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Author Topic: A Mame machine in an antique buffet - USB probs solved (I think!)  (Read 202507 times)

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drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #80 on: May 21, 2009, 04:18:39 pm »
The globe would be best, but I also came across this (3" dia wooden contact juggling ball, incidentally, I happen to be into contact juggling also, so I could use this even if it didn't get used in my cab!)


drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #81 on: May 21, 2009, 05:18:21 pm »
Ok, last post on the subject (at least for now).

But I gotta say, this as a trackball would rock (it's 4.5" though, so that sucks)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/v/LOp5CYGBxIU&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&feature=player_embedded&fs=1[/youtube]

MinerAl

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #82 on: May 26, 2009, 05:00:04 pm »
Happs sells a 4.5" trackball assembly.  You can also find them on the original Atari trackball games like Missile Command and Atari Football.

Would kind of fit with the steampunk/old-tech theme.

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #83 on: May 26, 2009, 05:13:14 pm »
Whoa momma!

Hadn't seen that before, but it's probably because I'd have fallen over at the price  :(

Still, that would make an awesome trackball if it was tough enough to stand up to the abuse.

But since my CP's already built and assembled (and it's be REALLY rough to retrofit that 4.5 inch mounting plate now) I'm afraid that one will have to wait.

I do however have a line on a different crystal globe (with imprinted continents no less) that's 3" and might work, but they have a minimum order of 6, at 40$ apiece, I'll have to get em to so a small order for me or find the same globe elsewhere, but it might work

I'll post when I find out more.

Thanks for the Happ pointer though. Definitely something to keep in mind!

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #84 on: May 26, 2009, 07:01:46 pm »
Good luck with this one.

Fantastic idea, and could be a great, unique machine.

I'll be watching this one! :applaud:

Bender

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #85 on: May 26, 2009, 09:29:09 pm »
give me us some more info on the new 3" globe you found

I might want one and maybe that would help with your order

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #86 on: May 26, 2009, 10:02:42 pm »
Here's the one that I ended up settling on. It really is a full globe and not a paperweight so there's no flat spot.


Here's the site link
http://www.1worldglobalgifts.com/globe_pyramid.htm

I spoke with Bryan there, and he had no problem selling me just one, it's just their site that says there's a min order.
It's 35$+10 shipping, so a tad pricy but that's actually less than a clear Happ trackball! No idea whether it'll work well or even at all, but it'd definitely look great uplit with an LED!

Here's one that'd really look sweet. but it's 300$ for a 3" ball  :dizzy:

Bender

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #87 on: May 27, 2009, 09:56:27 am »
wow 3 bills is insane, but man that would be cool!

Let us know how the other one works

I've heard of people using billyard balls I know their not clear but maybe they make some specialty ones that might  be cool (those might be 2 1/4" though)

like these

billpa

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #88 on: May 27, 2009, 05:25:50 pm »
Yea if you could go with a 2.25 inch ball, you could get something cool

https://www.antiquespider.com/detail.asp?id=11531

https://www.antiquespider.com/detail.asp?id=6695


drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #89 on: May 27, 2009, 05:33:05 pm »
Wow, those'd look slick too. and real friggin ivory to boot!

Gah. I had to pick the one size...  :'(

Bender

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #90 on: May 27, 2009, 06:05:41 pm »
Yea if you could go with a 2.25 inch ball, you could get something cool

https://www.antiquespider.com/detail.asp?id=11531

https://www.antiquespider.com/detail.asp?id=6695



way F*&#ing cool! bettter than I could have imagined!

wonder how much those things go for?
« Last Edit: May 27, 2009, 06:07:41 pm by Bender »

billpa

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #91 on: May 28, 2009, 10:21:05 am »
Yea I suppose a bit of a tease...looked at the links a second time and it appears they were sold already and not sure what the final price was. Oh well...the one you chose is pretty cool and would definitely look cooler with some creative lighting.

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #92 on: May 28, 2009, 10:44:48 am »
Here's hoping. I think with some good lighting, it could look sweet. I'm a tad concerned about it being +actual+ crystal, will it be easily scratched by the trackball rollers, or (god forbid) break while being played.

But the guy I spoke with there indicated he'd seen these abused pretty badly and never break, so we'll see.

