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Author Topic: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs  (Read 36252 times)

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gajaman

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Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« on: February 02, 2009, 03:43:30 pm »
I've finally finished my latest two projects;



I dismantled the original Gaja cab that I built in 2002 and used the guts to make a new slimline Mame cab with a flat panel monitor.

My thinking was that by making a new slimmer cabinet in place of the full size original with 28" tube screen I could build a dedicated Defender replica as well and still use less space.

Both cabinets are built to scale Defender cabs with the back sliced right off. The result is a cab that looks and plays like a full size Defender but is only 360mm from the wall at it's deepest point.

The Defender has a 19" flat panel and the Mame a 20" (which was the biggest I could find in 4:3 ratio).







Both cabs use the excellent I-PAC. The Mame cabinet has 4 - 8 way switchables from Ulitmarc that are switchable from the top of the panel. The red ball top for the Defender is an Ultimarc 4 -8 way switchable with a home made restrictor that makes it a two way.

My original cab was fine but when building it I rushed the finish and was less bothered about the design. These cabs have been built with a higher attention to detail and as a result have a far more "finished" look to them. They are painted in water based satin black (4 coats) which beats the matt look finish my orignal cab ended up with.

Both cabs are fixed to wall for stability. The Defender uses the Party On! front end to switch between Defender and Stargate and the Mame uses ArcadeFX as it is the PC ripped out my 2002 cab.

Overall I'm very pleased wiht the finish and now have more room and two machines - everyone's a winner!

javeryh

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2009, 03:59:36 pm »
Very nice! 

I have to ask though, why didn't you set up the MAME cab with 6 buttons?  Seems like you could add a lot more playable games - the fighters are the best for parties!

 :cheers:

gajaman

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2009, 04:03:26 pm »
Thanks javeryh.

The original cab had 6 buttons per player and I never used them. I 'm not a fan of fighters at all and stick mostly to the classics. 3 buttons per player covers most of the stuff i play and gave it an uncluttered panel.

javeryh

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2009, 04:24:10 pm »
That's what I thought... you did a really nice job on these cabs and they barely take up any space which is perfect for the house if you are tight on space.

andy p

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2009, 08:40:39 pm »
Lovely job mate.

I'm really impressed with them.

XeviouS

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2009, 01:21:05 am »
Nice pair!

TOK

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2009, 05:44:38 am »
Love that Defender. A Williams coin door on there would look great!
Real nice work.

parag0n

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #7 on: February 04, 2009, 09:26:16 am »
These look fantastic, great to see some more slimline cabinets being made, i'm amazed they aren't more common, given their vastly decreased footprint.

Got any in-progress photos from when you were doing the build?

gonzo90017

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2009, 12:34:32 pm »
What method did you use to fix the cabs to the wall?

gajaman

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #9 on: February 05, 2009, 02:53:46 am »
Thanks guys.

In my usual haste to get the projects done I neglected to take any in progress pictures. That said I have got another set of MDF to make a third cabinet with a steering wheel set up, maybe I'll get the camera out for that build.

The cabinets are made of MDF and fixed together using battens - simple but effective.

The glass for the screen and marquee is just regular 4mm float glass.

The montiors are mounted on timber battens with a variety of clips and brackets holding them tight against the glass.

If you remove the marquee glass you get access ot the speakers and a timber panel that sits across the rear of the cabinet that fits flush to the wall. There are two holes drilled through this panel and two screw fixings are used with rawl plugs to secure the whole thing tightly to the wall.

The cabinets are still quite heavy and balance upright on their own but the screw fixings provide much more stability.

   

kennardconsulting

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #10 on: April 09, 2009, 09:22:45 pm »
gajaman,

Those cabinets look really awesome, and much more practical in a family home than a full-sized cab!

I'd love to attempt something like this myself, and was hoping you could pass on some measurements? Even partial measurements would be a huge help in getting started.

Thanks in advance,

Richard.

Haterot

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #11 on: April 11, 2009, 06:54:42 pm »
Really looks good gajaman. Now that it's done what's your thoughts on the 20" LCD, right size, go bigger smaller, stay away from flat panels?
I have my cabin the planning stages and I would be interested in your reply.
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Grasshopper

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #12 on: April 12, 2009, 01:59:40 pm »
I have to admit that when I saw the thread title my first thought was what a terrible idea. I've nothing against slimline cabs, or original designs per se. However, I've generally taken the view that if you're basing your design on an actual classic cab then you should stick reasonably closely to the original dimensions.

