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| What to buy first - controls/electronics or wood |
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| danny_galaga:
i bought controls first. made a crude control panel to play with them, and THEN buoilt a cab. |
| danny_galaga:
oh, and that is NOT a pc of my c ab ;) |
| MYX:
which came first the chicken or the egg? It is a back and forth argument. there are plusses and minuses for both sides. I had been collecting little bits and pieces for a while, but when I finally truely decided to build my cab and had saved up some $$$ (and you will need a lot of $$$), I went and got my obligatory 3 sheets of MDF. I did not have my monitor untill a couple of months after the start of my build. The trick is when designing, find a couple of real cabs somewhere so you can measure and make logical choices for sizing. Another expense before the wood is even though about is the Project Arcade Book. It is a great place to start even if you decide not to go with the project arcade plans. It will give you the frame work to start. If you dont have a cab, you have no place to put yer tronics. Right now I have my cab part about 90 percent done. I have switched spending modes and am now buying all the little bits and pieces that will bring it all together. I keep getting a little bit of money and think great this should do it.Then I remember... crap I still need to buy the marquee light and the .... |
| leapinlew:
If your limited on funds and can only get a few things up front - get the computer first. (assuming your using a computer) It took the longest for me to setup. It takes hours and hours to go through the roms, clean them up, setup a front end, etc. After that I would get the CP(which means the ipac, wiring, and controls) so you can fully configure your cp to work with your computer. Then get the monitor and wood to build the box to house your computer. |
| psychopanda:
The way I am doing it. Had the computer and monitor already. Bought the arcade parts, bought the wood. I started by throwing together a mock cp out of the mdf. Two versions later I had the layout I wanted. In retrospect I should've built a cardboard mock-up, but since I'm not much of a carpenter, it was good practice. Next started building the frame. I had cut the sides and the base. Took it upstairs to see what it would look like...found out the cabinet was way too tall and the monitor needed more space in the back. I almost skipped setting it up, and man...that would've cost me untold hours more than it did. After that was fixed, I later on noticed that the coin door I had recently bought would not fit. Over/under coin doors take alot of vertical space on the cabinet. So, after all my mistakes...I would say buy as much as you can, because you never know when you'll screw up. And if nothing else, it gives you something to do inbetween watching that darn paint dry. :P |
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