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Author Topic: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one 11.27.09 update  (Read 48026 times)

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mwong168

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I've been a long time lurker and wanted to thank everyone in advance for the wealth of knowledge and information that has been posted on here.   :notworthy:  I have seen many great projects from start to completion and now I feel like it is my turn to give back and document my upcoming build so here goes:

It all started back a few years ago back in 2006 when I was playing around with Mame and bought the X-Arcade dual stick.



It did the job initially but did quite feel the same and I soon realized that I needed to have my own arcade cabinet to bring back that nostalgic feeling as a kid growing up in and playing video games in arcades.  

I found some plans with measurements on making a cabinet from scratch using MDF but I am not a very handy person when it comes to working with power tools such as saws, drills, routers, etc.  On top of that I don't own any of them except for a drill so the cost of investing in all these tools wouldn't justify it since I would only use it for this project so I went looking for a used or gutted arcade cabinet.  I searched for weeks and after about 2 months I came across a mint original Mortal Kombat II cabinet which had the Raiden with lightning artwork on the sides for $400cdn.  The guy selling it had it in storage and was moving out of the country and needed in gone within 2 weeks.  I figure I would spent more than $400 in buying decent quality tools and wood so a week later I picked up the cabinet.  During this time I was also doing some research and found a way to make use of the arcade monitor in the cabinet by using a J-PAC and ArcadeVGA from ultimarc.com.

Fast forward 2 weeks later I went with two friends, one of whom had access to a cargo van to pick up the MKII cabinet and boy was it heavy.  We pulled up into the driveway at my house and carefully unloaded the machine.  We decided to take a quick break and come up with a plan as to how we were going to get this huge cabinet down to my gameroom in the basement.  Fortunately there was a power outlet nearby so I plugged it in and we fired it up and started playing it outside on my driveway while we brainstormed.  Neighbors and kids were walking by and some cars were stopping to stare at the intersection to watch while we performed gory fatalities on each other.  Anyways after about 15-20 minutes of fun we decided it was time to get it inside and i was so set on having this cabinet that I should have measured the stairs going down to my basement.  There was maybe a one finger gap on both sides and going down also involved making a complete turn around a corner.  So there it was, my dream of having an arcade cabinet in my games room which already had a 4' x 8' pool table and Fabi jitz table was crushed :(  The MKII cabinet had to stay in my family room upstairs and my girlfriend wasn`t too thrilled about that.  That was all I ever did with it and hung on to it hoping one day I would move to a bigger house and be able to include it in my game room.  This past December I ended up selling the machine because my first baby girl was due soon and we could use the extra room for swings, playpens and bouncers.

February 2009 was the month Street Fighter IV was being released and I got bit with the arcade bug again.  It took me a few weeks after the release but I was able to get myself a Madcatz SE fight stick for my xbox360 and before that I even paid a local guy to build me a custom fight stick using Happ parts.  I was a bit disappointed with SFIV to be honest and even though the graphics looked very nice it just didn`t have the same feel as SFII.  I decided to take advantage and sold all my fight sticks for a decent profit as there was a huge shortage up here in Toronto, Canada.  I also recently learned that my brother in-law George`s brother in-law William was retired and sold his wood shop.  He had all the tools and experience necessary to help me build a cabinet from scratch.

After doing some lurking on this forum I came across this "showcase" style cabinet on the Mameroom website and then after some searching I came across this webpage where someone documented their Gauntlet Legends cabinet build from scratch:



http://home.comcast.net/~dark.paladin/gauntlet
« Last Edit: November 27, 2009, 10:11:30 am by mwong168 »
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

mwong168

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2009, 12:54:10 pm »
After some more searching on this forums I found a link to the http://jakobud.com website which had the Dynamo Showcase cabinet plans with measurements.  This cabinet would be perfect for me because it comes apart in two pieces and could be easily moved downstairs in my basement.
This cabinet also works great for me because I had an old Panasonic 27" Tau television that wasn't being used and didn't have to be mounted on an angle like the more traditional arcade cabinets.



I printed out the plans from jakobud.com and went to show William.  I read in another thread that some of the measurements were not consistent in the plans so in an hour we were able to complete the top control panel and podium portion with 2 shelves below it.  I will take pictures of the cut wood later because they are sitting in William's garage but I did take the control panel back home with me so I could do some planning.



