(My first cab) Maming a MvC cab... advice?

[Organic Jerk]

Hello, all!

I'm a returning user who originally ended up here a couple of years ago while looking for an arcade joystick for my playstation 2.  At the time, I really wanted to build a cab, but I was away at college, and it just generally seemed way too out of my reach.

Well, some time later, I've decided to do what I had always wanted and start a cab.

My two obvious options were building it from scratch or restoring an old cab, and I kept my mind open for both..

After searching through many cabinet designs, I had ended up (like many it seems) with the conclusion that IF I couldnt find a good cab to restore, I would use the Ultimate Arcade II plans by mameroom.  The reason I had decided on this was because they seemed as close as I could get to that "larger" cab design I was looking for.   Basically, when I went to the arcades as a kid, I would often see the same game in two (or more) different cabs..  one in a smaller run of the mill cabinet for 25 cents , and one with a larger screen and supposedly better speakers that usually ran for more..  I wanted a "medium" cabinet...   I wasn't looking for the dollar behemoths, but I did want the 50 cent tiered ones... (not sure how people classify them here but this is at least how I saw them back in the day.)

In the end, after a long calling spree but a short search (which I will document on a site), I ended up finding a great arcade warehouse in Brooklyn that seemed to have any cab I would ever want.  Long story short, I was expecting to be taken to a back room filled with garbaged cabs, and what actually happened was the guy told me I could have practically any cab on the floor (except newly finished ones and ones in progress), and they would strip it for me.


I was there awhile...


I ended up choosing an MvC cabinet that encompassed everything I loved..:

I even got a coin door(albeit without the reject buttons) and marquee plexiglass with it!
(although I should note that there were tons of buttons and coin doors in a dumpster outside the place)

So the baby gets delivered to me, and my bud and I start going at it.  We're cleaning it and such, as well we taking it apart for restructuring and strengthening.  I'm not much of woodworker, and he is, so most of the woodworking will be his, with him teaching me as we go along.   



I'm at a bit of a crossroads at the moment and I actually wanted some advice on this matter.  As you can see from the pics of the cabinet, it has extrusions on both sides of the control panel, and I actually wanted to put a larger control panel on it...  one that's "interchangeable" as many of the ones I've seen are.  I was looking to use the "Ultimate Arcade CP" for a base, but not with such wide angles..

My (current) question is:  What kind of a cut should we be making for this to be allowed?  Are there Control Panel standards that I should be aware of? 

I drew lines to represent what *I think* the cuts would have to be to allow this, but I'm only guessing based on cabs I've seen online, and at the warehouse:


(Unrelated, the line I drew on top is so the cab will fit in the
 space I need it to. With a ceiling at 80" and the cab at 77-78",
unfortunately I need to cut it down)

Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated...  I'm in love with this cabinet and I wouldn't want to cut down any crucial boards unless I know what I'm doing...

Thanks in advance,
Organic Jerk

[CheffoJeffo]

Funny ... I picked up my big blue Capcom cabinet *because* the CP was so big ... but then I only wanted two players (it houses my MultiJamma) with "Sreet Fighter 6", a trackball, analog stick and guns.

Please post more warehouse pics!

Cheers.

[Ninten-doh]

OJ, if you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay for the cab and delivery?  Or are you actually saying you had your pic of any cab for FREE?  That would be sweet and I would be MapQuesting that warehouse from my NJ home in a second.   

[Organic Jerk]

Ninten-doh: 

I wish it were free.  I paid $160 for the cabinet and delivery.  They actually delivered it the next day, but they seem to be limited to areas where they would normally be making trips, so I'm not sure if they would make the trip out of the five boroughs for a home buyer.

When you call, ask for Fernando (The Manager) and say that you're a home buyer and "Omesh" sent you.  *Maybe* It will also let you push for anything cheaper.  I made sure to tell them that I would spread the word so at least this way they'll see I was serious, and that making things less expensive gives them more business.

The warehouse is:
Sunstar Amusements
(800) 435-4263
142 19th Street
Brooklyn, NY


CheffoJeffo:

I must admit the CP IS rather big, but I want to be able to interchange it with others, and it also just gives me options as far as CP shape and such...









---------------------------------------------

SO in reference to my original question.... Does anyone know if my cut is accurate?  Can anyone help with this?

[javeryh]

Wow!!  I need to go check out that warehouse! 

[CheffoJeffo]

SO in reference to my original question.... Does anyone know if my cut is accurate?  Can anyone help with this?

WHAT ? You expect a answer to your actual question ? Talk about high maintenance!

 

I just had a look at my cabinet and your cut lines look about right to me. You'll need to be careful with the existing control box as, on mine at least, the interior sides of he CP box support the bezel area, otherwise I would say take the whole thing (CP box) out before cutting the sides.

In fact, I would say take the whole thing out and put in little braces to support the bezel (just mark where everything was first).

