Naomi Projects - Update : PCB Holder

[Kaytrim]

another necro bump for you Franco.  Let's see some progress...

Michael

[Franco B]

Damn you and your encouragement (x3!)

I've just come back to work today after two weeks on the sick with some severe dental pain but all is good now

I have made a fair bit of progress with the stools and other parts but I thought I would wait until they are nearly finished until I posted some more pics but if you are interested I will post what I have so far.

Edit: Damn, I thought I had my transfer cable here with me but I haven't, I'll get some pics up tomorrow.

[Franco B]

Okies, update as requested.

Lots o pics alert!

I have been really undecided about what to do with the cabs in relation to the monitors. I did toy with the idea of selling one of the cabs and using the money to buy a tri-sync Sanwa PFX and have all of the consoles/mame etc in the same cab but I can't really justify spending £700 on a monitor when I have a lovely 31khz monitor in one and I have an excellent 15khz monitor that I can put in the other. I will then use the one with the 31khz monitor for Naomi games, Dreamcast and Xbox 360. That way I get to keep two cabs too

Seeing as I'm replacing one of the monitors with a 15khz I am going to remove the JVS setup and rewire it for Jamma. I can then use an ArcadeVGA for Mame along with a J-Pac to wire the controls. I can then play my MVS carts in it along with Jamma boards and I also intend to put my Saturn in it too.

This is the JVS I/O board which needs removing:



I/O board removed and getting the monitor ready for swapping:



I then removed the 31khz monitor and unbolted it from the mounting frame:



I then bolted the 15khz monitor to the frame and mounted it back onto the cab. The only slight problem I have is that the new monitor has a slightly different curvature to the old one so I will need to modify the bezel so that it sits flush. I don't have a pic of the new monitor in place at the moment but I managed to just squeeze one in my Jamma Woody and they are awesome monitors, especially for £50 each



On to the stools:

Now I have the plastic parts cut I need to make up some MDF discs and rings to house the lumin discs and give the stools there depth.

I template routed a ring for the disc to sit in to keep it central:



Lumin disc in place:



I then needed to make some MDF discs to make up the bulk of the stools. As you cab see the PCB enclosure protrudes from the back of the disc so the discs has to have a cutout to clear the enclosure.

I find the best way (for me) to route out a square is to use a couple of pieces of aluminium section and then use a template bit to follow them. I just cut two of the edges and then move one piece of the section around to cut the other two sides. The radius of the cutter forms a natural radius in the corners:





This is the first piece on top of the disc and MDF ring. As you can see there is a gap at the disc sits slightly higher that the MDF ring:





To get the two sections of MDF to sit flush I had to counterbore the MDF disc with a pattern bit:

Setting the tool height:



Mid routing:



Finished counterbore:



As you can see they sit flush now:



Then it was just a case of building up the sections:





Pic of the disc from the other side:



These are the clear 8mm thick acrylic discs that I cut out. One will sit below the spacie and the smaller one will sit on top of it flush with the black acrylic:



The top MDF ring will be bolted with recessed machine screws to the top black acrylic ring and then the lower MDF layers will be screwed into the layer above it. I could glue them but then I would never be able to get to the lumin discs If I ever need to get them out.



Obligatory t-moulding slot picture:



I have also pretty much finished the stainless columns and couplings. They just need a good polish:









That's it for now

[Epyx]

Wow...sure leave us hanging right when the sexy steel is about to meet the cuts of wood!

[Franco B]

Heh heh, we'll there won't be any wood on show. There is a 10mm thick black acrylic disc on the top and bottom of the stool and a third one will be the stools base.

Inbetween the two discs will be two bands of black/chrome pin stripe t-moulding and then in the center of that I can't decide on carbon fibre or black or white leather. Any thoughts?

[drventure]

I think carbon fiber would go nicely with those polished stems, but, damn, you make it look like you could pick up a dog turd, run it through a router and end up with a shining gold scepter 

Seriously, very cool work!

Now, off to scope out a simple little queen anne step stool so my 5 year old can reach the controls without the flight stick being "in the way" 

[Franco B]

Ha ha! Cheers dude, I sometimes end up making a pile of poo before I end up with something that I am happy with though

Yeah I think I will go with the carbon fibre, thanks.

[Kaytrim]

MY EYES, MY EYES, IT'S NAKID

LOL  Good stuff there Franco.  It is amazing how you can put all this together seeming so easy.

TTFN
Michael

[Franco B]

Well, my plans have completely changed again!

