Verticade: bartop + vpin

[basbase]

This is a project that I made in the summer of 2022. After procrastinating for a long time, I feel that I should now do a write up while I have still some memory of the build process. I'm reconstructing the build process based on the photo's that I took, this may cause some written steps to be out of order with what is visible...

The project is a vertical bartop arcade for which my working name was Verticade. I did not come up with a name that I liked better so I just keep calling it that.



It started when the baby dresser was no longer needed. I hate throwing good items away so I figured I use the wood to build an arcade machine. The top plate would be good for building the control panel out of because it is sturdy and has a nice plastic edge. The remaining furniture in the kids room is from the same wood, so an arcade made with it would blend in nicely.





I've been holding on to an old 21 inch full HD LCD monitor for about 10 years now, with the intend to use it for an arcade. I used SketchUp to make a design around this monitor. While playing with the angle for the control panel and the screen, it occurred to me that the ideal angle is about the same as that of a pinball machine play field. So I upgraded the design to serve as a virtual pinball machine when it is placed on it's back.



I did not want to paint the machine nor did I want to add T-molding, so I designed it to use the already finished edges of the wood. All panels would be connected using metal brackets on the inside, so that there would be now screws visible.




I started working on the pinball lock bar early on because I feared it would be difficult to get right and I'd rather fail early. I wanted to use the corners of the top of the dresser for their nice finish on the edges. This would cause a visible cut between the two pieces. To work around this mixed in a white piece from the drawers as this breaks it up nicely and keeps the white accents going. It also happened to be the same thickness as the top which made it ideal.
I had to be very careful to keep the cuts as clean as possible to make the seams flush with each other. It did not turn out perfect, but I can live with the result.

More will follow later..

[basbase]

For mounting the lcd monitor I initially wanted to just use a simple wooden board. But I noticed that a lot of virtual pinball games don't let you change to viewing angle to one that is directly from the top of the playfield, it is usually still at an angle. With the screen already being at the common pinball angle, this would make the playfield angle tilted backward for the player. To combat this, I figured there was some room behind the monitor so I could be tilted to correct the viewing angle. So the simple board became a figure with attachment points for hinges and latches to secure it.




My next challenge was coming up with a mounting system for the control panel. I wanted the panel to be easily serviceable and also removable in case I want to swap it out with a different control panel. On top of that I also did not want any visible screws. I found a solution in using screws as a hinge. I first drilled a big hole that would fit the head of the screw. Then on the side I drilled smaller holes that I filed out to fit the shank of the screws.





Time for some assembly. Here I'm fitting the control panel box together. I used a piece of the dresser with the brand as the front piece because I found it a fitting reminder of it's origins.


I'm using metal angle brackets to connect it all. By not using dowels and glue it would be more likely I could fix any mistakes if my design was insufficient. I had to make the bottom panel in two pieces, because I thought I would have plenty of would from the dresser, and so I used one of the panels as an under layer when I was cutting and it got a lot of saw marks on it. It turned out I dit not have plenty of the would I needed :s. Luckily it was only the bottom so no biggie.




Test fitting the monitor on the mount.



Creating the monitor pivot point.

[Ond]

Lots of interesting design and problem solving going on in this project! I like that you designed first in SketchUp. I'm not sure what VP software you are using but Visual Pinball allows for direct top down viewing if you configure that way. Direct top down viewing IMO loses something of the realism that some angle and perspective achieves though. Watching for your next updates!