Author Topic: -VENDOR- Turnarcades Custom-built Arcades (Read 46252 times)

Turnarcades · « **on:** January 05, 2008, 03:47:54 pm »

Hi Everyone, this is Craig from Turnarcades in the UK.

Turnarcades are based in the West Midlands, England, and build custom-made arcade cabinets, control panels and Jukeboxes for customers in the UK and Europe. We offer a complete range of cabinets and builds, with a simple pricing system to help you price up your ideal system. The basic prices are listed on our website found here:

http://www.turnarcades.co.uk

and also on the BYOAC wiki page here;

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Turnarcades

The basic price gets you a 'turn-key' machine, which is a fully assembled, completed machine with your choice of button colours and marquee design, a Pentium 3 PC around 1Ghz, i-pac interface, quality PC speakers and a CRT monitor included. All you need to add is your own software and games. Every machine is hand-built primarily from MDF and finished with a weather-proof black paint, heavy-duty rubber T-moulding, shatter-resistant acrylic and all have doors to access the internals should you wish to do any modifying yourself.

Turnarcades machines are primarily designed for the UK market, and as such all are designed with space in mind. This means that where needed, the cabinets have been designed for ease of movement and for moving about the house between even narrow door frames where possible. For example, the 'Master' cabinet is a full size two-player machine, but is 23" wide with no protrusions so it will go through most doorways (UK houses don't always have large access points, garages or basements to make games rooms of). Playing room is not compromised though, and two adults can comfortably play side-by-side on it. Even the 4-player 'King' cabinet has a detachable control panel, so the main bulk of the cabinet will fit in easy.

The options you have are fairly limitless. We have a selection of set-priced options, such as a lit marquee for £25, side-art at £50, 2.1 speaker system for £40, Sanwa Joysticks for £40, coin doors at £70, LCD screen upgrades for all machines, Pentium 4 upgrades on most machines and many others. Although we work from a set of fixed dimensions, customers can also specify certain shell dimension changes, such as slimline cabinets, varied control panel heights and slightly wider machines to house larger monitors etc. Prices for these kinds of modifications vary, so are given individually.

Average construction time is about 4 weeks, and construction photos are sent to the customer as we build. A deposit is required of up to 50% of the total cost (depending on the cabinet and options) to cover materials and components, with the final balance due upon completion. This is a home-build operation and this protects us in the event of non-payers or people who change their mind.

So far we have built around 30 machines for customers, a small selection of which is shown here:

We are open to new challenges, and can make cabinets of almost any kind. There may be some projects that are too costly or time-consuming, and if this is the case we would advise you of an alternative way forward. That said, we believe our range covers all gamer's budgets and tastes, from the budget space-saving 'Bar-Top', right up to our 32" wide-screen, 4-player monster 'Supreme' cabinet.

We currently only arrange collections and deliveries in the UK as we have no partner courier service, but we are willing to send machines to any country if the customer is willing to arrange. We do not currently have an official website, but requests and queries can be made to my current e-mail address samshaw946@hotmail.com. If you do not see what you are after, just ask. We can do most of these cabinets in kit form, from bare wood up to fully assembled with blank control panels and no electronics. Anything is possible!

Craig @ Turnarcades

P.S. I welcome any comments or suggestions from BYOAC members....

Turnarcades · « **Reply #1 on:** January 09, 2008, 08:54:38 am »

From time to time I will post pics of cabinets I am building for customers, as an idea of the range we can offer. The cabinets I post will usually be original cabinets that the customer has requested, or first-built concepts to showcase good examples of our base units.

Here are a couple of pics of projects that are in progress at the moment:

This picture shows the work in progress on a slimline version of our 'Mini' cabinet. The customer wanted a cabinet that was good value for money, economical on space, and could both fit through his loft hatch and be stationed under his roof apex to save space. The cabinet will have a 17" LCD screen and differently-mounted internals due to the narrower dimensions and weight distribution needed. Note the angled lower section which creates a better centre of gravity in the absence of no flat wall to prop it up against, and the 45 degree slope on the top to match the roof apex:

The following images show our first Box Arcade machine. Ths is our self-contained arcade, which houses a mini-itx motherboard and all the PC components inside, with the control panel mounted on top. It can connect to a VGA port (monitors or modern TV's), RCA (projectors, TV's etc.) or S-Video so can be used with pretty much any display. This Box Arcade is smaller than most projects that have been tried before, and with some re-jigging could be even smaller than the current 26"x14"x6" dimensions:

More pictures and projects soon...

Angry_Radish · « **Reply #2 on:** January 09, 2008, 12:33:00 pm »

I'll take the fruit machine in the background please!

Turnarcades · « **Reply #3 on:** January 10, 2008, 05:16:59 am »

You're welcome to it! The third reel's playing up.

Damn mechanical devices!

Turnarcades · « **Reply #4 on:** January 16, 2008, 09:56:49 am »

Major announcement about Turnarcades products!

I'm proud to announce a major addition to the Turnarcades product line. I have recently been in talks about improving the Turnarcades products by getting software developers and some important business partners on board. The first of these to announce is with regards to forum regular Minwah who most of you should know...

