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Author Topic: Neo-Geo MVS Mini - Update 05/10/15 105% - Death and Rebirth  (Read 44851 times)

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jeffhlewis

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I've been visiting BYOAC since just about the day the site was created, and I've been a lurker here on the forums for a while.  After working on this project for a couple weeks now I finally got off ---my bottom--- and started posting my worklog to a blog page.

You can check it out at: http://www.lewisjeff.com/blog/ (all blog entries tagged with "Mame Machine" will pertain to this project - sorry for the plain appearance of the blog - I'm in the process of designing the "look" but just wanted to get some substance on there for now.)

My project is a miniaturized Neo-Geo MVS (about 80% scale).  It will have controls for one player with a usb connection for a second arcade controller for player 2.  All the artwork was redone in Adobe Illustrator to compensate for the custom sizing and was printed out by Emdkay (thanks dude!).

I already have a backlog of about 8 days worth of posts to put on the blog so keep your eyes peeled.  Every time I post a new entry I'll post here too.

Special shout-out to the guy who built Bella's Arcade - before I do anything to my cabinet I always check to see how he did it.  Nice cab by the way.

Enjoy, and let me know what you guys think!
« Last Edit: May 10, 2015, 10:06:57 pm by jeffhlewis »
 

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2008, 06:40:30 pm »
Three more posts down, about ten to go.  Should be able to get those up tomorrow  :cheers:

http://www.lewisjeff.com/blog/
 

KDOG

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2008, 08:18:28 pm »
Looks like it will be a cool project. Just a suggestion ; you could host some of your pics here. That way people can get an idea of you project before clicking the link. to your blog.

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #3 on: July 03, 2008, 01:55:17 am »
sure thing; didn't even know I could do that.

Here's the Marquee:

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=104074;image)

CPO:

(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=51525.0;attach=104076;image)

I'll post a couple more tmrw to go along with new blog posts
 

javeryh

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #4 on: July 03, 2008, 09:42:02 am »
Special shout-out to the guy who built Bella's Arcade - before I do anything to my cabinet I always check to see how he did it.  Nice cab by the way.

Hey - that was me!  Thanks.  I'll definitely be keeping an eye on your project - I love the minis!   :cheers:

TOK

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2008, 12:51:41 pm »
Cool project.

I recently got an original Neo Geo mini. I was never aware of them. I think it's typically referred to by fans as a Gold cab. Its cabaret size, and it's actually smaller than it looks in the pics because you see the high part of it next to the low part of a Dynamo cab. When they're lined up facing the same way, its actually pretty tiny. This is a couple projects away on the to-do list. Its got some battle scars. I'm no fan of the woodgrain, and I was thinking about filling all the damage and painting it like a full size Neo like you're doing.


Namco

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #6 on: July 03, 2008, 01:13:24 pm »
Hey, I know you. You commented on my youtube video (username: gamehulk)  :D. I was trying to post a pic of me playing a mini-neo geo cabinet at California Extreme last year, but Youtube comments don't allow URL links for some reason.



This is what I imagined you were talking about, but after looking on KLOV, a cabaret appears just to be a smaller cab, and not a bartop like this one.

EDIT: Just skimmed your blog, and I have to say that the Nintendo cab you have there would be an incredibly awesome project for a 2-player setup. Hook it up dual monitors to a computer and mirror the image to the 1up side. Maybe put in a switch box to make the second monitor serve as a jukebox when playing 1 player games. Or even make the other side a vertical monitor with a trackball or something. Sky's the limit with that thing.

A Neo Geo would be nice too. I've spent hundreds playing Samurai Shodown, Baseball Stars, and Windjammers over the years.  :cheers:

EDIT EDIT: Blogger sucks for posting cab building progress due to the backwards timeline/first-in, last-out kind of layout to the posts. I abandoned mine after a few weeks and just used BYOAC. The linear forum posts lend themselves well to project progress reports.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2008, 01:25:10 pm by Namco »

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2008, 03:07:18 pm »
I'm probably mis-using the word cabaret...it's really just a miniaturized cabinet, similar to the "kid-sized" MVS that came out in the early 90's, but some of the measurements had to be changed to accommodate for the monitor and new CP.  It'll be a little skinnier than the kid-size mvs.  If i was better with 3d modeling I'd have a render ready but I'm a bit rusty with that stuff (last thing I used was 3D Studio R4 for DOS :o)

This weekend I'll be getting the two sides attached to the base and upright so I'll get to see it in "3d" finally.  I've decided to post progress images here primarily instead of the blog since its just easier to look at them here anyway.

Namco - yeah that was me, I love your SF2 cabinet.  I actually had a Neo 2-slot cab I was going to refurb a couple years back but I just couldn't deal with the broken monitor (too much $$$ to replace, too dangerous to mess with).  Had to sell it.  Some dude came and picked up the dual monitor playchoice last week so maybe he'll surface on here somewhere.

Tok - I've seen those cabarets in ads and flyers but never in person...nice find!  that'll make a cool refurb project.
 

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #8 on: July 03, 2008, 04:29:12 pm »
Getting up to speed with updates:

GUTTED MACHINE
This is the machine that was referred to above - a dual monitor Nintendo playchoice that was converted into a Captain America and the Avengers.  $15 on Craigslist Milwaukee.  Never seen this dual monitor setup in the wild; I felt kind of bad gutting it out further but the damage had been done long before I got it.  I took the parts I needed out of the cab and gave the rest away for free on Craigslist to someone (maybe they'll show up here? who knows).  Off the cab I score 1 complete coin door set w/ working mechs, marquee retainers, bits and bolts, and a coin box.







