Xanterion! (Psychopanda's Project)

[psychopanda]

Well, I've been interested in building an arcade cab for about 6 years now. Finally I had the resources, time, money, and garage (most important!) to get started. I began posting on this forum only as of late, but I've been following this and other websites for quite some time.

I "think" I know what I'm doing at this point. (yet I constantly prove myself wrong along the way!) I'm using the dimensions from Lusid's design and modifying them a little for personal aesthetics and making the cabinet so that I can break it down and reassemble it (mainly so that it can be transported from garage to upstairs den).

I can't thank people enough for the wealth of information here. It's helped alot, especially since I am not a woodworker by nature!

Here's a few pics from my progress. More can be found on my odd little website. If anyone has questions or comments, I'd love to hear them.

Website (arcade section):
http://www.psychopanda.net/goodies/goodies_arcade.php

[BobbyG66]

Any ideas for artwork?
You seem to be pretty creative with your toons.

[psychopanda]

Thanks BobbyG66.

I haven't started on the artwork yet, but I have some ideas. I would like to use images from comic artist, Jack Kirby. I've always been impressed with the way he could draw machinery and cosmic objects. I will likely redraw or trace some of Kirby's images in Illustrator, rather than just snip comics and paste them. This will allow me to resize things as needed and control the colors a bit better.

[psychopanda]

Ok, I got my first panel added to the lower front of the cab last night. It took me a long time, mainly because I added 1x2 strips combined with 1x4 strips to provide framing to bolt the panel to. Pre-drilling holes, drilling holes, test fitting, counter-sinking, measuring, bleh, etc.

It got me to thinking why not use little l-brackets to mount the panels to the sides? There must be some reason that most people don't do that? Cost? Structural support? Would the screws in the mdf just pop out if one were to use metal brackets instead of wood framing?

I likely won't get to work on the cab for a couple days, so I will contemplate this for a little bit. I think the l-brackets would save me some time though, since I wouldn't have to drill two pieces of wood.

[psychopanda]

Added Page 5 and 6 to the ongoing saga of the 'ugly behemoth':

http://www.psychopanda.net/goodies/goodies_arcade5.php
http://www.psychopanda.net/goodies/goodies_arcade6.php

I recently learned that not all cicrular saws are created equal, as mine tends to wander and miscut boards more than the one I borrowed from my Dad. Plus his saw had a handy dandy dust bag. And mine ... Ack! Cough!

Anyways, it's still a mess but it's coming along.

[miles2912]

You broke the first rule about building an arcade machine.  Don't play any games untill it is done!!    j/k  Looking good.  I know exactly what you mean about getting arcade parts in the mail..  just makes your day when the big brown truck shows up.

Don

[psychopanda]

Added page 7 to the ongoing saga:

http://www.psychopanda.net/goodies/goodies_arcade7.php

Amazing how a little paint can make everything look better!

And someday I will learn how to post images directly into my post like all the other cool people around here... 

EDIT: Just figured out how to attach images, yay!

[Crafty]

Looking Good

Keep up the posts and photo's

Any idea's for a Marquee??

[psychopanda]

Yep, I got some ideas for the marquee. I'm looking to do a cartoonish sci-fi theme for the cab. Inbetween watching the paint dry, I've been drawing some stuff in Illustrator. If you've seen my site, you can kind of get an idea of my art style from the Goodies section. Once I get things more finallized, I'll post them here.

[MYX]

Lotsa good pictures in the blog. Looking great.

[psychopanda]

More fun done. Along with my custom artwork printed marquee. (thanks mamemarquees.com!) I wanted to show it when I had it backlit, but I couldn't resist. Check out the page for more!

Page: http://www.psychopanda.net/goodies/goodies_arcade8.php

Sample pics:

[miles2912]

I have my sub in the cab it works out great.  Subs are non directional so it doesn't matter where you put them.   They jsut need air around them.  You might want to experiment with it in the cab just to see if there is a difference.  If you are going to just play arcagde games don't worry about it but for a juke cab play around with  the location.  My cab gets as much Karaoke use as it does Juke Box. 

D-

[psychopanda]

Thanks miles2912. I forgot to mention that in this thread. (Yeah, I mounted my subwoofer under my cabinet and that weird looking robot picture is my marquee)

I know that subwoofers are non-directional, but I was thinking that all the thick mdf would muffle the sound. I really should've tested it first though. At this point, it's staying at the bottom unless something terrible happens because there is no way I'll be lugging that monitor out of the cabinet yet again. The monitor is pretty heavy and doesn't fit through the back door.

The cabinet will be used as a jukebox as well, like you mentioned. It'll play arcade games, some pc games, music, cartoons, and possibly store my Xbox at some point. I'd also like to add my N64 in there, but I don't know of anyway to hook up an N64 to a computer monitor or whether it's even feasible.