I'm also wondering if it'll grip the roller bearings good enough, but I thought if not, I might be able to take some heatshrink tubing, slip it over the rollers and shrink it, surely that'd give it more bite (and might prevent scratching to boot).

It'll be one big experiment!

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #93 on: June 02, 2009, 06:09:53 pm »
Grrr. Well, I got the globe in today, but it's 2.75" dia, NOT 3"  :angry:

Needless to say, I'm bummed. And there's no way it'll work in a 3" happ trackball chassis.

I'm reaching out to my contact there to see if they could have just sent me the wrong size, but I'm betting this is it, and their web product description is just wrong.

Sigh

Well, time to keep hunting...

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #94 on: June 11, 2009, 01:18:47 pm »
The globes are on hold waiting for shipment, so I decided to try my hand at something new.

I've got a lot of "mechanical" stuff in this cab to raise and lower the cp, and it looks good, but not really what I had in mind.

So, am I the first to actually +upholster+ part of a cab?  ;D

The legs are part of my dining table, not the cab  :). I can't install it quite yet because I'm also upholstering around the Sewing machine lifts used to raise and lower the whole thing. it's those lifts that I +THINK+ I can automate eventually by taking out the pistons and replacing with linear actuators.

But that's down the road.

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #95 on: June 18, 2009, 01:13:36 am »
Not much progress but I did come across this.



More details here.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?cs=19&c=us&l=en&sku=A1553475&dgc=CJ&cid=0&lid=0&acd=10550055-227502-167612-n-10

It's 380$, but it's a touchscreen to boot and it's designed to fit in a 5.25 drive bay. Why? Hmm. Why Not?

It'd be cool in something, though I'm not sure I could fit it in with my cab.

Bender

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #96 on: June 19, 2009, 06:29:43 pm »
I know it's 7" diagonal but...    how does that thing fit into a 5.25 drive bay?
looks like a single DIN size for a car stereo

any luck on the Trackball front yet?

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #97 on: June 19, 2009, 07:36:24 pm »
no, I'm still waiting for the second attempt to arrive. 2 weeks and counting! sheesh.

The first one (that crystal ball) would have been fantastic. After talking with the guy at WorldGlobes, appearently, those crystal globes aren't "manufactured" per se, they're all hand made, so they vary in size quite dramatically.

I asked, but he said he really couldn't go opening up all the boxes and measuring them all to find one that was +actually+ 3" dia :) Oh well.

This other one I've found says it's 3", and I spoke with the manufacturer and they verfied, but it's 1/8" acrylic, so I'm guessing if the size really does work, I'll drill a small hole in it and fill it with optically clear epoxy.

In the meantime, I've been upholstering some covers for the side lifts. I'll have pics up soon.

Benevolance

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #98 on: June 19, 2009, 07:53:38 pm »
I think the 3" wooden juggling ball would make for an awesome track ball in a steam punk desk. Stained to match the rest of the cabinet, it would help visually pull the wood elements down from the upper tier to the lower.

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #99 on: June 19, 2009, 08:07:39 pm »
True enough. I think I'll get one to try it out.

The only downside is I won't be able to backlight it with an LED. The globe looked incredible backlit like that.

Bender

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #100 on: June 19, 2009, 09:09:22 pm »
if you can find just a plain 3" glass ball I might be able to etch some simple art onto it (like a globe for example)
Also this place seems to have a few different 3" balls like these that might be cool and there pretty cheap


man this place has some crazy stuff can't find the right size 76mm but man if you could way cool! (oh yeah you gotta disregard all the new-age mubo junmo!)


I'm now obsessed with this

here is someplace that may be able to make a crystal ball to your exact size
Pretty expensive stuff but man are they cool lookin'
there is a 3.4" that's only :o $70 bucks but you might be able to get them to make 3"

« Last Edit: June 19, 2009, 09:48:18 pm by Bender »

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #101 on: June 19, 2009, 11:08:04 pm »
Damn, Bender. You've turned up a pile of good sites!

Thanks!

I dunno about the calcite ball  :) Not exactly way up there on the Moh's scale  :(

But some of those stone spheres would be very nice looking.

I saw an opalescent ball that might look especially nice.

You say you can etch? That might be an option, too. I'm guessing if I tried that, i'd end up with a gooped up expensive piece of trash...