THE BASE
First step - the base.  Simple, casters on a 2x4 grid with a shelf on top.  All sanded nice and even.






THE PC
Instead of using a case I mounted my PC components using motherboard risers on a slab of wood.  The specs are:

-Pentium 4 2.53 GHZ
-512MB PC1066 RDRAM
-80GB 7200 RPM HDD
-GeForce 6800 AGP (complete and total overkill, I know but this is the only spare card I have and it doesn't have much resale value anyway.  I wanted good D3D performance though for filters and non-mame 3d games).
-Wireless NIC
-400 Watt Antec PSU
-Onboard Audio (AC'97)

-WinXP service pack 3 (minimal services & applications running of course)
-Mala (as shell w/ custom theme)
-BootXP for custom boot screen
-MAME v.125

The Slab


The Fully Mounted Machine (Plus 17" LCD) Running MAME.  The cables are a complete mess but they'll be nice and neat when the times comes.  I used a standard WinXP install but I disabled every unnecessary service and app that I didn't need so it runs pretty clean.  I will be using Mala as a shell.


Pushbutton Wired into Motherboard as Power Switch (I hacked an old mobo power button extender)


My older 6-button Control Stick (will be used for player 2).  Runs off a hacked Microsoft Sidewinder.  I've had this thing for ages, it works great.

 

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #9 on: July 03, 2008, 04:48:00 pm »
More Stuff...(with much more to come)

COIN DOOR REFURB

I took the complete coin door & mechs from the salvage pile and disassembled the whole thing for cleaning.


This is one of the dirty, nasty coin mechs I yanked from door...both sets of coin mechs were pretty rough and required great force to press the coin returns in.  They also had issues with quarters getting jammed (I actually wasn't sure if the mechs were dialed for quarters or tokens...the red push-ins said "TOKENS" but the mechs rejected tokens altogether).  I opened them up and blew out 15 years worth of dust and crap out of the mechs, then lubricated all the metal-to-metal contacts.  In one of the mechs, I discovered $1.50 worth of quarters stuck inside, which explained why it wasn't accepting anything.  After lubing them up they worked just like new!


I cleaned the heck out of the coin return buttons with some windex inside and out, they turned out pretty good.  They weren't scratched enough to warrant spending bucks on new ones.  I then printed out some 25 cent stickers on a laserjet printer on adhesive backed paper - a simple exacto cut and paste on and they're looking pretty decent



I hit up the old paint on the coin doors with my Dremel and some sanding pads (I think I went through about 4 of the pads)


Now that everything is stripped, it's paintin' time.  I took the recommendation of some of the people here and used Rustoleum Hammered Black


First coat on...



After applying a second coat of paint and getting everything re-assembled, I added the lock.  Here it is:


Next up - I a molex off of my power supply and wired in some disconnects...I also did the same on the coin door molex:



I had to mix and match the lamps between the two sets of coin doors, but I wired everything up and eventually found a set that work.  I may go back and get LED lights after I'm done to reduce the heat output.  But they work:


Now for the moment of truth, do the damn things work?  I temporary wired up my IPAC to the coin door to test:


Success! On the first try, no less:


More coming this weekend...



 

gonzo90017

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #10 on: July 03, 2008, 05:43:46 pm »
Man I thought you were restoring the Captain America Cab.  ???
A dual monitor setup would've been cool.  That thing looks awesome.

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #11 on: July 03, 2008, 07:38:46 pm »
Man I thought you were restoring the Captain America Cab.  ???
A dual monitor setup would've been cool.  That thing looks awesome.

It would be an awesome project, definitely.  I hope the guy that picked it up from me can do something with it.

The cost for the dual monitor setup would be way out of budget though....the spaces for those screens must have been at least 25" a piece - plus the control panel real estate was very limited.  Looking at the machine I was actually thinking that it would be awesome to cut out a section of the cabinet partition and find a way to mount a 37" LCD TV in there, then throw like Street Fighter IV on Xbox 360 on it when it comes out, that would be nuts - full HD and two sets of controls.

Back to more updates:

CUTTING THE SIDES

I drew up the cabinet side dimensions in Adobe Illustrator to 100% scale and printed them out (on something like 30 sheets).  Taking a straight edge and an exacto knife, I spent about 2 nights cutting everything flush and taping the whole tamplate together.  Here it is applied to the wood (ignore the hollow middle section of the template, i just used the outer extents):



After tracing out the template, I began making the rough cuts - same routine as earlier, straight edge + circular saw, and a whole lot of measuring.  not having access to a table saw is killing me but you work with what you got:



Here is the completed side before detailing:



To get even curves on the corners, I used a pretty ghetto method: i had a bunch of quarters laying around from the coin mech testing so I figured hey, it's the right size curve I want, so I just put them down and traced around.  I followed up with a jigsaw cut (very carefully) and they turned out great:



Not pictured here, I got another 4x8 sheet of 3/4" MDF and traced out the second side.  I then made rough cuts with a jigsaw all the way around, leaving about a half inch lip beyond the pencil line.  I then bought myself a Bosch flush trim bit from Menard's, clamped the two pieces together, and routed them even with each other.  I was amazed how well it worked (though I'm glad I used scrap wood to test first - I learned the hard way that you have to go with the direction that the router bit is turning or it'll kick back like crazy):



The two completed sides opposite from each other.  At this point I had to call it a day and go cough out 10 pounds of MDF dust in the bathroom.  Even using a dust mask and eye protection, i have to just about shower after I do any cutting:



Up next: tack strips

 

tk375

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #12 on: July 03, 2008, 08:27:58 pm »
Now you got me thinking about Street Fighter IV on dual screens.... after I am done with my jukebox I will do something with two screens. Your project is looking good,   :applaud: how much money you think you will spend on this machine?