Last week after sending some emails back and forth with RandyT at groovygamegear.com I placed my order and it was shipped last Saturday.  I got an unexpected call from my girlfriend at home at 2pm and I knew what it was about and she was calling to let me know a package had arrived and what was in it because the customs invoice was over $300.  Busted...  not really.  She makes fun of me and my other friend when it comes to stuff like this referring to us as "dweebs" or "dorks" :)


Here is a closer look at what I ordered from groovygamegear.com


Happ Players 1-4 start buttons


A bunch of Happ buttons in various colors.  Most of my player controls will stay true to what I grew up with in the arcades which is the standard red, white and blue.


Mmmmmm...  microswitches (good job Randy or whoever prepared my order was right on the money and none were missing)


Happ dedicated 4 way joystick on the right and two Happ 8 way competition joysticks with GGG exclusive microswitches.  I was on the fence about this one having been sold a custom xbox360 fight stick claiming to have Happ Competition sticks and they performed poorly to my standards and what I recall back in the day.  I soon learned that back in the day the machines I played on had sticks made by iL and my friend showed and let me feel the difference.  That is why I am missing the other 2 player controls in the middle of my control panel for Street Fighter.  The guy is ordering them direct from iL which is based out of Spain I think, I hope it comes before the weekend because I plan on test fitting everything.


Hinges to possibly secure my control panel and a Happ button wrench to save me from getting a ton of blisters on my hands.


Here are a bunch of quick disconnects to hook everything up on the control panel.  My friend who rebuilt his control panel on his SFII CE machine told me to get extras in case I messed up or needed to recrimp due to a bad connection or contact.


Turbo Twist 2 USB interface with TT2 Designer Series™ Premium Spinner Knob.  I chose to have the Mame logo because I plan on following a Mame theme throughout my cabinet later on.


KeyWiz Ps2 interface and GP-Wiz USB interface


Optiwiz USB interface

That is pretty much it for my order from RandyT and rest of the parts I bought used from a very nice guy on the KLOV forums.  Things worked out great because he was from Minnesota and had to make a drive out to Toronto for some personal business so I was able to meet him at a hotel near the airport last weekend and picked these up.


Happ Translucent 2.25" Trackball with mounting plate and multicolor LED


Arcade coin door with keys but no coin mechanisms.  The door appears to be in pretty good shape and for right now I want to have it to complete the arcade look.  Once I get all the other stuff taken care off I might go on ebay or search a local arcade supplier for coin mechanisms and wire it up to take quarters.

Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

mwong168

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #2 on: June 25, 2009, 12:56:16 pm »
Here are some extra parts I had lying around or donated to me for this project in return for "free play" when they come over to have some fun.


Panasonic 27" Tau flat screen tube television with component and s-video inputs


This set of Altec Lansing speakers werd donated by my good friend Sergio who is probably one of the craziest arcade nuts ever.  I will take a picture of his place later and show you guys.


This was an extra computer I had built to be used as a HTPC in the basement but rarely ever gets used.  The specs on the system are:

AMD x2 5200+ processor
Gigabyte GA-MA69GM-S2H
Gigabyte Wireless B/G PCI Network Card
Mushkin 3GB DDR2 800 PC2-6400+ Ram
80GB Western Digital IDE Hard Drive (I didn't care to have a huge hard drive or SATA cause I have a dedicated Media Server with 12tb of storage which can be accessed by all the computers, laptops and netbooks in my house)
In-Win Desktop case with 350w power supply

The really nice thing about this motherboard is it has multiple ways to output to a TV, plasma or LCD.  It has HDMI, DVI, S-Video and Component (red, green and blue).  I will be using the onboard sound card and LAN to do the occasional update through the network or internet.

The component method is what I chose and here is what it looks like hooked up to the Panasonic TV




That is it for now and here is a little teaser pic of things to come so stay tuned and check back later when I add more pics of progress.  I just placed my order at Mamemarquees.com and Scott emailed me and said he will most likely start printing my stuff tonight and ship it out early next week.