As of February 2008, all Turnarcades arcade machines and projects will (where a PC is installed) feature the ever-popular arcade menu/frontend system MAMEWAH! Steve (Minwah) and myself have made an agreement that means all Turnarcades arcade machines will come pre-installed with a Turnarcades-skinned setup of MAMEWAH pre-installed. The software setup will completely configured for use with the arcade controls installed on each machine, and will have pre-configured skins and initialisation files for a selection of major platform emulators, Namely Arcade (MAME), SNES, NES, Gameboy (inc. GB Colour), Megadrive (Genesis), Master System, Game Gear, Atari 2600, 32X, Atari Lynx, Neo-Geo Pocket and PC Engine (TurboGrafx 16). Further platforms may be added (eg N64, Mega CD etc.) depending on requirements and system specification.

This is our first step to creating the closest thing to an all-in emuation cabinet that can be had in the UK and Europe. We will hopefully soon be sorting out an agreement with exporters (to get us into the US for a reasonable price), parts manufacturers (to reduce our overheads), CNC manufacturers (to create non-customised, standardised flat-pack machines), and maybe even one or two game companies (to get a legitimate game line-up pre-installed on licence).

I will let you know when we have some more info. Until then, check out the Turnarcades range with this link;

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Turnarcades
and follow our custom jobs in this thread.

Craig @ Turnarcades

Turnarcades · « **Reply #5 on:** January 16, 2008, 12:01:17 pm »

It started with me on my own, but now I have several padouin!

Turnarcades · « **Reply #6 on:** January 17, 2008, 04:07:26 pm »

Finally the Turnarcades Box Arcade prototype is finished! Here you can see the installed components and internal wiring, the overall proportions and just how much space there is to spare inside the unit. Building this prototype with Mini-ITX technology has shown me just how small I could go if needs be. The final picture shows the machine hooked up to my 40" LCD TV, and although you can't tell from the pic, the image is mint!

Havok · « **Reply #7 on:** January 20, 2008, 11:20:19 pm »

Looks good so far, I know this is a tough business to make profitable, best of luck!

Turnarcades · « **Reply #8 on:** January 21, 2008, 08:56:10 am »

I knew it would be difficult, which is why I chose to keep it as a home-build setup to reduce overheads. We have a professional workshop though and all the cabinet designs and dimensions were designed and tested by me; not nicked from the net or from other people's plans like some less-successful builders have done.

Getting Mamewah on-board is a good step towards raising profile, but even before this the demand has surprised even me. We have had a waiting list going for about 2 years now, as people know we are the cheapest and we are the only ones in the UK offering the cabinet range and custom work we do.

Hopefully I can raise our profile on BYOAC too, as although the idea of building your own is what draws a lot of people here, it gives me chance to showcase what we have done so far, and show UK gamers that there is an operation like this available near to them.

Plus comments from home-build regulars on BYOAC helps us to refine the line we offer.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #9 on:** January 21, 2008, 05:28:37 pm »

Here are some further photos showing the slimline 'Mini' Cabinet we are currently working on. This shows the final lick of paint, installation of the marquee lighting and T-moulding, and the control panel buttons.

Here is a slightly larger Bar-Top, designed to have the same playing space as our regular 'Master' cabinet, but be shallower and in the form of a Bar-Top for easy storage and transportation.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #10 on:** January 24, 2008, 01:36:44 pm »

Here are some further photos of the slimline 'Mini' cabinet, now nearing completion. The customer is a fan of Sonic CD, so I have put together a custom Sonic/Mecha-Sonic Marquee and some small side-art to give it some theme. The 17" LCD monitor looks large in this slimline machine and is very clear. The only thing to add now is some joysticks and the mini-pac wiring and interface. You can see the size difference compared to one of our regular upright 'Master' machines.

Havok · « **Reply #11 on:** January 25, 2008, 11:06:50 pm »

Any plans for a cockpit cab?

Turnarcades · « **Reply #12 on:** January 28, 2008, 02:52:49 pm »

I'm looking at a few cockpit designs for racing cabinets; a projector-based racing seat/cabinet, a racer based on our 'Mini' cabinet, with optional removeable bench, as well as an enclosed cockpit machine and a couple of full-size GTI-Club size racing cabinets.

Is there anything specific you have in mind? I can knock up an image and se if it is popular.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #13 on:** January 31, 2008, 03:47:12 pm »

Here are some update photos on a couple of our current projects.....

Firstly you can see the large-scale Bar-Top very near completion. Visually the cabinet is very nearly finished, with a few minor touches to clean up the exterior. Inside, the speakers are fitted behind the left side of the marquee and under the right side of the control panel respectively, giving a nice stereo sound stage, and the 19"LCD gives a nice ample viewing area leaving plenty of space behind for the PC components and ventilation. The PC is now programmed and will be fitted over the next few days...

This is a picture of a typical 'Master' cabinet close to finishing. There are no major frills on this machine except for a 2.1 speaker system, but I thought I'd include a picture to show one of our average builds...