At the last update I had replaced the 31khz monitor for a 15khz one. I have always wanted to get a Sanwa PFX tri-sync monitor for it but the £700 price tag put me off. I recently found out that Sega UK had a sale on and they were selling the monitor for £495+VAT (about £570). I also found out that they only had about 10 left in stock and wouldn't be replenishing it so I decided to bite the bullet and get one

It is still pretty expensive but they are the best 29" tri-sync monitor cab you can get. Obviously it is a brand new monitor so It should last me a long time if not forever. Now that I have a tri-sync monitor I can get all of the systems I want to run in one machine - 15khz for 15khz Jamma boards and MAME. I have a saturn too which I think you can connect to a 15khz display but I will have to look into that. I can then also hook the Naomi, Dreamcast and 360 to the 31khz VGA 

This means I will have the 15khz monitor left over. I recently managed to get a Cadillacs and Dinosaurs CPS1 PCB. I have been after this for aaaages.



I think I will eventually build a 'dedicated' cab for this game using the 29" 15khz monitor. C&D never had a dedicated cab as it was sold as a kit so I want to eventually make a scratch built cab for it with full side art etc like Martijn's awesome SF2 cab

I think I will probably sell the 'SF4' cab to make space for a visual pinball table.

Since I now have the PFX all is change for the wiring too. I was going to remove the JVS I/O board and wiring etc but I am going to keep most of it intact for Naomi and for the degauss button etc.

The cab currently has a huge transformer in the base that powers the 110v Sun ATX PSU (which then powers the JVS and credit board), amplifier, strip light and the original 31khz. I need to get the PC components, Dreamcast, 360 in the cab and have space for Jamma PCBs too so I want to get rid of the huge transformer to make some space.

The new monitor can take 240v as can the strip light. The Sun ATX PSU takes 110v so I am going to have to get rid of that too. It gives out 3v for the JVS board but I can power that from the PC PSU. It also puts out 5v for the credit board but I am installing a mechanical 100 Yen coin mech so that clears that up too. This just leaves the sound amplifier which takes a funky 17v. Someone suggested that I could power it by using the 12v and -5v (for the ground) from the PC ATX but I still need to confirm this.

I have ordered another amplifier that takes 12-24DC which I can definitely power from the PC PSU. Its a Sanyo 115w (PMPO lol) DIY amp that Frizz and some others recommended in another thread. I ordered it from ebay US for £12 delivered. I'm going to compare the sound quality to the original amplifier.



The current amplifier setup is handy as you can adjust the volume by a pot on the I/O board under the CP. You can see it in the lower right of this picture:



To retain this functionality I am planning on making a new I/O panel to house the new amplifier too.

This panel will house the JVS board and controlls, the new amp (if I use it), the JVS AMP connectors and also the VGA switch for switching between DC and 360. I decased the switch to give me a little more room to play with:



I am planning on having two sets of female AMP connectors in the panel 2(2x12pin + 1x15pin).

The controls will connect directly to one set of the female AMP connectors. The Jamma control loom, DC pad hacks and 360 pad hacks will then be terminated with male AMP connectors so that to change systems all I need to do is open the CP (takes two seconds) plug in the correct AMP connectors and push the appropriate VGA button if applicable. I will make a short male>male loom to connect the two sets of AMP connectors for Naomi.

I think that's most of the wiring covered.

I was planning on going full RGB on all of the buttons, joystick balls and have LED lit arrows around the joysticks and so I cut a new CP for it:



However I have decided to cut back on the bling on this one and have no (shock, horror  ) LEDs at all. I am going to save the LEDs for the C&D cab.

Ond is very kindly working on some custom art for me but I will save that for a later date.

The only other thing I have done is to cut a 5mm thick piece of white acrylic to replace the metal lid on the base. I am going to need to mount some fans in it to keep the base nice and cool as it is going to be pretty cramped in there.



I think that's all for now. Sorry for the waffle but I find it helps to write everything down.

Pinky is taking priority at the moment but I am going to do the odd thing on this when I am waiting for parts etc for Pinky.



 

[Franco B]

I bought another Naomi today. It is a Confidential Mission light gun cabinet that looks like this:



It it an upright cab that has full length legs. You can cut the legs down to make it like my other two but I'm going to keep this as an UR.

A friend of mine bought it kinda buy accident. He has sold the guns etc and he is selling me the rest of the cab for an absolute bargain price of £140 

My sisters boyfriend has a bar on our local university campus so I'm going to put it on location there.

I have a few MVS and Jamma boards so I am going to run them on it (yes, no MAME). I think 20p a credit should go down well with the students. I have a 1 slot MVS mobo but I may get a four slot so I don't have to rotate the games as often.