** Sorry I had to split this into 3 different replies but the forum would let me post it all in one. **

-mike
« Last Edit: June 25, 2009, 01:00:08 pm by mwong168 »
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

drventure

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #3 on: June 25, 2009, 01:41:23 pm »
that's going to be an awesome build. I really like the proportions of those showcase cabs, but there's no way in hell I'd get one of those in my house  :)

The WAF (Wife acceptance factor) just wouldn't be there....

Paladin

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #4 on: June 26, 2009, 09:00:43 am »
That's my showcase project you found.  I'm glad it inspired you!  If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try and help you out if I can.  Future plans for mine are to add MAME using the original control panel.  The 49 way sticks are what's holding me up.

Tom

mwong168

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2009, 09:27:17 am »
that's going to be an awesome build. I really like the proportions of those showcase cabs, but there's no way in hell I'd get one of those in my house  :)

The WAF (Wife acceptance factor) just wouldn't be there....

That was my problem with the original MKII cabinet I bought, there was no way in hell I could get one down the basement stairs  :angry:  Good thing the WAF was just enough to put up with having it stick out like a sore thumb in the living room for almost 3 years.

That's my showcase project you found.  I'm glad it inspired you!  If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try and help you out if I can.  Future plans for mine are to add MAME using the original control panel.  The 49 way sticks are what's holding me up.

Thanks for the offer Tom and I think it is a great idea to add Mame but in order to take advantage of more games you would need to add some more buttons unless you aren't really into fighting games like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat.  I personally like those games and spent countless hours and quarters on them as a kid.  My friend Sergio has a SFII CE cabinet and recently sold him my J-PAC and X-arcade and he was so glad he has Mame in his cabinet now because he actually uses it more.  Playing SFII can only be so fun for so long solo.

Where did you get that control panel from?  I don't think I have ever seen one like that in person before.
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

Epyx

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #6 on: June 26, 2009, 02:31:15 pm »
Mwong,

Quick question...you mention it is hooked up via component? When I look at this motherboard online I see a vga/dvi and hdmi connector but no Component? Are you using a dvi -> component adapter?

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #7 on: June 26, 2009, 03:04:28 pm »
Looks like it's going to be good.  Enjoy the ride!

Gatsu

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #8 on: June 26, 2009, 03:16:54 pm »
yes this looks like its gonna be an awesome cab. I love a good showcase cab.

mwong168

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #9 on: June 26, 2009, 03:34:45 pm »
Quick question...you mention it is hooked up via component? When I look at this motherboard online I see a vga/dvi and hdmi connector but no Component? Are you using a dvi -> component adapter?

No adaptors used at all, it came with a add-on plate (item to the left of the user's manual) which has the component and s-video ports.  If you look at my computer picture above I had to remove the full sized plate because the case I have the computer in is a low rise style case.





Then it is connected to the "TV" pin headers shown above on the motherboard.  This motherboard was the ideal motherboard to use for a HTPC as it has a ton of ways to output to a TV.  If you check the back of the motherboard you have your standard analogue and DVI monitor connections or HDMI and for audio there is the optical Toslink connection too!



Thanks for all the words of encouragement guys, I'll probably have more pics and have all the buttons and joysticks test fitted by end of this weekend if William is around and not busy.  Have a great weekend guys!
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

Epyx

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #10 on: June 26, 2009, 04:18:30 pm »
Fantastic! I had no idea there were Motherboards with component built in...for mame and my tv this will save me a lot of $$.  Thanks for the tip...now hopefully i can find a mb with these features if yours is no longer being made.
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mwong168

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #11 on: June 26, 2009, 05:00:07 pm »
Here is a better pic of the connector I found online but yeah it is a shame that the later models never came with this option or add-on.  It works great with my old 51" Toshiba projection tv which I used the component to output from the computer.



The only reason I stopped using this as my main HTPC was because I was having some trouble playing back H.64 blu-ray rips so my main one uses the 790G chipset with SB700 Chipset ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics.

There is one auction on ebay right now for a refurbished one that is missing the I/O shield.  The seller has buy it now for $69.59 or best offer.  You could try to lowball and see if they will take and from the picture gallery I see it does come with the component add-on too. 