Turnarcades · « **Reply #14 on:** February 01, 2008, 07:52:37 pm »

Aquick message to say that www.turnarcades.co.uk is soon to be the new home of Turnarcades but right now we are finalising the design and layout. Check back in a couple of weeks and you should see our fully functional site!

Turnarcades · « **Reply #15 on:** February 26, 2008, 07:31:19 pm »

Here is one of our latest designs, custom-made for a customer wanting a 'part-time' cabinet to house his laptop. The cabinet allows a laptop to be opened and inserted from the rear, so the keyboard is accessible under the control panel. This cabinet was designed with a 'car-bonnet' control panel to allow easy access to the keyboard, plus it has a mouse scroll-wheel pushed through from underneath to be used as a volume control, and a shell-mounted USB hub for plugging in peripherals. The cabinet is nearly finished, with just a few touches needed to finish.

Kajoq · « **Reply #16 on:** February 26, 2008, 08:39:05 pm »

I like that laptop-bartop, Pretty cool idea, and the extended control panel pulls you back from the screen a bit so you dont have your nose shoved in the monitor, which seems to be a little bit of a problem with bartops in general.

Are you mounting the screens in your bartops completely vertical or giving them any sort of angle? It seems like it would be a little more comfortable to have it slanted back a touch

Turnarcades · « **Reply #17 on:** February 27, 2008, 07:07:39 am »

Thanks. In all our machines we give the monitor a bit of a slant. I don't work in angles, instead basing the slant on the upper-corner distance from the marquee front, which is parallel with the cabinet front, as shown here;

As you can see, the slant is a little different on the uprights we do, as you invariably look down slightly at the screen. On a bar-top, a little slant is necessary for aesthetics and to keep things in proportion, but too much would create a little glare and maybe a 'ghosted' picture, as can happen on LCD's when viewed from a certain angle.

Kajoq · « **Reply #18 on:** February 27, 2008, 02:24:31 pm »

Cool, It must have just been a trick of perspective because that standard bartop picture looked like it was completely vertical.

From those images though, looks like its just about right. Seem to be making some nice models

Turnarcades · « **Reply #19 on:** March 01, 2008, 09:04:05 pm »

We're trying to be as versatile as we can be; no one here in the UK is doing custom work like we do, and our standard range is bigger than most. We hope to have an entire arcade showroom at some point in the future that allows customers to come and inspect the designs first and playtest them. Even if we take the inevitable step of moving into CNC cut cabinets, we will remain a custom outfit to maximise our appeal.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #20 on:** March 09, 2008, 10:10:51 pm »

Here is the completed 'Laptop-Bar-Top' cabinet in all it's glory. The first two show the machine's profile, with a handy 4-port USB hub on the side to allow joypad/peripheral expansion to the housed laptop, whilst the last picture shows the machine running in it's new home, with it's huge 19" LCD display really filling the monitor area well.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #21 on:** May 15, 2008, 09:53:21 am »

I've been away a while both due to illness and taking care of business but now I'm back and will be posting some new projects here soon to show what's happening in the world of Turnarcades.

Sales are going well and our build schedule is growing for the Summer. To allow for this we are currently having a new workshop built that will allow for more running projects and a new battle plan for this Christmas. We are currently finishing up a 4-player 'King' cabinet that for once has been well documented in pictures so more people can get an idea of how this two-piece machine really looks. Many people have enquired about this machine but have been reluctant due to not having a photo-documented example available. Here is a quick preview of the current project as it stands at the moment:

The two-piece design is the key point of this machine, with the main body wide enough to fit through regular UK doorways.

Contrary to our usual 'build on demand' operation, we will be building a number of 2-player 'Master' machines in advance, ready for the Winter/Christmas order period. In recent years we have had to start Christmas orders in September to cope with demand and have had to turn people down come December. We will be building several in reserve over Summer as this cabinet is in highest demand. Many customising options will still be available for each order, though for speed they will have the standard PC and the larger 21" monitors already installed, so people will be limited to cosmetic options mostly. This way we can fill more orders in the busy Christmas period.

Over the next 12 months we plan to rent a new unit, that will be split to allow for a new expansion business, related to arcade gaming but is a little hush-hush at the moment. Turnarcades will still continue doing custom builds though, and may soon be able to have a complete arcade showcase room showing off all of our regular builds.

Keep checking back for more updates and in the meantime check out our (soon to be revised, honest!) website at www.turnarcades.co.uk for details and pricing.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #22 on:** May 16, 2008, 07:31:50 pm »

This super-slim Bar-Top is a project we built recently for a charity auction event that unfortunately got cancelled. As a result the machine is now up for sale at a reduced price to anyone who is interested. Usually we would build this machine at a cost of around £600, but I'm looking for offers in the region of £500. (Please PM if you are interested).

