Vertical Bartop. Unnamed! Now Named!!!...GRANDSTAND

[lettuce]

Being playing around with the idea of making a MAME bartop for vertical games. This will be my first Bartop project, been messing around with Google SketchUp, and come up with this design....



I shall being using a LCD monitor either 19" or 20" mounted vertically, i wanted to also add a spinner to the CP by by looking at that rough diagram there wont be enough room for one with the current design! The first thing i am going to have to do is source a decent LCD screen before any building can begin.

[javeryh]

I can't wait to see your progress on this one - I'm a big fan of bartops. 

I bought a 19" Dell refurb from their site and it's been fantastic.   

[dmworking247]

I'd recommend you make a scale model out of cardboard or something.

I'm about a week off finishing a vertical bartop and I used a 17" LCD.  I could have squeezed in a 19, but many many people advised me against it.

Now that its built I'd have to agree, on a bartop you're a lot closer to the screen and 17" looks huge, let alone 20"... your whole bartop would be proportionately larger, perhaps even big enough for 2 player controls.

Food for thought....

[lettuce]

I can't wait to see your progress on this one - I'm a big fan of bartops. 

I bought a 19" Dell refurb from their site and it's been fantastic.   

Cheers, can you remember what model dell monitor you used, as blanka was staying that i should try and aviod TN Panel LCD screens, which the majority of 17" & 19" monitors are, what are the view angles, colour and contrast like?

I'd recommend you make a scale model out of cardboard or something.

I'm about a week off finishing a vertical bartop and I used a 17" LCD.  I could have squeezed in a 19, but many many people advised me against it.

Now that its built I'd have to agree, on a bartop you're a lot closer to the screen and 17" looks huge, let alone 20"... your whole bartop would be proportionately larger, perhaps even big enough for 2 player controls.

Food for thought....

I was thinking that, thats why i decided to go for a 19", i wanted to get a 20" as i was struggling getting a NON TN Panel LCD screen in any other size, and thought that 17" would be on the small size, so went for the middle ground.

The diagram above is with a 19" screen and there looks to be just enough room for 1 player controls, doesnt even look like theres enough room for a spinner i wanted to add  , wouldnt of thought that the scale would increase that much to be able to get a 2nd set on controls on there if i went for an inch larger screen would there??

[lettuce]

Been playing around a bit more in GoogleSketch, and now have 3 designs not sure which one to build i think i like Barcab 3 the best...

[punxrus]

I really like #3. The lines are simple yet elegant and almost give an old school feel to the cabinet. Good work!

[bishmasterb]

I really like #3.

I think a convex half-cylinder shaped marquee (matching the outline of the cabinet) would look great on it.

[punxrus]

I really like #3.

I think a convex half-cylinder shaped marquee (matching the outline of the cabinet) would look great on it.

Yeah...what he said! 

[lettuce]

I was thinking that, but was sure how to go about it??

[Neverending Project]

Personally, I prefer #2. But they all look great. Nice designs.

[bishmasterb]

I was thinking that, but was sure how to go about it??

Yeah, would be a little tricky for sure.

Check the link out below. These are clear packing tubes that come in diameters up to 5", which should be plenty for a bartop marquee. All that you'd have to do would be to cleanly cut it down the middle along the long axis. With a jig built for that purpose, it shouldn't be too hard, and the edges won't be visible so your cuts don't have to be perfect.

http://www.visipak.com/clear_plastic_tubing.shtml

For the artwork, you'd just print out on thin stock as normal, and place on the inside of the tube. The shape of the tube will hold it in place if it's attached at the edges.

[IG-88]

#1 is my favorite. 3 looks a bit top/back heavy too me.

Doesn't anyone use CRT's for these anymore?

[punxrus]

I was tempted to use a crt for my bartop project, however, I found a lcd monitor that runs off of 12v that I can plug directly into the pc's power supply.

[lettuce]

Right have bitten the bullet and managed to snag a Brand new Dell 2007FP 20" monitor for £142, which is a right bargin. I have worked out that with this 20" monitor the cab shall be 16" wide, which is only an inch or so wider than it would of been if i had used a 19". I'll be buying some MDF this weekend so work can begin. Im looking at having the cab black with maybe a chrome T-modling

[joeks]

NUMBER 1!

it's looks more authentic i think.
i really like the way the curved sides make to monitor look mounted "deeper" in the cabinet.
and the marquee area tilted upwards like that looks great as well. better than just plain horizontal.
and you could install small speakers in there.

good luck building!

[DaOld Man]

I like all three.
But I think it would be interesting to build #3.
It would look really cool if (like already mentioned), the marquee curved out to match the sides AND the front of the control panel curved out also.

[dmworking247]

Yep I reckon #3 but with the 'concave' curves of #1, and possibly having the marquee angled up a little like #1 also.

[lettuce]

Well heres the love child of #1 & #3.......

[bishmasterb]

Well heres the love child of #1 & #3.......

Make it so!

[dmworking247]

This is getting kind of spooky as the designs look quite similar to a bartop I'll be finishing & announcing this week... so let me ask you the question I struggled with:

Where are your credit/start buttons going (and pause/escape if you're having dedicated buttons for it).  I only see player buttons on your CP design?

[TOK]

This is getting kind of spooky as the designs look quite similar to a bartop I'll be finishing & announcing this week... so let me ask you the question I struggled with:

Where are your credit/start buttons going (and pause/escape if you're having dedicated buttons for it).  I only see player buttons on your CP design?

Don't mean to butt in on your question to him. I didn't want any admin buttons showing, so I got small momentary switches about 3/8" in diameter and countersunk them into the side of my cab. The side is flush, but you can feel the buttons. I did the power button offset toward the back so it isn't touched by accident while reaching for the credit (front) or pause (second back).

