Author Topic: Deep 6: A scratch built Galaga variation (UPDATED 09.17.12) (Read 25466 times)

theCoder · « **Reply #40 on:** May 05, 2007, 10:38:36 pm »

That's nice Photoshop work. Did you start out with a photo of a Donkey Kong cab, and overlay your artwork from there?

Aurich · « **Reply #41 on:** May 06, 2007, 12:24:19 pm »

Thanks. Photoshop is my second home, doing quickie stuff like this is easy for me. You're right, I grabbed a shot of a Ms Pac Man/Galaga 20th Anniversary cab to use as my framework to lay things over. All the perspectives and angles are just eyeballed, this was just so I could get an idea of how things would come together and make broad tweaks to things like the color scheme etc. I really didn't need to shop in the bezel, but it's been sitting here in my office ever since I got it back from pin striping and I'm ready to stick it on and be done already!

After spraying the midnight blue yesterday I was itching for more progress I guess, so Photoshop had to do since my hands are tied until my new paint ships.

Aurich · « **Reply #42 on:** May 06, 2007, 08:27:22 pm »

Hmm, changed my mind again.

The Midnight Blue metallic is just too dark, even in direct sunlight which the cab won't be in. Took a crummy photo that at least illustrates my point (streaky clearcoat and all, not sure what happened):

I think I'll keep the black interior but just go ahead and use the Electric Blue iridescent paint all over more like this:

javeryh · « **Reply #43 on:** May 08, 2007, 09:19:07 am »

Quote from: Aurich on May 06, 2007, 08:27:22 pm

I think I'll keep the black interior but just go ahead and use the Electric Blue iridescent paint all over more like this:

That gets my vote. IMO, a two colored cabinet (black and blue) still looks uniform and pleasing to the eye - I think if you start adding too many colors it takes away from the overall design. Everything about your cabinet is expertly designed and I really think the "metallic" part of the paint will make it stand out. I can't wait to see it finished!

spacies · « **Reply #44 on:** May 09, 2007, 02:04:00 am »

Not sure if you know but if you are using Metallic paint then you have to spray it in all directions.

Start off horizontal, then add a coat diagonal, then vertical, then repeat a couple of times.

This will give you an even Metallic finish.
If you don't do this the all the metal flake goes on 1 way and you won't get the full affect.

Are you using car clear coat?

If you are, then a lvery light sand with some 1200grit and a buff with cutting compound will remove the streaks.

Good luck.

Its gonna look hot when finished.

AMDman13 · « **Reply #45 on:** May 15, 2007, 12:15:30 am »

I hope your progress is coming along sweet! I for one am still dieing for more pics!

Aurich · « **Reply #46 on:** May 15, 2007, 04:34:40 pm »

Just got the paint in the mail yesterday, but I'm slammed with work now, not sure when I'll have a free weekend to spray. If I get a handle on my deadlines maybe this one, but we'll see. I promise I'll update with pics when I'm done.

theCoder · « **Reply #47 on:** May 15, 2007, 08:53:51 pm »

Sounds like a priority problem to me.

Aurich · « **Reply #48 on:** May 17, 2007, 01:36:31 pm »

Heh, work pays for toys. I'm on top of my deadlines for the moment, so maybe this weekend. I'd love to get it all assembled.

Aurich · « **Reply #49 on:** June 02, 2007, 08:39:53 pm »

Finally got a chance to start painting again today. Sprayed the iridescent blue, which looks pretty flat in the photo of course since there aren't any curves like a car would have to pull out the sparkles in a still shot. In person I'd say the blue is a couple shades darker, and even more so once it's out of direct sunlight. It will look a lot darker indoors for sure.

Going to let this cure overnight before I mask it off to do the black interior, hopefully I'll have time tomorrow. Then I'll match the interior of the speaker holes to the pin striping on the glass with magenta One Shot enamel. Almost there I think, have to decide if I want to order the side art or not, I'll probably live with it as is for a while before I make a call on that.

danny_galaga · « **Reply #50 on:** June 03, 2007, 05:04:49 am »

lookin good. but i think your non- long ass progress thread is getting a little um, long-assed

theCoder · « **Reply #51 on:** June 03, 2007, 11:14:43 am »

Only one coat?

Aurich · « **Reply #52 on:** June 03, 2007, 12:02:20 pm »

Quote from: danny_galaga on June 03, 2007, 05:04:49 am

lookin good. but i think your non- long ass progress thread is getting a little um, long-assed

Haha, I know, it's so true. At least I didn't tease with Photoshop for 6 months before I cut a single piece of MDF. The goal is to have it ready by next weekend now though, so I'm on it.

theCoder - Oh hell no, that's several coats, that's most of an afternoon's worth of painting.

