff up.

You might want to look into this then: https://github.com/meleu/RetroPie-joystick-selection (and maybe this as well: https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/6624/change-controller-name/).

Brilliant - thanks!

[Jimbo]

Mini update: The speakers and amp turned up so I connected them up and they sound amazing



The Amp is a class D Adafruit 20W Stereo Audio Amplifier - MAX9744
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-20w-stereo-audio-amplifier-class-d-max9744/overview

If you supply it with 12V it can supply 20W to two 4-8ohm speakers.  It has pinouts for a volume potentiometer so I should be able to add a nice volume control knob somewhere on the cab (see questions below).

The full range speakers I chose are the 3" Visaton FR8 2008
http://www.visaton.de/en/products/fullrange-systems/fr-8-8-ohm

I also bought 2 of the Visaton FRS8 grilles:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Visaton-Grille-Black-Plastic-Speaker/dp/B013E4AOQI

I'm using a 12V wall adaptor plug so I had to solder on the supplied capacitor, then I soldered on the speaker terminals (I didn't want to be soldering the speaker wires directly to the board).  I twisted some wire and connected up the two speakers and it all works lovely.  After soldering 3 jumpers to set it to analog mode, I tested the volume with the supplied potentiometer (holding it in place for now, not soldering on) and the range is perfect - quite a loud volume is possible at very good quality.

This has given me 2 questions:

1) Where should I mount a volume control knob?
 Between the speakers?
 On the front panel of the CP, in the middle between the start/coin buttons?
 Hidden on the back of the cab?

2) Has anyone had experience of mounting a nice volume control knob/dial to either wood or metal, and can offer advice on how to do it nicely?

[Mike A]

mount it in back.

[javeryh]

mount it in back.

I concur... probably because that's where I'm putting it on my cab.

Has anyone had experience of mounting a nice volume control knob/dial to either wood or metal, and can offer advice on how to do it nicely?

There are a lot of ways to do this.  I opted for recessing it in the back panel using a piece of ABS plastic.  Take a look HERE.

[Jimbo]

mount it in back.

I concur... probably because that's where I'm putting it on my cab.

Has anyone had experience of mounting a nice volume control knob/dial to either wood or metal, and can offer advice on how to do it nicely?

There are a lot of ways to do this.  I opted for recessing it in the back panel using a piece of ABS plastic.  Take a look HERE.

Ah - great, thanks.  I see what you mean.  I expect I can get a pot with a longer stem too to save routing.  I think mounting it on the back is a good plan.  I'm also thinking a couple of admin buttons on there too (perhaps EXIT (escape), and PAUSE).  Maybe TAB.

How are you planning on shutting down your cab cleanly?

[javeryh]

Ah - great, thanks.  I see what you mean.  I expect I can get a pot with a longer stem too to save routing.  I think mounting it on the back is a good plan.  I'm also thinking a couple of admin buttons on there too (perhaps EXIT (escape), and PAUSE).  Maybe TAB.

How are you planning on shutting down your cab cleanly?

You'd be surprised.  I looked around for pot extenders, longer pots, etc. and didn't have much luck.  Let us know if you find anything though.

I'm planning on wiring a momentary pushbutton to the Raspberry Pi - there are YouTube videos explaining how to do this.  I bought a $7.50 "vandal button" which is basically flush with the panel you mount it on.  I put it on the top panel above the marquee (HERE).  This should *in theory* power everything on and off.  The monitor only comes on when it senses a signal but other than cutting the power on the back of the cabinet I'm not sure how to do a complete power down.  The marquee light will be plugged into the Raspberry Pi via USB so that should shut down once the Pi is turned off.

[PL1]

I'm also thinking a couple of admin buttons on there too (perhaps EXIT (escape), and PAUSE).  Maybe TAB.

Exit and Pause sound good, but putting Tab on a bartop for the kids seems like you're asking for trouble.   


Scott

[Drnick]

Don't put a tab button on there, get a small wireless keyboard with trackpad built in and use that.  You will almost never need to go into the menus once you have configured everything anyway.

[Jimbo]

You'd be surprised.  I looked around for pot extenders, longer pots, etc. and didn't have much luck.  Let us know if you find anything though.

I'm planning on wiring a momentary pushbutton to the Raspberry Pi - there are YouTube videos explaining how to do this.  I bought a $7.50 "vandal button" which is basically flush with the panel you mount it on.  I put it on the top panel above the marquee (HERE).  This should *in theory* power everything on and off.  The monitor only comes on when it senses a signal but other than cutting the power on the back of the cabinet I'm not sure how to do a complete power down.  The marquee light will be plugged into the Raspberry Pi via USB so that should shut down once the Pi is turned off.

Thanks for that.  I have a shutdown button on top of my upright cab that works well, but it's not a Pi, I'm new to that area so will checkout the youtube videos etc.  I've heard that you can wire a button up to the GPIO pins which run a script to shutdown, but I haven't looked in detail.  I guess there's always the case someone can switch off at the mains though... perhaps I should stick a mini UPS in there lol

I like the idea of making it flush too... current button gets knocked sometimes when people place something on top of the cab.

Exit and Pause sound good, but putting Tab on a bartop for the kids seems like you're asking for trouble.   

Yeah good point.  I'll skip TAB.  Retropie can setup a hotkey for emulators e.g. start+select to exit them, but I'm considering having a dedicated EXIT button on the back, hooked up to the IPAC escape key, for emulators where that doesn't work or can't be configured.  I don't really want a visible pause on the front, but having one on the back will come in handy when it's "dinner time, kids!".

Don't put a tab button on there, get a small wireless keyboard with trackpad built in and use that.  You will almost never need to go into the menus once you have configured everything anyway.

Good plan.  Space might be getting tight in the storage box behind the marquee with the 2 x mini racers and 8bitdo controllers... but I wonder if I can find one small enough to also fit in there.

I have the metal CP now cut to the right size, so hopefully tonight I'll get enough time to measure up and punch the centre holes for the controls.

[barrymossel]

Mini update: The speakers and amp turned up so I connected them up and they sound amazing



The Amp is a class D Adafruit 20W Stereo Audio Amplifier - MAX9744
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-20w-stereo-audio-amplifier-class-d-max9744/overview

If you supply it with 12V it can supply 20W to two 4-8ohm speakers.  It has pinouts for a volume potentiometer so I should be able to add a nice volume control knob somewhere on the cab (see questions below).

The full range speakers I chose are the 3" Visaton FR8 2008
http://www.visaton.de/en/products/fullrange-systems/fr-8-8-ohm

I also bought 2 of the Visaton FRS8 grilles:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Visaton-Grille-Black-Plastic-Speaker/dp/B013E4AOQI

I'm using a 12V wall adaptor plug so I had to solder on the supplied capacitor, then I soldered on the speaker terminals (I didn't want to be soldering the speaker wires directly to the board).  I twisted some wire and connected up the two speakers and it all works lovely.  After soldering 3 jumpers to set it to analog mode, I tested the volume with the supplied potentiometer (holding it in place for now, not soldering on) and the range is perfect - quite a loud volume is possible at very good quality.

This has given me 2 questions:

1) Where should I mount a volume control knob?
 Between the speakers?
 On the front panel of the CP, in the middle between the start/coin buttons?
 Hidden on the back of the cab?

2) Has anyone had experience of mounting a nice volume control knob/dial to either wood or metal, and can offer advice on how to do it nicely?

