Custom Lightgun Cab

[TapeWormInYourGut]

Long story short, I built a pedestal cab 8 years ago primarily for lightgun games. Well, I modded some Namco arcade knockoffs with aimtraks at the time, but I was so disappointed with their accuracy that I didn't even bother adding them to my build. As far as I am concerned, games are unplayable with aimtraks. I found out about Gun4IR about a year ago and replaced the aimtraks with those. To my surprise they were incredible. What a difference...

I finally have some time, so I've decided to build a dedicated lightgun cab. My initial plan was to build a 32" cab, but that ended up exploding into a 43" slim cab. I think I browsed too much youtube and got all excited over the "commercial" lightgun builds, because I ended up changing my direction and modeled this after them. I wanted the artwork based on House of the Dead 1 or 2, but I couldn't find content that was nice enough for printing. So it's going to be a Scarlet Dawn cab.





It's too cold outside so I made the cuts and brought the wood into my shortbus home for assembly. After I have everything fitted, I'll take it apart and drill the holes. I know there are some odd design choices like the speakers in the front, but I already have a set of Sony bookshelves that I never used, so I figure I'll recycle them here.

The assembly uses 11/16th" and 1/2" plywood because that's what my local big box shop sells. I drilled pocket holes for everything and am staying away from any glue. I'm definitely going to need to be able to take this thing apart when I move.

[Mike A]

Plywood was a good choice.

Especially if you plan on taking it apart and reassembling it.

[TapeWormInYourGut]

I ended up getting the pre-finished plywood with polyurethane too. It was a little cheaper than sanded, but only 30$ more per sheet than the rough cut stuff. I probably spent that much in sand paper in my last project so this was also a no brainer for me. I'm testing a small area to see if the art will stick and it's been a few days without any issues. I was dreading this project a bit, but modern stuff really makes things easy.

I'll get back to the grind this weekend and post how things are held together. Pocket hole jigs can be expensive, but I'm finding that they make things very easy to work with. Just needed some clamps to hold things in place while locked things together with the screws.


Anyone use lightly tinted plexiglass? I'm looking for a supplier and this looks prospective. No idea how it looks or if it's really "gray". Looking between 1/8" and 1/4".
https://www.eplastics.com/polycarbonate/sheets/bronze-gray/PC7130-125AM48X48

I might get clear and just paint the back of the bezel black around the screens.
https://www.eplastics.com/ACRYCLR0-187PM48X48?quantity=1&custcol3=48%22x39%22%20-%3E%20then%20cut%20this%20into%2036%22x39%22%20and%207.75%22x39%22%20pieces.%0A%0ACut%20the%2048%22x9%20-%20slice%20down%20to%20to%2039%22x6%22%0A

[firedance]

Good progress so far 

[Fursphere]

I've been thinking about doing something very similar to this, as the lightguns I have (Sindens) just feel 'off' on my regular cabs.  Not sure I have room for something this big to add to my collection though.  heh.

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

[TapeWormInYourGut]

A little progress. Took apart the cabinet to prep and get everything ready to paint. Also took care of cutting the acrylic. Next steps are paint, applying the artwork, and then start installing the electronics and hardware. I got the artwork from GameOnGraphix and the quality is really nice. I'll post pictures when I install. I chose the the luster finish, but if I build another cab then it'll be gloss instead.

Unfortunately the table-saw left some chips and of course I caused a few dents moving things around. I went through each piece and put on some Bondo and then sanded it smooth. Also finished all general sanding. Here is a portion of one piece as an example, but I had to go through 7 total.



I also cut the t-molding slots, and cut all necessary holes for the buttons, stream deck, light-gun "holsters", coin door, and some notches for the monitor's shape. I decided to put the speaker behind the screen because I didn't really like the look, so I didn't cut any speaker holes.

Cut 3 acrylic pieces as well and poked the holes. The acrylic was first cut a bit oversized, and then I used a flush bit on my router along the previously cut plywood to trim them down to exact sizes. Acrylic was messy, but everything is perfect without any chipping.





Also added a rounded champer to the gun holster holes on the acrylic. I did the same to the front of the "control panel" as well.



Finally recieved all of my PC hardware. Instead of mounting a standard PC case or directly to the cabinet, I bought a cheap "test bench" and will mount that inside the cabinet. Shouldn't have any issues with heat and still easily portable if I need to remove it. I then installed Windows and got most of the software ready.