However, now I've seen what you've actually done I've totally changed my mind. Both cabs look superb especially the Defender one. It's amazing how the eye is fooled. From the front they both look like regular sized classic cabs. Even from the side it looks, at first glance, like they're two full sized cabs jutting out of an alcove.

You could use that technique to recreate an entire arcade in a relatively tiny room.
"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel." - Samuel Johnson

froggerman

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #13 on: April 12, 2009, 04:24:16 pm »
What a great idea, and very well executed. I really like the compact design, much better for the average home.

Looking forward to seeing details of your third build.

Cheers.

ambush

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #14 on: November 28, 2010, 01:04:58 pm »
gajaman

These cabs look awesome! Two questions:

1- Would you be able to share any plans and/or dimensions?

2- Have you had any issues with stability? If someone pulls hard will they topple over?

Thanks.

taylormadelv

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #15 on: November 28, 2010, 03:09:16 pm »
That's very cool! I love the space saving concept! They look very nice and I bet they are easy to move!

yotsuya

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #16 on: November 28, 2010, 03:55:24 pm »
They do look nice. If you could find a coin door for the Defender, it would look even better.
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BobA

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #17 on: November 28, 2010, 04:40:14 pm »
gajaman

These cabs look awesome! Two questions:

2- Have you had any issues with stability? If someone pulls hard will they topple over?

Thanks.

He fastens them to the wall so they probably will not move at all. ;D

ambush

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #18 on: November 28, 2010, 05:04:12 pm »
gajaman

These cabs look awesome! Two questions:

2- Have you had any issues with stability? If someone pulls hard will they topple over?

Thanks.

He fastens them to the wall so they probably will not move at all. ;D

Thanks BobA

Is that necessary? Can they be stabilized in a non-permanent fashion, i.e., no holes in the wall?

I was looking at Kneivel's Woody cab as another example of a slim cab.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=55789.0;all
http://knievel.webs.com/arcademania.htm

leapinlew

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #19 on: November 28, 2010, 10:00:28 pm »
gajaman

These cabs look awesome! Two questions:

2- Have you had any issues with stability? If someone pulls hard will they topple over?

Thanks.

He fastens them to the wall so they probably will not move at all. ;D

Thanks BobA

Is that necessary? Can they be stabilized in a non-permanent fashion, i.e., no holes in the wall?

I was looking at Kneivel's Woody cab as another example of a slim cab.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=55789.0;all
http://knievel.webs.com/arcademania.htm

swoooooosh!

Rick

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #20 on: December 02, 2010, 02:16:39 pm »

This idea is ridiculously awesome.  I looked at the pics first and thought, "WHHHAAAA--?!"  Then, I figured out what you did, and I LOVE the idea of how they look like they're almost 'embedded in the wall', while still keeping the classic look of the original...  If I had a full wall in my toyroom, I would build out the entire wall like that.  What a feature.

 :applaud:

gamefixer

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #21 on: March 09, 2014, 01:33:51 am »
I know that this thread is pretty old but I'm just coming across it.

Gaja, I dont suppose you would be willing to sell the files/any documentation you used to create these cabs would ya? I'd like to build three of these for my game room and my coworker would love some too.

Thanks!

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #22 on: March 10, 2014, 03:55:12 pm »
very, very nicely done and creative use of space.

opt2not

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #23 on: March 10, 2014, 03:59:49 pm »
Oh wow, a blast from the past. I remember really liking these cabs back when I first joined BYOAC.

I know that this thread is pretty old but I'm just coming across it.

Gaja, I dont suppose you would be willing to sell the files/any documentation you used to create these cabs would ya? I'd like to build three of these for my game room and my coworker would love some too.

Thanks!

Also Gaja hasn't been active for quite a while.  -->  Last Active: July 19, 2011, 11:50:33 am

Willard_Bones

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #24 on: December 11, 2016, 04:55:59 pm »
 Could anyone recommend someone who could make a cabinet like this? A vendor, someone who would sell it?

  Or, any plans available for purchase?

gdonovan

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #25 on: December 12, 2016, 11:02:05 am »
Awesome work! Love it!

schlank

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #26 on: February 17, 2017, 03:00:53 pm »
This setup that gajaman did is amazing.  I've actually created plans based off of his build.  I can't wait to start this.

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Re: Slimline Defender & Mame Cabs
« Reply #27 on: August 11, 2017, 10:21:27 pm »
I know this is old.. but any plans for this around?
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