I use the 4 ohm version of the speakers in a calculated boombox some time ago. Really nice speakers, though these won't ever get to full use...

[Jimbo]

Small update - measured and marked out the metal control panel tonight.  It was too late for the noisy punching of the centre holes.  It took a good couple of hours but it's all ready for punching now...



The location for the bends has also been marked out.  The centre of both bends should be right in the middle of the two close-together score marks.



I'll be taking this to get the holes cut and the panel bent next week.  The trackball needs a 57mm hole.  Joysicks, spinners and buttons 28mm and the mounting holes for the bolts 6.5mm.

Once I have the panel back, I'll then double check the dimensions and adjust the sketchup plans accordingly.  I have had to guess at the radius of the bends, so the finished bent panel might be a couple of millimetres out - we'll see!  I allowed for 3.5mm extra on the panel's top surface for each bend.

[Jimbo]

Need some help with theme ideas please

Bear in mind the controls I have are all while, and I was thinking White t-molding for sides/marquee.

I have 2 ideas in mind currently for "The Arcade Time Machine"...

 1) A steampunk style mechanical old time machine theme with cogs and gears and whatnot.  Gold/metal looking sides/cp etc.  Something a bit like this https://rochester.kidsoutandabout.com/sites/default/files/styles/650_scaled/public/TM-Logo.png

 2) A theme based on HG Well's Time Machine Movie, like this: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Poster_for_the_1960_film_The_Time_Machine.jpg  I like the guy in the middle of the logo, could maybe make him holding a joystick or something... but I don't really know what to do for the rest of the cab if I go with this theme.

3) something else?!

Thoughts and ideas welcome!

[Mike A]

Pick your favorite arcade game and use a re-imagining of that cabinet's artwork.

[Jimbo]

Pick your favorite arcade game and use a re-imagining of that cabinet's artwork.

I'm pretty settled on the name and general theme of "arcade time machine"... it's the nuances I need to iron out

(besides, you try to get my kids to agree on their favourite game... or anything for that matter!)

[Mike A]

The name and general theme are bad. You just asked for ideas this morning. Take some time to reconsider.

[Jimbo]

I had a good think today about how to mount the Dell monitor I have.  I wanted to be able to take out the monitor and replace it fairly easily (should it become faulty). I'm putting a 4mm tinted-grey glass panel in front of the monitor so I also wanted to be able to take that out and replace it in the future if needed...



I have a mixture of 15mm, 18mm, 12mm and 6mm ply making up the bartop, so have used those thicknesses here.  At the top and bottom there are two 15mm battens glued together. They will be glued/screwed in to the side panels. In front of the monitor I've put a 6mm bezel from the screen edges up to the sides/marquee/cp. In front of that is a 4mm tinted tempered glass panel.

Two small blocks of ply are mounted on the back on each side of the monitor to keep it in place laterally.
The four small blocks of ply on the bottom and top battens will hold the monitor in place.  I'll attach these to the battens with brass inserts and hex bolts so they're easy to take off.

As you can see at the top, the speaker panel will have a small ~4mm routed channel to keep the top of the glass panel in place.  To keep things in place at the bottom, and to ensure I can replace the glass if needed, I thought up the following...





So this is a small L-shaped bracket made out of 6mm ply.  It will bolt on via the brass inserts again from underneath should I need to remove the panel.  This bracket doesn't go the whole width of the bartop, as I need some space for the control panel support blocks either side...



The reason for the two CP support blocks is that I needed room for P1's joystick leaf switches (on the left) and P2's buttons (on the right).  I may add one extra support for the CP in the middle of the panel (behind the trackball) but I'll see how strong the metal is when it's been bent. It might not need it.

The thin angled batten will have the 6mm monitor bezel rested on it for extra support. 

[javeryh]

Damn I wish I saw your monitor mounting solution before I went and did mine.  Mine doesn't feel so secure... but I'm working on a solution.

[Jimbo]

Damn I wish I saw your monitor mounting solution before I went and did mine.  Mine doesn't feel so secure... but I'm working on a solution.

Thanks. I hope it helps, I went through all sorts of designs before settling on this one.  I had considered screwing the glass into the bottom two battens from the front instead of keeping it in place with the L-shaped bracket, but aside from the glass panel being a fair bit more expensive, it meant it would have had to come down further below the level of the CP top (so the screws would be hidden) - which would have gotten in the way of the CP support blocks.

[Jimbo]

Hopefully picking the metal panel up tomorrow, drilled and bent

Toying with this as a name/theme:-

"B.A.R.T." (Bartop Arcade Retro Terminal)

[Jimbo]

I got the metal control back today from being bent in the brake...



I had to get a 57mm HSS hole saw for the 2 1/4" Happ Trackball...


It fits so snug.  The metal panel is just under 1mm higher than the plastic ring surrounding the trackball. 

[Jimbo]

I mounted all the controls to the panel and tested out the feel for size etc.  Happy with how it's turned out.  I'm able to get my hands to all the controls without the spinners getting in the way, and using the trackball either right or left handed isn't impeded either...





Controls fit nice and snug on the underside so hopefully wiring won't present any problems. The IPAC2 and TT2 spinner usb interface board will go on the front face in the centre between the P1/P2 start buttons...



I built a small scale model out of craft foam.  This will be given to a friend of mine who is kindly doing the artwork.  He likes to have a model so he can run with his ideas on it properly.   It was a lot of fun building this!



I'll be looking to buy in the plywood and start to make all the panels very soon.

[Jimbo]

Building commences!  First off the design had a tweak to the side panels.  I didn't like the curves so much so now has straighter sides.  I made another scale model in craft foam and gave it to my friend who is doing the artwork.

Name of the cab is now B.A.R.T which stands for Bartop Arcade Retro Terminal.  He'll be kind of robot-ey.



I recently got a table saw so I cut all the panels except the side panels as that's a bit tricker.  As you can see I had an idea to 3D print some router arc templates to help with the curved parts of the side panels.  A friend helped me get these printed and they worked really well with a flush trim router bit...



Here's a closer look at the arc near the marquee section...



And here's the arc near the control panel section...



After routing around these guides, the cut arcs were spot on...



So with one side cut, I masking taped the piece of plywood I had for the other side panel as I was using a jigsaw to get rid of most of the wood so the router would not have much to cut with the flush trim bit.  There were a few splits but mostly outside the panel edge...



20 mins later and the 2nd side panel matches the first perfectly



I had a few more grooves to rout out today for the monitor glass to sit in, and to retain the marquee plexi. For this I used a 4mm cutter at a depth of 3mm.  Lots of practice with the router today!  Oh, I also cut the speaker holes with a 3" (76mm) hole saw...



I still have a couple of 15 degree angles to chamfer on two of the panels, and then some mounting blocks to make.  That'll be next I guess!

[Jimbo]

Had a first stab at artwork today, with a crude attempt of texture mapping in sketchup to see the concept in situ....





I'm happy with the general idea... I can't change the colour of the controls now as they're already bought.  I'd still like to fit in what B.A.R.T. stands for somewhere (Bartop Arcade Retro Terminal) but I'm not sure where.... marquee? 

After I got the kids to design some art for the side panels, we all decided it would be really cool to go with my friend's suggestion and paint them with 'black' blackboard paint so they can use chalk (or chalk pens) to change the side art whenever they want .

Not sure what to do with the bezel around the monitor.  Black currently, and it will be covered in grey tinted glass... but perhaps it should also have some artwork on it under the glass... ?

