"Bubble Gum Betty" Projects End!! (Updated 10/03/08)

[waveryder]

Yeah I got my buttons from gremlin solutions. They had no fittings for LED's at the time, dont know if they do now. I drilled a 5mm hole at the bottom of the button, there was a marking for this. and pop'd a 5mm wide angle LED in. With the microswitch fitted you just need to bend the leds wire around the outside of the switch, otherwise you feel resistance when u push it. There ok buttons. I found the microswitch arms to be a little week personally. I was considering going the electric ice route for buttons but they dont do a balltop that matches

[polaris]

Lovin the DC box mate, awesome. Gotta agree with you about the soldering stand, best £10 ive ever spent too! You get it from Maplins by any chance?

this just sounds like im gloating, but for your info
dont know how far the chain stretches from wales but hyper value sell those helping hands things for £3. its like a pound shop for those who havent seen them

[waveryder]

Thats probably why "Hyper Value" went broke!

[polaris]

Thats probably why "Hyper Value" went broke!

i think the shops are still open though, ill have to check.

[waveryder]

Its a shame at £3 a head i'd could buy a bunch for my school.

[polaris]

Its a shame at £3 a head i'd could buy a bunch for my school.

im sure ive been in one since the said closure date. bear with me and ill find out. the things are as good as the maplin ones im sure , magnifying glass and all, think it had a cage for the soldering iron too.

[Mr Wilson]

they've got these led holders do think i'll have probs fitting other led's in them? and with the balltops would they be a straight swap for the battops that i got from gremlin? sorry for all the questions i just thought as you've done it you'll probably know Cheers

[waveryder]

You could definetly make them fit. They look like standard 5mm to me. Might need a bit of glue to hold em if they are a different size LED. As for the balltops. Both the seimitsu and sanwa balltops from gremlin fit a multitude of shafts, including the crappy korean knockoffs I bought to replace the sticks in my old "NEVERLAND" cab.

[Franco]

Its a shame at £3 a head i'd could buy a bunch for my school.

im sure ive been in one since the said closure date. bear with me and ill find out. the things are as good as the maplin ones im sure , magnifying glass and all, think it had a cage for the soldering iron too.

Something like this?



£3 sounds alot better than £10 if you can get them but im so glad i bought one either way.

[polaris]

think that was it exactly, ive got two altogether the one i got for £3 and the one i bought in maplins the week before i found that

[waveryder]

Now all the "Helping Hands" fun is over......time for something pants wettingly good!

My artwork arrived today. Its printed on 400gsm Self Adhesive Vinyl in 100 year UV pigmented inks, its rated for ip56 all weather use! (I'm only using it on the cab though). Got all my art except my marquee printed on one A0 sheet. This includes both Side Art, Kick Plate, Sub CP, 3X Main CP, Coin Slot Cover and enough logo's and betty images to go completely nuts.

I made a small alteration to my designed artwork to allow all of the background gradients to flow from blue to pink. After a test print I decided to change it. Cant start cutting it till tommorrow as I wanna make sure I get a good quality knife to trim it. I cant recommend getting your artwork done proffessionally enough. I did the artwork for my last cab on glossy photopaper and covered everything in perspex. Let me tell you there is no comparrison! Now if you'll excuse me I have to go and caress my artwork lovingly....
 

[Daniel B.]

I love candy cabs.

I'm so envious of this thing, you wouldn't imagine....


now I see why you've been "all grins" since you got the prints!

[Franco B]

Awesome bud, just awesome. 

I bet its so good to see it in the flesh.

[Havok]

Stunning!

 

[ark_ader]

Anyone know a supplier of translucent buttons and balltops?

Gremlin Solutions in the UK have balltops and translucent buttons and have always given me very good service http://www.gremlinsolutions.co.uk/arcadebuttons.php

Otherwise Groovy Game Gear in the US have a nice selection http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/

However you will get stuffed for 17.5% VAT and a GBP 8.00 administration fee by HM Revenue and Customs. Ouch!

