Custom built candy cab: Has it ever been done?

[Doom bucket]

Next year I'm gonna be in a college dorm quad with some really good friends of mine! They've  all been by my house(about a four hour drive from campus) on one occaison or the other and one thing they always say is, "Wouldn't it be nice if we could have one of these at college?" I'd always think of the awesome japanese candy cabs, sometimes I'd actually search for one but in wisconsin such things are hard to come by...

But today I thought, hey, I've already built two arcade cabinets, how much harder could another be?

Ideas? It'd be sweet if I could make it similar to an actual japanese candy cab, with a plastic exterior and giant monitor, but as far as I know no one has done such a thing. If anyone has or has any ideas on how to go about this, I'm all ears. I've got the whole summer to think of how to actually do this

[Singapura]

Funny, here in Singapore the only thing I can get are candycabs. I'm building my own classic arcade but may be I'll buy an Astro or Blast City later. I think someone on killercabs.com built his own candy from wood but if you want to use plastic it's going to be a difficult project.

[grantspain]

there is one company that supply the cab only in flat pack form,i thinks its the big century/century 21 cab

[Franco B]

I found this looking through Project Announcements for you, may be of some help.

http://mamecab.blog.com/

[dmworking247]

Wooden (custom/imitation) candy cabs:



Built by 'Spot' from AussieArcade.com.au , not sure if he posts here.

[Doom bucket]

An unassembled candy cab would be a great alternative... I searched for big century/ century 21 or whatever but couldn't find a website.

[Kajoq]

Have you considered building a Cigarbob style cab?  Basically a half cabinet with a control panel jutting out and a flat base for you to put whatever TV/Monitor you want on top.

Seems like that would be the best solution for having a cab in a dorm room to me.  A friend of mine had a converted Q-Bert cab in his dorm room but the control panel is really tight for 2p

[grantspain]

http://www.shengfar.com.tw/Web/Ver.EN/Big_01.htm

[Doom bucket]

Is it possible to order of that website?

[grantspain]

dunno but have you ever seen the chinese turn down a trade,email them-can't do no harm

[Mr Kray]

I think the imitation candy cab mentioned by dmworking247 above will be the cheapest way to go.. I can't imagine ordering a real candy cab from a Taiwanese website would be all that cheap... especially compared to building one yourself.

Here's a link to the thread on AussieArcade:

http://www.aussiearcade.com.au/showthread.php?t=6932

IIRC on the third page Spot has a post with a link to the cabinet done in Sketchup, with all the measurements there you're good to go! 

BTW Spot uses biscuit joints to hold it all together but from the look of the construction photos you could easily use 2x2s or something else to make it easier.

[Ummon]

Here's a link to the thread on AussieArcade:

http://www.aussiearcade.com.au/showthread.php?t=6932

Um, we have to register....

I found this looking through Project Announcements for you, may be of some help.

http://mamecab.blog.com/

Kinda neat. As I have a friend who's decided to help me, I'm actually ready to work on a project similar to my own candy. Kinda rough and I haven't built it yet so don't know if it works. You know, if you used real wood for the sides, you could route all the edges. Maybe you can do this with MDF too?

[Mr Kray]

Here's a link to the thread on AussieArcade:

http://www.aussiearcade.com.au/showthread.php?t=6932

Um, we have to register....

Haven't you ever registered on a site just to use it once?

It takes only a few minutes to register, it isn't that hard and the plans are solid. You wouldn't need anything else to put the parts together and you could use Sketchup to modify them to suit your needs if you want.

I'd post the plans here but as they're not mine I don't feel right doing it without permission.. also the thread on Aussiearcade documents the whole process so it's worth registering to check it out if you want a BYO candy cab.

[Ummon]

Haven't you ever registered on a site just to use it once?

Not generally, no. I understand registering to post - but to view? Nonsense.

[Turnarcades]

Man you student types are getting richer - if we could have afforded an arcade between us back in the day we'd have been friggin popular!

Mind you, arcades were still big business back then, and MAME wasn't even around for another few years!

[Crowquill]

I thought about doing this a while ago. At the time I couldn't find enough reference to pull it off. I was planning on a wooden cabinet with routered edges and sheet-metal trim.

Here's the best collection of candy cab pics I've found. It's a long thread over at the Neo-Geo forums, but it doesn't take too long to look at the pics. The link sends you to page 28 which has a pretty good variety of cabs.

While I think it's cool you want to build this, I'd think a classic-style cab with interchangeable control panels would be better for a dorm room. Isn't space an issue?

The Big Century is pretty awesome. Unfortunately, the web page is awesome in an entirely different way. Apparently the "Fruits Version" rewards you with cigarettes. And did anyone read the description from the "Iron Box" or "Wooden Cabinet"?

To various kinds of products, we offer OEM guest to make the production of melting,Our worker will be all zealous for the customer demand and the customer consultation communication.Can all be confered individually in accordance with product performance regardless of the price or lot-size.

Maybe if you inquire about the Big Century, you can also make the worker zealous. 

[pmc]

I love the look of candy-cabs, but I don't see how you could get that sleek finish in a home-built copy without tons of fiberglass and bondo. More like building a boat than a typical MDF/plywood cabinet.

It'd be cool if you could buy an injection molded or fiberglass shell and then just fit it over a home-built timber/steel frame.

-pmc

[Ummon]

It'd be cool if you could buy an injection molded or fiberglass shell and then just fit it over a home-built timber/steel frame.

-pmc

Those materials can be strong enough without a frame. They're both, as in the case of candys. Injection molding is plain expensive, though....but it's starting to change with online fabbers and new methods becomung available.

Okay, I went ahead registered over there. I see the picture posted above is of the same cabs. Kudos for effort. I'd want some modifications, though. And he spent a lot of money. Just lumber was expensive. Aus is plenty close enough to Asia to buy them for that, no? Athough gotta be someone at least regional who has some.