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Nova BigScreen MAME cabinet
skr:
Thanks for the suggestion and explanations - nice setup you did there!
Actually I already do have a switch replacing the power on / shutdown bottom of the PC hidden under the tray :) The idea to use this to trigger the rest is great!
Having 3 separate switches at the back was however on purpose, that way I can only have the LED marquee turned on without the rest or the PC without the monitor when transferring files or doing maintenance via VPN.
skr:
Been a while, here comes an update for the overhauled control panel :)
Originally the BigScreen cabinet has 3 buttons, mine had a 4th added and placed kindof strange under the 2nd (see above). After playing around with the original setup that came with the cabinet it was soon clear that the layout of the buttons had to be updated. The mircroswitches did not work reliably, the joysticks also were quite worn and did not work as I would expect.
As stated I did not like the layout, so the complete control panel had to be replaced. Luckily for me the panel is made of sheet metal - much more my material than wood :D
After some research I decided to go for Sanwa JLF sticks and short Happ style buttons (IL PSL). While drifting through the web I also came across the pro and cons of 8-way vs. 4-way controls, so in the end I decided to tackle this directly and also ordered the switchable 4-to-8-way restrictor by thundersticks.
With all the hardware available the next step was the design of the panel. The layout was soon decided on with help of this forum :)
A slightly adapted version of the Astro City layout from slagcoin.com reduced to 6 buttons per player, a slighty wider space between the sticks and the buttons plus 2 additional buttons for software-controls (and later also the double button for the 4/8-way switch in the middle top part):
A piece of ordinary sheet-metal steel in 1mm thickness already cut to the right width was the basis. I then 3D-printed templates for the layouts and visited a mate of mine who has all the right tools for bending and drilling:
Final raw panel vs. original one:
Dry-build:
The decision how to paint / cover the panel to make it look as close as possible to the original one then took quite some time...
I actually still did not quite figure out how the original one was done (spray-paint, powder-coat, foil - all did not quite fit the structure or surface), but I decided for fine structured powder coating and this turned out great:
With that done the last part was the blue design on the panel. As the design is quite easy to draw I thought it would be a good idea to create a vector-drawing and plot the design as a negative template with a special masking foil made for the purpose. I general a good idea and the design was spot-on:
But. The foil did not stick well enough on the structured powder-coated surface, so after an hour of fiddling around and a lot of cursing I had to scrap the foil and do the design manually...
Paint was then the last challenge as normal acrylic spray paint does not seem to be the best choice for powder coated surfaces. Second issue was to match the blue color to the rest of the cabinet and the gloss level to the powder coated surface. In the end I decided for 2K polyurethane paint and found a supplier for individually mixed spraycans not too far away and could find a pretty decent match gloss- and color-wise :-)
Painted:
Finished:
I really love how this turned out :D Actually the blue color of the panel now even fits the blue of the cabinet better than the orginal panel :laugh:
Last thing to do: installation and wiring
And done:
firedance:
Great job on the control panel, design fits in perfectly like it's always been there :)
Zebidee:
Metal CP are the best! Love the feel of steel.
I got mine done for "beer money" at the metal shop, and later got some welding done for some more "beer money" at another local workshop.
My metal shop wasn't able to do those tight hairpin bends at the ends like yours, the machines weren't able to, but for the bit that sits against the front glass I managed with a bit of rubber auto trim, cut to size, that I bought online for a couple of bucks.
The welding was for attaching the piano hinge and for attaching some home-made "C" latches underneath. The C latches are for the adjustable pull-down clamps (or "toggle" clamps) that hold the CP closed down tight, while allowing quick release from inside/underneath.
How did you manage to lock down the CP?
Love the powdercoating and pinstripe custom paintwork! Very nice :cheers:
https://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,166352.msg1753832.html#msg1753832
skr:
Thanks!
The tight bend at the bottom and the hem at the top of the panel were a bit challenging, but in the end worked out great. Fun fact: the hem on the original panel is quite askew, I first thought this was on purpose, but couldn't find any reason... It is anyway hidden when the tray is closed, but it seems the original manufacturer didn't so much care about exact fabrication:-)
The panel is locked down by two latches and the respective holders in the panel:
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