Here is a pictorial of my recent build(s). These cabinets were heavily inspired by the OND - Metropolis cab thread. They turned out really nice and I'm super happy with the results.
I built 2 'identical' copies of this at once, one for me and one for a friend of mine. Since I was already doing all the design / setup / planning / software config for mine, I figured it would be very little work to press out a 2nd copy of everything. All in all, that was pretty much true. Other than the wiring and the laminating of the panels, cutting 2 of every part was very little extra work.
One aspect of these cabs that is pretty unique (and pretty awesome IMO!) is my collapsible keyboard & mouse tray for PC gaming and admin of the cabinet. Lots of cabs out there have a keyboard tray under the control panel, but mine expands upwards and locks in place, so I have a large gaming tray right at the same level as my control panel, which is very comfortable for playing PC games on a stool. I put in a powerful gaming PC, so I can make full use of it as a multi-purpose gaming station.
The control panel shape is taken from the 'Metropolis' thread, as I loved the look of the graphic rolling over unbroken onto the front of the CP, so I hinged it for access on the bottom. This makes it open up towards the front, totally flat, so it is the most accessible CP I've seen to work on.
Specs:
Cabinet :
77" tall, 24" deep (control panel extends 4" out front and 1.5" off each side), 32.5" wide.
Made of Sanded pine plywood, covered with Wilsonart matte black and matte white laminate sheets.
1/4" tempered glass over the screen. 1/2" MDF routed bezel between glass and monitor (painted black).
Casters and handles.
PC Guts:
32" 1440p monitor. Win 10 PC with RTX 3070 GPU. Logitech 2.1 speaker set.
Running Launchbox / BigBox
Control Guts:
Ultimarc U360 sticks. (White cabinet)
Sanwa JLF 8-ways with octo and round restrictors. (black cabinet)
Ultimarc Ultralux buttons (White cabinet)
Ultimarc Goldleaf buttons with black plungers (black cabinet)
Ultimarc U360 flight stick on each.
Ultimarc J-Stik (JLW) with 4-way restrictor on each.
Ultimarc trackballs.
Ultimarc spin-trak spinners.
Ultimate I/O boards.
Gameongrafix control panel graphics and static marquee.
Pixelcade LCD (white cabinet).
First off, the room my cab is going in, I recently finished remodeling with all white trim and cabinetry, which explains why I was drawn to the white/chrome look for my build. Fits into the room very nicely!
Here are the finished 'twins' (was waiting on my Pixelcade marquee at this point), before the black one leaves for his new home.
Pixelcade LCD really adds a fantastic dimension to the cab. Thanks to Al for the tech support on it! Couldn't be happier with it now!
Stole this idea from the 'Lakeside arcade' thread. Recessed tray to keep the admin buttons from cluttering the control panel, and makes a great spot for a pile of tokens / controllers / cell phone.
Could not ask for a more accessible control panel to work on!
My favorite feature, to turn it into a PC gaming station. Also makes admin and setup much more convenient. Stores away into the cab in just 3.5" of space.
Steel pin on tray locks into this steel sleeve to make the KB tray super solid:
Control panel graphic SVG files. If you know the Portal games, the imagery makes more sense. But I think it looks cool anyways. Seemed like a cool theme on a stark white cab. The portal gun and GlaDOS being just sort of shadows I think made it a little less busy feeling. I dig how the row of warning icons looks on the front of the control panel.
Spaceship interior theme for the black cab. Same control layout, so that was nice.
Will add construction pics tomorrow.