TK 375

TK375 Why aren't you at your post? "He is building an arcade sir."

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #13 on: July 03, 2008, 09:46:34 pm »
I didn't really set out an initial budget for this project (woops) so I'm kinda tallying as I go...right now the tally is a little over $500 - though if you already have a lot of the incidentals (screws, 2x4's, an extra monitor, etc) it'd be a lot cheaper.  The $500 doesn't include the PC parts though; the parts I'm using belonged to my old workstation before I upgraded, so if you have to buy pc parts you'd probably need to toss on another $250-300.  I don't have many more parts to buy at all...a can of paint, some screws, marquee light, maybe a couple cheap items from happ controls if I need them but I've pretty much stockpiled everything I need.

Two more work log entries and I should be up to speed with where I'm actually at now:

TACK STRIPS
Next up is the tedium of attaching tack strips.  I had a long skinny piece of scrap 3/4" MDF that I used as a spacer to trace around the cabinet. 



I traced two lines deep all the way around and began attaching tack strips.  I cut a notched set of pieces with my jigsaw to use as a "catch' to hold the monitor lexan and the bezel.  I also hammered straight the old monitor mounts so that they'd fit flush against my cabinet.  I will probably be screwing these in later on, i'm not quite sure about the distance and the angle and I need to kind of feel it out first.  I went ahead though and screwed down all the tacks with #8 1 1/4" screws:





I'M A MORON PT 1
After attaching the tack strips I tried to dry fit my base.  I realized that I had measured the depth wrong and forgot to account for a 3/4" extra gap on the back side.  So I trashed the old base, removed the casters, and cut and assembled a new base.  This was probably better in the long run because my first base was a little on the oblong side and had tons of knots in the 2x4's.  This set is much more square and the cuts are more even:





I'M A MORON PT 2
After attaching all of the tack strips I sat there one night in the garage just staring at the pencil lines and measurements for about 2 hours, trying to figure out if there would be any problems when I started assembling the cabinet - one problem jumped out at me right away:



To correct this I had to remove the hard drive and the power supply from the PCB slab and make a cut.  To shield the mobo from MDF dust I taped it up with some bubble wrap and cut the board down to the necessary size.  This will result in me having to find a new home for the PSU and the hard drive...i'll most likely mount them on the underside of the wood slab or on the side panel.  That can wait until much later.  I still have some PC configuration to do anyway (my Mala lists aren't done yet).



Next up on deck: control panel stuff
 

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #14 on: July 03, 2008, 10:14:55 pm »
This should be the last post that will bring me up to speed with where I'm at currently...updates will be a little more periodic from here out but I should make some good headway this weekend with finishing the control panel.

CONTROL PANEL PT 1
My control panel will consist of three parts - 1.) the top, 2.) the front piece that faces the player, and 3.) the bottom piece that will eventually hinge out to allow access.  I'm going to probably be using a cabinet latch system to secure the top of the panel to the cabinet (probably with velcro for good measure) and some kind of hinge system on the bottom.

Here's the first cut, for the CP top.  I had to cut 20 degree angles with my circular saw, which was actually pretty challenging (I screwed up about 3 different times and had to re-do):



I took this piece and clamped it down and ran a 3/8" Roundover bit over the top with my router.  To get the precise cut depth, I used some MDF scrap to practice.  I tried to get it as flush to the surface as possible so it wouldn't make a gouge line on the top:



Next I took the CPO that Emdkay printed out for me and clamped it to the control panel.  I took a drill bit and poked a hold in the middle of the button spaces, then removed the overlay and began drilling.

Let me take the time to give a big thanks to Emdkay.  He does incredible prints for CPO's and marquees...I sent him the two illustrator files and he sent me back AMAZING print work - really high quality stuff that rivals what the actual new-old-stock artwork looks like.  The pictures don't do it justice:









After I verified the holes were all lined up with the CPO, I used a framing triangle to line up the joystick base with the 1 1/8" hole that I cut for the joystick.  I traced out the bottom of the joystick, then drilled pilot holes 1/4" deep for the router to cut out the recess for the joystick base.

Not pictured here - I actually almost botched the whole CP because I originally routed out from the bottom, then realized that the joystick wouldn't stick out far enough on top.  I tried routing the top of the CP instead and it seems like it's still strong enough to hold up.  Good thing I'm using 3/4" MDF.  I'm using a Happs Super Joystick, and in hindsight I think I would have been better off with one of the Ultimarc ones that everyone seems to be using.  Ah well:

\

Once everything was drilled, I of course had to do a dry fit just to see how it would look.  And yes Neo-Geo fanboys - I realize that I misplaced the yellow buttons on the CP, this is just practice  ;D





Up next - the process of putting the CP together and dry fitting into the cab.

 

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #15 on: July 03, 2008, 10:34:15 pm »
One more update before I go watch fireworks...


I'm using Mala as a shell, along with a custom intro video and a custom theme.  Here is the boot screen that will replace the Windows "loading" screen:



And here is my custom Mala theme that I made in Photoshop - It works great in action (when I'm done with the cab I'll be taking a video of it).  I used sound effects from the character select screens in Garou: Mark of the Wolves, The King Of Fighters 2000, and Samurai Showdown II.  They sound nice without being obnoxious.  I'm mulling the idea of adding the arcade ambiance mp3 to the menu, I think is a really cool idea.  I'm also contemplating using videos in place of static screenshots but I think it might be going overboard.