I'm still kinda stuck on the whole globe idea, just haven't had much luck yet.

Bender

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #102 on: June 19, 2009, 11:28:08 pm »
as far as etching goes, I have this stuff you just paint on glass leave it for a while and then wash it off and it makes that area of the glass matte

so it's just frosting the glass I guess
I made some cool stuff with it by masking some areas off. Looked kinda like that globe you got, that's what reminded me of the stuff in the first place

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #103 on: July 11, 2009, 12:01:09 am »
Well, I gave up on the globe idea. Eventually, I might try again, but there just isn't anything out there that is truly spherical and is exactly the right size, AND would look appropriate/better than the blue acrylic balls that came with the happ trackballs.

So, there it is.

Now I'm on to the speaker assemblies. I wasn't able to find any good brass horns/cones, but, I did find some ribbed glass ceiling fan shades at Lowes for .25c on clearance.
Those combined with some gooseneck Office Depot desk lamps, gutted, should make for some mighty interesting looking speakers. Plus, they'll pivot around to face any direction I want.

Pic1 is the glass
pic2 shows the backside of the speakers (they'll be visible through the glass)
pic3 is the speaker grill

But one thing I can't seem to find... If anyone had any pointers, I'd really appreciate it.

I need a brass escutcheon for a 3/4 in pipe that looks.... well...victorian, or thereabouts.

The closest I've come so far is something like this



But it's not quite the size. I thought about drilling out a plate with a smaller hole, but I can't seem to set up a rig that'll hold the plate while I drill it

What would be perfect is something like this only in brass with maybe some etching/embossing (or just plain would work too).



Anybody know of anything offhand?

Benevolance

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #104 on: July 11, 2009, 04:02:41 pm »
You could always just spray the steel cover with a metallic spray paint. There are some very convincing and inexpensive spray paints on the market now.

Else if price is no object, reproduction doorknob covers would probably work well enough.

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #105 on: July 11, 2009, 06:09:59 pm »
Wow. I love that door knob backplate, but 83$  :dizzy:

Actually, I've played A LOT with Metallic sprays, and they do look good (just check out my buttons earlier in this thread  :)

But... When they're right next to a real piece of brass, the effect, at least to me, is not so good.

I found some wood rosettes that I think will work well. I've drilled them out and stained them, Will get them in place tomorrow and see how that looks.

Here's the raw piece


I just drilled a hole out of the middle and used a dremel to even up the carving.
Unfortunately I burned out my Dremel in the process (at least the motor still runs but the bit doesn't turn, I think I can fix that though).


drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #106 on: July 17, 2009, 04:24:28 pm »
Yeah! Just picked up a Dell 2405fpw for the cab. Speakers and now a screen! I might actually be able to play this thing in.... oh, who'm i kidding. I still gotta finish that Vacuum Tube marquee  :)

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #107 on: July 28, 2009, 04:19:13 pm »
It's slowly starting to look like I might actually get this thing finished having something playable soon.

I had a pile of Fry's gift cards lying around and finally decided to pull the trigger for a mobo/processor/memory/HD. Already had a decent PS lying around, and I picked up a Dell 2405wfp a few weeks ago.

Here's the guts in all it's glory  :)

Basically, it's an ASUS M3N78-VM mobo, with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e dual core processor, 2gb ram and a WD 1tb harddrive.

I had a PS around, and I'm using a USB Wireless G dongle for networking. No floppy, no cd, no dvd. It's been a big experiment getting windows on it with ONLY a USB drive.
But eventually, I was able to get it there. GPARTED is awesome, just remember to set the SATA device into ACHI mode (or whatever the heck the abbreviation is).

So far, the benchmarks are coming in right in line with my Core 2 duo, maybe a little shy, but certainly not bad for onboard video. I don't think I'll be playing Blitz, PropCycle, or gauntlet legends, but still.

Maybe there's some overclocking in my future  ;)

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #108 on: July 28, 2009, 11:06:37 pm »
It's getting there eh?   :) What onboard video card is on those mobo's?  I notice you mentioned speakers as well, heh, your project is progressing in a similar way to mine - I just got my mobo etc and I'm testing speakers/amp/ps at the moment.  I'll be interested to see what you come up with for your sound system.  I'll be posting in a day or two my own progress.  Did you end up making use of the EL wire for something (I might have missed it if you mentioned it).  hmmm and more questions!  :lol do you have some kind of opener Vid in mind - short and sweet but awsome, there are so many theme possibilities with this.  There's a movie production company that has some elaborate shots of gears all turning and lots of gizmo's all spinning as their opening integration....damn I can't remember who has that.  If you have some ideas in that area let me know if I can help.