Any ideas/critique welcome! 

[yamatetsu]

A starfield on the bezel, the speaker board and the marquee?

[rave0035]

I like the starfield idea.

Too much grid currently.

Break up the CP - don't have the grid continue through all three sections.  Maybe just the top and bottom portions, with something like a Defender retro-futuristic design on the spinner part?  I'm thinking blocky outlines and a bringing in a few of the colors found on the marquee.

[Jimbo]

So I've got started painting the bits of the bartop that need it.  First up are the side panels.  I needed to paint the parts of the insides of the side panels that are visible.  This is the areas to the side of the screen, all around the edges, and inside the storage box on the top area behind the marquee.  I'd followed Ond's video for this as I am really a complete novice painting anything!  I have posted to his thread here decribing my experience.

First off I filled the areas that I needed to with Isopon P38 body filler. (I've been told this is pretty much identical to "Bondo" as I could not find that over here in the UK).



I needed loads of filler near the end grain where the saw made a mess of the cuts...



After 3 coats of High Build Primer (from Halfords), and lots of sanding between coats, I get it to this stage: -



Lots more work then with 1 coat of grey primer, and 3 coats of high gloss black paint (again all from Halfords), wet sanding in between, and some final goings over with Maguire's Ulitmate Compound... I finally see the results of my hard work and I'm very pleased.





I made some mistakes during this, and some areas are less than perfect, but it's definitely good enough for me, and I learned a lot so the next panels that get the same treatment WILL be perfect!

Next up I think I'll be affixing the mounting blocks to the side panels, and preparing the other panels with paint.

[Ond]

Excellent!    That's the shine right there.  Thanks for covering your experience in detail in my painting thread.  That will help other people who are thinking of trying it out.  I like the font style/art on your marquee.  I like the name too, I know other's aren't so keen on it but I think it's clean and simple - go with what you like.   

[leapinlew]

I'm late to the party, but I've always mounted my LCD's directly to a board that secured to the side panels. The monitor usually has mounting options once you remove the base. I would then secure it to the board. Not sure if that makes sense the way I explained it..... 

Your method will definitely work, but it seems like a lot more steps.

[Jimbo]

Thanks guys   Your painting guide was brilliant Ond... very helpful.

leapinlew... I think I get what you mean... but would that make it difficult to get the monitor out if you wanted to replace it?  I'm using an old Dell 2nd hand monitor... might go kaput after a while and I want to be able to easily replace it if needed.

So today I mounted the CP mounting blocks... these bits needed shaping to match the profile of the metal CP top.  After some sanding to fit, I finally got them in place.





The other mounting blocks are all easy and straight/right-angled.  Those'll come soon.

[Nephasth]

Metal CP FTW! Looks nice!

[rave0035]

Does it make sense to shoot a coat of primer on that CP prior to assembly?

[Jimbo]

Metal CP FTW! Looks nice!

Yep - thanks   Always a metal CP from now on, if I have the option!

Does it make sense to shoot a coat of primer on that CP prior to assembly?

Yes definitely, primed and artwork, then controls.  I'll be mounting it into brass inserts tapped into the plywood mounting blocks, with hex bolts securing them in the 4 corners.  This means I should be able to take the CP off easily for any maintenance.

[leapinlew]

leapinlew... I think I get what you mean... but would that make it difficult to get the monitor out if you wanted to replace it?  I'm using an old Dell 2nd hand monitor... might go kaput after a while and I want to be able to easily replace it if needed.

I used L-brackets or another piece of wood secured at a 90 degree angle to secure it to the side panels. Replacing the monitor meant creating another monitor mount with the new monitor. It's really not a big deal.

[Jimbo]

leapinlew... I think I get what you mean... but would that make it difficult to get the monitor out if you wanted to replace it?  I'm using an old Dell 2nd hand monitor... might go kaput after a while and I want to be able to easily replace it if needed.

I used L-brackets or another piece of wood secured at a 90 degree angle to secure it to the side panels. Replacing the monitor meant creating another monitor mount with the new monitor. It's really not a big deal.

Ah ok I get you. I'll be removing the monitor base soon so I'll see what mounting options there are. 

[Jimbo]

So I took a rare day off work today and got lots done!

I'd previously cut the 6mm plywood monitor bezel and affixed some battens so that I could rout the hole for the monitor with a flush trim bit.  It came out nice with some rounded corners.  Today I glued the two battens on the top and bottom of the monitor bezel, to a) affix it to the side panels and b) allow me to affix some small detachable monitor retainer blocks. I also glued two battens onto the bottom of the two side panels for the base to attach to...


^ Oh yeah, also 2 small blocks on either side of the monitor to hold it in place laterally.

The detachable monitor retaining blocks are basically just 40x40x12mm plywood blocks affixed to the battens using small hex bolts screwing into brass inserts...



Here you can see the bottom batten with the 2 retainer blocks affixed.  For these ones I had to glue some 2mm balsa wood strips to the blocks to pad/reach the monitor and keep it from moving when the bolts are tightened...



For the top batten, no balsa padding was needed, but I still need to shave a bit off the outside edge of the blocks so they're flush with the batten, as this will butt up to the underside of the marquee panel...



Here's the back view. Monitor fixes nice and snug and secure and is dead easy to remove if I ever need to replace it.



Aaannnddd... the front view - looking good



I'll be putting artwork on the front of this monitor bezel, so will be filling/sanding/priming for that at some point soon.  I also have to add the bottom monitor glass retainer.  I've ordered the 4mm toughened safety glass (grey tinted) which will sit on top of the 6mm ply bezel, over the artwork.  The glass should be here in a couple of weeks.

I also decided to raise the cab off the ground a little - I don't want the t-molded sides touching the surface it's sitting on, so I have glued 3.5mm ply sheet to the base, a little smaller than the actual base panel, and will be gluing a 3mm rubber matting to this.  This'll put the cab 2-3mm off the floor/table but provide a nice solid anti-slip base...



I also did some more painting prep for some of the remaining panels.  Filling, sanding, and some high-build primer was the order of business...



From left to right: -

• Speaker/Storage-box panel.  Front of which has a slot for the marquee, back of which is the base of the storage box behind the marquee.
• Front panel of the storage box behind the marquee.
• Storage box lid (underside)
• Cabinet base - with the panel added for the rubber matting.
• Top marquee panel.
• Finally at the bottom there are 2 primed butt hinges that I'm going to paint black, for the storage box lid.

The plan is for all of these bits to be smooth matt black.  The only parts of the cab that will be mirror finish gloss are the inside of the side panels, and the top (maybe).

Lastly... Some bits I ordered for the back panel have arrived!   4 USB panel mount connectors, an IEC power socket and 2 long-shaft 1K potentiometers (I'll use one for the volume knob on the back panel, and the other to limit the max volume of the speakers to something sensible)...



I haven't sketchup'd this yet, but my idea for the back panel is as follows...



So that's (from left to right): -

• 2 USB sockets for Players 1 and 2 (for controllers when using console games on Retropie)
• Power IEC socket and momentary power push button for the Pi (wired to GPIO pins)
• 80mm quiet USB fan to give some airflow to the pi (it has a small fan on it as it is overclocked already)
• Volume knob
• Pause Button
• 2 USB sockets for Players 3 and 4 (for controllers when using console games on Retropie)

If you can think of anything I've missed, or can offer suggestions to improve it, please let me know.

[Jimbo]

So aside from some tiny touch ups, I've finished the base now

I first spray painted the edge of the base matt black, then I added the rubber matting.