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gigabyte-GA-MA69GM-S2H-4xDDR2-VGA-DVI-HDMI-Motherboard_W0QQitemZ260406830613QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Components?hash=item3ca174e615&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

I found someone selling the I/O shield for this motherboard but if you can live with the gaps I would just save your $12-13 bucks  :lol

http://cgi.ebay.com/Gigabyte-GA-MA69GM-S2H-Motherboard-AM2-I-O-IO-Shield_W0QQitemZ190312399725QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Components?hash=item2c4f80c36d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12|66%3A2|39%3A1|72%3A1205|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50

Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

Epyx

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2009, 05:19:56 pm »
Thanks I will take a look at those links right now. Component is key for me with the older 27" SDTV (with component in) I am using...S video and composite are no match and this MB would mean I don't have to buy a video card  for mostly mame/console gaming.
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Paladin

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2009, 08:56:08 am »
My showcase began by buying the monitor, game boards, control panel and wiring from a guy that was turning a real Gauntlet Legends cabinet into a MAME cab.  I took the electronics and Jakobud plans and built all the wood parts based on the plans with modifications to make sure it fit my parts.  What's kind of cool about the control panel is that it has speakers built in, so I could narrow the cabinet width by not adding speakers to the sides of the monitor.

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #14 on: June 27, 2009, 09:27:13 am »
Good luck with your build.

I love seeing peoples 'stuff' before they start putting it all together.

Looks like it will be a nice one!

mwong168

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #15 on: June 28, 2009, 11:28:48 am »
What's kind of cool about the control panel is that it has speakers built in, so I could narrow the cabinet width by not adding speakers to the sides of the monitor.

Well right now I have the sound hooked up to my TV and having second thoughts about even using the Altec Lansing speakers my friend Sergio donated to me.  I know these speakers pound but they are also awkwardly shaped so I don't know.  Once I have the podium portion assembled I will see how much room I have in there and I might put the speakers in there as optional sound in case I ever wanted to use the podium as a stand alone unit from my 27" TV such as hooking it up my 50" plasma in the living room via HDMI.  Right now I am able to play emulators on my HTPC using authentic Sega Seturn USB controllers or my Madcatz SE with Sanwa swapped parts.  

I'm hoping I can make some progress on it today with the control panel but my girlfriend's friend just moved in yesterday and all her stuff is in the basement and I have to take care of my daughter while they sort the stuff out and re-arrange our storage area.
« Last Edit: November 27, 2009, 09:05:56 am by mwong168 »
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

drventure

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #16 on: July 02, 2009, 10:28:25 am »
Very cute! My daughter's 5 and she's been helping my with this build since she was 3. Lots of fun!

About those speakers, have you considered decasing them?

I've got a pair of slightly older Altecs (plus sub) but the speaker boxes, small as they are, won't exactly fit where I want to put them, so I'm thinking of decasing them. Just a little concerned about the resultant sound though...

Unfortunately, the speaker boxes appear to be glued and screwed together, so decasing them will likely destroy the boxes...


mwong168

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #17 on: July 07, 2009, 11:17:42 am »


Look what came in the mail yesterday  :applaud:  My artwork from Scott at mamemarquees.com arrived.



Marquee artwork



Control Panel artwork.  I decided I didn't want to go with the plexi route like most people do and the material Scott uses feels pretty durable and the way I think arcade machines should be.  I don't have to worry about my friends or other goobers resting their cigarette on the control panel.  Now I just need to get drilling and routing so I can being wiring up all my control board interfaces.



To keep consistent with my lightning control panel theme here is the kickpanel artwork of Raiden which I am going to place directly below the screen once I get that built.  I ordered a string of 100 white leds and I plan on mounting this artwork onto a piece of plexi so I can illuminate the lighting and possibly eyes with different effects such as fade in/fade out or flashing or constantly on.
« Last Edit: July 07, 2009, 12:48:55 pm by mwong168 »
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

mwong168

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Re: MAME Showcase cabinet build with a taste of MK and SF all in one
« Reply #18 on: July 13, 2009, 09:41:50 am »
I got quite a bit done yesterday with William.  We started by making templates for routing out the recess for the joysticks from underneath and the buttons were a no brainer.  We also flush mounted the Happ trackball mounting plate too, I hope this will line up nicely with the artwork I order from Scott at mamemarquees.com



Then we started to cut the wood for the podium that the control panel is going to sit on top of.