We built it as a good gesture and as an excercise in build practice, to show we could cram all the regular features of one of our big machines into a small unit. The machine has a 1Ghz, 256mb RAM PC inside, which performs brilliantly thanks to our software tweaks, and it is pre-configured and set up with our custom Mamewah/Turnarcades front-end and jukebox. Unlike most Bar-Tops, ours feature a full set of 2-player controls and it also has a large 18" LCD screen and internally-mounted stereo speakers, all in a unit standing just 18" wide x 22" high x 14" deep!

janey6152 · « **Reply #23 on:** May 17, 2008, 10:37:23 am »

super-slim Bar-Top is a project

I love it.. Can you ship to USA , NEW YORK ZIP 10452

if so how much in USA $$$$

thanks

janet

Turnarcades · « **Reply #24 on:** May 17, 2008, 11:16:40 am »

Hi Janet and thanks for the comments. Unfortunately we don't ship to the US as shipping charges are ridiculous. I've checked and it would cost around £300 to ship from here by international courier, plus I doubt I could vouch for it's safety. All in it would cost about £800, or $1600 to you guys!

Turnarcades · « **Reply #25 on:** May 20, 2008, 07:08:32 pm »

Just to let everyone who enquired know the super-slim compact Bar-Top hasnow been sold. Thanks to all who enquired.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #26 on:** May 22, 2008, 07:22:58 pm »

For those who have been awaiting a finished pic of the Turnarcades 'King' cabinet, we finally have one. Without a documented build until now a lot of enquirers were unsure as to how well the two-piece design would work and how proportioned the final machine would look. Although this is not our first, it is the only one we have pics for so maybe this will now encourage others to consider the few pounds extra for a full party-gaming arcade machine!

Let me know what you guys think, and bear in mind I am aware of the lack of extra controls (trackball etc.) but this is the basic machine with no extras asked for....

pboreham · « **Reply #27 on:** May 23, 2008, 05:16:19 am »

That looks superb

Think I will build another cab one day...

pkellum · « **Reply #28 on:** May 27, 2008, 03:06:58 am »

Quote from: Turnarcades on March 09, 2008, 10:10:51 pm

Ok, I give up, what is the name of the game in the third photo?

BTW, great designs!

Turnarcades · « **Reply #29 on:** May 27, 2008, 09:58:40 am »

Thanks! No idea on the game though. Could be a Sailor Moon game.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #30 on:** June 14, 2008, 07:59:42 pm »

Some more pics of a running 'King' cabinet for general viewing - a lot of people are now asking for details of this machine so I've posted a few more views of the machine for potential customers, with the mounted side-art in place and the lit marquee in all it's glory.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #31 on:** June 14, 2008, 08:12:47 pm »

To let anyone know who is interested in ordering a machine from us that we have had a revised strategy for this year's Winter period. We now have custom orders taking us into the middle of August, at which point we will cease doing custom orders until January next year.

As demand is very high towards Christmas (and in recent years we have had to turn down custom after a few orders), we will be starting to build a large number of 'Master' cabinets ready for the Winter period as these are the most popular design. The machines will be finished to certain level to save time, but will be left cosmetically incomplete so most options will still be available on them. This means customers will still be able to choose their button colours and marquee designs, and also have a few optional extras like side-art and upgraded speakers etc., but the lead time will be significantly reduced and we can fill more orders. Those wanting other designs or major custom design work will have to wait until a quieter period.

For any enquiries about this posting or any of our machines, please contact me through the regular channels.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #32 on:** June 18, 2008, 10:30:07 pm »

One of our customers who bought a 'wood-only' cabinet kit from us is documenting his first cabinet build on his website;

http://www.greentango.co.uk/?id=mame_arcade.php

Though this kit is based on dimensions supplied by the customer (rather than one of our regular set cabinet kits), it has been designed to be put together using our build methods so our regular construction plans can be closely followed. The customer opted for our 'finishing kit' which will complete the machine once the paint and T-moulding has been supplied.

This shows how well are kits work and that the plans are easy to follow, for anyone thinking of ordering a kit from us. Hopefully some new photos of his progress will be posted soon so we can view the finished article.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #33 on:** August 28, 2008, 09:44:47 pm »

Been a while since I added to this thread due to business demands. We always spend more time working on machines than playing them!

Anyway, here is a selection of cabinets we have built over the last few months;

The most significant of these is the second cab, which features the new Ultimarc U-Trak centrally mounted on a control panel just 25" wide x 8" deep. The others are fairly standard affairs, but show how much a standard machine can vary with the right choice of options etc.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #34 on:** August 28, 2008, 10:22:03 pm »

As I'm currently working on a new machine for my own personal use (which will serve as a prototype for a new model in the Turnarcades range...watch this space!), I am currently selling a few things to create some space. The first of these is my old MAME cabinet, which was built for my own use before I launched Turnarcades. Here is a picture of the cabinet I took a while back;

The cabinet started life as a generic BAS or Silverline Jamma cabinet, before being converted by me. The cabinet was swabbed down and re-covered in black adhesive vinyl to clean up the exterior, and all the insides gutted so it could be converted for MAME. It has a 21" high-quality internet TV (brand new when installed with both SCART and S-Video inputs), 2 sets of player controls (Suzo sticks and Happ pushbuttons) all interfaced to a mini-pac for the PC and also hard-wired into two hacked PSX pads so you can play PS1/2 games in the cabinet too. It also has a P3 1Ghz PC inside set up with the Turnarcades software. It has wheels on the rear bottom for ease of movement, but stability when placed flat.