Adding the 3mm rubber matting was a bit tricky because I wanted a perfect fit on the raised (smaller) bit of 3.5mm plywood.

Firstly I cut a "too big" square of the matting with a stanley knife, so it was overhanging the entire base by about 5cm around each side.

Then I glued (with contact adhesive) about a 1ft square section in the centre so this secured the matting to the ply base, but only in the centre, leaving flappy edges of rubber that I could then trim down.  I did it this way because I didn't fancy gluing the entire thing in one go - it's pretty big and gluing up to the edges of the matting is a lot harder when you don't have the edges already cut.  I didn't cut the edges before gluing because I didn't fancy me aligning them perfectly.

Once the glue had fully set, I carefully trimmed the sides of the rubber to the exact size using a metal ruler and a stanley knife.  Then I glued each of the four corners in turn.  With the impact adhesive I coated both sides (up to the edges) and waited 5 minutes until touch dry, then rolled down the matting to secure it in place.



All done   This should give the bartop a nice solid non-slip base and keep the t-molded sides just above the surface so they don't get damaged.

[javeryh]

Looks good but why didn't you just use rubber feet or something?  You can get them cheap and it's only 4 screws and you are done (I got mine from Home Depot for about $2).  Solves both the no slip and raising the side panel issues in one shot.  This is what I did:





Note that I added a spacer made out of PVC pipe and spray painted black to get a little extra height.

[Jimbo]

Thanks - heh I don't know why... I guess I just fancied it over rubber feet.  It feels nice so I'm happy

[Jimbo]

Today I worked on the back panel.  Lots of practice with the router!

Here's what I'm trying to make: -



So that's:
 - Handles for lifting
 - Hole with recess for door
 - Holes for 4 USB sockets
 - Holes for Power and Pause buttons
 - 80mm USB fan for cooling
 - Hole for volume pot

I used 3D printed templates for the handles.  I screwed them in and used a flush trim bit to rout them.  I think I went overboard with the amount of screws I used...



Then I routed the recessed hole for the door.  This back panel is 15mm thick, and the recess is 9mm, so that'll be the thickness of the door.  The width of the recess is 5mm all the way round.

I also cut the holes for all the buttons/fan/power/volume and routed away the back of the fan so it would sit a little more flush to the back panel.

Here's the front after all the routing.  Yes I'm sure you're thinking "what's that mess on the routed handles?"  Lets just say I'm an idiot and learned how NOT to do something today. I am ashamed... LOL... well, some filler needed there then!



Here's the back where you can see where I routed out for the fan to sit snug...



And here's the front with the stuff in it.  I'm planning on some LED lit buttons with decals for power on/off and pause, so they will be illuminated when the RPi is on.  These are just temp buttons to see how it looked.  The volume pot will have a nice volume knob on it too, which is "in the post", apparently.



Here's how the lower panel looks from behind...



I guess next up I'll do the back panel door with the hinges and lock. Also need to rout out for the small magnetic latch on the top, that will keep the storage area box closed (behind the marquee). I think this panel is then ready to prep for painting

[javeryh]

Really nice job on that panel.  It's a lot of router work so getting everything just right can be tough!

If you don't feel like patching, maybe you could use something like THIS for your handles...

[Jimbo]

Heh - I wish I'd thought of that before I cut those handle holes! 

I've just now looked about but all the ones I can see are a little too small for the area I've cut.   I think it'll be fine with some filler though. Once sanded and painted I'm confident the muck ups won't be noticed   Also these handles are just how I remember the handles on an old Electrocoin cab I had years ago... so some nostalgic reason to keep them as they are - haha I'm clearly trying to make myself feel better about it...

Speaking of painting, I finished painting the vertical panel that is the back of (inside) the storage box, and the floor of the storage box, both in matt black.  I also painted the front edges of the marquee panels that will be visible between the marquee and the t-molded edges...

It's starting to feel like there's light at the end of the tunnel.

[barrymossel]

Speaking of painting, I finished painting the vertical panel that is the back of (inside) the storage box, and the floor of the storage box, both in matt black.  I also painted the front edges of the marquee panels that will be visible between the marquee and the t-molded edges...

Are you spray painting or are you using a roller? Looks really smooth!

[Jimbo]

Speaking of painting, I finished painting the vertical panel that is the back of (inside) the storage box, and the floor of the storage box, both in matt black.  I also painted the front edges of the marquee panels that will be visible between the marquee and the t-molded edges...

Are you spray painting or are you using a roller? Looks really smooth!

Thanks - I'm spray painting them matt black... I followed Ond's guide.  It works like a charm.   I'm a complete novice at painting but watching his video helped loads.  Just takes a lot of patience!

[Jimbo]

I got the volume control sorted for the cab today.

I wanted to add a second potentiometer to be able to set a limit on the maximum volume.  This to to get the optimum range for the volume knob and allow me to quieten it (if/when needed) so the kids can't play it too loudly!

Here's how I planned to wire them up: -



I used an L-bracket, and with some rubber spacer washers I mounted it to the 15mm plywood back panel.  This made the pot shaft poke out just enough for the volume knob to fit perfectly   Then I soldered the connections...





All works great... EXCEPT... I appear to have the volume in reverse... turning the knob up / clockwise turns the volume down, and vice versa!   I've clearly got a connection wrong, I'm guessing I can just swap the pin connections on the amp end and it'll resolve it, but I'll worry about that later.  Right now just happy I didn't blow the amp or speakers up

[rave0035]

You're using the pots as part of a dedicated V-control circuit and not as a 'speaker pad', right?

[Jimbo]

You're using the pots as part of a dedicated V-control circuit and not as a 'speaker pad', right?

Hi - I'm connecting them up to the "Pot. Vol" pins on this mini amp: -
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-20w-stereo-audio-amplifier-class-d-max9744/analog-control
...so I've taken it that it's working as a voltage divider.

Cheers

[Richie_jones]

This is a great build..Nice job

[PL1]

All works great... EXCEPT... I appear to have the volume in reverse... turning the knob up / clockwise turns the volume down, and vice versa!   I've clearly got a connection wrong, I'm guessing I can just swap the pin connections on the amp end and it'll resolve it, but I'll worry about that later.

Audio (log) pots have a log-curve response vs. linear pots. that have a straight-line response.
- Flipping a linear pot = similar straight-line response.
- Flipping an audio pot = very different response curve.  A yellow "log" curve turns into a teal "reverse log" curve.



The correct way to fix your wiring is at the pot tabs.

Your diagram is drawn from a behind-the-panel point of view.
- From this perspective, when you turn the knob counter-clockwise, the wiper (tab 2) is closer to Vcc.

You wired it from a front-of-panel point of view, so the tabs ended up in reverse order from the diagram i.e. 1 2 3 vs. 3 2 1.

Simple fix:  On both pots, swap the wires from tab 1 to tab 3.
- When you turn the knob clockwise from a front-of-panel point of view, the wiper (tab 2) will be closer to Vcc.   


Scott

[javeryh]

Scott is awesome.   

[Jimbo]

Hey Scott.... you did all my thinking for me!    

Thanks for your help.  I had a feeling just swapping tabs on the amp might not be the solution, but you've made it easy to understand and I can see where I went wrong.

I'll de/re-solder later on and test it again.   Today I've been routing out for hinges and latches.  I'll post an update later.

 

[Jimbo]

I got some more routing done today.  First off I routed for the magnetic latch at the top of the back panel, which will secure the lid of the storage box in place...



