Project: Knievel Klone

[BLah247]

I’m a product of the 80’s and grew up stealing quarters from my brother to go play the classic games like Ikari Warriors, Gauntlet, Joust, Dig-Dug, ect…   About 8 years ago when I discovered MAME I had thought about building a cabinet.  Unfortunately I had limited space and resources and that went on the back burner.  Thought about it as a project to do with my daughter about 4 years ago… but then we moved, new job, started grad school and once again it got put on the backburner.  I was able however to modify my xbox to run MAME and that has been a ton of fun doing late night Street Fighter II sessions with friends.

My buddy and I got talking about a MAME cabinet again and I started looking around again for some ideas.  The initial plan was to just do one for him, something basic and we ran across Knievel’s website (www.knievelkustoms.com) and saw his NEON MAME build.  I have never been so impressed with a MAME cabinet before.  The clean lines, the color combination, the lights, the cp layout… it’s all perfect!  We decided we are going to replicate his efforts and build two cabinets at the same time with a little variation of color the color combination. Knievel has been extremely helpful and I’m going to purchase what I can from him to help us make these cabinets.

So this is the official project kickoff of our ‘Knievel Klone’ endeavor.  We’re not working on any time schedule so it might take us six months to get this created but I’m going to use this thread to post pictures and track our progress.

[Havok]

You couldn't have come up with a better design to copy - his work is truly inspiring...

 

[javeryh]

Good luck.  You are copying one of the best!

[BLah247]

I put up a webpage to document my progress on this adventure.  I added it to my sig and I'll make updates to it and here when we hit milestones.

My first task is to take the dimensions provided to me from Knievel and put it in a visual format to me.  It's going to be a work in progress and I'll update the uploaded drawing until I am happy with the results.  My first challenge is to figure out the curves and angles of the part under the control panel shelf.

http://blah247.googlepages.com/mame

[theCoder]

Welcome to the hobby and good luck with the build.

[releasedtruth]

Learn from the mistakes of others. A wise move grasshoppa. I would suggest some individuality though, otherwise you'll always wonder what could have been.

GT

[BLah247]

Actually did some cutting today.  I'm fairly happy with the results.  Will be more happy once I get the side panels sanded to match.  I have a TON of questions and will be spending the next few hours searching and posting on the forum.

My hope is to have a functional standing cabinet with all the pieces sanded, cut, routed, ect.. dry assembled by the end of this coming weekend... pending holiday events that is.

[BLah247]

Coming up onto a month and I've made quite a bit of progress.  Check out http://blah247.googlepages.com/mame  for some new pics.  I decided to vary a little bit from Knievels design as far as the hole placement and the graphic that's going to go in there.

[BLah247]

I decided to vary a little bit from Knievels design as far as the hole placement and the graphic that's going to go in there.

All my ideas got shot down by my friends and family.  So looks like I'm keeping it in order with Knievel's design.

Here's a pic of where I'm at now.  You can check the google page for more pics.

[Dmod]

Your cabinet's looking great! 

What did you use to cut out the circle?  I have enough trouble with my jig and straight lines.  Not sure I could pull that off.

[BLah247]

That took some time.  Realistically I should of used a 1/4 cut bit on a router with a circle jig.

I on the other hand used the actual Neon circle I'm using for the lighting.  I drew it on the inside of the panel using the inside radius and then rough cut with the jigsaw.  I then used a flush cut bit to finish it out.  Once one side was done I just sandwiched them together and did the same thing only using the first hole as a template.

I'm not 100% happy with the holes.  I was going to do a different graphic and do some graphic wrap above it.  It would of been centered then...  but I thought I was going to do something different and then went back on that idea so I think the hole is about 2-3" lower than I would of liked it.

Oh well.

[Knievel]

Looking good. Green t-mold on a black cabinet is really sharp.

I'm thinking you'll have to DIY those speaker covers. 

[BLah247]

Here's the latest picture taken last night...




I guess now I can start looking for some light guns.  What is the standard people like to use?

These??

[Kronos]

WOW.. that is a really nice cab.. Knievel's cabs are freakin beautiful.

[BLah247]

Thanks... yes seeing his motivated me enough to get one built.  That picture kind of sucks I'll try to spend more time when it's done and get better pics.  The only think that bothers me is that I cut the whole a little to low.  I'll get over it though.

[needlesmcgirk]

I really like that green color t-mold.  Where did you get that and what is the color description?  It doesn't just look like normal green to me...

[BLah247]

I got it at tmolding.com

http://www.t-molding.com/store/product.php?productid=42&cat=3&page=1

There's the link for it.  They have 2 kinds.  One that matches Galaxia and one that matches the Happ pushbuttons.

[Knievel]

Wowsa! Looking great.

The green scheme is going to be really sharp.

[BLah247]

Updated pics.  I wish I was savy enough to dim the lights and have a picture that really shows how cool these Neon style cabs are.





Appologize for these being small.  Check out the site in my sig if you want to see the full size versions.  I'm not much of a web designer.

