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Galaga - Another Scratch Built Replica..

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HoopstarsGarage:
Since having completed my first cabinet (Centicade) I have had the itch to do another replica MAME cab.  As a kid growing up in the early 80's, my favourite game of all time was Galaga.  There was something about that game that had me hooked back then, and since discovering MAME a few years ago, I have become a Galaga addict again..

Unfortunately in Australia back in the early 80's we were not lucky enough to have a lot of the distinctive original cabinets that the game manufactures brought out.  Instead, we were stuck with boring simulated woodgrain cabinets that for the most part blended into each other in the arcades with the only major difference between one machine and the next being the graphics on the screen and the (poor quality) marquee.  It was an era of bootlegs and generic cabinets  :'(

For this next project I wanted.. no sorry NEEDED to have my very own Galaga cabinet by Namco.  I wanted this cab to look like I'd turned back time to 1981 and managed to import a brand new Galaga cabinet for my games room.  In short.. I needed to build another scratch built replica.. ;)

So the design brief for this one was pretty simple:

- It had to be as close to the real thing as possible.  
- It had to have as many original parts as possible.  
- It had to ooze 1981 Galaga.
- It had to look NIB (New In Box)
- It had to have leaf switches.. just like the original.

So began the search for as many original parts from a Namco Galaga cabinet as possible to make this dream a reality.   Repro is nice, but if the original part could be found.. and in good condition, then it would be employeed in this project.  I also wanted detail - the little details that for the most part are over looked during the average build up.   Did I say ooze 1981 Galaga??

The whole project received a massive shot in the arm when I checked out the Buy/Sell/Trade section on BYOAC one day mid-2005..  To be honest, I very rarely check this section and I was pretty stoked to find someone parting out a complete Galaga cabinet that was pretty badly water damaged.

I put a bid on the parts I wanted/needed and got most  of what I wanted and for a very very reasonable sum including delivery to Australia.  The parts included:

- Metal Control Panel complete with original joystick, buttons and loom.
- Speaker Grille.
- Rear Transport Handles.
- CP Catches and Associated Hardware.
- Original Namco plate.


I then set about trying to find a nice, original Namco coin door.  I began a daily troll on Ebay (US) in search of a nice coin door.  Easier said than done - most of the ones I looked at had big dents in them, where missing parts or had been basically stuffed when someone tried to break into them.  I eventually found a pretty nice one - it was clean, straight and complete but the front was a little rusty.  Ended up costing me about $80AUD including delivery - pretty expensive, but such is the cost of originality :)



By Now the ball was really rolling and I started looking at getting the artwork.  TwoBits handle the Namco licensed repro artwork which is very very nice.  It is silk screened and as close as you can get to the original stuff.  The downside is the price of getting the side art (x2), the kick panel art, Control Panel Overlay and the Marquee including delivery would run out to around $400 AUD..  :o

Again, I started trolling Ebay in the hope to find some cheap artwork.  I bid on a couple of items and always got outbid - I wanted it, but not as badly as some others obviously did.  I then found out that most of the artwork sold on Ebay (especially by twobits) is seconds quality.  I did not want to deal with something that could be considered second rate in terms of finish, scratches, creases or rips - there has been plenty written about this on RGVAG..!!

When it seemed certain I was about to be some $400AUD out of pocket to cover this part of the project, I stumbled across a guy here in Australia who had bought the complete artwork set for his own (stalled) project and was selling them on Ebay.  I ended up winning the auction for only $206AUD - a saving of nearly $200..!! ;D

So with pretty much all of the parts in hand, I set about researching the cabinet side of things.  Jakobuds awesome website proved invaluable once again as the basis of the dimensions for the cabinet.  I say the basis because during the build up of CentiCade, I found a couple of the measurements to be out.

After lots of researching, collecting photos from all over the web and lots of posts on RGAVC I pretty much felt I was at the point to construct accurately a Galaga cabinet as close to the original Namco dimensions that is possible...  I intend to feed my findings back to Jakobud so he can update his own website once this is all completed..

HoopstarsGarage:
First step was to cut out the sides of the cabinet...  Nothing overly complicated here other than checking and then rechecking my work.  One thing I WON'T be doing again is screwing through the sides of the cabinet from the outside like I did with CentiCade - it proved to be a big mistake and took a LOT of time to blend the filled areas of these screws.. and that was with white - with the gloss black of Galaga it would stand out like a sore thumb  :P


I'm not going to bore you with a whole lot of step-by-step photos but rather point out some of the finer details on this build..  Enjoy..!!
Here is an over view of the cabinet..  Nothing overly complicated in these shots but note how the from coin door panel angles in - well actually it is at right angles to the ground and the front of the cab has a slight lean outwards towards the player.


This shot shows the control panel and monitor/bezel area - I am going to be running a brand new 21" arcade monitor on this build up so unfortunately won't be using the repro bezel artwork from TwoBits..  Probably a good thing as the price landed is around $400AUD just for that one piece..  I have a couple of other ideas up my sleeve that may work out - just wish someone would vectorize the raster image on Local Arcades.
Another point of interest is that the monitor mount (lower frame) is angled slightly towards the player for better viewing of the monitor.  The angles and distances are exactly the same as the original.


Here you can see the cut outs for the molded handles that Galaga uses - note that the centre bolt hole for each handle is suppose to be higher than the outer holes.  You can also see the on/off switch access hole on the top of the cab - this is in exactly the same position and exactly the same diameter as the original.. again, it's the little things that make the difference..  ;D


A Galaga wouldn't be a Galaga without the wooden coin box.  As with most things on this cabinet, it is in the same position and of the same size as the original.  I intend to fabricate the cover and lock bar frame for the coin box to the same specs as the original.  I will also be fitting a repro coin bucket for a little more added authenticity..



The speaker setup is one area that does deviate slightly from the original cab.  Firstly you'll notice the flattened cut out of speaker hole..  This is how the original was cut out but was actually flattened on BOTH the front and the back which covered up a lot of the speaker - I opened this up as much as possible to take advantage of the higher quality speaker I am using.  On this, I went to my local car audio store who were having a sale - picked up some metal coned, rubber surround 4 way 6"x9" speakers for only $30..!!  Did a quick bench test on one and they sound pretty nice actually - not sure how this will translate with Galaga's mono electronic sounds, but should be interesting..

The back access door is a replica of the original as well including the measurements of the air vents and their relative positions to each other.  I will be using the same mesh inside these vents just like the Namco cab did..

Well thats enough for tonight..  I hope to get some more done on Saturday because then it's Christmas and that just blurrs into new year which is almost always a blurr in itself :)

Hope you enjoy the build up..


Hoops

jhanson:
Looking great!  Keep the pictures coming.   :)

spriggy:
Well Done Hoopstar,

Good to see another Aussie replicating original classics...however...unlike me  ::).....your actually doing it and not just talking about it!! :-\  I still have 2 other cabs to finish before I start.

Best of luck.

clonestar:
I really like your project so far and think that the quality of your work and attention to detail makes the difference between a replica and a great replica.  I am about to start a replica galaxian upright can anyone tell me if this cab is the same?

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