I buy from Randy and I just ask him to value it at $10.00

When you order online you already pay the VAT, so if you get those thieving sods charging you extra - just call them and give em a good 

Seriously the VAT man has bigger fish to fry.

[waveryder]

Planning a Groovygamegear order of electric ice, just as soon as they do a matching balltop for my hollow shaft sanwas.

[waveryder]

The missus has kept me busy this weekend on her latest artistic masterpiece. I call it "Hallway in Dulux!" Despite the fact that I am covered in more paint than the hallway I managed to find a little time to start mounting some of the artwork I got back from the printers. I cut the sideart & kickplate using a surgical scalpel and a pain of glass. The glass was so I could see the lines I was cutting were exact. The artwork is self adhesive and went on very easily. Im very impressed with the print job.

The control panel art hasnt gone on yet as I have just got hold of some steel control panels to remake "BGB's" controls using a quick change setup. I have five panels and im in the process of building the second, my "StarWars" yoke, between other projects. Anyway with the basic artwork in place I could return to the lighting setup. On the advice of FrancoB Im going to invest in an LEDWiz for the main CP's however the rest of the lighing is being constructed in another way ..........

KACHOW!!!

Apologies for the shakey photo. My camera doesnt have auto steady with out the flash 

[javeryh]

Wow.  Stunning.   

[waveryder]

A great compliment from the guy that taught me that a "Pink" cabinet could be a beautiful thing. 
She's getting there a long way to go still. Had a major setback today. Started drilling my metal CP's only to have to takem all back an hour later as the idiots had cut them 2mm short!. Got them replaced but that was a complete morning wasted. And now I have no working CP 

[BORIStheBLADE]

I like the backlighting is it cold cathode?

[waveryder]

Not quite cold cathode its a mixture of lighting effects im experimenting with. All the artwork including the CP's will light up like this when "Betty's" finished.

[waveryder]

I have begun to change over "BGB's" control setup. Although I have been happy using the transparent control panel I made last year, it doesn't really work well for my new plans for Betty. I am producing a quick change panel setup. I say quick but it still requires the removal of 8 butterfly bolts! The new panels (There will be a few) are steel like Betty's original panel. I dont want to get into the debate on the main page about whether bolts should be visible or not. So I shall just say I want my panel to be flush like Betty's gambling panel originally was. Hopefully dodged a bullet there! There hasn't been a lot of information posted about working with metal panels so I figured I'd do a more indepth update than I usually do. Hopefully it'll help someone out.

I had 5 blank panels made at a fabrication works, using Betty's original gambling panel as the template. They did this very cheaply. They were particularly helpful as it was a cash purchase i.e they weren't declaring it. So I got them for a dirt cheap price. Unfortunately I found out after a mornings drilling that they hadn't cut them properly and I had to take them back! They were apologetic and fixed the problem within half an hour. Result!

I redesigned my control panel layout in visio using the Visio resources avaliable on the front page. As I have decided to move the 1+2 player buttons off of the main panel there is a lot more space. I decided to spread the buttons out a little more so the missus and I could play in more comfort.

Although the template uses Happs supers the size was almost identical to my sanwa JLW's. I planned to overlay the joystick panel before I drilled it so it wasnt a problem. I overlayed the layout printed from visio to check the spacing and taped it to the panel. The missus and I then pretended to bash buttons and wiggle the non existent joysticks.

Using the template I made a few small pilot drills into the metal as the holesaw I would be using contained a large bit and I didnt want to be chaseing it across the garden. Once I had drilled out the pilot holes I removed enough of the template to not interfere with the holesaw.