In the tradition of first builds I will be playing this while hammering out the rest of the details..

[javeryh]

Awesome.  Your cab is stunning!   

How did you apply the finish?

[BLah247]

Nothing fancy. Just 3 coats of latex primer followed by 3 coats of latex black semigloss... using rollers and brushed for the hard to reach places.

My initial plane was the laminate it but it was hard to find any laminate that would do those half inch radis.

[Knievel]

Wow that turned out beautiful, lovin' the color. I've never seen the sideart in green before, Scott did a real nice job on the printing. Nice stools too.

I'd like to point out that although it may be a similar to mine he planned it/built himself with only some basic dimensions from me. Hopefully some more people will chime in here and comend you on a cabinet very well done. 

[AMDman13]

Well done! The cab looks sweet! Good job!

Let me know what you decide on as far as light guns as I can't make up my mind either. I plan on doing a little more research myself, but not sure if the flashing with each shot from Act Labs is what I'd want or not. Depends on how bad it really is. I have to say it would be nice not to have LCD stands  to set up on the cab as with the LCD Top Gun.

[kizer]

Wow, I really like the green. The original looked nice, but man that green just pops.....

Nice job.

[mountain]

 
That really turned out nice! The green is as impressive as the blue, it really pulls you in I think.

I too have been inspired by Knievels work and have started my first MAME cab. I hope to post some pictures in the Project page in a few days so keep an eye out!

[Kaytrim]

That green really snaps out there.  Beautiful job now enjoy the spoils of your labor. 

TTFN
Kaytrim

[BLah247]

Okay everything for now is done... well has been done I just now got around to posting the pics.  I also threw in a pic of my friends Red and Black cabinet that we built in semi tandem with mine.  If you want to see the full size images you can hit the blog I did on this project in my sig.










And my buddy's cabinet.  It varies a little bit on the details but over all it used the same parts.

[SGT]

Looks great! I'm impressed.

One question.  Have you used the trackball much?  I'm trying to figure out where to put my spinner.  Does your spinner get in the way when using the trackball?

[Chris G]

Wow, both of those look fantastic.  That must have been a lot of fun to go through the whole process with a friend.

 
Chris

[bleargh]

Looking good...

I like the green; its a nice change...   

[Anubis_au]

Nice cab... along with Knievel's, an inspiration to make my own...

And another thing, nice going with the green, and sharing with the building community. I've seen plenty of cabs in blue (Knievel's being probably the best), red, yellow even, but haven't seen a green one until now.

And now I must reconsider my colour scheme...

[Anubis_au]

Just went through the website. I noticed there are no specs on the hardware / software.. what processor, what graphics card, what FE, what screen size and type, how you interfaced (component, s-video etc).

If its not too much, can you share..

Btw, looking at the high-res pics on the website, let me just say: WOW!!!

[BLah247]

Looks great! I'm impressed.

One question.  Have you used the trackball much?  I'm trying to figure out where to put my spinner.  Does your spinner get in the way when using the trackball?

I use the trackball all the time.  Games like Golden Tee, Bowling and some shooter type games use it and it's a must.  The spinner doesn't get in my way but a friend of mine cut his hand on it trying to get the longest drive in Golden Tee.  I use my thumbs instead of trying to use the palm of my hand so I guess it just depends how you want to play.

Just went through the website. I noticed there are no specs on the hardware / software.. what processor, what graphics card, what FE, what screen size and type, how you interfaced (component, s-video etc).

If its not too much, can you share..

Btw, looking at the high-res pics on the website, let me just say: WOW!!!

I have a supply list .pdf maybe I'll figure out how to post that.  Here's the specs on the computer;
21" Sony Trinitron Multiscan E500 CRT Monitor
AMD Athlon 64 3700+, 1 GB ram, 160 GB harddrive, Onboard video and sound.

Pretty basic set up using the newest version of MAME with MAMEWAH for the frontend.  The monitor is just connected with a regular analog video cable, nothing fancy.

[Jeff AMN]

Knievel is the new LuSiD; as far as copies go.

If I was going to scratch build a cab, I'd probably copy his design too (with maybe a few small tweaks).

[Anubis_au]

I plan on incorporating some of Knievel's elements in my cab... the side neon thing for one, and the way he darkens the CP image around the buttons and controls.

But, being an aussie myself, I have to go for an aussie lowboy cab

[Level42]

The best compliment for an artist is when he starts to be copied... well done to both of you

[SKiZZ]

Awesome job. I plan on doing something similar as well. Are there any plans for these machines yet?

[BORIStheBLADE]

Nice work.
How did you do your CP? Did you print the art and have plexi glass lay on top?

[Thy]

Fantastic job! Was looking through your little site you set up and noticed the spec's for the side panel, any chance you have the other measurements for the rest of the cab as well? I liked the layout over the 3 pieces of wood, good planning.

[Barry Barcrest]

The cab turned out great dude, well done...