We mounted the Happ quick release hinges I got from groovygamegear.com





Test fit of the control panel was successful  :)





As you can see from the last picture I also closed off the back with some hanging board William had lying around.  I figure this would be the best to use instead of enclosing it with a piece of MDF because the holes at least allow for some air circulation.

Next thing we did was test fit the over/under coin door and was just fine with a bit of shimming which I will do later on after I prime and paint.





Last shot of the day with some of my controls dropped into the control panel.



I am still waiting for my iL parts for the SF player layouts which have taken over a month  :angry:  But I'm sure they will be here this week.  Stay tuned for more progress pics.
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

mwong168

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Sorry for the delay for those that have been checking my showcase cabinet progress.  Since my last update I have painted my podium and control panel, applied the control panel artwork from Scott @ Mamemarquees.com and installed all my Happ/iL parts except for my trackball.  I am trying to source out long screws that are the same sized thread as those used for mounting cd or dvd rom drives.  Here are the pics:







And in case anyone is wonder what the black with chrome strip t-molding looks like from t-molding.com here it goes:







Now the fun begins, wiring.
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

Nemss316

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This is shaping up well! Great job on the control panel artwork. How hard is that to apply?

drventure

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Wow. Coming along nicely  :applaud:

I wish I had space for a cab like that (and of course a sit down driving cab  :) )


mwong168

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This is shaping up well! Great job on the control panel artwork. How hard is that to apply?

Thanks for all the compliments and comments guys.  The artwork is not the difficult to apply with someone else helping you.  I was debating to apply the artwork and trim the edges or to cut to shape first and then apply.  I ended up tracing the shape of my control panel and then cutting it to shape.  Then I lined it up on top of my control panel and then used masking tape to keep it in place.  Then I applied on side first as shown in this video:



Then I slowly pealed away the rest of it while my cousin was applying it on top to make sure no air bubbles formed.  It's not as hard as it seems even though I hesistated for a few days only because it an expensive piece, $70usd!!  I know Scott is a good guy and will send you replacements free of charge only if it is his fault.  I am very happy with the end result and didn't want to go with the plexi route over my control panel and this material Scott @ mamemarquees.com prints on is top notch and highly recommend it.

I started the wiring last night using cat5 network cable but only got the SF sticks and buttons wired.  I had to go to bed because I need my bare minimum 4 hours sleep but I will post more pics last on this week once the wiring is completed.

Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

hulkster

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man i wish i wouldve had some documented plans when i built my showcase back in '04.  yours is looking sweet!   :applaud:  nice and clean. 

mwong168

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man i wish i wouldve had some documented plans when i built my showcase back in '04.  yours is looking sweet!   :applaud:  nice and clean. 

Wow Hulkster, happy 5th anniversairy to your MAMESTROSITY showcase build then :)  Some of the links on your site are broken and I wish I had taken more pictures but I wasn't sure if anyone was watching my thread so I didn't get a chance to take any but who wants to see the primer and paint stage anyways.

So far the wiring has been pretty easy with the help and organization of cat5 network cable.  I hope this is good enough and I also figure if it is good enough to transfer files then it should work fine with joystick and buttons.  I know Delusional used the same thing on his cabinet.  Now my only doubt is if I crimped the quick disconnected properly.  So far all I have been doing is stripping the wire, twisting it, folding it, insert into the QD and crimp. 

Hulkster, do you mind sharing or making a few measurements for your TV portion because I plan on getting that part knocked off pretty soon.  My podium will be spaced a lot further then yours from the TV but right now I am looking for some other ideas.  Any tips or things you would have possibly done differently would be greatly appreciated.





My LED lights also came from dealextreme.com too!  Maybe if I get around to it I will go buy a piece of plexi and apply my Raiden artwork to it and then line up the LED lights behind the lightning and Raiden's eyes.  The unit comes with a neat control module that allows for the LEDS to be on solid, fade in fade out, flickering, etc.




http://dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.16201
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

SNAAKE

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  • my joystick is bigger than your joystick !
looks good so far  8)

dekar24k

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    • ArcadeForum.com
Wow! This is going to be a sweet cab. Great work!
Finished project: "The Saloon Arcade" - 2 player upright cabinet

Joystick.net - Retro gaming news and reviews

hulkster

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  • HulkaMAMEia is runnin' wild!
man i wish i wouldve had some documented plans when i built my showcase back in '04.  yours is looking sweet!   :applaud:  nice and clean. 