My lists are as follows (making these lists was one of the most time consuming parts of the whole thing, it's so tedious).  I chose to split them up based on manufacturer rather than genre.  I tried to include most major releases by the manufacturers and even some obscure titles:

1.) All Games
2.) Atari
3.) Atlus / Cave
4.) Bally - Midway - Williams
5.) Capcom (1984-1990)
6.) Capcom (1991-2004)
7.) Data East (1981-1990)
8.) Data East (1991-1996)
9.) Irem
10.) Konami (1982-1990)
11.) Konami (1991-2000)
12.) Miscellaneous
13.) Namco (1980-1990)
14.) Namco (1991-2000)
15.) Neo-Geo (All)
16.) Nintendo & Rare
17.) Sega (1981-1990)
18.) Sega (1991-1996)
19.) SNK (Pre-NeoGeo-Era)
20.) Taito (1978-1990)
21.) Taito (1991-2000)
22.) Technos - Tecmo - Toaplan
23.) Favorites (All the games I remember playing growing up)


 

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #16 on: July 04, 2008, 02:36:17 pm »
Happy 4th of July everyone...went for a pre-BBQ work session out in the garage and made some more progress:

First up, I finally got my slot cutting bit from Amazon so I went right to work on a practice piece to get the height dialed in correctly.  Got it on about the 4th try:

SLOT CUTTING




After that it was easy, here's the finished product:




CONTROL PANEL PT 2

The previous two evenings I had been setting my control pieces together with glue and clamps, giving them 18 hours or so to set correctly:



While the joints were pretty strong, I was still a little worried about breakage along the joints.  I screwed the panel together in some strategic places for extra support.  They should be countersunk enough that putty and paint will cover them up:



Wood putty application, to be sanded in about a day:




CAB ASSEMBLY

Moment of truth time - time to see if I've made any major snafu's in the cab measurements by attaching the base and supports.  I started out by lining up the base with the line I had drawn for it and clamping it down to the left side.  I then gave it a couple screws from the bottom (2 on each side).  I added my other two supports - one for the top back and one right below the CP.  Same drill, two screws to hold them in place.



Now time to attach the right side - I double checked the measurements to get them as close to even as possible all the way around.  Some of the measurements are a tad off (2-3 MM at most).  Shouldn't be noticable in most places:



All done! A quick lift off the work table and this baby's upright.  I was a little bit worried at this point because I didn't do any renderings or 3d sketches of the cabinet, I just had to trust the measurements.  It came out beyond perfect, I'm really happy with it:



I took the still-drying CP and gave it a quick dry fit, it's a little snug but it fits perfect!





From inside, looking at the CP:








 

Zeguna

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #17 on: July 04, 2008, 05:18:22 pm »
Very cool. I really love the custom MALA theme.  :applaud:

javeryh

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #18 on: July 04, 2008, 07:53:02 pm »
Effing sweet dude.  You are cranking through this thing!!   :cheers:

jeffhlewis

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #19 on: July 05, 2008, 02:54:39 pm »
Another round this morning:

MARQUEE RETAINERS
I pulled two marquee retainers off the nintendo playchoice machine that were a bit too long (like 24" or so).  They're made of metal so cutting them was a bit of a challenge...I tried using my jigsaw and managed to break the blade retaining clip (f'ing $20 to replace the part from Makita...argh).  I bought a set of cobalt coated hacksaw blades and they went through it like butter:



Here it is with a coat of hammered black spraypaint:




FRONT COIN DOOR PANEL
First panel to install - the front coin door panel.  I cut it to size - 18 wide x 21 3/4 tall.  It was like 2 mm off on one side, so I just made the slanted side the bottom.  I plan to put a kickplate down there eventually so that will cover up the bad cut.



After dry fitting the panel I measured out the coin door space - luckily i had an extra frame from the coin box door that I'm not using to trace out the measurements.  In doing this I realized that the coin box I pulled from the nintendo machine is WAY too big to catch coins; I'll have to improvise with something much more shallow (i've only got about 2.5 inches of space between the bottom of coin mechs and the shelf).  I used a 1 1/2" spade bit to drill the initial circular holes, then I tacked down a straight edge and began routing out the holes:



After routing I dry fitted the coin door frame - a little snug but it fits!





Here it is dry fitted with the actual coin door on it, and the screws in place.



Next up - I have two of the back panels cut, and I have to figure out how to make them removable for maintenance (since all maintenance will be done from the back).

I'm thinking this: I really want to avoid using hinges and cabinet joints because I know I'm going to screw them up.  I thinking of doing four cabinet catches in each corner of the back top and back bottom panels (here's what I'm talking about: http://www.drillspot.com/products/48989/Westward_4PE50_Cabinet_Catch).  I will drill vent holes that will double as areas where I can grab to pull the panel off when need be.  Thoughts?
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #20 on: July 06, 2008, 09:52:28 pm »
I just did the same thing. I used 4 long machine screws and t-nuts in the supports to just screw the back panel in. However I am rather new to the woodworking scene and don't know all the tricks and magic the experienced people on here do  ;) Your way seems more elegant and would be quicker to remove. My concern would be cab strength, although yours cab is braced and mine is pretty much "by The Book"

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #21 on: July 07, 2008, 12:55:41 am »
The braces make it solid as a rock even with no panels attached, so I don't think it'll be a problem, I'm going to pick up some of those cabinet catches this week at the hardware store and practice the method a little bit.

