Noob hit a wall with project

[Love5508]

First off I'd like to say hello to everyone here on the forums.  I've been on the forums for the past few months reading and sucking in all the info I could to be able to take on a project of mine.  I was able to recently acquire an empty Wrestlemania cabinet in great condition.  So far I've done all the minor things it needed to it such as paint, fill holes etc.  The artwork is all on and I have since turned the Wrestlemania into a copy of a MK II cabinet.  Its all ready to go and the only thing keeping me from reaching 100% COMPLETE on this thing is building the control panel.  I'm a real noob with wood working and have no idea how to make my idea for the control panel come to life.  My plan is to make a MK II style control panel for the cabinet but since this cab wasn't an original MK II the dimensions are a tad bit different.  For example the MK II control panel is 8" High, 26 5/8" Wide and 14" Deep but those figures would not fit my cabinet as the area for the control panel is different then the original MK II.  I made some crude drawings to show exactly what I'm talking about and what measurements I need to figure out.  My goal is to have it fit but also look proportionate to its size like how it does on the MK II cab.  Any help or insight to my problem?

[severdhed]

why not just add 2 inches to the width, and 1/2 inch to the height?

[Turnarcades]

It's not hard to figure out dimensions. Who's gonna know they're not exactly the same? Get some scrap carboard, cut it roughly to size and tape it together, then offer it up to your cab to see if it looks out of place.

I regularly have to work out dimensions for custom control panels for customers and the one thing I've realised is that it is the controls themselves that will really determine the control panel area. Plan your surface first, then see if it is confortable, add a slight overhang for 'wrist rests' then just keep the box proportionate by standing back and thinking 'is it ugly?' or 'is it safe?'. Once you've done this you're good to go ahead and cut some wood.

[dkubarek]

If you want to make it like MK2 then go for it, but that style limits you a bit when playing nonfighter games. It's been awhile but I think MK2 had the buttons layed out like the number "5" on dice. More vertically oriented. You would be fine going with the neo geo 7 button setup or something else more horizontally oriented. But, like I said, do what you want. It's your cab and you'll be happy with it either way.

[Love5508]

Yeah, Im using the same style box but making it a 7 button lay out.  Thanks for the help everyone! Building starts tomorrow.