It has no Naomi set up in so I am going to rewire it for Jamma. I have a small moped 12v audio amp that will power the speakers.

As It will mainly be running MVS I am going to make a Neo Geo style CP for it which should match the red on the cab.

I'm planning on something like this for the layout:



The two lower buttons will me PL1+2 start and the one just above it will the game select button.

I need some artwork for it and have put a request [here] if any one fancies earning some beer tokens.

The cab has a 31khz monitor so I have ordered a CGA/EGA/YUV to VGA converter for the 15khz  Jamma/MVS.

I'm not using the tangle free JLF shafts on my Mame cab so I may as well put them to use on this one. I may also light the CP buttons with two of [these] which my friend used to light his Naomi CP like this:



There will be a couple of other bits to sorted out but it shouldn't take too long. I hold be picking it up on on Wednesday or Thursday and I hope to have the conversion done in a few days so I can get it on site.

I'm also going to make it so that I can install a 360 and swap the CP over with one of my other cabs so that we can hold SF4 etc tournaments.


 

[saleem]

you lucky devil you.
 

[KissMyWookie]

Yes, you can run the original amp from the -5 and +12 Volt PSU lines.

Simply connect the -5V to the GND connection on the amp and the +12V to the 17V or power connection on the amp.

It works because voltage is all about the "potential difference", that is the difference between the ground and voltage sources. By lowering the ground below 0V, you're increasing the potential difference of the positive voltage source. So the potential difference between -5V and +12V is 17V.

The only foreseeable problem with this is the need to isolate any grounded metal components on the amp from the rest of cabinet (ie: the heatsinks etc).

Steve

[Franco B]

@ saleem:

He he, yeah I think its a good deal if I do say so myself. Its going to be a 6 hour round trip to go and get it but it should be worth it. I should be able to get it up and running for less than £300 including everything. If it takes approx £5 a day I should get my money back in two months.

I thinking about doing some SF4 etc tournaments. £5 to enter, 16 players knock out. £40 for the winner, £20 for second and £10 for third or something like that.


@ KissMyWookie:

Thanks for the info. I think I'm just going to use the new amp in my cab. This new one doesn't have a I/O board at all so I'm going to transfer the metal frame to this new one for the AMP connectors.

[saleem]

personaly i would just give them a 3 button setup on plain cp,stick a 48 in 1 in there and leave them to it.its like opening your doors to complete strangers and letting them into your house when you trust them with an expensive arcade machine.

i would just use a generic jamma cab,there is no way i would let them at such a lovely specimen naomi.

on a side not i wanna a naomi.on ebay them too expensive,dont think you got that from ebay.but,its funny as my fbot was on ebay for £120 buy it now,man what a bargain that was so its just a case of watching and waiting,man trolling through 40 odd pages is pain in the ass.but,one day i will get a naomi or a proper candy cab.

and when you get her,take some pics and let us all see what shes like.

[Franco B]

I'm going to go with the four button Neo Geo layout as it will be running Neo Geo games most of the time. Neo Geo games tend to display the controls too so it will be a good idea to have a matching control panel.

I also have a spare 2 player 6 button panel so I can swap that out for 360 tournys etc. Its all going to be wired with OEM AMP connectors to make it easy to swap over.

I did think about the multi Jamma boards but most of them are vertical games so wouldn't really be any good to me. I have just ordered a 100in1 MVS cart to 'evaluate'. I'm not sure what the legalities are of running something like that though.

The cab I'm getting isn't in quite as good condition as that picture but it should look nice with the new CP and marquee holder etc. I'm not going to go over board as it will probably get bashed around a bit. These cabs are great as you can disassemble them in small pieces to it will be easy to move about. I have a Jamma woody myself and they are freaking heavy and cumbersome in comparison.

I'm not too fussed if it does get knocked about as its cheap. Everywhere is non smoking nowadays so the most abuse its likely to get is a few knocks and maybe spilt drinks/student vomit

I've ordered quite a few more bits for it this morning:

New Seimitsu PS 14-K buttons from Gremlin Solutions (red, blue, yellow and green for the action buttons, red for the start buttons and white for the game select)

Jamma edge connectors, PCB mounting feet and Jamma PSU from JapanDeal

LED striplights from ebay

9/12/15 pin male/female AMP connectors from Sega Shed

Excel credit board and C120 mech from giz10p.co.uk

I have decided to go with a electronic coin mech so that 10p-£1 can be inserted. I'll probably charge 30p for one credit, two for 50p and 5 for £1 (takes me back  ) At least then it won't all be 20p's to collect/change.