Couple more pieces of progress today:

1.) Went to target and got a $10 set of craptastic speakers (just a powered stereo set; I wanted a subwoofer but I don't think I have room for one anyway...these things will work just fine).  I got them completely disassembled down to just the two speakers and the control board.
2.) Had to re-solder some of the crappy speaker connections to make them stronger on the circuit board.
3.) Got my Mala theme perfected and got Mala fully configured on the PC.
4.) I switched from command-line Mame v.125 to MameUI .125u9 - I'm much more familiar with MameUI's configuration and it's easier to make changes.  Unless there's some major reason why I should use command line Mame, I'm sticking with UI. 
5.) BootSkin is now configured with my custom boot screen
6.) Configured MameUI to run 1280x1024 native and use the Hi-Res Aperture screen filter.  I also configured my GeForce 6800's color & sharpness settings a few ticks past normal - both of these changes combined make the monitor look damn close to an RGB display (or at least as close as I'm going to get).
7.) Sanded the control panel with 4 grades of sand paper - it's so smooth now it almost feels like molded plastic.  I'm going to hold off on painting it though until I finish the rest of the panel dry-fits
8.) Made the initial cuts on the speaker panel.

Should have pictures in a day or two of some more progress.
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #22 on: July 09, 2008, 01:13:29 am »
More progress from the past weekend and tonight.  Excuse me while I hack up more MDF dust (cough):

BACK PANELS

I started cutting the back panels going from the bottom up.  The very bottom panel is a no-brainer, just a square piece that will be detachable (eventually).  For now I screwed it in two places to the cabinet to secure it for fitting:



The next panel up is the dreaded "double angle" panel...the one I was afraid of when I was designing the cabinet.  It required two 25 degree angles on either end and had to be exact within about a quarter of an inch in length to fit (and even my measurements for the angles on either side of the cabinet interior weren't that accurate).  I took a stab at it and after a little bit of post-cut sanding, I got it to fit decently enough to pass muster:




SPEAKERS & PANEL

Like I mentioned earlier - I picked up a crappy set of $10 target speakers.  I immediately took them apart down to the plugs, circuit board, and the speakers themselves (which were 2 inches tall by 3.5 wide.



I had to re-solder some of the crappy factory connections - I still have 2 or 3 more wires to solder because they've come apart in other places.  You get what you pay for I guess:



I took my speaker panel and marked out the speaker dimensions.  I thought about originally getting some speaker grill covers, but after looking around at real MVS cabs, most of them just have grill slits cut in the wood, so I marked it off and started drilling:







Now my plan was to clamp down a straight edge for my router (tricky with such a small piece of wood) and rout with my straight bit to connect-the-dots.  This worked for the most part but the cuts were a little on the ugly side.  I can live with a few ugly lines though because this panel will just be painted black and will be generally out of sight anyway.  I also have much sanding to do before this panel is ready for prime & paint:



I planned to have my volume control right next to the right speaker, and to do so with this set that would require routing an area to drop the circuit board into.  I did a demo fitting and the shortness of the volume knob is going to require me use the dowel-rod extension method.  The cut looks hideous but keep in mind that this is the part of the panel no one will ever see.  I have a plan to secure the circuit board using cable tie downs and zip ties.



That's all for now...3 more back panels and I'm ready to sand & prime!
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #23 on: July 13, 2008, 10:30:25 pm »
Another weekend update...

CABINET PANELS CONT'D

Finally done mucking with the physical cabinet construction, here's the front and back pics:





That's all the panels attached to where they need to go, though not everything is screwed in yet.  I still have a little bit of work to do on the speaker panel and some adjustments in the back to make things fit a bit more flush (or at least as flush as they're going to be).  I also had to wood putty some curves on one side of the cabinet to make the t-molding fit better.

I bought 4 cabinet latches like I was explaining earlier at the local hardware store.  I mated the two pieces and then secured them to my tack strips on the lower back panel:



So far my plan is working, the next test will be affixing the screws to the panel itself and seeing if it will all stay together when I add and remove the panel.

Up next will be some minor cab adjustments then the sanding/priming/painting part.  I will also start on the control panel in between painting and sanding sessions.  Need to go to the hardware store and pick up some acrylic for the CPO.
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #24 on: July 14, 2008, 01:01:09 am »
Wow, it's looking good man. Cab looks amazing and I love the control panel and Mala theme. I can picture the finished product in my head. Can't wait to see it done!

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #25 on: July 20, 2008, 11:26:24 pm »
Trudging through more of the not-so-fun parts of the cabinet project earlier today.  I'm in the home stretch - I've got exactly one month to complete this bad boy before we move at the end of August.   At least it sets a pretty hard deadline for me.

MONITOR MOUNT

Before we start - I applied wood putty to all the coutersunk holes all over the cabinet, front and back, and did some wood putty repair to torn pieces of the speaker panel:





One of the last pieces of the puzzle before I start sanding and painting (finally) is to place and attach the monitor mount to the cabinet.  This was harder than I though it was going to be.  The first step was to measure the holes on the back of the monitor itself and drill an exact duplicate of the holes in the back of a piece of MDF cross bracing.  I attached the cross bracing with two bolts and a set of washers.  Why did I only use two bolts? I went to 4 hardware stores and could not find the weird metric thread that would match the LCD mount.  I got lucky and came across two misplaced bolts that were in the wrong bin that just so happened to fit.  So i guarded them with my life and attached them tight.  It's rock-solid:



I then took the two mounting brackets (the ones I nabbed off the Nintendo Playchoice machine way early on) and attached them to the MDF cross brace.  I had to rout out a little divot on each side to allow for the screw holes.  Here it is in the cab with the monitor attached:



I had to clamp the two sides together to keep the mount in place while I pushed and pounded it until I felt it was at the right height and angle.  I placed it vertically centered between the bottom of the speaker panel and the top of the control panel, so hopefully it won't look weird.  I also tried to eyeball the angle as best I could.  Cross your fingers!

