CAPTAIN AMERICADE (99% done) 9/1/04

[AGGIEZ]

CAPTAIN AMERICADE

This is my first attempt at a MAME cab, so be gentle. I decided to go with a Captain America theme because he was one of my favorite comic heroes as a child (still is).

Here are the specs and cost (mostly for my benefit and future reference):

$0 - Old Street Fighter II cab (empty)
$0 - Bezel (got free for a previous goof up)
$299 - AMD XP 2200+ CPU, Floppy Drive, 40GB EIDE Hard Drive, 16x DVD Drive,  256MB, Windows XP
$50 - 19" Monitor
$20 - Creative SoundBlaster 5.1 soundcard from Fry's
$20 - Creative Inspire T2900 2.1 speaker system from Fry's (Awesome at only $20!!)
$31 - Bits Limited Smart Strip LCG2 (HIGHLY REOMMENDED!!) http://www.bitsltd.net/SmartStrip/index.htm
$30 - Ultimarc I-Pac2
$30 - 2x Happ Controls Competition 8-way joysticks
$30 - Misc Happ Controls stuff (buttons...)
$20 - Custom marquee from mamemarquees http://www.mamemarquees.com
$55 - Custom sideart from mamemarquees
$15 - Vinyl print for CPO (local)
$5 - 2x glass pieces for marquee from Home Depot
$15 - Logitech wireless keyboard and moust from Fry's
$20 - Can of paint from Home Depot (USA Blue!)
$15 - T-molding from t-molding.com
$10 - marquee light from Home Depot
?? $15 ?? - Lexan to cover monitor and bezel from Home Depot
-------------------
TOTAL = $680

A little more then I planned on spending, but I'm happy with the product. I still need to get some Lexan to cover the monitor and I have a new CPO that will match the marquee but I'm still debating on using that. Also, I will be getting some new buttons to use Nannuu's stickers he sent me (THANKS!). I am getting a green button (GO) for the 'start game' button and a red (STOP) for the 'quit game' button. Hopefully this will make using the cab a little easier for those idiots that come over and hit every single button when something doesn't work, or work fast enough. I'd also like to get a matching instruction card to stick between the bezel and lexan, but that'll come later.

The ooooohs and ahhhhhhs that my friends give me is worth the price alone. I've added some really sweet sounds, music, and logon images to make the experience alot more cool and I can't wait to get their reaction from that. I also added some cup holders that I got from Academy for a few bucks.

I plan on trying to convince my brother that his kids need a mini-MAME cabinet, so that should be fun. I'll probably go with a Spiderman theme on that one (nephew LOVES Spiderman and there are ALOT of cool images and sounds out there that would be great for a cabinet)

Let me know what you think...

[AGGIEZ]

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[AGGIEZ]

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[AGGIEZ]

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[Sir Auros]

Coolsville. That cp overlay would kill my eyes though.  

[Apollo]

That's some nice work there buddy, I guess you won't miss a real 4-way stick?

[stuzza]

Looks great. Well done.  The artwork all ties in nice.  The Mamewah skin is good too.... LOL  

[AGGIEZ]

Looks great. Well done.  The artwork all ties in nice.  The Mamewah skin is good too.... LOL  

Yeh, that skin looks freaking awesome doesn't it? THANKS for making it for me stuzza!!! I appreciate it!!

[AGGIEZ]

That's some nice work there buddy, I guess you won't miss a real 4-way stick?

Apollo, I'd love to have a 4-way stick, but there just isn't room. I made this cab with the idea that I've only be playing games like Metal Slug, SF, and Marvel vs. SF, but after getting it up and running I realize I still in love with the old 4-way classics. I'll definitely add a 4-way stick on my next cab though!

[Ghoward]

Gooks great.

Gary

[Soulcon]

Awesome arcade system bud very clean and proffesional I love the marquee!

-Soul

[ras2a]

very very nice indeed.  I love the colour scheme too.

Excellent work

[Edgedamage]

Nice looking cab everything fits together nicely.