Having said that, unless you want a four-player panel, I wouldn't change it -- the design is great for swappable tops due to the way the panel fits between the sides -- keeps things really secure. If, however, you want 4 players, it's time to break out the saw.

Thanks for the pics -- I love warehouse pics!

Cheers.

[Organic Jerk]

Well we made the top cut that we needed and stripped down the side paint today.  I plan on sanding down and painting over the back and lower front paint jobs, but I felt the side too large an area to just not redo.  I'm not sure if we should repaint the sides better or laminate them, so yeah..


Pic of the stripping process.  We used oil-based paint stripper for most of the work, then sanded down the bits left.  We also tried using a heat gun and propane torch to remove the laminate, to no avail.  It wasn't receptive, and being that the sides of the cab are made of particle board, we didn't want to risk destroying it.


Pic of the product so far, after the stripping and cutting down of the top.  I really regret cutting down the top so much, and I feel that we may have really cut it too much.  Even though I took the marquee into my cutting considerations, we unfortunately fudged it a bit and it went a bit lower than we planned.  There's really no way to salvage it at this point, so I have to go on and try to work around it.  I'll still love it like my own. 

What do you guys think?  Should I paint over it? (Primer/Sanding/1st Coat/Sanding/2nd/coat/acrylic)  or should I place new laminate over this one?

[Organic Jerk]

sorry, double post.

[bvicarious]

Wow. Holy meadow muffins. I'm definitely going to have to visit this mecca in brooklyn. When you say they stripped it, did they remove everything down to the buttons? Do they sell individual parts from the stripped cabs?

I also made my cab with an interchangeable control panel type design. And you know what? Two years later and I haven't interchanged it once. I originally had a panel with a ridiculous amount of controls on it but decided it wasn't my style, and reduced it to a 6 button fighter setup.

I would probably go with laminate if you can. I spent so much time painting my cab, only to add huge adhesive vinyl to it later. My next(?) cab will probably use laminate or at least a professional paint job.

[Organic Jerk]

Yeah they pretty much removed everything, although they left the coin door frame and the plexiglass for me.

So from a seemingly working cab they removed the t-molding, buttons, joysticks, marquee, coin door reject buttons, monitor, and any inner boards and chips.

Yeah I've decided to stick with the CP size of the cab itself.  If I ever need/want to replace it, I can replace the top.  I will be using the Ipac4 (Even though it's 2 player, I have extra inputs planned) with a male/female connector so I can remove the top easily.  Also, I'll be squeeing in a mini keyboard drawer, so removing the whole cp base would be ridiculous.

I'm still debating myself about the side finish.. Laminate or Paint Job.  If I decided to go paint job, I would rent a compressor for the best possible coat, and I would sand between each of the multiple coats...  So I don't think it would have the cheap paint job feel that I recieved it with... but I don't know asf of yet.

Either way, there's alot of woodwork to be done before we paint it, so I have time to think.

Cheers!

[Rok]

Yikes that must have been painful watching them strip a working cab...they sure took everything off...

[bvicarious]

I gave mine about 4 coats of primer/4 coats of paint wet sanding between every step, I think ending with something like 3200 grit. It holds up well even with the control panel violently scraping against the sides when I shove it in or lift the top. I'm not sure what the price comparison is between all that paint and laminate, but if I knew about it at the time I would've considered it. I think it would be awesome to paint a cab with automotive paint, perhaps with a subtle gradient on a base coat, with a thick clear coat to top it off. 

[Organic Jerk]

Yikes that must have been painful watching them strip a working cab...they sure took everything off...

Well I presumed it was working, just because it was standing there with rest of them on the main floor area, with no tags or notices on it.

As far as treatment, they're all pretty much treated like a large warehouse would treat any machine that they've got hundreds of..  If one comes in non-working, they fix it, give it a simple "once-go" paint job, and send it off.  There's obviously no personal nature to the work, and the place is very "9-5 workday."    So I didn't really feel too bad about them stripping it to give it to me, especially when they've got multiple instances of the same cab type, and I know that I'll treat the cab with better overall care than any of the pizzerias, laundromats, or arcades it may end up in would. 

I did regret them stripping it down SO MUCH, though, mainly because I personally just wanted to get as much as I could out of the purchase.  I got the coin door, which was a plus, but they removed the coin reject buttons...   They removed all the buttons, when I know that they've got many workable buttons outside in a dumpster... 

So yeah, some of it seemed pointless to me, but in the end I'm just happy I was able to find such a resourceful place. as my search was looking pretty grimm for awhile.

[SithMaster]

they suck.  if i was you id have dumpster dived for a bit.  would be funny if everything they stripped from yours was in the dumpster.

[CheffoJeffo]

Just came across this pic of a four-player panel in the same cab ... might give you some ideas ...

Cheers.