Aurich · « **Reply #53 on:** June 03, 2007, 09:18:52 pm »

Derp.

dweebs0r · « **Reply #54 on:** June 03, 2007, 09:43:05 pm »

Post some higher res photos. That's a great looking machine.

-D

stuckpixel · « **Reply #55 on:** June 03, 2007, 11:40:53 pm »

Agreed, it's pretty. I dig the graphics on the CP, and that is a great shade of blue.

Aurich · « **Reply #56 on:** June 04, 2007, 05:22:20 pm »

So I'm done for the time being. Maybe some side art later on, a couple of other small details perhaps, but it's good to go. Sandwiched the marquee between two sheets of 1/8" glass, put the t-molding on and painted the speaker holes with a striping brush and some One Shot.

Added a shot of the screen to show the striping and the Mala front end. I crammed my earlier posts with details, so that should about cover it.

javeryh · « **Reply #57 on:** June 04, 2007, 05:38:58 pm »

Wow! I LOVE it. It really came out great and you went from fiorst coat of paint to finished in a very short period of time. I think these are my favorite types of cabs - the ones that have their own theme and are completely original. Nicely done!

Aurich · « **Reply #58 on:** June 04, 2007, 06:17:06 pm »

Thanks.

I think it might need the side art, that shot of your cab on it's side with the art lying on it looks so much more finished even though I'm "done" and you're not.

Just power through, you're in the home stretch!

spacies · « **Reply #59 on:** June 04, 2007, 09:03:17 pm »

Beautiful.

Simple is sexy.

Congrats on a job well done.
Love the paint finish as well.

stuckpixel · « **Reply #60 on:** June 04, 2007, 09:32:28 pm »

Love it.

Seriously.

leapinlew · « **Reply #61 on:** June 04, 2007, 10:59:01 pm »

stunning...

It turned out great - good job.

shock_ · « **Reply #62 on:** June 05, 2007, 08:16:42 am »

Great work tying the theme of the cabinet together, it's inspirational. Love the front-end work too.

WunderCade · « **Reply #63 on:** June 05, 2007, 01:04:08 pm »

Man....that thing would make a great production unit for retail. A credit to your skills.

Can't wait to see or hear your initial concept for side-art, I think a Galaga-type shape for side-art but using your colors and the octopus......or perhaps small and simple would be better - dunno.

Anyways...great job.

javeryh · « **Reply #64 on:** June 05, 2007, 03:23:27 pm »

Hey Aurich - I really like what you did for your Mala layout on your cabinet. How hard was it to do? I want something unique for my cabinet when it is finished but I have no idea how to design my own. I'm definitely using MaLa so I can load the different maps for my U360. I'm thinking of something simple that is pink and incorporates the marquee/sideart that I'm using... Can someone with ZERO computer skills (and I mean zero - I STILL can't get MAME to run properly) muddle their way through the creation process?

Aurich · « **Reply #65 on:** June 05, 2007, 03:29:56 pm »

Yeah, Mala is easy. That's just a background graphic with text boxes overlaying it. So you make your graphic, a field of pink flowers with semi-transparent boxes over it or whatever in Photoshop etc, then import that into Mala and drag the text boxes over it. It's all pretty much set up for you already as far as game names, manufacturers, etc.

Aurich · « **Reply #66 on:** September 09, 2012, 01:51:28 am »

Doh, looks like all my photos got nuked. I have them on another server, fixing! Sorry for all the edits showing up years later.

I dug up this thread because I'm making some minor tweaks to the cab and thought I'd update, more coming soon. Got a new CPO (similar but tweaked) and (finally!) the side art coming from Scott, swapping out some colors with the buttons and balltops, added a spinner, etc.

I haven't been around much for a while, so belated thanks to the people I saw saying nice things about my cab that I missed until now, I couldn't have done it without this community.

emphatic · « **Reply #67 on:** September 09, 2012, 05:28:44 pm »

Really great artwork!

Aren't the joysticks mounted a bit high? The shafts look about 10 mm too tall in your pictures.

Aurich · « **Reply #68 on:** September 09, 2012, 11:57:01 pm »

Quote from: emphatic on September 09, 2012, 05:28:44 pm

Really great artwork! Aren't the joysticks mounted a bit high? The shafts look about 10 mm too tall in your pictures.

You might be used to seeing them mounted in wood panels instead of metal? Dunno, but they're comfortable like they are.

