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The Avrus Arcade Project "Conquest" [4 player, 3 TB, 2 spinner] (WiP)
Avrus:
Managed to be productive on the cabinet. Installed the bezel, as the only things remaining now are the tinted glass, and coin door.
Bad news on the control panel overlay artwork, unfortunately the person I had in mind won't be able to do it for me. That means I'm left designing the artwork myself which means this could end in disaster.
I was at a bit of a loss of how to attach the bezel, as it sticks out slightly from the monitor and doesn't sit flush to any mounting surface. I settled on a 2x4 block cut length wise, and some industrial strength
The difference between regular velcro and industrial strength is night and day. I'd feel completely comfortable hanging 10 or 15 lbs off of this without it pulling loose.
Needless to say, pulling the bezel off the blocks and aligning it squarely was a challenging task.
The finished product neatly hides the mounting material behind it, and when the tinted glass is installed you won't be able to see the bezel at all. Some original arcade cabinets had artwork on the bezel as well, but given my difficulty with the marquee, side art and control panel overlay I'm not going to push my luck.
Once it's assembled, this should give you a pretty good sense of what it will look like. The t-molding on the control panel will go on after the overlay is applied giving it a nice finished look.
Avrus:
Whelp, I lost my clips for the coin door, stalling me from assemlbing that. I'm still lost for artwork too. Ordered the clips through divemaster should be here in a little bit. :banghead:
Jdurg:
Definitely keep this thread updated. The cabinet is looking great so far!!! :cheers:
I've actually got a similar reason for building my cabinet. I'm in the process of also shopping for a poker table so that I can host my weekly poker game here every now and then. (As well as the ad-hoc weekend game). I figured that having an arcade cabinet in the poker room would completely rule and make it not so bad if your aces get cracked and lose all your money because of it. :hissy:
Just a few moments ago I was able to get myself a translucent blue, 3" Happ Trackball with PS2/USB connectors as well as the mounting plate for only $100 on E-Bay. I can't wait for it to arrive so I can lay it out on my control panel. I've started doing the same thing as you and have penciled out my CP design onto the 2'x4' Poplar Plywood I'm using for the CP. The only parts I still need are the trackball, the spinner, and the I-Pac/Opti-Pac (If I can't get a USB/PS2 Spinner setup as well).
The only thing keeping me from going forward is that I don't have the power tools yet and with Christmas coming up soon I'd feel guilty buying myself the plunge router, jig-saw, or power drill that I asked for if a family member already bought it for me.
Avrus:
So it's been quite a while since my last update. I was hoping against hope to get artwork completed, spent some money and a lot of time making sure the digital template for my control panel was correct.
Unfortunately artwork is not happening anytime soon.
So I started to continue assembly on the cabinet, and it turned out I misplaced the mounting equipment for the coin door. (Whoops?)
Some paypal money to divemaster127 from the BYOAC forums, a few weeks of impatiently waiting and I'm back in business.
Hard to believe these little guys held me up a few weeks.
Installed some buttons, and the trackball mounting plates.
Coin door in the process of being installed.
Coin door installed, finally
Coin mechs in place.
You can see how the clips hold the coin door in place.
Unfortunately another snag when I attached the coin box. Turns out one of the wood frame pieces blocks the door from closing with the coin box attached. So I relocated the frame piece.
Red LED lights installed in place of the stock bulbs. Wasn't sure which polarity to go with, turns out I got it correct on my first try.
12v power on the top (+) and ground on the bottom (-). Since I'm just using a spool of yellow 18 gauge wire for various components, I put some black electrical tape to identify ground.
Without a tripod, it's difficult to take pictures of the coin door with the lights, but it looks sweet.
Trackballs, joysticks and buttons installed. I have more pictures of more assembly, but it's late and I'm tired.
Avrus:
Managed to get quite a bit accomplished. Sat down with a few bad movies and started wiring.
Player 1 buttons. The wiring won't be tidied up until the artwork is applied, as I need to take the entire thing apart to apply the artwork.
This is the Happ trackball X axis connector. They have a AMOA plug in place with a harness. You unplug the X axis connector and Y axis connector and the Mini-Pac plugs directly in.
These are the Mini-Pac trackball connectors. Y-axis on the left and X-axis on the right.
Spinners installed. Had to countersink the bolts for them to fit flush. I probably could have used a #6 screw, but I went with a #4 as the mounting holes seemed quite small.
Player 2 buttons.
A start and coin button. The coin button is black.
The control panel is a monster and I wasn't able to reach from the bottom of the panel to the top to attach the coin buttons. I purchased some male quick disconnects and used those to plug into the Mini-Pac wiring.
Here is a nice shot of the Mini-Pac wiring.