PacMan/Galaga Exact Cab Dimensions

[Michael]

Does anyone have the exact dimensions for a Midway PacMan or Galaga upright cabinet? I don't mean general height, width, and depth; I need radiuses (radii?) and everything. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[NinjaEpisode]

Well, I was gonna suggest Jakobud's site, but it looks like it's currently down.  Someone here probably has them though.

[arcade-mad]

Ive got them ill e mail em to you no problemo   

e mail sent for pacman but dont have galga sry

[myarcadeid]

I'm actually looking for the same thing.  Would you mind sending me a copy as well?

[CheffoJeffo]

I have mirrored the EPS versions of Jakobud's plans (thanks to zorg for the original mirror):

http://happycampers.to/arcade/jakobud/

Cheers.

[myarcadeid]

Thanks a lot.  I actually got a message from Jakobud saying that his site should be back up again soon, but this helped me a lot since I'm impatient!   

[zorg]

good news to see that jakobud plans will be up and running again.

you can check a jakobub backup
you can also check some plans I collected on the web, you will find the plans published by Kyle Lindstrom.

[Wade]

Jakobud's cab dims are wrong for the Galaga/Ms Pac cabinet.  The lower front of the real cabinet is not sloped like he has it.  If you want your cabinet to be indistinguishable from the real thing, you better get your dims somewhere else.

Wade

[zorg]

Jakobud's cab dims are wrong for the Galaga/Ms Pac cabinet.  The lower front of the real cabinet is not sloped like he has it.  If you want your cabinet to be indistinguishable from the real thing, you better get your dims somewhere else.

can you provide corrections in order to have plans that allow to create a "cabinet to be indistinguishable from the real thing" ??

it will be helpfull.

[patrickl]

Jakobud's cab dims are wrong for the Galaga/Ms Pac cabinet.  The lower front of the real cabinet is not sloped like he has it.  If you want your cabinet to be indistinguishable from the real thing, you better get your dims somewhere else.

Wade

You mean the bezel around the kickplate? I have been collecting pictures of sides of Galaga cabs and on those pictures that cab does have that sloped bezel to the sides of the kick plate. Or are you saying the slope should be less?

[Wade]

PatrickL,

I'm not sure what you mean.

Zorg,

I'm sorry, but I don't have any Galagas in my possession right now.

The part that is obviously incorrect is the lip where the sides meet the front face.  It should be roughly 3/8" all the way along the front edges.  In his plans, the lower front has a slope, instead of being perfectly vertical (as it is on the real cabinet).

I do have a friend nearby with a Galaga that I restored, so I can get access to it if necessary to help correct the dims.

I also know there are flaws in the T&F cocktail dims, because I provided the dims.  I corrected one length later that we intially had to estimate, and he didn't want to fix the drawings. :/

All I'm saying is... if you are after perfection, Jakobud's plans are the way to go.  They are a great guide if you want something similar, or want some general dims to base a custom cabinet from.

Wade

[zorg]

I do have a friend nearby with a Galaga that I restored, so I can get access to it if necessary to help correct the dims.

I also know there are flaws in the T&F cocktail dims, because I provided the dims.  I corrected one length later that we intially had to estimate, and he didn't want to fix the drawings. :/

please take the time to track the exact dimensions, and I'll take care of the plans.

[patrickl]

PatrickL,

I'm not sure what you mean.

<snip>

The part that is obviously incorrect is the lip where the sides meet the front face.  It should be roughly 3/8" all the way along the front edges.  In his plans, the lower front has a slope, instead of being perfectly vertical (as it is on the real cabinet).

I think you are incorrect in that statement. I have seen so many pictures of Galaga cabs where there clearly is a slope visible. It's only about half an inch or so, but it is visible.

Maybe the cab you restored doesn't have this slope, but I have seen lots of pictures showing the slope (to be honest I have seen none positviely showing a straight leading edge). Are you sure the cab you restored not was an original? Maybe there were a few galaga cabs with straight fronts, but even if so there were lots more with a sloped front. Jakobuds dimensions for this cab don't seem wrong to me.

[Wade]

"All I'm saying is... if you are after perfection, Jakobud's plans are the way to go.  They are a great guide if you want something similar, or want some general dims to base a custom cabinet from."

BTW, What I meant to say above is "aren't the way to go"...

PatrickL, I'm absolutely sure there was no slope.  I helped restore a couple of other Galagas and they were the same - the lower from from the ground to near the CP was perfectly vertical.  These cabinets had the original Midway logo plate on the back and everything.

I HAVE seen some people on this forum build Galagas from the PLANS and of course ended up with the slope that shouldn't be there.  Maybe you have seen some of those?  Maybe the pictures you are looking at appear to have a slope because of the perspective.

Since this is apparently a pretty big concern to some of you, I will make plans to get the dims from one of the local Galagas.

Wade

[patrickl]

No, I have seen battered originals with the slope. With pictures taken for the side art or dimensions.

It just doesn't make sense that someone would make the front slope by accident. It makes much more sense that someone remakes a Galaga and forgets about the slope on the front. I have even seen a pictureof the side with measurements written on it and he forget (misstyped) the slope while it's clearly visible that there is a slope.
 
Seriously, the front IS sloped on an original Galaga/MS Pacman. Could be that there were two types of originals, but I seriously doubt it.