A few parts were stripped from the cabinet for use on other projects over the last year or so. The machine has a genuine coin door and coin box door, but the coin mech and locks have been removed (not that these make any difference to the overall cabinet). There is no installed Playstation (removed to go into another project) and there is no TV-out card on the PC (easily picked up elsewhere) but besides that it's ready to go. The 2 PS1 G-con guns will not be included unless someone offers the right price for them, as it took me a while to source them. Again, there are tidy gun holsters on there due to the pedestal design so you could always add some LCD TopGuns or something.

The cabinet has been stood for a while and has been covered up for over 12 months, so is now a little dusty. The slanted top/rear panel appears to have absorbed a lot of moisture as it has warped a bit and there are no rear panels as this is how the cabinet was when I converted it. The machine is structurally sound though and still looks pretty much as it does here. I have tested it and everything works fine.

The machine is roughly 66"x23"x30" and is fairly heavy, at around 100kg. I will be listing it on ebay soon but if a sensible offer is received from a BYOAC member I will let it go beforehand. Please PM me with offers around £150 upwards. Buyer must collect from Walsall, West Midlands (UK, obviously).

Ummon · « **Reply #35 on:** August 30, 2008, 06:00:02 pm »

I think that one, though with only slight differences in the main cuts, looks way better than those posted before it.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #36 on:** September 01, 2008, 09:23:29 am »

Quote from: Ummon on August 30, 2008, 06:00:02 pm

I think that one, though with only slight differences in the main cuts, looks way better than those posted before it.

It probably does, but then it was originally a commercial machine; more complex in design, CNC-cut and factory assembled.

Even though some may think that, it wasn't designed to house a PC and I had to do a lot of gutting to make it suitable for a MAME conversion. Any builder worth their salt will tell you that designing a MAME cabinet design that is as flexible as ours for regular production involves optimising interior space, which this JAMMA design does not.

Ummon · « **Reply #37 on:** September 01, 2008, 06:02:24 pm »

Well, I was just pointing at the slight curves of the sides pieces. Surely that could easily be done using a template and router or rotozip, yes?

Turnarcades · « **Reply #38 on:** September 17, 2008, 04:37:54 pm »

The original Turnarcades prototype has been sold! Many thanks to buyer Chris who will be relocating the cabinet to it's new games room in his French holiday home.

Couple of new cabs in the pipeline at the moment, including a new cabinet for myself at long last (the Projectorcade) which will be added to the Turnarcades range once the creases are ironed out. The other is a custom shape that we have built based on some specifications from the customer. At our recommendation the control panel features an Ultimarc U-trak, colour-coded Mag-stiks and a custom button arrangement. Once we have completed the final touches (and dusted it all down!), they will be adding a 29" arcade monitor and their own PC which has been programmed using the Turnarcades software.

Ummon · « **Reply #39 on:** September 17, 2008, 05:40:18 pm »

Looks good. Has a more inviting slant to it.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #40 on:** January 26, 2009, 08:43:22 pm »

Been absolutely ages since I added to this thread due to a lack of unique cabinet orders and a massive Christmas schedule, however the new year is here and I'm kicking off with a biggie - the first order for a 'Supreme' cabinet was taken just after Christmas and is well under way!

The 'Supreme' cabinet is the largest set-design in our range, featuring a multi-box construction, huge LCD display, 4-player control panel and a powerful 2.1 speaker system. Since my original concept picture (see website) the design has been completely overhauled, borrowing the simple lines from the majority of our range and the slanting panels from our slimline cabinets to maintain a good centre of gravity for both the control panel pedestal and the monitor pedestal sections. Here are the first few photos showing it's initial construction phase, with a height comparison to my 6'2" lead builder to show how the proportions work in reality:

Forgive any construction gaps/misalignments at this stage as they have now been adjusted accordingly. The major factor in the re-design was customer input, some further thoughts on wiring demands, aesthetics and practicality. For example, this customer was unsure about his size requirements so I decided to do away with the central 'joining box', instead having the control panel pedestal with two fixed castors at the front and feet with stoppers at the rear. This makes the control panel moveable when tipped towards you (so can be set at the exact distance you want) but held steady by the grippy stoppers when placed level. The completely re-designed monitor box and pedestal have the mids and tweeters relocated to just underneath the monitor, pointing towards the players instead of at the sides of the screen as on a lot of showcase cabinets. This keeps the overall width down and allows less wiring to be fed from the monitor box section into the pedestal below. The two sections will have a generous amount of wiring slack between them that can be fed back inside the pedestals once the ideal distance is found, and all wiring will be bound/wrapped into one hose section to keep it tidy.