Hulkster, do you mind sharing or making a few measurements for your TV portion because I plan on getting that part knocked off pretty soon.  My podium will be spaced a lot further then yours from the TV but right now I am looking for some other ideas.  Any tips or things you would have possibly done differently would be greatly appreciated.






well i didnt have any plans when i started, and as a result, i didnt really make any plans along the way  :dunno  im not a carpenter AT ALL, and as for my tv stand part, honestly i just put the tv i was going to use on top of the initial piece of wood, and then just kinda measured around it and said "ummm, yeah that looks good, and i'll add a couple of inches on each side....and sweet, it fits!".  yeah, so those are my "exact measurements".  sorry man, i wish i could help you more, but there are far better showcase cabs out there than mine that are much more precise and clean (like yours is looking!  :applaud: ). 

mine wasnt a hack job because i took a long time to make it and i measured 5 times and cut once  ::) and still made mistakes...albeit they arent visible thank goodness.  but if you saw my cab in person you'd be saying "dude, you shouldve done it this way and it wouldve soooo much easier".  yeah probably.  ;D

the one difference mine has over others i believe is that i didnt completely close my cab off at the back.  as in, there is no back to the monitor section or pedestal section.  reason being is that my cab always has its back to the wall and it doesnt have wheels so i wont be moving it around.  no one ever seems to want to look back there anyway, so its not an eyesore.  the reason i tell you that is because i didnt try to make a perfect box so that my tv would fit completely in and be closed off.  some would cringe at that thought because its not a completel replica of whats in the arcades.  i agree, but thats just what i did probably just because im lazy. 

however you are on so much of a better start than i was, so by all means close it up!  just make sure you vent it properly  :) 

one final thing....and since youve already drilled your cp and stuff then this is probably for nothing, but i spaced my 3rd and 4th player controls out on each side a lot wider than the normal gauntlet cabs or traditional showcase cabs.  im not a huge guy, but im 6'3" 230lbs so elbow room is important for me.  i didnt want someone next to me being all close and stuff...crowding me.  i didnt have that problem when i was 10 because we were much skinnier back then  ::)  i put my drawings for my buttons and joysticks taped down on the cp before i drilled and then i had 3 of my friends crowd around, and i made adjustments from there.  just a suggestion.

JRoz

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That my friend, looks great!  This is my first post, glad to find a forum with so many people with the same shared interests.  I was wondering if one of you guys can help me out...

I live in NYC and dont have as much space as most, but I want to make an arcade machine but do it a little differently.  I want to make something simliar to the Showcase model, but instead of the 2nd frame with the monitor, I am just going to mount an LCD on the wall.  I know it wont be the same as the old arcade CRT look, but I basically just want to build the front podium and control panel.  Does anyone have a guide or dimensions I can use to build just to podium an control panel?  I went to that website, but the Gauntlet plans listed just look like the old one piece arcade machines.  Does anyone know where the showcase plans are?  Thanks alot for your help guys!

Jason

 PS...Anyone that wants to build the podium and control panel and ship it to me, I would definitly be willing to do that!  Let me know if anyone is interested in helping with this.

mwong168

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PS...Anyone that wants to build the podium and control panel and ship it to me, I would definitly be willing to do that!  Let me know if anyone is interested in helping with this.

You can check out NorthCoast Custom Arcades for control panel stands and control panels.

http://www.mameroom.com/Categories.asp?ID=CPSTAND
http://www.mameroom.com/Categories.asp?ID=CONTOLLERKIT

But for the price you pay you can make it yourself for a fraction of the prices listed on the website.  My podium is essentially stand alone as I have not yet started working on the other half for the TV monitor yet.  I've played it many times with friends with my Panasonic tube TV and it has even made the trip over to a friend's house for a birthday hooked up to a wall mounted plasma.  It was certainly the center of attention that night for sure with people playing NBA JAM, Blitz and Golden Tee.

