Thought I'd share my UK-based Mystery Machine with you. I've included a couple of links here for other UK-based peeps, as it's harder to find good suppliers here. Unfortunately I didn't take any construction pics, but feel free to ask any questions....
Basic Parts
3/4" MDF cab, sides covered in Fablon sticky plastic (
http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/vinyldepot-retail/)
Black T-molding, £20 (
http://uk.geocities.com/dennis_hannah@btopenworld.com)
NSL P4/3.20Ghz Tower PC (running XP), £36 Ebay
Panasonic 26" TV, £20 local free paper
Plexiglass bezel, marquee & CPO, £25 local plastics shop
Logitech S220 2.1 speakers, £15 Ebay
Flourescent strip light, £8 Wickes
Smartstrip thing, £12 local shop
Triple blue LED, £5 Maplin
Castors, £6 Ebay
Slot cutter, £17-ish Rutlands (
http://www.rutlands.co.uk)
Mini-Pac, Buttons, J-Stiks, Spintrak, U-Trak, Ultimarc
Planning and Artwork
This project was something I've been meaning to do for years. I've accumulated a load of consoles over the years, from Atari sixers to Virtual Boys, and have always had MacMAME in my life. A chance visit to the BYOAC forums gave me the kick-start I needed, and 3 months later, it's pretty much done.
I was stuck for a theme for this cab since the beginning, and it wasn't until about 2 months into the project that the Mystery Machine came to me. It was just what I wanted - something non-game specific, and also something that didn't have MAME in the title.
After a long old hunt I found some vector graphics for Scoob & Shaggy, then added some more elements to bring them together in Illustrator. I re-traced the MM logo from a low quality JPEG and all was set for print. Unfortunately it took a local printers three attempts to output the CPO, and for some reason every time they printed the marquee it had a large feint black rectangle somewhere on it. In fact, I still need to get a new one printed. The one installed is the best of the 'reject' prints. Hmmmm.....
I also stole an old Midway logo for the machine. My nickname is Mex so the stylized "M" did the trick.
Cab Construction
For the cab, I followed the Arcade Paradise plans, with a couple of small modifications. His cab had the same TV as I had, so I knew it'd fit.
I got the 3/4" MDF sides cut at a local wood merchants. It worked out about £50 for this, but i got 2 pieces EXACTLY the same first time. I don't have a lot of workspace for things like this, so it was as much a case of neccessity as it was laziness. I got a slot cutter for the T-molding from Rutlands. Worked a treat. I found some big castors on Ebay and I would highly recommend anyone building a cab to fit castors - these things get heavy quickly!
Dennis Hannah, the T-molding man, is very helpful by the way. I had to order an extra couple of feet after the initial 20 feet and it was no problem, with cheap postage too.
The matt-black Fablon sides went on before the black T-molding, which nicely covers the edges. The CP is also covered with this. I have to say that the Fablon looks mad nice - if you take your time and cut/fold it right it provides a smooth seam-free finish.
I got a piece of smoked plexi to cover the screen. It's great - when the machine is on you can't see the TV at all (well obviously you can see the screen), and when it's off, well, you can't see anything.
Quick note: How big is your door? I assembled this in my recording studio room, which I was fitting out at the same time, only to realise that it's too big to get out of the room. I wanted it in the room anyway, so that's all good. What's also good is that my wife can't get it out either.
Control Panel
A visit to Ultimarc proved to be the start of good relations. I opted for the Mini-PAC which gave my everything I needed to control the two J-Stiks, U-Trak, Spintrak, plus the buttons. I have to say that Andy at Ultimarc is a top guy - he helped me out on several occasions - and I have nothing but praise for the spinner and trackball.
For the plexi CPO, I got the shop guy to drill the holes for me. He only charged 50p a hole and got them all bang on, even curved the outside corners of the CPO for me for nothing! I just supplied him with a full-size black and white printout of the CPO (£2.50 at local printers) and I'd recommend this over drilling all those holes yourself. All I needed to do was fine-sandpaper the cut edges slightly.
I cut out the MDF CP holes using two hole cutters, one for the trackball and the other for everything else. Also had to route out the spaces for the J-Stiks. I still need to re-route the sticks slightly lower so I can have the dust washers under the CP.
PC/Electrical
The PC is running the MALA frontend, with MAME, Stella, Nostalgia, Daphne, CCS64, Sega M2, Colem, VisualBoyAdvance, zSnes, MESS, vPinball/PinMAME and SK Jukebox. I use VLC for playing cartoons or movies. All screensavers and MALA layouts were done in Photoshop and the marquee/CPO in Illustrator/InDesign as mentioned earlier.
CP has the standard 2 joystick, 6 button 2 player setup, with the U-Trak and SpinTrak added. I want to add a Tron cocktail cab stick in the spare CP hole on the upper right (if I ever find one!) or just a dedicated 4-way if not. There's also a pinball flipper button on each side of the CP. The trackball is lit with a 12v triple blue LED, about £5 from Maplin. It comes in a crappy metallic plastic case, but it has a PC molex connector on it, which made powering it as simple as can be.
PC, speakers, marquee and LEDs all kick in with one main switch (a standard arcade button extended from the PC's front on/off switch) courtesy of a Smart Strip thing. The Panasonic TV always turns back on to the last used channel, ideal for this project.
The cheap & cheerful Logitech speakers are loud enough and the sub provides enough boom. It's got a great wired remote control for volume, which along with the main cab power switch is hidden under the CP ledge. The cab is actually in my recording studio so i can always plug it into my that system if I ever want to hear crap 8-bit sounds through pristine monitors
To Finish
Print a new marquee.
Find a little Tron cocktail cab stick for the spare hole on the upper right of the CPO, anyone help here? I keep missing out.
Wait for Happ coin door and wire up credit buttons.
Re-mount joysticks to hide dust washers.
Cover lower front panels with Fablon.
Side art.
Marble Madness.
I thoroughly enjoyed this project and learnt a lot of new skills. I've always been a Mac user (well, AtarI ST and Commodore 64 before!) and I honestly thought using a PC would be difficult. It was an experience, I can tell you, although once you learn where XP puts things, it ain't all that bad
Thanks to this forum for answering so many questions, providing the inspiration and for showing real community spirit. And thanks Ecryptor. That tron restrictor sure is good for my Xenophobe stick mod - but that's another project....
Ian aka Mex
http://www.black-grass.comhttp://myspace.com/blackgrassmusic
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Topic: Mystery Machine - Project Announcement (Read 14745 times)