[CheffoJeffo]

This thread is useless without pics ...

Cheerrs

[patrickl]

Sorry, here are a few picture (some sloped and some not). They are not mine so I'm a bit hesitant to post them. Hope noone objects. Unfortunately the Galaga cab pictures are always pretty hard to see the inside of the leading edge.

[Wade]

PatrickL,

If you have seen Galaga's with a sloped front in person, then I don't know what to say, other than there may be two types of Galaga cabs.  It just seems real unlikely (we agree on this).

I don't think some (original) cabinets got made with a slope on the front by accident, either.  I know some people on this forum have built Galagas based on Jakobud's dims, incorrectly, with that slope.

I admit that it appears there is a slope on some of those pictures you posted.  The problem with that, is they are just pictures, and pictures can be deceiving.  The edge is hard to see on those pictures in particular.  I can't even be sure that it isn't a shadow caused by the camera flash, or something else in the background.  Even the MsPac with the dims on it clearly shows there is NO slope.  The slope you think you see is just lens perspective.

All I can say is, I have only seen Galaga's in person with a vertical front.  I don't mean to be blunt, but UNTIL you can produce an original Galaga with a sloped front, I will assume they all have a vertical front.  That said, I admit that it would be strange, but of course not *impossible*, for there to be two original Galaga profiles.

Wade

No, I have seen battered originals with the slope. With pictures taken for the side art or dimensions.

It just doesn't make sense that someone would make the front slope by accident. It makes much more sense that someone remakes a Galaga and forgets about the slope on the front. I have even seen a pictureof the side with measurements written on it and he forget (misstyped) the slope while it's clearly visible that there is a slope.
 
Seriously, the front IS sloped on an original Galaga/MS Pacman. Could be that there were two types of originals, but I seriously doubt it.

[CheffoJeffo]

Having looked at this picture taken of my Galaga when I first got her, I figured that she is sloped below the CP.



To be fair, this picture was taken at somewhat of an angle, which adds to the impression that it is slanted.

So I go downstairs to check my Galaga and low and behold, it is straight (I even pulled out the level and tape to be sure).

What it is interesting is that someone must have taken the original measurements and the base of the cabinet and just below the CP would be points I would measure.

I am curious who would possibly demand 100% accuracy when building from scratch based on plans on the Net, as opposed to picking up one of the multitude of old cabs out there and doing a true restoration.

Cheers.

[CheffoJeffo]

I don't mean to be blunt,

It is amazing how often accidental bluntness happens ...

Cheers.

[patrickl]

You might have to play a bit with the brightnes/gamma in some picture program, but several of the pictures clearly show a triangular shape for the inside edge. I think I even read from someone that at the bottom it was 1/8 and near the top it was an inch or half an inch wider. Can't find it anymore unfortunately.

I see a clear increase in width of about half an inch in the Ms Pac with the dimensions (after correcting for perspective). On the other hand it could be a problem with the camera too since the back bulges out from a perfectly vertical line too. It's not easy to see 1/2" on a 30 inch from a small picture. In the MsPac example it's just 5 or 6 pixels or something. The inside leading edges on the ms pac cabs are pretty clearly visible though and I'd say in some of the Galaga pictures I posted it's pretty clear too. There is some flash and perspective as well, but the leading edge is visible against the kickplate falling back further.

I'd say it's most clear on the clear pac That was a reproduction done for a museum. There is no way they made that slope by accident (or from the plans of jakobuds site)

CheffoJeffo's picture looks perfecly straight yes (after the picture is corrected for perspective)

It's not really about being 100% accurate, but the front slope alters the appearance of the cab. I guess it doesn't matter no, but for instance there are so many pacman cabs that are repainted, stickered and are now sold as "original" Galaga cabs. It just looks so different. Maybe a slightly different profile is not important, but it just looks weird to me.

Personally I think the sloped front makes the cab look better too. Somehow it looks slimmer and less bulky to me Guess it doesn't make sense since it only adds to the side profile, but still.

What I really wonder about is where Jakobud's dimensions came from. Someone most have measured his/her cab and can verify if it is actually sloped or not. Maybe that was from an MS Pac cab even. Maybe only MsPac cabs have the sloped front. It's nearly impossible to tell an MsPac cab from a Galaga cab if that would be the only difference and I guess many Galaga cabs on eBay will have been MsPacs once too.

Who knows. Maybe it's just an MsPac thing.

[CheffoJeffo]

Who knows. Maybe it's just an MsPac thing.

I was thinking the same thing ... people SAY they're the same, but maybe they are not.

People say Bosconian and Galaga cabs are the same, but apparently (I don't have a Bosconian), they're not.

Cheers.

[Wade]

I thought the same thing, maybe MsPacs have that slope, and of course some of the pictures you have might be converted from MsPacs or may even be factory conversions.  I have "heard" of plywood Galagas, which might have been meant to be MsPac cabinets originally.

Personally, since all the Galaga's I've ever seen in person had a straight front, the sloped front looks odd to me...

Regardless, you still only offer pictures.  Let us know if you find a real Galaga cabinet with the slope.  I have seen an awful lot of Galaga cabinets, and I have never noticed the slope.  I have seen several since restoring a really bad one, and since then, I *would* have noticed the slope.

Wade

[patrickl]

Well how would I know if it was a "real" Galaga even if I saw one