Drilling the holes out was a doddle! I have drilled metal panels before but the bits tend not to last long! I bought a steel holesaw and kept the drill speed at 300rpm. The drill went through quite cleanly. Between holes I sprayed some WD40 on the bit, as it gets hot. This kept the holesaw in perfect condition and its still usable for the next panel. Once drilled I de-burred the holes with my faithful dremel. I then drilled the 4mm holes for the joystick and panel mounts. Once all of the 4mm holes were drilled I countersunk the holes for the bolts I would be using.

Im using standard 4mm x 35mm machine bolts for the panel. These are cheap and easy to get hold of. I bolted the panel in place and screwed everything in including the sticks and buttons. As I have no plans to cover my panel with anything other than my artwork (No plexi, Lexan, etc.) The screw heads had to go and the whole thing had to be levelled. This will make the panel flush.

I unbolted each of the machine bolts about 3mm from the surface and one by one covered each countersink and screw head with epoxy resin. I used a specific metal epoxy that goes grey once cured. This covered each of the bolt holes. once dry the epoxy is hard as rock and can be sanded smooth and flush with the metal control panel.

I have sanded the metal panel completely flat and cleaned the panel with an acetone based cleaner. (Actually used the missus nail varnish remover, when she asked why the bottle was half empty I said that my 2 year old knocked the bottle over!) Im going to apply the artwork later today. Fingers crossed!

[waveryder]

Ive applied the artwork and it went on completely smooth, no bolts showing.

I cut all the holes and replaced the buttons but havent began wiring yet. I havent replaced the LEDS yet but at least the panels done! Turned on the cab lighting to get a pic of the CP lit up like the rest of the cab.

[Franco B]

Sweet mate 

I see you got some clear buttons in the end then. Where did you get them from? last time I looked at gremiln solutions site they wasn't listed. Im going to need a few more for my build.

How do the buttons look lit? If the narrow beam of the LEDs blind you or look too bright you may want to try GGG's clear diffuser discs, Ive got some for mine and they work wonderfully. They don't dim the LEDs as such, they just disperse the light and also help to light the button bezel better than without.

If you want some decent metal cutting lubricant for any future metal work, give me a shout

[waveryder]

100 metres of cable
12 DB25's
more soldering than I can count......................ARGHHHHH!!!

Needed to take a break from the weeks soldering DB25 connectors, so I took some time out to work on the cabs eye candy. The quick swap interface system is working (so far *gulp) and its now mounted in the cab. and the first swappable harness is in.

I'll explain the image above more when its finished.
The CP's microswitches havent been connected to the harness yet but I will hopefully do that this weekend. Im using an ultimarc pacdrive to control the leds. A fantastic bit of kit. It doesnt have the power up and down effects of the Ledwiz but is a lot more versatile. As it operates on the cathode rather than anode it can control a lot more than LED's and is the basis of my cabs internal and external lighting system.....more about that later 

Anyway onto the point of the post. Franco has been raving about GGG's diffusers. Problem is im not going to order just 20 diffusers to the uk and im not a fan of the black surround button inserts. So I decided to make my own.

The diffusers are 17mm opaque plastic and boy do they make a difference to the output of the leds! The inserts are acetate prints from a laser jet placed between the diffuser and button. A cheap and now completely customised button set. I also replaced the crappy sanwa dust covers with white plastic ones. The plastic was cut using a holesaw at very low speed and the centre hole dremelled out with a grinder. The plastic came from IKEA and started life as a plastic box lid. And you thought all they did was make crappy furniture that falls apart. Oh and great meatballs.

Anyway enough slandering IKEA. Right now Im takeing a well deserved rest from soldering watching my Led buttons dance in Mala and drinking scotch. Although I cant offer you a scotch heres some candy to feast your eyes on

[Daniel B.]

It looks fantastic.

[Franco B]

100 metres of cable
12 DB25's
more soldering than I can count......................ARGHHHHH!!!

Needed to take a break from the weeks soldering DB25 connectors, so I took some time out to work on the cabs eye candy. The quick swap interface system is working (so far *gulp) and its now mounted in the cab. and the first swappable harness is in.