Updated artwork should hopefully be here on Tuesday. Minor tweaks really, but I tried to incorporate the spinner into the theme, hopefully I measured right since the holes are already drilled!

Aurich · « **Reply #69 on:** September 17, 2012, 02:06:14 pm »

Okay, finally got the updates in. Stripped the cab down:

Here's the bare arcade monitor after being tossed on our bed while we sorted things out:

And of course if you leave an empty cabinet in the house it's really just a big box, so that means cats will sit in it:

I masked off the blue and touched up the interior black paint, lots of scratches and marks. Then I got a package from Game On Grafix and as always Scott killed it. Along with new control panel art I finally printed up the side art:

Side art vinyl took some trimming (tip: run a marker along the edge after trimming to hide the white vinyl, makes it much cleaner against your cabinet) and in the background you can see the kickplate graphic installed too:

Then it was time to start putting it all back together. Here's a shot from the back showing how the monitor hangs:

Side art installed, sorry about the flash:

Other side:

New control panel art, basically what I had before, but with some tweaks to colors, cleaning up, and the addition of a graphic to integrate the spinner:

And finally back in its new/old home where it will live again for the time being:

Aurich · « **Reply #70 on:** September 17, 2012, 02:09:28 pm »

Next up is a pinball project!

Nephasth · « **Reply #71 on:** September 17, 2012, 02:25:26 pm »

Your cab is a thing of beauty that has already withstood the test of time.

Aurich · « **Reply #72 on:** September 17, 2012, 03:16:07 pm »

Quote from: Nephasth on September 17, 2012, 02:25:26 pm

Your cab is a thing of beauty that has already withstood the test of time.

Thanks! I feel sort of dumb waiting 5 years for the side art, it really makes it click, but I think we all know how it is when you get it mostly done and it's playable, things start to slide.

javeryh · « **Reply #73 on:** September 17, 2012, 05:38:59 pm »

Still one of my favorite cabs.

Aurich · « **Reply #74 on:** September 17, 2012, 07:34:53 pm »

Quote from: javeryh on September 17, 2012, 05:38:59 pm

Still one of my favorite cabs.

Le Chuck · « **Reply #75 on:** September 17, 2012, 08:50:50 pm »

So is this officially done in 2012 or was it officially done five years ago and these are just some updates? I'm not asking for any particular reason or anything... just asking.

Aurich · « **Reply #76 on:** September 17, 2012, 08:54:24 pm »

Quote from: Le Chuck on September 17, 2012, 08:50:50 pm

So is this officially done in 2012 or was it officially done five years ago and these are just some updates? I'm not asking for any particular reason or anything... just asking.

It was done 5 years ago, not like I left it under construction or anything, this counts as updates. I'd just say it's *more* done now.

Le Chuck · « **Reply #77 on:** September 17, 2012, 08:57:03 pm »

Quote from: Aurich on September 17, 2012, 08:54:24 pm

Quote from: Le Chuck on September 17, 2012, 08:50:50 pm
So is this officially done in 2012 or was it officially done five years ago and these are just some updates? I'm not asking for any particular reason or anything... just asking.
It was done 5 years ago, not like I left it under construction or anything, this counts as updates. I'd just say it's *more* done now.

Roger. Good update and the sideart does look great.

DaOld Man · « **Reply #78 on:** September 17, 2012, 09:34:31 pm »

MacGyver · « **Reply #79 on:** September 18, 2012, 12:50:29 am »

Quote from: Aurich on September 17, 2012, 03:16:07 pm

Thanks! I feel sort of dumb waiting 5 years for the side art, it really makes it click, but I think we all know how it is when you get it mostly done and it's playable, things start to slide.

Truer words have never been spoken. I too have found the worst thing that can derail me is when I "test" it as is.

Also, still a beautiful cab.


Main	Restorations	Software	Audio/Jukebox/MP3	Everything Else	Buy/Sell/Trade
Project Announcements	Monitor/Video	GroovyMAME	Merit/JVL Touchscreen	Meet Up	Retail Vendors
Driving & Racing	Woodworking	Software Support Forums	Consoles	Project Arcade	Reviews
Automated Projects	Artwork	Frontend Support Forums	Pinball	Forum Discussion	Old Boards
Raspberry Pi & Dev Board	controls.dat	Linux	Miscellaneous Arcade	Wiki Discussion	Old Archives
Lightguns	Arcade1Up	Try the site in https mode		Site News


Unread posts \| New Replies \| Recent posts \| Rules \| Chatroom \| Wiki \| File Repository \| RSS \| Submit news