It's about time I post some pics of my mame cab, which has a centipede theme since the cab artwork was in good condition to begin with.
I did swappable panels because I didn't want to change the basic look of the cabinet, yet I wanted the flexibility to play virtually any game. Centipede has a sheet metal panel, and since I enjoy metalworking, I figured it's a perfect chance for another sheet metal project. Plus I think sheet metal works better for swappable panels than wood would. The panels drop into a groove at the bottom of the opening, and there is a "lip" around the sides and top to support the panels. The panels are held in place by 3 cap nuts (whatever they're called), which can be seen in the pictures. DB37 connectors are used to make connections to my IPAC4 and OptiPAC, and you can see that in one of the pictures.
I'm only showing the panels which are "complete". I also have a panel with 1 mag stik plus and 3 buttons, but I haven't put an overlay on it. I am currently working on a steering wheel panel which is basically just a logitech wheel mounted permanently to one of my swappable panels. A lightgun panel will come sometime in the future, and who knows what else (perhaps a 360 wheel panel).
Also, you can see in the picture of the underside that I have DB9 connectors for plugging in player 3 and player 4 controls, which are just mounted in wood boxes (nothing special there - all function and no form). There are little buttons right in front of the connectors which turn the player 1 and 2 coin drops into player 3 and 4 coin drops (my cab can't be played without coins).
Without further ado... the pictures.