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paulscade - First Build - MAME - Blastoff!
Dazz:
Your cab is looking great, don't you just love the UAII cabinet design? Not as boring as most cabinet designs.
I went with this cabinet as well because I needed a cabinet that I could take apart easily and move. I ended up using bolts and wing nuts to connect the top part to the base. This way I can remove the top part, remove TV, remove control panel and I have 4 much easier to manage parts to move.
paulscade:
The monitor is coming soon. I need to get the marquee light [more specifically, the wiring] and the rear fan [again wiring] before I install the monitor. It'll make life easier if I don't have to reach around a monitor.
Yes, I really like the UAII design. I'm only about 1 year into this hobby... when I first saw this cabinet design, I knew that it was what I wanted to build. Unfortunately, I had no idea what it was called... so it took me quite a while to finally find the plans.
Today, I spent a couple of hours on the cabinet. The keyboard drawer was sticking a bit because the paint built up the already tight tolerances.... nothing that a file and some 60 grit sandpaper could take care of.
I also installed the T-molding. There were a few areas that gave me a little trouble... it was where the screws pulled the slot together a bit. I used a piece of 1/16" sheet metal as a chisel and cleaned out the slot. Other than a few areas, the T-molding was no problem to install using a rubber mallet.
Here's the cabinet:
Neilyboy:
looking very nice man!! very nice.. I am anxious to see this one progress!! I like the color scheme as well.. Good luck with the rest of the project!
Dang every new project I see makes me want to get out in the garage and start/finish mine haha.
Neil
paulscade:
Now that it's painted, it's time to start adding some mechanical components.
I've mounted the NovaMatrix light and the Sony speakers... and added the associated wiring. I decided to do my own version of "structured wiring" and wire everything internal to the cabinet to a screw block. This way, I have a termination point for cabinet internals and I only need to wire "patch cords" from the computer to the wiring block.
The speakers:
The NovaMatrix light from Groovy Game Gear:
Wired up to a screw terminal block near the rear of the cabinet:
paulscade:
Ahhh... but that's not all. I also mounted the fan, coin door, and the monitor. Everything fit right into place.
The monitor was the first thing that I ordered for this project. I wanted it first because it was going to determine the width of the cabinet. I was a little worried that I would get the monitor all mounted and then find out that it didn't work. That wasn't the case. It fired up right away and I was impressed with the 1024 x 768 resolution. Even without the control panel... I couldn't resist playing a few games.
The fan has some blue LED's installed so it puts out a cool blue glow on the back wall:
The coin door:
The first time that this monitor has been turned on (here anyway):