Next, I routed the underside of the storage top lid with the magnetic latch counterpart...



They fit together nice and snug...



Next, I needed to sort out the set of hinges that attach the storage lid onto the top of the cab.  First up I clamped and marked out both hinges...



I had to make a jig of sorts out of some lumber offcuts, so that the router could sit on it securely while I routed the recesses for the hinges.  Here's the result...



I recessed slightly more than the depth of the hinge leaf, so that the gap between the two panel edges was tiny.  The hinges fit nicely



Here's the top of the cab...



And here's the view from an "open" storage box, showing the hinges and the magnetic latch.



Only a few more woodworking tweaks now and I can get all these panels prepped for painting

[PL1]

Scott is awesome.   

I had a feeling just swapping tabs on the amp might not be the solution, but you've made it easy to understand and I can see where I went wrong.

Thanks, guys.  Glad to assist.   


Scott

[Jimbo]

Today I routed the rounded corners of the back door, then routed for the hinges to mount it to the back panel.  I also fitted the cam lock!

Those tiny hinges are a PAIN to fit - so fiddly! I'll be happy if I never have to do those things again....  thankfully it all lined up nicely so very happy!

[wp34]

That back has a nice clean look to it.  Well done.   

[Jimbo]

Thanks - Sheesh I've really done a lot of routing in the last couple of weeks... I can't think how anyone can build an arcade machine without a router!  I think I need to build a router table soon.

Quick update on the handles on the back panel.  I was originally going to fix a few panels to the inside completely boxing each handle in so you can't see the innards of the cab.  I then thought I have no vents to let any hot air that rises out of the cab.  I can't put vents in the top as the storage box is there.  I could put them on the back door, but I didn't want to do that as it would be ugly and too low down.  The problem with using the handles is unless I build a box inside then you'll be able to see all the innards of the cab through them.

The solution I've come up with is to build a containing box inside each handle as originally planned (leaving enough room for fingers in the handles) but to make the floor of this box into a steel mesh, painted black (see pic).  This should significantly obscure the cab innards but also allow airflow to the handles for the heated air to escape.

[Ond]

Looking good Jimbo, your vent/handle solution is a good idea.

[Jimbo]

So the artist has come up with a draft sketch for the side panels.  Theme is retro-80s sci-fi, a little wireframe/vectory...  I wanted to personalise if for my 2 eldest children so I've thought to put a picture of each of them on each side panel.  Here is the draft.

My personal thoughts atm are that the top right looks best without the wireframe and with the blue lines instead of white.  It just stands out more.  I'm blown away with what the artist has done with the photo I sent.  Can't wait to see what my boy looks like on the other panel!

Other ideas I've had:  Put some kind of small lone tempest-like ship on the blue contour lines on the background...  maybe a planet in the top section above the head...

It does make me feel like B.A.R.T. (bartop arcade retro terminal) is not such a suitable name for this theme... but it *could* work depending on the font/styling.  I'm struggling to think of another name... really don't want something with "cade" in it.

Suggestions and feedback welcome. 

[Jimbo]

Today I Assembled the top section.  Starting by gluing the upright front panel of the storage box to the base section...



I then drilled out and fit two brass inserts into the top of the upright panel so I could fix the very top panel (which retains the marquee from above) then screwed them in using M6 hex bolts.  You can see here how the marquee is retained in the two routed channels in the top panel and speaker panel.  This top will be able to come off easily for if/when I need to fix speakers or LED strip marquee lights...



Next it was time to fit dowels so that it's easy to put together.  For these I 3D printed some dowel guides.  There are 3 needed as I have 3 different plywood thicknesses in my project... 12mm, 15mm and 18mm.  For all these I will be using 5mm diameter wooden dowels, 25mm in length.  These guides fit over the edge of the panels at the exact thickness so that the holes are dead in the centre of the panel edge.  Each dowel guide has 4 x 5mm drill guide holes for the dowels, and a bunch of countersunk screw holes for fixing to the panels.  The drill guide base is 12mm thick to help keep the drill vertical and prevent drill side-fumbling



First I carefully measured up on the side panels where the dowel holes would need to go.  I used the screwholes to affix the guides to ensure there was no movement and everything was accurate...



Then for the edges of the top section (the speaker/bottom-of-storage-box panel) I just used clamps as they fit conveniently and were strong enough not to move while I drilled the holes...



I drilled 4 dowel holes each side, and inserted the dowels...





Then I did a test fit putting the metal control panel in and testing the dowels lined up on the top section.  They were spot on!



Here's the back where you can see the storage box without its lid.  The lid will attach via hinges on the mortices you can see...



Next up will be to drill the dowel holes for the back panel and base panel... oh, and the monitor frame.  Here's the back panel in-situ. I'm pleased how it all looks...



More on the theme/artwork coming soon.  Name is changing again to match the theme better!

Once I have the rest of the dowel holes drilled and I've done a full test fit, I'll be able to finish prepping and painting the rest of the panels.  Getting there!

[DaOld Man]

Looking good Jimbo!
I am digging that metal CP.

[yo1dog]

I'm mad at you for cheating on your rotating cab with this!

JK. Looking good!

[Jimbo]

Haha, thanks guys... Christmas is coming so there's a deadline on this one!  In the new year I'll be back on the big one.   

[Jimbo]

This evening it was time to use the 15mm dowel guide for the back panel.  I think I'm an expert at using these now!  I moved along very quickly using a spare 5mm drill bit to align the guide as I went from one end of the back panel to the other.  A total of 7 dowel holes per side/edge...



With the side panel, I needed to screw a batten in as a guide for the dowel guide to sit flush to.  Same technique with a spare drill bit except screwing the dowel guide in each time as clamping wasn't an option...



After doing this both sides I finally had all the dowels/holes in place ready for a test fit...



Fits like a glove!   It was really nice putting all this together, the dowels are snug for the top section and back panel and it all aligns perfectly - which surprised me - I was expecting something to be a few mm off and to end up frustrated, but very happy it all lines up just right!





I still have to dowel up the floor panel, and the monitor frame.  That's the last of the big assembly stuff.

The race is on to get this baby finished by Christmas!

[Jimbo]

So I finally have a theme!  The old B.A.R.T. theme will have to come back another day on another build!

I wanted something personalised for my kids so decided to have their pictures on the side panels.  The theme is retro-sci-fi, I wanted something where it looked like they are in a video game. The fictional game they are in is called "VIDEOTRON".  The artist has done some great sketches and I'll be thinking about it and giving feedback before things are finalised and properly illustrated.

Here are the options for the marquee: -



CPO: -



Speaker Panel



Left Side panel: -



Right Side Panel: -



I've tried a few of these combinations in sketchup, just basic texture mapping to the panel faces to see what works...















Really it's a case of which marquee image, and what t-molding colour.  There are other t-molding colours of course but here are just a few.

I have my own thoughts but thought it would be nice to get some outside opinion from you lot

If you also have any other ideas or suggestions to improve the theme, please let me know.

Thanks

[yo1dog]

Few things more satisfying than when a joint fits perfectly. Well done. I also like dowel joints. With the right jig they are easy, quick, and strong.

[yamatetsu]

I'd go with the fourth marquee and maybe make the background a little more yellow so that it matches the sides.
If possible I would align the horizontal grid lines so that it seems that they wrap aound the sides and the front.

[javeryh]

I like #4.  I don't think you need art on the speaker panel - no one will ever really see it. 