I'll explain the image above more when its finished.
The CP's microswitches havent been connected to the harness yet but I will hopefully do that this weekend. Im using an ultimarc pacdrive to control the leds. A fantastic bit of kit. It doesnt have the power up and down effects of the Ledwiz but is a lot more versatile. As it operates on the cathode rather than anode it can control a lot more than LED's and is the basis of my cabs internal and external lighting system.....more about that later 

Anyway onto the point of the post. Franco has been raving about GGG's diffusers. Problem is im not going to order just 20 diffusers to the uk and im not a fan of the black surround button inserts. So I decided to make my own.

The diffusers are 17mm opaque plastic and boy do they make a difference to the output of the leds! The inserts are acetate prints from a laser jet placed between the diffuser and button. A cheap and now completely customised button set. I also replaced the crappy sanwa dust covers with white plastic ones. The plastic was cut using a holesaw at very low speed and the centre hole dremelled out with a grinder. The plastic came from IKEA and started life as a plastic box lid. And you thought all they did was make crappy furniture that falls apart. Oh and great meatballs.

Anyway enough slandering IKEA. Right now Im takeing a well deserved rest from soldering watching my Led buttons dance in Mala and drinking scotch. Although I cant offer you a scotch heres some candy to feast your eyes on

Good work boyo,

Looking sweet 

So far I have used 60M of wire so far, just for the enclosures and the test wiring, im guessing im going to need at least another 150-200M of wire, Ive done a few D dubs at present (18 15-ways), all in all got about 60 D subs to do all in all (calculated about 1200 solder buckets + around another 400+ solder points) 

I know the Pac drive doest have the ramp up/down featues of the LEDwiz (im not using them anyway as you cant use them with LEDBlinky).

Any reason why you are using the PacDrive over the LEDwiz? Im just interested. Any reason why it is more versatile than a common anode system?  I dont know alot about the PACdrive but I know the LEDwiz can support 15+ LEDs per output, just wondering what makes the PacDrive better? I plan to use 4 LEDs per output on one of the LEDwiz's, i cant imagine using the whole 500 (15 per output) LEDs that the LEDwiz supports.

Good work on the diffusers, they definitely make a difference, I found that the diffusers with the Credit/1P start etc logos diffuse the light so much better than the plain diffusers. With that in mind I have come up with a nice solution to diffuse the light on all of the buttons evenly. I would have liked to make my own but I was placing a fairly large order with GGG anyway and it seemed daft not too.

I think your dust washers look ok but dont quite seem to fit with the rest of your CP, there seems to be a little too much white. Im sure you could knock up some awesome pink/white stickers for them?

[waveryder]

I know the Pac drive doest have the ramp up/down featues of the LEDwiz (im not using them anyway as you cant use them with LEDBlinky).

Actually the PacDrive does work with LEDBlinky, thats how im produceing the wave effects across my panel.
The PacDrive isnt restricted to a specific number of LED's as im aware in can only power 32 Led's. Like the wiz, but by using an external power source there is theoretically no limit. The big plus of the pacdrive is its ability to control other devices. Its a simple ground based on/off controller. As the switch takes place on the ground, I am presently using it to also control 4 Cold cathode tubes and my external light source.

I think your dust washers look ok but dont quite seem to fit with the rest of your CP, there seems to be a little too much white.

The whole front bezel of the cab is white, hence the white dustwashers. I didn't want dust washers that would detract the eye from the panel as a whole, which the stock ones did. The white ones fit the colour theme of the cab and also diffuse a large amount of the light from the balltops. When the whole panels lit they get this cool aura surrounding them.

Im sure you could knock up some awesome pink/white stickers for them?