Hopefully having photo documentation of this as a completed machine will encourage others to consider ordering this cabinet, just as it did with our 'King' cabinet. I am currently working on a modified range of 2-player cabinets too, replicating some popular 'American-style' dedicated cabinets but acknowledging the need for compact cabinets in the UK. They will be somewhat akin to the two-piece design of the 'King' cabinet but with slightly different profiles and control panel options, with prices somewhere between those of the 'Master' and 'King' models.

Once again any feedback is welcome....

thatitalian · « **Reply #41 on:** January 27, 2009, 12:03:44 pm »

Can't see the pic bud!

Turnarcades · « **Reply #42 on:** January 27, 2009, 12:54:12 pm »

Try again - it's definitely working...

Here is a picture of the control panel box, part assembled and drilled. The trackball used is as always a U-trak from Ultimarc, which without the trim ring sits flush with the surface of the panel with no raised edges, ugly mounting plate or raised bolt heads:

Turnarcades · « **Reply #43 on:** January 28, 2009, 01:19:24 pm »

Some further progress, with the control panel in place and most sanding+filling completed...

Turnarcades · « **Reply #44 on:** February 02, 2009, 08:47:11 pm »

'Supreme' build update - most panels in various stages of painting and shown here pretty much assembled as it will stand when finished. Looks enormous in this tiny kitchen but is perfectly in proportion with the monitor section being at head-height for a 6-footer.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #45 on:** February 05, 2009, 02:12:36 pm »

'Supreme' build update - The cabinet is nearing completion now with the shell work on the control panel, cp pedestal and monitor pedestal complete. The speaker system is installed in the monitor pedestal with the plug bank, and the PC components will be mounted inside the cp pedestal over the next few days. The LCD screen is next to be fitted and braced into the monitor box, when the sides will be prepped and the final painting done. TThe perspex and artwork will arrive shortly so in the meantime the cables will all be adjusted to length and a trial run made.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #46 on:** February 17, 2009, 01:01:50 pm »

Here is the first finished 'Supreme' cabinet we have built. We are quite pleased with the results and the machine's proportions are as expected. Building the first of a kind or a one-off is always a learning experience as the dimensions may seem fine on paper but not in reality. Luckily we have not had to play around with the dimensions too much as we go along on this one and it's all worked out into a design we are happy to replicate for future orders.

HaRuMaN · « **Reply #47 on:** February 17, 2009, 01:51:58 pm »

Are the player 3 & 4 joys mounted on an angle?

Turnarcades · « **Reply #48 on:** February 17, 2009, 07:28:51 pm »

Quote from: HarumaN on February 17, 2009, 01:51:58 pm

Are the player 3 & 4 joys mounted on an angle?

Yes. A lot of people critique this layout based on a lot of original 4-player cabinets having sticks that were aligned with the screen, however the trials I did had people saying they felt no disorientation with angled sticks and we have stuck with this layout ever since. If you think about it, you don't look at your controls while you play so why should anyone experience difficulty? We've all played multi-player console games and it's rare you will all be sat square on with the TV with your joypad (at least not in homes I've lived in) so it's really no different.

If the customer had specified a preference for forward-facing sticks we would do that, but quite often the 3rd and 4th players are a rarity so most people would not bother. Keeping the regular layout for those player's buttons and bringing them square with the monitor would also mean making the control panel much wider and ungainly anyway so no-one has ever asked for that.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #49 on:** March 06, 2009, 12:40:47 pm »

We are currently working on a couple of slimline versions of our 'Master' cabinet. These slimline designs pretty much follow the same height/width proportions of our regular models, but (as with our other slimline designs) are around half the depth of the regular 'fat' cabinet at their deepest point (the base). Here is a picture of the bare shell of one of them as it currently stands;

One of these cabinets will have a 19" LCD and the other a 22" widescreen LCD. Although many are not in favour of using LCD screens in their own cabs I have never seen any problems with display or longevity on flat panels. However, I do always advise customers of the best options to get the most out of their cabinets and try to encourage a 4:3 screen in most cases. It seems many are not bothered by a slightly stretched display and no-one is put off by LCD displays so about 50% of our orders are now for slimline models. This is good for everyone as it makes the machines much lighter, easier to build and due to our designs do not require major changes to the plans/dimensions. This makes customising them easy and from the front they remain virtually identical to our regular machines, so people still get the same look and feel that first drew them to that model.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #50 on:** March 10, 2009, 03:32:00 pm »

The slimline 'Master' cabinets are coming along nicely and it's great that they can be stood in the same space that 1 regular 'Master' cabinet usually occupies. Alongside these two machine builds we are also building a 'Cocktail' cabinet for a customer. We don't have many requests for cocktail builds and the photo documentation of the few builds we had done was lost in a hard-drive failure a while back. Many people have been curious about seeing a completed cabinet as our design is very unique among cocktail designs, instead focusing on horizontal games and side-by-side play to offer the same 2-player experience as our other designs. As vertical games can be played fine on a horizontal screen anyway, our design can be appealing to both classic enthusiasts as well as the casual gamer. Here are the few pics we have so far, with a 17" monitor just dropped in temporarily to give an idea of proportion. The finished item will have a 19" monitor fitted in it's place:

gonzo90017 · « **Reply #51 on:** March 10, 2009, 05:32:30 pm »

Looks very nice but not too much leg room.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #52 on:** March 10, 2009, 07:06:55 pm »

Alhough it doesn't have an overhanging control panel like many seen on these forums, the playing position is still fairly comfortable and the design means that each player can put one leg at the side of the cabinet if necessary. The inward-angled front also gives foot room at the base so you don't have to tuck your feet right back as you would if the front was completely vertical. The steeper-angled control panel also helps as it stops you having to reach so far forward to reach the upper row of buttons or push up on the joystick.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #53 on:** March 13, 2009, 11:39:00 pm »

Progress rapidly made with the 2 slimline 'Master' cabinets means they are not far from finished:

and this pic with mock-up side-art illustrates the shallow side profile well...