I've been busy helping family move, becoming an uncle recently that I have sort of put this showcase project on the back burner.  Right now I have plans to start a bartop arcade project which shouldn't take too long since I have all the router templates for the joysticks and buttons.  I might start it this weekend  :laugh:
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

mwong168

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Sorry for the lack of updates but as you can see from my pics that I am a little more than halfway to completing my cabinet.  These last few months have been very busy from:

- Spending as much time as I can with my daughter everyday when I get home from work, who has now learned how to be mobile and crawling forward for the last 2 weeks.

- Sister in-law had a baby boy back in August but found out from her landlord 1 week before her due date that she had to move out of the house they were renting because he wanted to sell the house ASAP.  I had to help them find a new place to rent, pack and move.  They use to live about 1 hour north of Toronto in a city called Barrie but now they live just 5 mins down the road from me.  I have a friend who knew someone that had a vacant house which needed a lot of work but rent was cheap to compensate.  This move actually made sense since my brother in-law would spend 3-4 hours commuting from Barrie to Toronto, so this move not only saved them money but time as well.   :angry:  to the landlord for giving no notice, he's lucky my brother in-law doesn't take him to court and sue cause he will win for sure.

- Took a much needed family vacation down to Miami in September to see my cousins and introduce them to my girlfriend and daughter.  Can't believe it has been 20 years since I was down there last.  I had a blast catching up with all my cousins and joking about the music we use to listen to back then like Timmy T and 2 Live Crew on vinyl  :laugh2:

- Work has also been keeping me very busy with lots of traveling and in the last two months I've been to Northern Arizona, Shreveport, Arkansas, Southern California, Reno, Northern Mississipi and Lousiana. 

- Also got bit with the Forza 3 bug after they had a sale for the Microsoft V2 racing wheel for $79.99 and the soft/TV table combo just wasn't cutting it so I was going to do a mini weekend project using ABS plumbing piping to make a racing cockpit like this:



But my friend who was also into Forza found someone on kijiji in London, which is about 2 hours away from Toronto, selling a pair of Playseat racing seats complete with Microsoft V2 racing wheels for $550.  The Playseat setup alone costs $349 euros not including shipping or the cost of the wheel.  Luckily my friend has a company car (Toyota Matrix) which is pretty big when the backseats are folded down and had a client in London which he had to meet the following week so off he went  :cheers:
It must have been fate because everything worked out just fine and I ended up returning my wheel to Walmart since the setup came with one already.


My daughter sits beside me in her Little Tike's car as I am playing


Now I finally have use for my 51" projection tv down in the basement because this racing seat takes up too much space in the living room upstairs.  I don't mind anyways because my plasma upstairs is wall mounted above my fireplace and the projection is just at the right level when in racing position.

Anyways, onto my project as there really has been much progress except I was too busy before to take any pics to document my last progress.  I would say I am more than halfway done or could consider it done if I plan on keeping it a "mobile" podium only arcade cabinet.  It has been moved around in my house to play on my 50" plasma upstairs and even made an appearance at a friend's birthday party in his home theatre room via 120" projector screen.  It was a hit and everyone was getting all nostalgic playing all these old games and lots of trash talking in SFII, MK, NBA JAM and Blitz  :lol

This is my first timing wiring arcade parts and it went quite well with the exception of a few bad crimps for the common ground which were easily traced because I didn't put all my eggs in one basket and grounded each player's controls in it's own series.  Here are some pics that I took from underneath to show my work, nothing special and I tried to keep things as neat as possible using cat 5 network cable.  I probably would have done a few things differently but maybe in my next cabinet because everything worked.




Because the bottom of my control panel is open from underneath on the sides I am able to hide and map three micro switches to the GGG Keywiz for admin functions such as "ENTER", "TAB" and "ESC".

I also got some more groovygamegear goodness from Randy and changed the bat top to the Versaball 2 on my dedicated 4 way stick.



I was debating on replacing the coin drop bulbs with LEDs but found a way to wiring them up using the 12V power from one of the molex connectors on the power supply.  So they come on when I turn my computer off.  They are not as bright because I am under powering them with 12V instead of 14V, regardless this only took me 5 mins to wire up and maybe in the future I will put in the LEDs.  On the topic of power, I also zip tied two leaf microswitches behind the coin drop buttons.  If you press the left coin drop button it will give you a credit in mame and the right one is used to turn the computer on and off.