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #109 on: July 28, 2009, 11:39:53 pm »
Quote
There's a movie production company that has some elaborate shots of gears

hehe, way ahead of you there  :)
It's Lion'sGate Films. I grabbed that shot off a dvd I had and have been playing with it ever since.

The mobo has an nvidia 8200 onboard. not a super fast chipset, but pretty decent. It appears to be running at about the same level as my ATI Radeon 1900xt, which is 2+ years old, and that was really what I was gunning for. Overclocking the mobo probably would help, as would picking up an optimized mame, but that'll come.

The speakers I've finished. Just haven't cobbled together some images. They turned out better than I'd hoped. The LEDs on the inside of the glass light up the glass and the edges, so the edges of the speakers flicker and glow too.

I ended up using a set of Altec lansing speakers vs 2321


I decased the speakers, and just decorated the subwoofer with some paint and brass corners (it's hung underneath so you really can't see it anyway).

They sound FANTASTIC, even being incased in glass lampshades. I was very surprised. I was all set to hear scratchy vibrations all over. And because they're computer speakers, the amp and all is all contained. I even mounted the headset jack and volume control buttons (with requisite brass knobs and mother of pearl LED lamp) at the back of the buffet with quilted taffeta.

Back to the opening screen, I suck at movie "production", I suppose. Basically, i cut the gears part, then had it flying out and "through" one of the numbers on my clock background for MALA, then the screen ends by fading into my MALA backdrop. It looks ok, but it could be better. It's short, too, at about 7-9 seconds. But, I have no decent tools for any of this, it's all Windows Movie maker, PhotoStory, an open source app that can reverse video and a mixing app.

I'm trying to come up with some good opening music. Believe it or not, I've almost settled on some music from the background of the kids game "Disney Princess-Enchanted Journey" (My 5yo daughters  ;) )

I was asking her one day what music I should use, and she busted out with "How about some music from my princess game?"

Turns out, they're all just OGG files right there on the CD. I'd be happy to post what I've got so far. Do you do animation work?

Oh and the EL wire. Yes, I finished all 12 vacuum tubes, they're wired and operational but I haven't figured out quite how I'm going to mount them. In a shadowbox type thing, or on a plate with a brass wire "cage", on a gimbal, something else?

Just not sure there.

Oh and I found several antique knife switches (ala frankenstien) that I might use as the power switch for the whole thing. One is enormous and mounted on a solid slate panel. Weighs 9 lbs!

Ond

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #110 on: July 28, 2009, 11:58:27 pm »

 I'd be happy to post what I've got so far. Do you do animation work?


Great to hear the speakers turned out well, yep I can animate something original or maybe tidy/improve what you've already got.  The Lion'sGate opener is very elaborate and something similiar would require many hours of work BUT there are other possibilities...  Email me what you've got if you like, and I'll have a look.
« Last Edit: July 29, 2009, 12:01:33 am by Ond »

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #111 on: July 30, 2009, 12:48:51 am »
Finally got some pics put together of the speakers I've torn up and rebuilt for this cabinet

First, I started with some 25c (yep that's right 25c at Lowes) glass fan lampshades. I cut a base for the back and used some long screws from an old attic fan motor to hold things together



Then I picked up a couple RGB leds from Radio shack and mounted them in a hole drilled in that plate. But a simple RGB wasn't enough  :). I came across a pile of those "fake tea lights" with a flickery orange LED inside for 50c each. So I bought a pile of them and started hacking them apart.



Inside, they're REALLY simple. just a 3v battery, a switch and the LED. The LED actually has a tiny little chip in it that handles the flicker.



Turns out, with the proper resistor, you can drive these straight from an LEDWIZ.

So there will be some RGB goodness going in but mostly it'll be flickery candle light that illuminates things in this cab.

Once I'd fixed the LED's in place, I had to do something with the sub. It was going underneath the buffet, so it really wouldn't be seen much, if at all. Still, i couldn't just leave it as a big silver/black box, so a little paint, some brass trunk corners, and flowery bits laters.