[Jimbo]

Thanks guys... Yes I'm prefering marquee 4 too...  I tried a version with black t-molding and I think it looks best.  A few more tweaks to the design to come, but it's heading the right way I think.  I may try my kids dressed in Tron garb, and maybe a little more holographic looking.

[Jimbo]

In other news...

I have done the retainer for the monitor glass.  This will sit hidden under the control panel.  If I need to get the glass out for any reason, I can unscrew the two hex bolts and the retainer comes off.  The top of the monitor glass sits in a small routed recess in the speaker panel, preventing it from moving/falling.





Now I've done this I can get the monitor frame dowelled up in exactly the right place.

[DaOld Man]

Looking good Jimbo!!
Very clean and professional.
I like the way you are using those dowels to hold everything together. I did that on A Little Rage and my photobooth, but I think I was more sloppy than the work you are doing.
Those dowels seem to me to hold better than screws, and the self aligning makes them very smart, and eases a lot of pain with the pieces sliding out of alignment before the glue sets..
I looked at a few tools (or jigs), you can buy that align your drill to make the dowel holes. (Search amazon and youtube), But I wound up making my own out of plywood (I dont have a 3d printer), and on the photobooth I glued the pieces together, then glued blocks in the corners and drilled holes through the blocks to insert the dowels. Probably a waste of work and time, but I feel better knowing there is something going into the wood to help hold it together.
This will be a special Christmas and your family will remember it for a long time.

[Jimbo]

Looking good Jimbo!!
Very clean and professional.
I like the way you are using those dowels to hold everything together. I did that on A Little Rage and my photobooth, but I think I was more sloppy than the work you are doing.
Those dowels seem to me to hold better than screws, and the self aligning makes them very smart, and eases a lot of pain with the pieces sliding out of alignment before the glue sets..
I looked at a few tools (or jigs), you can buy that align your drill to make the dowel holes. (Search amazon and youtube), But I wound up making my own out of plywood (I dont have a 3d printer), and on the photobooth I glued the pieces together, then glued blocks in the corners and drilled holes through the blocks to insert the dowels. Probably a waste of work and time, but I feel better knowing there is something going into the wood to help hold it together.
This will be a special Christmas and your family will remember it for a long time.

Thanks!  Yeah first time I'd done it, but pleased how it worked out.  I was dreading gluing this thing together with pre-painted panels... sliding around and trying to align everything at the same time with clamps etc, without scratching the paintwork.  Dowels seemed the obvious answer.  I still have the floor to do, and that's only 12mm thick, so I'm hoping the 5mm dowels will be ok.  Fingers crossed.  I will have to make a jig of sorts for the monitor frame, to put a dowel in each end (top and bottom) on both sides, but that will hopefully allow me to align it perfectly to the side panels.  I expect I'll be doing that on Wednesday, then start prepping the panels for painting and artwork. 

I also have had an idea of using an arduino or something to flicker the led strip behind the marquee on powerup with a "bzzzt" electronic buzz sound, for a couple of seconds, then when the light finally comes fully on, a robot voice says "Welcome to Videotron".  The kids will think that's really cool .

[javeryh]

Thanks guys... Yes I'm prefering marquee 4 too...  I tried a version with black t-molding and I think it looks best.  A few more tweaks to the design to come, but it's heading the right way I think.  I may try my kids dressed in Tron garb, and maybe a little more holographic looking.

Try some pink t-molding to match the pink accents in the marquee and side panels.  The entire thing screams 80s due to the design and there's nothing more 80s than bright pink. 

Full disclaimer: I love pink arcade cabs!

[Jimbo]

haha - maybe - I shall mock one up in sketchup to see what it looks like - I'll also have to check the availability of pink t-molding in the uk! 

[Jimbo]

More buildstuff today.  Nothing too exciting, just dowelled up the floor and the monitor frame, and fit it all together.  That's the last bit of dowelling done.  I'm pretty much ready to start prepping the panels now for painting/artwork.

So more of the same for the floor, used the 3d printed guides to make dowel holes in the edges: -



Aaaand same on the side panels where the floor will attach...



The floor fits nice...



And underneath where the control panel meets the floor, it was nicely aligned, phew!...



Next, on to the monitor frame (with the glass overlay).  I made a jig out of wood with 2 dowel holes in each end to use for this.  It worked out nicely.  The top of the monitor glass fits into the small routed recess in the speaker panel, so I used this as an alignment guide, then I measured equal distance away from the front of the side panel on the other (bottom) end, clamped on my jig and drilled the holes into the side panel.  Then used the same jig to drill the holes on the actual monitor frame and pushed in the dowels.  Repeat for the other side and all done...



At the bottom end where the monitor frame meets the control panel, I had to rout away a bit of the CP's rear support block so that I could get the monitor glass in and out.  Basically to take the monitor glass out if I need to replace it, I would take off the CP top, unscrew the hex bolts under the glass retainer panel (see previous post), then the glass can drop down out of the routed recess at the top, and I can tilt it forward to take it out.



Obligatory money shot with it all put together.  The control panel fits snug up to the glass, about 0.5mm away, which is a relief!



Oh, I've also generated this sound sample that I want to play as soon as the cab is switched on (after some bzzzt sounds and flickering marquee for a couple of seconds...

Welcome to VIDEOTRON - boot up message

I am working on a circuit that will play the sounds from an arduino and flicker the marquee.  I should have more on that soon hopefully (using a rectifier, an op amp and an NPN transistor to control the light from the "bzzzt" sound waves).  It's complicated and I'm still trying to get my head around it!

[javeryh]

Love the boot-up message.  The custom artwork and attention to detail really bring it all together.  Your cabinet will be 100% unique, which is the reason I love this website so much.  I was reading through the r/cade forum over on reddit and it makes me want to cry.

[Jimbo]

Thanks!  I really hope I can get the boot up sequence working how I'd like to.  New foray for me this electronics stuff, but I'm going to have to up my chops for my other rotating panels project so this is a good primer!

I had a quick look at the r/cade forum... first post I saw was about pandoras box... I've seen one of those in action and it also made me want to cry!

[Jimbo]

Hi guys

I need some ideas on the grid lines.  The artist has done the following mockup sketches which I love....



The only thing is the grid lines are not aligned where the control panel, screen panel and speaker panel meet.

The panels are the same width so it's an easy change for the artist to get them to line up as a continuation, and also maybe the speaker panel to continue from the screen panel.

But then the marquee doesn't fit with those grid lines... and I'm not sure I want to change the marquee because I already think it looks great.

Any ideas welcome - should I just extend the lines across all 3 panels but leave the marquee as-is?

Or do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks! 

[yamatetsu]

IMHO this doesn't work. You basically have 4 grids that differ in size, and the marquee and the speaker panel also differ in style. The speaker panel looks out of place because everything else is glowing, the speaker panel grid looks rather plain and also a bit too dark.
The bezel grid is a bit too much for me.

- Bezel: Starfield.

- Marquee: Make the grid wider, so that it goes from side to side.

- Speaker panel: Do a grid that is wide on top and narrows down to the bottom. The grid lines match the ones in the marquee, but in reverse. Give the grid the same background treatment that the marquee has, so that it looks like it wraps around the speaker panel and the marquee.

[Arroyo]

I do like that better, pulls the eyes into the screen, rather than the screen looking like it is floating on top of the grid.