Here is a quick shot of the inside with my motherboard mounted using the copper stand offs that come with computer cases.  I don't know why people use BIC pens or buy plastic PCB standoffs when all I did was drill a hole and then screw in these copper stand offs.  Holds pretty well and costs $0.00 :)  The inside here is far from complete because I need to figure out how and where I want to mount the power supply and hard drive.



Last item to figure out on my control panel was my HAPP trackball which I didn't know how to connect to GGG's optiwiz interface board because it came with molex style connectors.  Thankfully Randy T was able to provide me with this wiring diagram and worked like a charm  :applaud:









Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

Malenko

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  • Have you played with my GingerBalls?
    • forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,142404.msg1475162.html
I know Im late to the party but is there a reason why you angled the players 1 and 4 sticks? that totally kills the ability to play smash TV n stuff or are players 1 &2 and 3&4 wired in parallel?
If you're replying to a troll you are part of the problem.
I also need to follow this advice. Ignore or report, don't reply.

mwong168

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I know Im late to the party but is there a reason why you angled the players 1 and 4 sticks? that totally kills the ability to play smash TV n stuff or are players 1 &2 and 3&4 wired in parallel?

I don't play SmashTV anyways and I guess it is angled to flow with the top of the control panel?  Most people angle P1 and P4 when they do 4 player control panel from what I have seen but only use 3-4 buttons only.  I don't know why when buttons aren't that expensive unless they don't want to clutter their control panel or not enough inputs on their interface boards.  Another reason I did this was because I hated playing on Bootleg MK cabinets that used the Capcom straight 6 button layout and wanted to play MK the way it was designed to be played.  It can be a bit awkward playing MK but you get use to it pretty fast.  As for the wiring I have two interface boards, P2 and P3 are hooked up to a Key-Wiz and P1 and P4 are hooked up to a GP-Wiz.
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

Malenko

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  • Have you played with my GingerBalls?
    • forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,142404.msg1475162.html
Most factory 4 player games don't angle the sticks for 1 & 4 , a bi-product of that is being able to play games that use 2 8 way sticks, like Karate Champ (I love that game), smash TV, robotron, total carnage,etc.  If you don't play those games then that's no biggie. I'm not knockin' your project at all, in fact I think its pretty awesome so I hope you weren't taking this feedback negatively.
If you're replying to a troll you are part of the problem.
I also need to follow this advice. Ignore or report, don't reply.

mwong168

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Most factory 4 player games don't angle the sticks for 1 & 4 , a bi-product of that is being able to play games that use 2 8 way sticks, like Karate Champ (I love that game), smash TV, robotron, total carnage,etc.  If you don't play those games then that's no biggie. I'm not knockin' your project at all, in fact I think its pretty awesome so I hope you weren't taking this feedback negatively.

Not at all, but the dynamo showcase plans I based my cab off was never really designed to be for 4 players.  The max i've seen is a 3 player Rampage arcade cabinet but otherwise 2 player SF or Tekken for sure.  I never was a fan or played many 2 8 way stick games so I never had that in mind when I was designing my control panel.  To be honest I've never even played Smash TV before either  :laugh2: 
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

bigpete405

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That cab is sweet  :applaud: I never saw this before :dunno. Do you have any more pics with the raiden art and the leds installed?  :cheers:

mwong168

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That cab is sweet  :applaud: I never saw this before :dunno. Do you have any more pics with the raiden art and the leds installed?  :cheers:

Thanks Pete, can hardly call it a cab yet but it is 100% functional and I've ripped off many heads and limbs from my friends playing MK1-3  >:D

I haven't built the other half of it to house the TV and the raiden art with LEDs but I plan to get around to it this summer.  I think I plan on revising my plans and making it a dedicated corner unit to save on space instead of building it square like the traditional Dynamo showcase cabinet.
Showcase Project [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=93701.0
Bartop Project [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=98410.0
Custom Wireless 360/PC HAPP Fight Sticks [100% Complete]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=100809.0
Visual Pinball Cabinet [Work in Progress]
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=102628.0

bigpete405

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That sounds real cool, can't wait for the update.