And here it is in its new home.



The speakers had a little control panel with a headphone jack, vol knob, and indicator light ,etc. I mounted those in an upholstered panel near the back of the cab, but still accessible. Had to add more brass bits  :)



And the final result looks like this. I also upholstered around the lifts so you really don't see any of that hardware any more. I've kind of shifted from a "full out steampunk" theme to a little more subtle "refined Victorian SteamRapscallion" theme.



And up close on the speaker itself.



I don't have the LED's wired yet, but I have powered them up off the battery. They make the entire glass shades glow and flicker as if candles were in there. It's a really neat effect that turned out better than I could have imagined.

I'm not sure if it comes out in the pics, but the speakers are on flexible goosenecks, which lets them bend over into the cab, so everything folds up nice and tidy still. When it's closed, there's literally no indication of what's inside.

Now, the big issue is figuring out how to mount the mobo, PS and hardrive up underneath there, but not have it all just hanging out.

I'm guessing I'm going to go with a stained a trimmed walnut box with some more brass corners and acorn nuts all around.

But if anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them! The wackier the better. I'm open. I was at one point considering putting the sub and PC in a small antique trunk and parking that to the side of the buffer, like an end table. But I decided all-in-one has a better feel to it.

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #112 on: July 30, 2009, 12:51:35 am »
Oh, and I forgot the steampunk part. They aren't speakers.

They're "Crystaline Audiometric Projectors"

 ;)

Ond

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #113 on: July 30, 2009, 03:20:17 am »
Beautiful, love those Crystaline Audiometric projectors  :lol very nice touch with the flicker effect, it would be great to see them working (video hint). You really are having fun with this.  I can imagine the perplexed/enchanted look on ppls faces when you explain it all to someone for the first time i.e. not BYOAC folk who already have been following along. Where ya gonna fit the giant Frankenstien switch?.  It would be cool to have some kind of electrical sizzle sound when it switches on.

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #114 on: July 30, 2009, 09:25:56 am »
Yeah, I'll have to get the PC finished up and in place before I can get any video shots of the lights in action. But I'll get some up.

You're right about the looks. Esp when it's all closed up with an old picture frame and a few candle sticks on top. Take em off, lift the top, fold the front doors, and lift and slide out the CP, and the reactions have been great. And that was with no screen, no PC, nothing lit.

I lost my bids on the knife switches (the dang things went for >50$ + shipping!).

So I'm keeping an eye out for more.

Considering I can get a .5 inch copper bar for about 5$ a foot, I might just make one!

Bender

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #115 on: July 30, 2009, 01:00:15 pm »
looking FANTASTIC! :cheers: :cheers:

Kman-Sweden

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #116 on: August 01, 2009, 05:28:02 am »
I have to admit that I really hated this build in the beginning. I think that I was converted right about when you started painting the buttons..
Nice work and keep it up.  :applaud:

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #117 on: August 01, 2009, 09:05:52 am »
Hey KMan

Thanks! Yeah, it's not exactly a "traditional" build  :)

And I know there are a lot of people out there that don't get into the whole "steampunk" thing, which is cool.

When I started this whole thing, it was going to be something completely different. But the project has kind of morphed and taken on a life of it's own.

Even now, it's changing a lot. Back several months ago, I'd planned on going all out, steampunk wise, with piles of gears, copper pipe and gauges.

But now, I'm thinking I'm going to tone that down some. Make it "steampunk influenced" instead of full on.

But thanks again for the comments!

drventure

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #118 on: August 03, 2009, 12:28:38 am »
Had to post this.

I don't think I can use them in my cab, but dang these are gorgeous looking buttons



Here's the ebay item

http://cgi.ebay.com/3-Gold-Steel-Push-OFF-ON-N-O-Switch-for-Harley-G16BN_W0QQitemZ290263878405QQcmdZViewItemQQptZBI_Connectors_Switches_Wire?hash=item4395134b05


Epyx

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Re: A Mame machine in an antique buffet
« Reply #119 on: August 03, 2009, 01:27:37 am »
Looking forward to seeing how this turns out! :cheers:

To me it really has that "Bioshock" vibe, something I would expect to find in one of Rapture's art deco buildings...cool.
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