[Jimbo]

Thanks guys... you've given me food for thought.    And yamatetsu, I really appreciate you spending the time to tweak the image to show your ideas.

I agree the grid lines on the screen bezel is too much.  I'll have a chat with the artist and try and get something along these lines.  I like it!

[Jimbo]

OK so some back and forth with the artist, and this is the result.  The white lines are the borders of the panels...



I've put some labels on some of the controls to be more in with the fictional "videotron" game, and put some C64 assembly code on there as homage to my favourite 8-bit machine

Also have made the control panel and speaker panel lines bleed slightly into the screen as a sort of hyperspace effect.

I'll be cutting this out and trying on a small model a bit later today but I think it works well and fits the theme much better - thanks for the suggestions. 

[Jimbo]

Final artwork just sent off to gameongrafix for printing!  Hopefully they'll be here before christmas! 

Marquee...



Speaker panel...



Screen bezel...



Control Panel Overlay...



Left Side Panel for my boy...



Right Side Panel for my girl...




Wow this thing has evolved over time.  First "The Arcade Time Machine", then "BART"...  I guess sometimes you can't visual things up front, and of course you lot are pretty good at theme changing coercion   I'm very happy how it turned out so thanks for all your feedback.  I still need to do the startup sound effect and neon-flashing marquee, so that's to come.  Also I'll be looking at doing a VIDEOTRON RetroPie theme in the next week or two.

I've nearly finished painting the back panel, will take pics soon.  I just have the side panels to prep for artwork and the storage box lid to paint now.

[Mike A]

You have done a good job of sticking to your vision, but incorporating suggestions and criticisms where you felt necessary. 

[Jimbo]

Thank you...

So I have a full SD card for my retropie setup.  It takes approx 40 seconds to load to the main emulationstation menu from powerup.

I have decided to show a loading screen in the format of an old computer loading screen like on C64 or Amiga... low res pixel art.  It will have a flashing border like it's loading, and some chip music.  This will be shown from boot until the main menu appears.

Here's a sketch of my idea that the artist has pretty much nailed imo

[barrymossel]

Really love this project!

[Arroyo]

Here's a sketch of my idea that the artist has pretty much nailed imo

I like that idea a lot, looks good.

[Jimbo]

Cheers guys. 

So here's the final retropie loading screen to fit my monitor of 1280 x 1024.
This will replace the splash screen video, and will fade in with music while emulationstation is loading up.

VERY happy how this turned out

[Laythe]

Nice!   

Love the splash screen art.

(That's the weirdest antialiasing on the green T-mold lines, though!)

[luizw81]

That artwork is very 80's.  I love it!

Sent from my SM-J320R4 using Tapatalk

[Jimbo]

Cheers guys.  I've fixed the antialiasing on the t-molding

Video coming soon of the intro/loader!

In the mean time, I've finished painting the back panel, and the rest of the top marquee/storage box.  Side panels are sitting in the garage as we speak with first coat of high-build primer on them (prepping for artwork).

Here's how the back panel ended up.  Still to paint the screws and put power and pause decals on the buttons.  Apologies for the finger marks in the photos!





And with the door - hinges still to be screwed on...

[Arroyo]

Nice paint work, looks really good.

[javeryh]

Sick paint job.  This is really coming together.   

[Jimbo]

Thanks guys... it's certainly getting there.

I'm making boxes for the inside of the handles, and preparing the speakers/marquee stuff, along with figuring out how I'm going to mount the pi and powerstrip, etc.

Trouble is I can't put all this together until the artwork arrives and is applied (awaiting letter from courier to pay customs charges before they will attempt to deliver - ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- system here in the UK!). Going to be tight to get this done in time for Christmas :/

[Jimbo]

Finished writing the music for the the intro video and have put it all together

[barrymossel]

Really cool. What software did you use to create something like that? I was thinking of doing the same some time ago, but didn't find any nice freeware to do some simple animations.

[Jimbo]

Cheers

I used Cubase to make the music, and I have a friend with an adobe cc subscription, so After Effects and Premier Pro was used for putting the video together.  I too tried a few free ones (microsoft ones, openshot) but had no luck getting anything good from them.

[Jimbo]

Argh - running out of time.

Today I got the CP overlay applied, and mounted all the controls.  It's ready for wiring (tomorrow)...



Very tight fit!!



I also applied the speaker panel artwork, and mounted the speakers.  I've drilled cable access holes to the marquee box, and prepped a few more bits.

2 days to go....  gonna be tight...  :/

Still got loads to do... marquee lighting, wiring up amp, applying side art, t-molding, cp-wiring, back-panel wiring, affixing handle boxes to back panel, putting it all together...
 

[javeryh]

Wow really nice job.  Lining that up must have been really tough.  It looks great!

[Nephasth]

That control panel is beautiful!

[Jimbo]

Cheers gents! ... cutting the holes was done with a compass cutter, it wasn't too bad.  I had previously test-fit the artwork on some cheap paper at a local printers so I knew it should all line up ok.

Today I glued the thing together!  Finally, after so long... seeing it all together (albeit without the side art applied yet) was great - worth waiting for   Even the missus commented that it looked good!





I also lined the storage box with 4mm neoprene rubber/foam sheets.  Looks and feels nice I think   It's already full up with stuff!



Also tonight, enlisting a friend to help, we just about managed to get the CP wired up... man that took a while and was fiddly.  Opted to solder the controls instead of using the female spade connectors I'd bought, and I used boot lace ferrules on the ipac end.  Not the neatest, but I'm pretty happy...



Today I also got the speakers and amp connected, the marquee installed with LED strip, wired the IEC power socket, and test-ran booting the pi.  All worked nicely

Still to do....

 - Apply side art!
 - Apply t-molding on side panels.
 - Mount powerstrip, pi, usb hub, tidy and connect up cables etc.

Cutting it fine, lol... the kids had better appreciate this...

[DaOld Man]

Looks real good jimbo!!

I have a question about your intro video/music:
Does this play while the computer is booting up? If so, I have to ask how you did it.
I have thought about using some sort of video switch that would switch between a compact player running a video until the computer boot process is done, then automatically switch the monitor to the PC.
Be a great way to hide the boot process when you power up the arcade.
But I never came up with anything that I thought would work.
Does this video play during boot up or after? You may have already explained this and I missed it. If so, i apologize and claim the senior citizen excuse.

[Jimbo]

Thanks mate

The video is setup as a splash screen video with retropie.  I'm running a pi3, and I have disabled the boot text/image by following this procedure:

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/14299/tutorial-remove-boot-text-on-the-raspberry-pi-for-noobs

Doing this and the video starts after just a few seconds

I have a pre-installed downloaded retropie image with loads of systems and games on it so it takes about 35 seconds from boot to the frontend.  I've set the video length to about this amount of time.  The emulationstation frontend loads in the background while the video is playing so once the video finishes, it's only a few more seconds and the frontend shows.

Of course, this method only works with a Pi running retropie. 

[Jimbo]

Woo!  I did it in time....  well, got the side art applied anyway, and it's playable... she chooches like a good'un

Not fully configured yet, but the kids love it!  Mission accomplished!   I still have some tidying up to do, paint touch ups, t-molding to install and software configuration of emulators and controls, but it's usable



Side art came out lovely... the missus helped me apply it last night and I trimmed the edges with a craft knife...



CP looks great - I'm well chuffed with this!



Marquee and top box internals: I used a broom handle to hold the LED strip, and hot glued the audio amp. Cable access through each side of the marquee floor/back panel...



