Kev's Kab

[Arcadiac]

Hi y'all. 

My current project is a sit-down conversion made from a cherry master video poker machine. 
I want to make a sit-down arcade that would be accessible to my son Kevin. 
He rarely used the MAME machine I made previously simply because it was too tall
and too much hassle for him to get up close and play comfortably. 

This cab is for Kev.

This video poker type cab was given to me by my
arcade route guy here in Louisville. 
He was gonna dumpsterize it.
It's pretty much empty except for some shelves and a drawer and the old CP.

I'm thinking of simply lowering all of the elements inside
the cabs original footprint of approx 24" wide, 5 1/2 ft tall. 

The CP will be at arms level sitting at an average chair. 
Monitor above it, then speakers and marquee. 
See the Ghettoshop mockup pictured below.
Kev is in the lower right corner and even the dog is thinking "WTF?"

I want to make this as nice as possible, using mostly what I have at hand.

I did bite the bullet and buy an Ipac2, not something you can find second-hand easily. 

I'm going to the local recycled building materials store tomorrow to see if I can find some suitable wood for the cp and coin door area.

I have a box of old leaf switch buttons and joysticks that I rescued from a
warehouse cleanup job a couple of years ago, gonna use as much of that as possible.
Probably just looking at a single player cp layout, six-button,
maybe with pinball buttons on the side.

As far as cab color/sideart design, he really liked the Donkey Kong blue I used on my first cab waaaaaaay back in 2004. 
I think I'd like something different, maybe brighter, more 80's. like some
of the multi-color/striped stuff some of the companies used for their entire line, like Atari or some such.
Or Candy Cab colors?
Any ideas?
 
Monitor will be a 21" Dell Trinitron, Thank you craigslist freebies!
PC will be a fugly homebuilt Frankenputer I got in a group
lot computer buy last month.

AMD Athlon XP 2800+/2.08 GHz,
512 MB RAM,
40+60 Gig HDs,
Nvidia GeForce 6600/256mb,
running Win XP Pro SP3
Networked via Belkin USB (craiglists freebie again!)

Any input for design or just thoughts on the project would be welcome.
Thanks for looking in, will update when there is some news.

ARCADIAC!

[The Evil Collector]

The first thing that crossed my mind was what are you going to do with your knees when sitting at it. Will the CP stick out far enough to reach comfortably?

[Arcadiac]

I'm gonna do mockups when I'm closer to the actual start of the build.  Kev has Cerebral Palsy and part of that is he has difficulty with muscle tension in his legs.
Makes it tough to sit at a regular table without bumping his knees.
I may angle it out, not sure.

ARCADIAC!

[Griffin]

I am currently in the beginning stages of a sit down vertical cab for my mother  for Christmas. I will be watching your project very closely. I think this style is the way to go. Kind of like a chopped version of a traditional cab with a little candy cab Japanese influence. I'm interested to see where you go with it. I'll be posting mine to the projects soon. I want to have more than the drawings and pile of buttons/controller that I have now!