I could but I dont want a lot of pink on the cab 

[richms]

So far I have used 60M of wire so far, just for the enclosures and the test wiring, im guessing im going to need at least another 150-200M of wire, Ive done a few D dubs at present (18 15-ways), all in all got about 60 D subs to do all in all (calculated about 1200 solder buckets + around another 400+ solder points) 

My eyes hurt just thinking about all that soldering.

I got 25 pin D cables and chopped them in half to save soldering - had to tone them out to find which was which but better that then burned fingers and going crosseyed

[DaOld Man]

I think Im in love with Betty, I mean is she hot or what?
Seriously, I think you are doing an excellent job!!
Great workmanship and looks like some good inventions coming out of this.

[waveryder]

Cheers for that DaOld Man I'm really pleased with how shes coming out. Still soldering DB25's but id thought id post a quick bit I added to BGB today. Decided to get the instruction card and marquee finished and out of the way. The original BGB marquee was just printed onto matt paper and laminated as a test. I found that when the soundreactive marquee kicked up occasionally the marquee just completely went blue, this wasnt quite the effect I was after so swapped the colours around and got it printed onto glossy film.

It came out really well and picks up the light beautifully. Betty stays visible now all of the time and only the background and glows are noticeable effected by the sound reactive light. Thats now all of the cabinet artwork done! just the wireing cleanup, new front door, detailing and swappable panel junctions to go!
Heres how bettys layout looks now with new marquee and instruction card in place, unfortunately as she was booting when I took the picture there's no light behind the marquee 

[Knievel]

WOW....amazing work!

Was happy with my stock Candy until I saw this. Time for a rethink..

Again...WOW! 

[Franco B]

Excellent work as usual mate 

You have persuaded me to get a PacDrive too, should have it any day now, I didnt know you could run 12v things off them

[ratzz]

This is a top project! And really great artwork.

Well done - looks great! 

[waveryder]

Its an essay!!
I started this project in may 2007 and have enjoyed every bit of it. But I think I've reached the end of the road as far as this is concerned so this will be my last post. This has been my second arcade cab, the first being Neverland that I made in 2002. A lot changed since 2002 when I finished and posted pics of my original, the technology, the acceptance of new ideas and the people. It took a while for me to think about another cab until "BubbleGum Betty" came along. It was lots of fun starting a new project especially as I had a lot more experience and lots of new ideas. However between my custom arcade artwork and innability to post on the boards with out being accussed of trolling for profit the fun has gone out of this hobby for me. I've spent a few weeks just playing on Betty, (mostly NBA Hangtime and Space Channel 5 Part 2) after all thats why I built her and thats where I found the fun again. So I'm going to get back to the fun! It's time for a break from all of this and to enjoy what I have made. BubbleGum Betty stands as complete as I am presently happy with. She acts as my home jukebox, arcade machine and P2P server (you probably are getting emulation stuff from her right now and don't even know!) She still has lots of scope for extras. I already have produced 2 custom guns for her and now that I have finished the quick swap interface I can produce an endless amount of CP's for her. Those I will keep to myself as apart from the detailing I will do they are pretty well documented already. I've tried to only document things on this thread that I believe are useful to other people and unfortunately many things that I have had to do on Betty have been mundane and samey. So without further ado onto the last post and the end of project "BubbleGum Betty".

I finished soldering all the points for the quick swap interface. It acts as a large junction with 4 db25's routing different control modules to both the computer and dreamcast within the cab. Now all I need to do to swap control panles is remove the db25 plugs from the junction and swap em over. The led lighing is also wired by db25 so that I can use the same controller to light the other panels. The only fixed buttons and wires are player 1+2 as these are permanently connected to the top CP. I finished mounting everything inside the cab and added a fan at the back as when the dreamcast and computer are running together betty generates a lot of heat. I finished the internal lighting for the computer as I like to be able to show off Betty's insides when friends come over.