After the mount and monitor were where I wanted them to be, I dismounted the monitor and began pre-drilling the holes for the bolts that will hold everything in place from the outside.  I countersank these and put wood putty over the holes so you won't even see anything from the side:




CONTROL PANEL CONT'D

I picked up a piece of acrylic (18" x 24") from Menards for the CPO (I already have lexan for the monitor "glass").  I did acrylic based on recommendations here that its less scratch heavy for CPO use vs. Lexan.  Luckily it was already pre-cut 18" wide so I only had to score it to the right height and snap it in half (i sandwiched it between two pieces of wood though before snapping it).  The edge was obviously a little rough after doing this so I used my router and flush trim bit to get it even.  Using the flush trim bit works like a charm, goes right through it just like it was a piece of wood.  Although I took a bath in molten plastic while doing it:



Once it was cut down to the right size, I laid it over the control panel and began marking off drilling points.  I used a 5/8" spade bit, drilling in reverse to open up a hole big enough to fit my flush trim bit through:





Once again - worked like a charm.  I couldn't imagine trying to cut this crap without a router; it makes the job 100x easier and more accurate.  After finishing up and getting all the button holes and carriage bolt holes finished, here's the preliminary product:



A lot of the hard parts are done now; from here on out it should be smoother sailing.  I'm anxious to get paint on this thing but I have to make sure that all my woodwork is taken care of first.  don't want to scratch that paint.

Up next: Attach rest of cabinet hardware, then sand, prime, and paint



 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #26 on: July 21, 2008, 12:21:13 am »
How did you cut that really steep angle on the CP that rests against the glass? On mine I figure it's about 60 degrees and my saw only goes 30 degrees.

Check out this mini Neo Geo candy cab I saw at the CA Extreme Expo yesterday. To give you a sense of scale, the thing is standing next to a bunch of little cabaret cabinets, which are awesome in of itself.

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #27 on: July 21, 2008, 12:30:44 am »
That was actually the first cut I made on that piece of wood, I discovered the hard way that you should cut the angular pieces first before you cut your panel pieces down to size.  Trying to clamp down straightedges and run a circular saw on a 4" deep piece isn't really easy, haha.

The cut was a 30" cut, I just made it from the other side (90 deg - 60 deg = 30 deg).  I used a circular saw, though I'd recommend using a table saw if you got one.  I was lucky and the cut came out good though.

That MVS cab is awesome; I've always been a fan of the Japanese candy cabs, though I've never actually seen one in person.  Not a fan of the Sanwa ball joysticks though; probably because I grew up playing the Happs-Super style sticks.

How was CA Extreme?
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #28 on: July 22, 2008, 11:03:41 pm »
I'm on a roll

BACK PANELS

1.) Got all of the cabinet latches attached and screwed in to the back panels.  Dry-fitted them and it works!  It's not as good of a method as actual cabinet hinges that swing out but it will be fine (honestly, how often am I going to need to access the back panel? probably once a year tops if even that).
2.) I screwed two ventilation holes into the rear top panel that will double as finger holds to be able to remove the panel.  I also drilled a hole in the rear bottom panel to allow for the power cord to exit out.






3.) On the rear top-angle panel, I drilled ventilation holes for an 80mm fan.  I realize that the best way to do this is to drill a 3" hole and use a finger guard (which I have a couple of) but I don't feel like paying $30 for a hole saw that I'm going to use once.  So I just drilled a matrix of exhaust holes that should work fine.  It's not like MAME is going to strain my motherboard too much.  If things get a bit too hot in there I'll probably add a second fan but I'm going to see how this works for now.






4.) I drilled two holes next to the fan vents - one for the power on button and one for an extra button (I will probably turn this into a service button, or something else if the need arises.




PRIMER

Thank god, finally after months of woodwork I'm ready to sit back and....paint...and sand...and paint...etc.  Oh boy.

I started off by wood puttying all holes on the exterior and sanding all exposed wood (all the out-facing panels + the exposed parts of the trim).  I started with 80 grit -> 240 grit -> 400 grit.  This gave me a very smooth surface on the wood.  I used a latex based primer on this inside and outside.  The inside coat wasn't done as meticulously as the outside - i'm just trying to seal the wood on the inside, not make it pretty.  Here it is after the first coat:







Here are the back removable panels, the control panel, and the speaker grill after the second coat:




After everything dries tonight I will be sanding with 400 grit and applying a second coat of primer. 


 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #29 on: July 26, 2008, 11:22:58 am »
In other news i just broke the $!@#!@# control panel trying to fit it after painting. Just about threw it across the garage in a fit of rage.

It split where the top meets the front along the glue line.  Reason? I used a strip of MDF as screw-in bracing where the joint is.  Never again.

I replaced it with a piece of tack strip and used fatter screws (#10) to keep it in place.  It's much more solid now but I guess I need to be more careful with these pieces instead of trying to slam them in place.  I couldn't re-glue the joint because it's such a weird angle and my clamps won't hold.  But after some testing it seems to be sturdier than before.  After my wood putty dries it's back to the drawing board with sanding, priming, and painting this piece.

Besides that it's looking awesome with the red & black paint on (2 coats of primer, 2 coats black, 3 coats red), pics tonight once I get it fitted and assembled.
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #30 on: July 26, 2008, 12:22:48 pm »
 :applaud:

Nice project  :cheers:

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #31 on: July 26, 2008, 10:43:57 pm »
ArcadeFever:

That's quite a collection you have there  :notworthy:  Outrun is my favorite game of all time, I wish I could find a machine in good shape.