This design is growing on me so I hope to have more orders for this design. Being lighter and easier to work around they are a pleasure to build, and I am even considering building an upright racing cabinet for myself using this shell design - primarily for the Crazy Taxi series.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #54 on:** March 19, 2009, 05:11:35 pm »

The first of the two slimline 'Master' cabinets is complete. The cabinet has turned out well and the customer is very pleased with the result. I've found from building these that the machines could easily go much slimmer but to retain sturdiness and a good overall look it will stay at 16" deep.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #55 on:** April 24, 2009, 11:37:54 am »

Finally found time to post a completed picture of the 'Cocktail' we were recently working on. Looks great with the smoked, shaped and polished acrylic surface;

Turnarcades · « **Reply #56 on:** April 29, 2009, 10:07:47 pm »

It's been a long time in coming but the Turnarcades website is now undergoing a complete re-design by one of our very own BYOAC members and should be ready in the next month or so.

The new website will include:

Our complete new product line-up, with more models, options and upgrades and our 2009 prices
New pictures of older cabinet designs and more examples for inspiration
A completely redesigned page layout and navigation system
An instant, simple 'quote generator' to give a quick idea of what your custom cabinet will cost
Full terms and conditions, payment instructions and delivery options
Links to third-party software documentation and Turnarcades' instruction and support files

The development website is currently found at the following link;

Turnarcades development website

but please bear in mind the site is still in development and will change frequently in the coming weeks. Any queries should continue to be e-mailed direct to me or sent by PM in the BYOAC forum.

Craig

Blanka · « **Reply #57 on:** June 29, 2009, 10:29:52 am »

See you have the site live allready.
1 hint:
Try to keep the menu open when you browse the products. Now you have unfold the menu every time again from the collapsed state.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #58 on:** June 29, 2009, 10:11:12 pm »

Quote from: Blanka on June 29, 2009, 10:29:52 am

See you have the site live allready.
1 hint:
Try to keep the menu open when you browse the products. Now you have unfold the menu every time again from the collapsed state.

Live yes, complete no. It's taking much longer than I'd like but the author has many projects ongoing. A big part is being done now with the quote builder page, and that collapsing issue with the products is being taken care of.

megrog2 · « **Reply #59 on:** October 08, 2009, 03:21:18 pm »

Hey Turnerarcades I really like your pedestal, since you probably can't ship a kit of that size to the states would you be willing to sell your plans for it.

HaRuMaN · « **Reply #60 on:** October 12, 2009, 01:36:37 pm »

Quote from: Turnarcades on March 06, 2009, 12:40:47 pm

Now complete with cigarette smoke pre-installed for that authentic arcade experience!

Ummon · « **Reply #61 on:** October 14, 2009, 12:49:44 am »

Quote from: HarumaN on October 12, 2009, 01:36:37 pm

Quote from: Turnarcades on March 06, 2009, 12:40:47 pm

Now complete with cigarette smoke pre-installed for that authentic arcade experience!

Hah hah hah hah hah hah hah. Brutal. But honest.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #62 on:** October 18, 2009, 08:05:38 pm »

Would be even more hilarious if it were actually as it appears - but this fella doesn't even smoke! That's actually a pencil you see there.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #63 on:** May 24, 2010, 10:54:33 pm »

Just realised it's been a long time since I posted any updates after I've received many e-mails asking if we are still in operation, but for any more newcomers who have just discovered us be assured that this is a good sign and we are still in business. There has been a huge increase in demand over the last 12 months so opportunity to post new project pics has been scarce!

We understand the website issue has been dragged out for some time so if you think you can help then drop me an e-mail, but until then there is still much info to be found on the website and most current information can be found on our current ebay listings so search for us on ebay UK to view a lot of key information and prices.

As a reminder, we will also be attending the R3play retro gaming expo in Blackpool in November and will be offering some sizeable show-exclusive discounts for orders placed on the day. Frequent visitors to BYOAC and experienced cabinet builders may be interested in buying a flat-pack kit as we will have several ready and packed to take home on the day, whilst deposits can be placed for shells and full machines with up to a £50 discount off our normal prices. I will be there in person to answer any queries or discuss custom build possibilities and as a hobbyist will enjoy the opportunity to meet and greet other BYOAC members at the show!