Daytime and Nightime insides

Now the project is "officially" finished I'd like to extend a big thanks to:
CountZero: for the coin mech. Havent heard from him in a while, but he did manage to change my perspective of the forum.
Javeryh: big thanks for showing that a pink cab could be cool. Without his input Betty would probably have ended up with generic Streetfighter images on it.
MsJersey: for all the input and putting up with this project for almost a year!
NoddyP + VictorMeldrew: for all their wonderful support. Above and beyond the call of duty.
Lastly huge thanks to all the forum members who stopped by to look and comment on this project. Comments both positive and negative have really moved this project forward and have made it very special and enjoyable.

Enjoying the Touchscreen

Final BubbleGum Betty Specs:
Bubblegum pink 19" Candy Cab
Touchscreen VGA Arcade monitor
2.8TB raid array (emulation)
500GB HD (jukebox)
Flush mount swappable metal CP's and quick swap interface
Led Happs style pushbuttons with custom diffusers and graphic inserts
Custom Sanwa Joysticks with led bubble ball and custom dust washers
Custom Actlabs VGA lightgun/Mame
Custom VGA Lightgun/Dreamcast
LCD display with jukebox graphic equalizer
Custom Dreamcast and Dreambox VGA + analogue/digital switching interface
Mars coin mech and credit acceptor token enabled (presently programmed for Yen)
Removable kickstand for Japanese candy style
Custom sound reactive module
Ultimarc IPac2 for digital control interface
Sidewinder Dual Strike Interface for analogue control interface
Ultimarc PacDrive for LED control and exterior lighting.
Custom laminate vinyl sideart/kickplate/multi-CP and sound reactive marquee
Wireless / Ethernet network enabled + media serv for home lan
Albumplayer Jukebox and Mala Frontend with video previews (thanks emumovies)

Betty Complete

Running and freely P2P Serving from Arcade Cab:
Custom Mame (always latest version)
Fusion 32X/MegaCD/MegaDrive
PSX 1.13
Wmplayer from GameEX site (for music video play through Mala)
Zsnes
Zinc (showing its age)
Various Touchscreen games and software (for my toddler)
Complete set of selfboot dreamcast CD's all VGA enabled

Until the next project (However long it takes to decide to do another one) I'll leave you with a video of Betty "doing her thang"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0c9m6slbH0[/youtube]

Excuse the doodgy video and my 2 year old trying to sing along. 

[javeryh]

WOW.   

This cabinet is incredible.  I am totally jealous of how awesome everything came out.  It looks 100% custom and the fact that it doubles as a jukebox with a touch screen is just icing on the cake.  You definitely took a candy cab and made it your own.  One of these days if (I can ever get my hands on one in NJ) I'm going to be using this thread as the inspiration and template for my own candy cab creation.  Awesome job and definitely HOF material in my book.

Plus, it's PINK!!!      

When you want to play DC games do you have to reach inside and put a disc in or are the games stored on a hard drive and selectable through your front end?   

[waveryder]

I dont bother emulating the DC. It isnt much cop on my P4 so I doubt it would run to well on my Betty computer. I open the front door and pop a disc into the cast and turn a switch. Bang! instant arcade dreamcast. I know everyone likes to just emulate everything, but a dreamcast is directly VGA and arcade compatible. Combine it with the £10 price tag for a machine and you can have an original for less cost than the HD space to hold the GDI Images. A small price to pay puttin the disc in. I also mix my MP3 jukebox with my dreamcast as they both work through the same audio device. Cant beat Dead Or Alive 2's survival mode with the Prodigys firestarter egging you on 

[(+_+)]

Beautific!

[Dr Collosus]

I know this is my first post but I have been following this project very closely. It is a truly fantastic piece of work and an absolute inspiration. Thanks for sharing your progress, and I hope you continue to have fun using Betty and that this will inspire you to produce more good work in the future.

[IronBuddha]

  Wow just awesome! That is the sickest cab I've seen!

Congrats on the hard work it really paid off! Hopefully someday I'll make something half as good as this