BROKEN CP

As I mentioned earlier I snapped the joint on the CP  :hissy: I had to rebrace it with a tack strip (MDF strip wasn't strong enough the first time around).  So after wood puttying everything, I sanded it down and repainted.  Another coat tmrw night and it should be good as new.

New screws...


New wood putty...


Sanded & 1st Layer Black...



PAINT - ROUND 3

2 Coats of Primer All around (+ 1 coat inside).  Sanding in between with 320 grit
2 Coats of Black (+ 1 coat inside).  Sanding in between with 400 grit.
3 Coats of Red.  Sanding in between with 400 grit.

After all these coats I'm getting a nice smooth orange peel finish.  It's not 100% perfect but I don't think I'll be able to get it flat without a sprayer, which I'm not willing to do.  The paint is so thick in places that I had to sand panels down so they'd fit.

Back view after 1 coat of red, 1 coat black:


Back view after 3 coats red, 2 coats black (white spots are mostly dust from sanding):


Front view after 3 coats red, 2 coats black:


The blue on that last pic is just painters tape - I didn't want to smear black on the red portion when I was painting the trim.  The big white splotches you see everywhere is actually dust in the air from sanding, they aren't on the actual product.  The inside of the cab is a little on the ugly side, but once again I don't' really care.  I just wanted to get the wood sealed so it wouldn't disintegrate after moisture exposure.

So after some minor touch ups tmrw painting is done (finally  :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:).  After this I will begin fixing up the speaker panel and control panel and getting them attached.  The fun part starts soon!
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #32 on: July 27, 2008, 04:15:01 am »
Jeff, nice man.  I think its awesome you spent a quarter of the time documenting and taking pic of the entire project. 
« Last Edit: July 27, 2008, 04:17:00 am by Spaced Ace »

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #33 on: July 28, 2008, 08:37:25 am »
Yesterday afternoon I resoldered pretty much the whole speaker pcb because most of the connections had come loose. I secured the speakers to the speaker panel & mounted the panel, along with the fluorescent fixture and the exhaust fan.

Last night I got the final coat on the CP, trimmed the overlay and plexiglass to fit flush with the router and an exacto knife, mounted the IPAC, and mounted the buttons and switches.  Looking good so far; though I'm leaving the protective film on top of the CP until I'm done with the project (so it looks scratchy right now).

I also spent the better part of yesterday taking a shop vac to the whole garage floor, the MDF dust was driving me nuts and winding up everywhere - inside pushbuttons, inside the cab, outside the cab, you name it.  So things are substantially cleaner.

QUESTION: I inserted the carriage bolts to hold the joystick in place on the CP and realized that the little square things under the bolt heads wouldn't fit into the plexiglass holes I drilled.  Is there a quick and dirty way to expand those holes? Do I just need to redrill them bigger?

I had a crazy idea that probably won't work - can I heat the bolts up with say a soldering iron and apply force to melt them into place?
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #34 on: July 31, 2008, 02:18:59 am »
You could use a small file with a 90 degree angle to square out those bolt holes.
Trample the weak, hurdle the dead

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini
« Reply #35 on: July 31, 2008, 09:15:55 am »
I actually got it solved with a small round bastard file I got for $5 from True Value down the street.  Filing for a couple seconds on all four sides enlarged the holes enough for the bolts to sink in.

Tonight I'll be starting the button wiring.  Remaining punchlist off the top of my head:

-Wire CP buttons & test
-Copy roms over & configure Mala to run as shell
-Secure complete CP to cabinet
-Paint & epoxy dowel extension to volume control
-Insert & wire coin door
-Wire service button from back of cab to IPAC
-Apply black paint to bottom lip of the cabinet MDF
-Apply paint thinner to wheels where I got sloppy
-Screw in Hard Disk, Power Supply, Smart Strip to inside of cab
-Put motherboard on shelf inside cab & wire computer parts up
-Mount monitor onto bracket
-Measure & cut monitor lexan
-Measure & cut bezel
-Apply bezel & lexan
-Screw in marquee retainers & mount marquee between plexi sheets
-Wipe down & attach back panels
-Attach T-Molding
-Final Cleanup

There's probably a few more things in there that I will come across as I go.  More pics once I have enough relevant ones to post.
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini - UPDATE 8/1/08
« Reply #36 on: August 01, 2008, 09:14:33 am »
SPEAKER PANEL
I finally got the speakers attached to the panel and re-soldered.  I had put the speakers and speaker PCB in a box of parts and the wires all because disconnected.  So I had to do some electronics surgery on the PCB but everything came out great and tested fine after re-soldering.

I did have to figure out a ghetto way to keep the PCB in place (and keep the buttons and volume control accessible from the bottom).  I wound up using zip ties that were anchored to two cable tiedowns.  I just wrapped the zip ties around the pcb tight enough that it would stay in place.  Not an ideal method but it works.




Here's the panel bolted in to the cabinet:




And here's the exhaust fan bolted in to the top panel (it's still a mess on the inside):




CONTROL PANEL
Next step was to enlarge the carriage bolt holes on the CP so I could sink in the square heads.  I used a small round bastard file to enlarge the holes just enough to fit the bolts flush against the plexiglass:



Here's the finished product (Note that I left the protective film on top of the plexi, hence the scratches.  I'm not taking the film off until the end):



I couldn't resist a dry fit:



Now the arduous task of wiring the damn thing to the ipac...First I daisy chained all the grounds:



Next I wired the N.O. contacts to the IPAC.   I had grand plans to make the wiring super neat and structured but that went out the window given the small amount of space I have to work with.  If I ever make another cabinet you can bet its not going to be a miniature one, haha.  The small spaces present so many extra challenges to work with.