Turnarcades · « **Reply #64 on:** August 03, 2010, 09:10:26 pm »

As we were approaching our Summer break and I will be reviewing our advertising and online presence, I decided to take the time to take some constructive videos of the last couple of machines we built. Many people were also asking to see what our current front-end and software revision looked like, so I've created a dedicated Turnarcades youtube channel and uploaded a varied selection of videos there. The channel can be viewed at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Turnarcades

I have also added 'favourite' links to other youtube member's videos that may be of interest, such as those of a previous customer as he put the finishing touches and modifications on his machine. Here is a selection of some of those videos, so if you like them them please check out the others:

Turnarcades · « **Reply #65 on:** September 23, 2010, 06:17:27 pm »

Developments have been slow over the last few months whilst we were sorting out our premises move, but I'm pleased to say we have now completed the move and will be starting back doing custom build orders from next week. In light of our expansion and increased requests to visit by potential customers, the new premises has a separate office and viewing area to view working demo machines and custom builds approaching completion. Customers will be able to visit and discuss aspects of their custom build and draw inspiration from working models for those who are a little more indecisive.

The new premises will not be cosmetically finished for quite a while yet as we have a large backlog of orders in the run-up to Christmas, but this sketch shows the intended layout of the new premises:

In line with our premises move and expansion, we have now made arrangements with numerous international couriers and can once again offer not only our kits, but full machines and other custom projects to customers in Ireland, mainland Europe and the rest of the UK we previously did not cover (non-mainland). This will be good news to former enquirers from the continent who until now have not been able to order from us and have not found a good value alternative elsewhere in Europe.

We will be aiming to improve our lead times as soon as we start back and hope to fit in more orders before Christmas this year, with the hope of halving our current lead times by early next year. We are also in talks with several arcade supply companies about commissioning kit lines for them so you may start to see some new alternatives on the UK market, and for those unfussy customers we will be creating stocks of pre-made and ready-to-go cabinet kits of our most popular models, ready to purchase with no lead times.

2011 should be a big year for us and hopefully we will continue to see support from the online community.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #66 on:** January 12, 2011, 08:55:18 pm »

Business has picked up to a point where our online forum presence has suffered, but our facebook page and youtube channel are proving very popular, with many updates being posted on the facebook profile.

On a side note, we have during the course of the last few months acquired a couple of additions we normally wouldn't and although we'd love to be collectors, our business is in custom-built machines and so we'd prefer to let originals go to collectors and gamers who really want them. We have coming up a Silent Scope 2 arcade machine (unknown condition) but right now we do have a bit of an oddball classic in the form of an original 1955 Bally 'Miami Beach' bingo pinball machine. It's in average shape and is listed as non-working, but we're actually unsure of it's condition and rescued it from being skipped by the previous owner who wanted rid of it by any means. It has all original parts including a decent backglass with original artwork, original rubbers and playfield glass and original wooden top rails, so even if it's not working these parts alone are ideal for another resto project!

It may not be for everyone, but I know there's a few collectors out there so if you know anyone who has a use for it, You can view the machine on the ebay listing here: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280615257473

saint · « **Reply #67 on:** June 30, 2011, 02:51:13 pm »

Is this still an active thread? If not I'd like to de-sticky it.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #68 on:** October 02, 2011, 04:28:35 pm »

I still monitor it Saint and it's referred quite frequently from other, but I've just been saving up info for posting and not had chance to add anything for a while. Please leave it stickied if possible.

Ortizimo · « **Reply #69 on:** October 30, 2011, 06:44:15 pm »

if u dont ship to the US then do u sell the plans so we can take them to get build in the local hardware store? i like the laptop bartop.

Turnarcades · « **Reply #70 on:** November 27, 2011, 08:52:30 pm »

Quote from: Ortizimo on October 30, 2011, 06:44:15 pm

if u dont ship to the US then do u sell the plans so we can take them to get build in the local hardware store? i like the laptop bartop.

Sorry haven't checked into this thread for a while - we'd love to be able to supply plans but unfortunately we only work from general guide plans and dimensions ourselves as everything is cut from scratch by hand - unique machines like the Laptop Bar-Top we literally created as we went along, so I'm afraid we don't even have any sketches for that one!

FlowState · « **Reply #71 on:** March 11, 2012, 09:56:50 pm »

Hey, I'd definitely be interested in discussing a purchase to be shipped to the Isle of Man (yeah, that'll be cheap). What would be the best way to communicate? There wasn't a 'contact us' link on your site (that I saw), so I wasn't sure how you'd want to discuss a possible order. Thanks for the help!

HaRuMaN · « **Reply #72 on:** March 19, 2013, 03:07:30 pm »

Still active? De-sticky time

Gray_Area · « **Reply #73 on:** March 20, 2013, 03:10:09 pm »

Quote from: FlowState on March 11, 2012, 09:56:50 pm

Hey, I'd definitely be interested in discussing a purchase to be shipped to the Isle of Man (yeah, that'll be cheap). What would be the best way to communicate? There wasn't a 'contact us' link on your site (that I saw), so I wasn't sure how you'd want to discuss a possible order. Thanks for the help!

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