Edit to add pic... sorry its kind of crappy, but you can get the idea. Switches are common parts from Sears Hardware.

[lettuce]

This is getting kind of spooky as the designs look quite similar to a bartop I'll be finishing & announcing this week... so let me ask you the question I struggled with:

Where are your credit/start buttons going (and pause/escape if you're having dedicated buttons for it).  I only see player buttons on your CP design?

I havent decided yet. I was thing of maybe have the player start buttons on the top of the cab maybe, where the marquee is, and have the credit button on the front of the CP base, or just have the player start buttons on the front with the credit button. I would be using an I-PAC so i would really need any other admin buttons. But if i was to add more admin button, i would probably add them to the rear of the cab so they were hidden away.

One thing i am concerned with is the marquee may get in the way of the top of the screen if you were to stand above the cab ifself, and also with the bottom of screen, there the joystick may obscure the screen slightly??, its hard to tell until you actually have the thing sitting in front of you!  . The only other thing would be to make the cab an inch or so higher, but then thay would bring the total hight to 26-27" !!!

[dmworking247]

The joysticks won't be a problem, but I guess if you were standing up the marquee could block it, but you'd be on quite an angle to make that a problem, and you're 'angled up' marquee will reduce that problem.

For the marquee angle to be a problem you'd need to be looking 'down' at the top of the screen by about 45', which isn't very likely since these are really built for sitting on a table top or coffee table with you sitting down.

I'll post some pictures of mine and the plans any day now, and you can cross check your dimensions/angles with those.

[IG-88]

Oh yes. Much better.

[dmworking247]

I told you mine was a similar shape! 

[lettuce]

That looks sweet. Love the theme. Hope my build quality is half as good 

[hattrick10]

Quick question...  Where are you guys getting that chrome accent trim that you have ran along the edges of that alien-like bartop?

[dmworking247]

Quick question...  Where are you guys getting that chrome accent trim that you have ran along the edges of that alien-like bartop?

From www.t-molding.com . Note that this chrome-in-black t-molding has a thicker spine than the regular t-molding.com stuff, but that was a good thing for me as it matched the slot cutter I had.

[lettuce]

Right have finally made a bit of progress. Have cut the sides, bottom and top of the bartop and screwed and glued together....


Sorry about the crap quality, pics were taken on my mobile phone

Grabbed some 'Bendy MDF' from B&Q (thanks blanka)...


I cut a circle from an off-cut bit of mdf slightly smaller then the curved front edge of the cab, cut the circle in 2 to give me 2 semi circles shapes and then glued them to the inside of the cab i then bent the 'bendy mdf' around these semi circles whilst using steam from a kettle to make the bendy mdf more suple. I then glued and nailed the bendy mdf to the semi-circles which gave me this result.....


And this is where im up to at the moment...


So far so good

[georgemcfly]

Loving the look with the bendy MDF

[DaOld Man]

This is looking verrryyy interesting..

[lettuce]

As you may have noticed the title name has now changed, have decided to name the project...GRANDSTAND, after the manufacturer that used to make the little table top games here in the UK. Remember many a memory of playing these tabletops that my bro used to have when i was younger.... http://www.davesvideoarcade.co.uk/tabletop.html#GrandstandLCD

On a side note, anybody have any idea what font they used for 'GRANDSTAND' in this pic....



Im 90% sure the actual cab shall be be black with chrome t-molding, the marquee shall have the Grandstand logo in chrome with a black background with chrome lazer grid overlay, and possible follow that theme with the CP overlay...

[leapinlew]

It's looking good...
Keep it up. I'm watching this one. 

[javeryh]

Looks great so far!   

[drawfull]

On a side note, anybody have any idea what font they used for 'GRANDSTAND' in this pic....

The font is ''Pump''

[Blanka]

Ah, now I know what the kids play at Mozilla labs and what they named their browser after.

[lettuce]

On a side note, anybody have any idea what font they used for 'GRANDSTAND' in this pic....

The font is ''Pump''

Nice one, cheers

Ah, now I know what the kids play at Mozilla labs and what they named their browser after.

Come again???

[lettuce]

Right have just now order my PC components:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 LGA775 'Wolfdale' 2.53GHz (1066FSB) - Retail                                          £74.99
Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H GeForce 7100 Micro-ATX (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard  £41.99
OCZ 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 XTC Series DDR2                      £22.99
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (ST3250410AS)                           £29.99
Enermax EG285-SX-VB(G) 285W Micro ATX Power Supply                                                              £24.99
Scythe S-FLEX 1200RPM Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3/4 pin                                                             £10.99


I think there might be a possibility that i may have to down grade the monitor size from 20.1" to a dell 19". In Google sketchUP the monitor seems to fit ok but in pratice it seems a different story, i wont know 100% until i have the CP in place however!

Another challenge i may come up against is fitting Player start and credit buttons on the front of the curved edge of the cab, not too sure how to go about it as they wont fit flush with the curved edge

On the topic of Dell monitor i shall be using Dell's sound bar as the speakers, as i have them on my Main PC monitor and they are great for there slim size and can power them from the dell aswell, so cuts down on another power cable inside the cab!

[Pinguy]

Hi Lettuce,
Your project looks really promising, you have inspired me to go the bartop route for mine also 
Thanks for posting your pc specs - are the graphics onboard, or are you slotting a card in there somewhere ?
Would you mind posting your cabinet dimensions sometime ?

Good luck with the build - will let you know how I get on with mine - early days yet - I am compiling my shopping list at the moment !!

Cheers Pinguy

view my last project pics here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/94649948@N00/

[lettuce]

Yeah theres an Nividia 7100 onboard the mobo, so they should perform well enough, as mame is more about CPU than GPU power, something like 85/15 ratio