TROUBLESHOOTING
After finishing this I fired up my PC and gave it a run through test on Notepad in Windows.  Everything worked fine, the buttons all produced the keyboard commands that you would expect them to, no problems.

I then fired up MameUI to run through a game or two.  This is where I ran into snags - in Street Fighter 2, I was able to put in credits (on a separate keyboard running through the ipac passthru), hit the start button, select my character, then fight for about 10 seconds before the controls just died on me.  They just kind of stop working after a few seconds.  After exiting mame, I went back into notepad and everything still works fine...

In mameUI I have joystick disabled & I tried it with and without the "multi keyboards" option enabled, no luck.  Anybody have a clue why this would happen?

I'm going to be testing it later tonight with the IPAC utility and a couple other emulators.
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini - Update 8/1/08
« Reply #37 on: August 02, 2008, 12:04:11 am »
CONTROL PANEL TROUBLESHOOTING
Turns out the whole problem was just the version of MameUI (mucked up config).  I transferred all the roms over and installed version .126u2 from scratch and everything worked like a charm.  I played SF3:TS and Killer Instinct for about an hour before I realized that I was goofing off, haha.

I also got a few odds and ends done, so the remaining punchlist is as follows:

-Wire CP buttons & test
-Copy roms over & configure Mala to run as shell

-Secure complete CP to cabinet
-Paint & epoxy dowel extension to volume control
-Insert & wire coin door
-Wire service button from back of cab to IPAC
-Apply black paint to bottom lip of the cabinet MDF
-Apply paint thinner to wheels where I got sloppy
-Screw in Hard Disk, Power Supply, Smart Strip to inside of cab
-Put motherboard on shelf inside cab & wire computer parts up
-Mount monitor onto bracket
-Measure & cut monitor lexan
-Measure & cut bezel
-Apply bezel & lexan
-Screw in marquee retainers & mount marquee between plexi sheets
-Wipe down & attach back panels
-Attach T-Molding
-Final Cleanup
 

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Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini - Update 8/1/08
« Reply #38 on: August 08, 2008, 12:13:01 am »
Okay guys, big update here, it lives!

The past week leading up to tonight I got the cab to about the 95% finish mark.  Control panel & all buttons are configured and work, coin door is wired, cabling inside the cab is organized well with zip ties and cable guides.  And best of all, the machine is fun as hell to play on (lost track of time "testing it" again  :cheers:).

On to the pics:

CONTROL PANEL FINISH

Everything works, rock on.  Problem as mentioned above was just a conflicting mame config.  A fresh install of mame fixed the problem.  Here's me playing a quick game of Killer Instinct:




BEZEL & MONITOR GLASS

After wiring buttons and everything to the control panel, I started work on the bezel and monitor glass.  I went to Michael's crafts and picked up two sheets - one of red Elmer's foamboard and one plain ol' piece of red posterboard.  The foamboard was very thick and sturdy and I thought for sure it would work:



After cutting it and trying to insert 2 things became clear:  1.) foamboard is damn near impossible to cut evenly and looks like crap after you cut it and b.) can't bend barely at all without breaking or cracking.  So after a test fit where the monitor cut was WAY off, I scrapped it and instead just used the plain posterboard.  It was a little flimsy but a little tape reinforcement on the back and support from the monitor glass would take care of that issue.

I did have to touch up some torn parts along the cut with red pain from the cab:



After verifying that the monitor cut would fit properly, I trimmed up the lexan monitor glass to the right size and got everything inserted.  Here it is finished:




MARQUEE

Marquee time....had to trim the lexan with my router and the marquee with an exacto knife to make it fit 100% but after a few adjustments it came out looking great.

I left the white backing on the piece closest to the flourescent light - it will act as a diffuser for the light.  Hard to tell in these photos but it looks great when lit up:




WIRING AND TEST

Last but not least i spent the night wiring everything up - smartstrip, computer parts, etc.  I used cable tie downs to keep things neat and keep the air flow going out the top exhust.  I mounted the power supply to the bottom of the motherboard slab - a little creative use of space that will allow for less cramping:








And here it is, playing some Capcom classics.  It looks, sounds, and plays just like an arcade machine.  I can't believe I didn't build one of these sooner, it's the greatest thing ever.  I'm starting to actually wish I had more to do on it because I'll be done soon.

I guess the thrill is in the chase, right?




REMAINING PUNCHLIST

-Wire CP buttons & test
-Copy roms over & configure Mala to run as shell

-Secure complete CP to cabinet
-Paint & epoxy dowel extension to volume control
-Insert & wire coin door
-Wire service button from back of cab to IPAC
-Apply black paint to bottom lip of the cabinet MDF
-Apply paint thinner to wheels where I got sloppy
-Screw in Hard Disk, Power Supply, Smart Strip to inside of cab
-Put motherboard on shelf inside cab & wire computer parts up
-Mount monitor onto bracket
-Measure & cut monitor lexan
-Measure & cut bezel
-Apply bezel & lexan
-Screw in marquee retainers & mount marquee between plexi sheets

-Wipe down & attach back panels
-ORDER SIDE ART
-Attach T-Molding
-Final Cleanup

Almost done, should have most of this completed by the end of the weekend.  Once it's nice and clean and has its side art (which I still need to order), I'll take fancy photos with my SLR.

Enjoy!
 

ivwshane

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    • My first mame cab! (WIP)
Re: Neo-Geo MVS Mini - Update 8/8/08 - ALMOST DONE
« Reply #39 on: August 08, 2008, 02:03:16 am »
It looks great!!

Have you thought about painting the bezel? The colors are slightly off but I don't know if painting poster board would be a good idea or not.