And top view... t-molding a bit dirty - might replace that soon...



Back panel/door: -




Merry Christmas everyone! 

[Nephasth]

Very nice! 

[Arroyo]

Well done Jimbo, looks great! 

[markc74]

Looking awesome, my man!

I don't think your photos do justice to how nice that artwork looks in the flesh though... 

[javeryh]

Congrats!  Looks awesome.  Make sure you finish - a playable cab that isn't 100% complete is a dangerous thing.   

How was applying the side art?  Did you line it up, stick it down and then trim with a razor?  Can you describe how you did it?  I can't figure out whether to put cab art side down on table and then trim around edge with razor or art side up and slice off excess art with razor blade using the edge of the side panel as a flat surface for the razor.  Basically, how did you get straight lines and a crisp edge?

[Jimbo]

Thanks guys! 

I uploaded a short video tour of the finished cab...  apologies for the dressing gown, and the low volume and light, but it shows the main features. 



Javeryh, I agree on the finishing part!  Today I finished the t-molding, so that's pretty much it for the build - just a few software config bits to do with retropie.  The ipac is all setup now so the controls are all working.  I had to switch emulators on some games to get the spinners and trackball to work properly, and mess about with config files while ssh'd into the pi.  Advance Mame seems to work best with these.

With the side art, I had the artwork designed so there was an overhang of about 5mm all the way around - this made it very easy to line up (just make sure it's overlapping all the way around).  I lay the cab on a towel on the floor, on its side, then lined up the artwork so it fit... then I clamped around the middle, and cut a 3cm strip of the backing off the top.  Then I stuck that top bit down, removed the clamps, and peeled back the rest of the adhesive backing slowly to apply to the rest of the side panel.  Had some help from the missus here.  I think 2 pairs of hands is better than 1 for this part!

With the side art applied, I had a 5mm overhang.  I flipped the cab over 180 degrees and put the newly applied side art panel on the floor, on a piece of clean smooth hardboard.  Then I just used a very sharp (new blade) craft knife to trim around the edges by hand.  This wasn't so bad cutting into the hardboard.  I just went slowly and it turned out fine.  I've seen people fold the side art under the t-molding, but this is the tough textured stuff from gameongrafix so I didn't fancy bending that without creases etc.  The t-molding finishes it off nicely and just overlaps the edge of my 18mm side panels so hides the cut edges fine (but they were neat enough anyway). 

[DaOld Man]

Wow! Great job Jimbo! 

[javeryh]

Thanks guys! 

I uploaded a short video tour of the finished cab...  apologies for the dressing gown, and the low volume and light, but it shows the main features. 



Javeryh, I agree on the finishing part!  Today I finished the t-molding, so that's pretty much it for the build - just a few software config bits to do with retropie.  The ipac is all setup now so the controls are all working.  I had to switch emulators on some games to get the spinners and trackball to work properly, and mess about with config files while ssh'd into the pi.  Advance Mame seems to work best with these.

With the side art, I had the artwork designed so there was an overhang of about 5mm all the way around - this made it very easy to line up (just make sure it's overlapping all the way around).  I lay the cab on a towel on the floor, on its side, then lined up the artwork so it fit... then I clamped around the middle, and cut a 3cm strip of the backing off the top.  Then I stuck that top bit down, removed the clamps, and peeled back the rest of the adhesive backing slowly to apply to the rest of the side panel.  Had some help from the missus here.  I think 2 pairs of hands is better than 1 for this part!

With the side art applied, I had a 5mm overhang.  I flipped the cab over 180 degrees and put the newly applied side art panel on the floor, on a piece of clean smooth hardboard.  Then I just used a very sharp (new blade) craft knife to trim around the edges by hand.  This wasn't so bad cutting into the hardboard.  I just went slowly and it turned out fine.  I've seen people fold the side art under the t-molding, but this is the tough textured stuff from gameongrafix so I didn't fancy bending that without creases etc.  The t-molding finishes it off nicely and just overlaps the edge of my 18mm side panels so hides the cut edges fine (but they were neat enough anyway). 

Thanks for the explanation.  I have gameongrafix textured stuff as well so I'll probably do exactly what you did to trim the excess.  As for lining it up... yeah... I had to make a template of the side panel out of plexi so I could see through and line up the art and then line up the plexi with the actual side panel.  I'll go into more detail in my thread if I ever get some time to continue working on my cab!

I love the boot up sequence.  Really makes it look like a finished product.  It came out great!!   

[Jimbo]

Thanks Javeryh...

Sounds like you're nearly finished... looking forward to seeing how it goes.  BTW, I think we used the same artist!

[Arroyo]

I can’t tell from the pictures or the video if you kept the graphics underneath the marquee?

[Jimbo]

The speaker panel?  Yep    (I still need to replace these speaker screws with more appropriate ones)...

[Arroyo]

The speaker panel?  Yep    (I still need to replace these speaker screws with more appropriate ones)...

Nice, that turned out great!

[Ond]

Very nice work, the artwork is consistent and the cabinet finish is slick.  The music and start-up routine triggers my nostalgia synapses - well done!

[Arroyo]

The music and start-up routine triggers my nostalgia synapses - well done!

That melody has been playing on a loop in my head for a few days now.....thanks Jimbo.

[Jimbo]

The music and start-up routine triggers my nostalgia synapses - well done!

That melody has been playing on a loop in my head for a few days now.....thanks Jimbo.

Thanks guys... 80's cheese, ya see! 

[javeryh]

Thanks Javeryh...

Sounds like you're nearly finished... looking forward to seeing how it goes.  BTW, I think we used the same artist!

I'm pretty sure we did use the same artist - I would definitely use him/her again.  Your art came out awesome and I'm very pleased with mine.  Easy to work with, quick turnaround time and fair pricing.   

How did you create the custom boot video?  IMO, that is one of the best things about your cabinet.  Really ties it all together.

[Jimbo]

Thanks Javeryh...

I had the idea for some cheesy sci-fi opening with the logo zooming in and spinning etc, with 80s style sci-fi tv show/computer adverty music, then the pixel art splash screen showing while the rest of the pi loaded up.  I originally tried using Openshot (and before that Microsoft Movie Maker), but I didn't get on with it. It was basic and I couldn't get it to do what I wanted - probably more down to me than the software.  I then enlisted the help of someone at work who has an adobe subscription.  I think he used After Effects and pieced all the bits together for me in sequence (logo, stars, music, splash screen etc).

So whilst I can take the credit for the idea, the music and direction, I had help with the artwork and piecing it together into the video. 

[mgb]

I know it's a bit of an older thread but I haven't been here in a while.
I really like this build a lot. Very nice work.
I like how you fit the spinners in like that.

[Jimbo]

Thanks - I actually did a whole bunch of tweaks after this was finished.  When I get some time I plan to take another short video showcasing them.  Part of the tweaks was to completely redefine the gamelist and get custom loading screens for each game showing the controls to use, and testing everything.

Basically I redid the entire software retropie setup from scratch.  Those pre-built bazillion-game images are great, but this was the only way to get it to work exactly how I wanted.

It's now completely 100% user friendly and (so far) has proved impossible to "break" by the kids, and it has all my old favourite arcade games (and home computer/console systems).  I'd say about 150 games total.

When I get half hour spare I'll take another video and link to it here showing what I learned and what I changed.

 

[Arroyo]

I’m not that into bar tops in general but this and a handful of others are high on the list. 

When are you going to show us some new projects Jimbo?