I'm not one for long ass progress threads that detail every step, but I really gained a lot from other people doing just that over the years, so this is my attempt to give back. I'm deep into my build, nothing here will drag on for months. I'll try and get my thoughts and philosophies out, feel free to skip if you just want pictures, I won't be offended.
This is my second cabinet build from scratch. My first was a horizontal cab built around a 25" TV. It had some touches I liked, but overall it was more of a learning experience and I finally decided to scrap it and do a new one that I was happier with. I always said if I built another cab it would be with a real arcade monitor, and a vertical one at that. In my mind the vertical games are the last refuge of the true arcade experience. No home console can rock it properly (the odd tated Dreamcast game etc aside). In this era of 16x9 TVs there's something satisfying about a true vertical monitor.
I love the Galaga cabinets, but I'm not really a stickler for tradition. In my mind the home arcade scene is a lot like the classic car scene, people working on and restoring things that bring back memories of their youth or just the urge to mash the gas/joystick properly with their own style. In that vein this cabinet is a kustom car, based on a classic design, but without fear of chopping the top and adding modern touches.
The cab is called
Deep 6 and has a slight underwater theme with an octopus mascot. The goal was to create a look that evoked a real game, something you'd never seen but wondered how you missed. I personally hate MAME logos, frankenpanels, blatant admin buttons, classic character collages, and anything else that detracts from the "real" cabinet look. So that was the driving theme as I tweaked the Galaga look.
First up was upgrading to a 25" monitor. This is primarily a classics/shmups cab, and I wanted the full in your face look. Anyone who's played the 25" anniversary Galaga/Ms Pac-Man knows that it's a pain to see the monitor in those cabs though. A couple of tweaks fixed that. First I bumped the angle of the monitor up. It's still leaning way back, but the higher angle helps a lot. Secondly, and more important, was to chop the top and cut the marquee from 9" down to 6". This makes a drastic improvement in the viewing angle and allows you to see the top of the monitor with ease. It also gives the cab a leaner, more modern look. In addition I added a couple inches to the depth and one to the height of the actual cabinet to give me a little more working space.
The marquee and other artwork are all original and my designs. Scott at Mamemarquees did my printing, and I'm very pleased with the results. Paying for the premium marquee paid off in spades, it's beautiful backlit, unlike my first cab's which washed out and look crummy lit. Definitely recommend it. I'll post some backlit pictures, but it's hard to photograph how nice it looks in person.
This post is getting too long for anyone to want to read, so on to a couple mockup pictures to kick things off and I'll keep making updates with other details.
My original mockup sketch in Photoshop, established my overall look and color scheme:A closer look at the marquee:And an attempt to photograph the real thing backlit. I'm a graphic designer, not a photographer, best I was able to get with my little point and shoot. It doesn't wash out at all in person.