I got the replacement front-panel art in the mail this morning, so I got busy and finished putting all the artwork on the machine. I also have my new computer, so I was able to take a fairly decent photo. . . .
Yep, it's "Defender prototype" artwork. Ever since I first saw that artwork, I loved it. I also think it perfectly captures the 1980s classic arcade theme that I wanted.
I hereby declare this cabinet "mostly finished"! I have a few quibbles that I'll probably be working on in the future. To wit:
I'm still not 100% sure about the tinted front glass. I may go back and create a clear one at some point.
I want to get a white housing for the PAUSE button.
I want to wire up red LEDs to the P1 and P2 start buttons, for the sake of those games which can flash the start buttons after you put in credits.
The smart strip isn't completely reliable, I can't ever seem to get it adjusted so it will always switch on and off when it's supposed to. Not sure what to do about that.
I'm thinking about hooking up a pinball knocker for Q*Bert at some point in the future. It's a bit complicated to do, though.
I may also put in a second NovaMatrix LED lightbar for the marquee sometime, it's not lit up as brightly as I would like.