[snekse]

Not a big fan of the repeating CP overlay, but the Marquee looks awesome.  The old issue covers is a fantastic idea.  I like that fact that you didn't just fill the whole background with them, but spaced them out.  It really looks a lot better that way.

[AGGIEZ]

Not a big fan of the repeating CP overlay, but the Marquee looks awesome.  The old issue covers is a fantastic idea.  I like that fact that you didn't just fill the whole background with them, but spaced them out.  It really looks a lot better that way.

snekse - I am waiting on mamemarquees.com to get me my new CPO. It will be the same comic background as the marquee and will look alot better in my opinion.

[greywolf22]

Really clean looking cab, very nicely done

[snekse]

snekse - I am waiting on mamemarquees.com to get me my new CPO. It will be the same comic background as the marquee and will look alot better in my opinion.

That should be nice.  It would be cool if you could find a good gatefold type image to use for the CPO like this one.

http://www.computers.co.th/nux/modules/coppermine/albums/userpics/Captain-america-comic%7E0.jpg

Good luck with the rest.  Are you going to put up a bezel?  If you type in "Captian America" and look in their Images section there's some pretty cool stuff there.  

I haven't decided on a theme for my cab yet, so I'm hording pics at the moment.  Having a hard time deciding how much comic art I really want to put on a video game cab.  The problem is the art work is so pretty it's almost impossible to not put *some* comic art on the cab.  Thank god for Marvel vs. Capcom for a good excuse to put some choice art up.

Unless of course I work it into the name of my cab like you did :-)

[AGGIEZ]

Good luck with the rest.  Are you going to put up a bezel?  If you type in "Captian America" and look in their Images section there's some pretty cool stuff there.  

I have a solid black bezel that I'm probably going to put an instruction card on, but that's about it. I don't want too much going on around the monitor so that it doesn't distract from the game.

[AGGIEZ]

Here are some new pictures. I've replaced the CPO with one that matches the marquee background. I think it looks alot more uniform now. I've also changed out some of the button colors and added some of NANNUU's stickers to make it easier for friends and family to use (Green means GO, Red means STOP)

The only thing left is the glass or lexan to cover the bezel and an instruction card that I'll place right below the monitor.

[AGGIEZ]

New control panel...

[Yander]

It looks amazing  

[filenabber]

CAPTAIN AMERICADE

$0 - Old Street Fighter II cab (empty)

Just an FYI - it may have been a SF2 when you got it, but it started out life as a Track and Field:
http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=flyerdb&subpage=flyer&id=2409&image=4

Brian

[AlexC]

Looks really awesome, it has come a long way, congratz !!!

[AGGIEZ]

Thanks for your help with the wiring Alex! So, when are you going to post your cabs on here??

[AGGIEZ]

CAPTAIN AMERICADE

$0 - Old Street Fighter II cab (empty)

Just an FYI - it may have been a SF2 when you got it, but it started out life as a Track and Field:
http://www.arcadeflyers.com/?page=flyerdb&subpage=flyer&id=2409&image=4

Brian

Thanks. So I guess I can refer to this one as an old Track and Field cab now.

[bdsjake]

nice work!

[AlexC]

Thanks for your help with the wiring Alex! So, when are you going to post your cabs on here??

Soon, I still have some stuff I need to do on them, I've been wanting to work on the 4 player cab but its been too hot latetly to work in the garage, but its cooling off a bit now so back to work for me  
Also I bought a working Sinistar Cockpit  
I still haven't picked it up but I'll post some picks when I get it home.
BTW.. where did you get the CP vinyl printed at, it looks great.
Later, AlexC

[AGGIEZ]

BTW.. where did you get the CP vinyl printed at, it looks great.
Later, AlexC

I got the CPO printed at mamemarquees.com.  They were great to deal with. I actually had the CPO, marquee, AND sideart printed there. One thing I don't like though it that the vinyl they use for their CPO's isn't very adhesive. You'll have to buy some 3M spray adhesive if you go with them (probably the same for the others too)