I am probably going to sell my 'SF4' Naomi if you are interested

[orion]

I just saw this thread, Franco and let me just say, those stools are looking awesome! How many projects are you working on right now anyway? Slow down man..... your making me tired! 

[Franco B]

Cheers dude, they should look pretty nice once they are done. I have made a few other bits for them which should look quite nice

Yes, as normal I have far too many loads of projects on the go at them moment, hence my sig.  I think the current list is:

Pinky McJuke
Confidential Mission Naomi Convertion
My PFX Naomi project
SF4 Naomi cab (just a little tinkering)
My Jamma Woody cab
Custom CP enclosures for a customer
Custom work for Rich@Thisoldgame
Drilling routing templates for a couple of people
Dreamcast CP for a friend
R&D on various components
Repro marquee holders
Cocktail (on the back burner for now)
Visual pinball table in planning

Damn, I didn't realsie it was that much until I typed it out!

A friend of mine has been working on the artwork for the Neo conversion for me. It needs tweaking a little but I think it looks lovely



I have also made a repro marquee holder for the Neo cab. They are about £80 to buy new and are quite hard to get hold of so I didn't want to put a genuine one on location.



I will get some Neo Geo artwork printed for it.

A quite a few people have asked me to make repro marquee holders for them too I'm currently ordering all of the parts for them. More info [here] if anyone is interested.

I have the van booked for Thursday so I should be able to get some pics up once I have it home.

[orion]

Wow, you really are busy! You must have a very understanding GF!  Yeah she definitely deserves that juke for christmas! Good luck with all your projects! Now stop the chit chatting and get back to work!

[Bender]

Wow, you really are busy!

Not to mention he just made some time to help me out with some custom work too

Franco is a madman!

[emphatic]

The CPO turned out excellent, FrancoB! Kudos to whoever did the "final" design. 

[Franco B]

Wow, you really are busy! You must have a very understanding GF!  Yeah she definitely deserves that juke for christmas! Good luck with all your projects! Now stop the chit chatting and get back to work!

Yeah she is very understanding luckily. I work shifts so I do get a fair amount of time to work on things. If I'm not working at home I'm normally doing something project related at work so it's definitely all go go go!

Wow, you really are busy!

Not to mention he just made some time to help me out with some custom work too

Franco is a madman!

No worries dude. You have to sort your boys out don't you

I just checked your tracking and it looks like your stuff should be stateside now although its not showing up on USPS but there system does seem to take longer to update.

The CPO turned out excellent, FrancoB! Kudos to whoever did the "final" design. 

Its nice isn't it Rosco (aryssoR) did it for me, I'm making him a new DC CP top in exchange. I have had to move the game select button down a fraction as it would have fouled on one of the mounting tabs but apart from that I should be good to go.

I had a thought about lighting the marquee. Some Candy marquees are lit from a light bar below. The Naomi's have a bar that lights the strip across the front of the machine but it won't be enough to light the marquee. The marquees I'm making are two sheets of 3mm acrylic so I'm thinking of making the back piece out of frosted acrylic with a clear front.

To light it I was going to insert an LED strip to sit inside the section that holds the marquee. The trouble is that that section is only 6mm wide and the narrowest LED strips I could find are 7mm wide. I ordered some 5mm square acrylic bar yesterday and some red 3mm LEDs to make my own strip with LEDs at 25mm intervals but thinking about it now, the bottom section that holds the marquee has an open bottom so I can just insert the pre made LED strips from the bottom. Doh!

Oh well, I'm sure the square bar and LEDs will come in useful for something!

This is the LED strip:

 

I think it should light marquee nicely

The bottom of the marquee is 600mm long. You can buy 600mm lengths of this but the LEDs are spaced much further apart. I am going to try two of these 300mm strips as they should be much brighter.

[bartre]

I gotta say, I'm loving just about everything about this.

Now you just got to finish it!

[Franco B]

Its been a busy few days!

Thursday morning I got up about 6am as I wanted to give the shop a good clean before I picked the cab up. I took everything out of the shop I could and had a damn good sweep up and even hoovered the floor and walls  I knew I was going to have some painting to do and I wanted to get rid of as much of the sawdust/plastic etc as possible.

I picked the van up about 9, took it back home, loaded a couple of old monitors up and took them to the tip. I set off for Chester at about 10, made it up there for about 12.45 had a chat with the guy I bought it off (top bloke!) and set off back home. I got back just after 4pm. It was 300 miles round trip and even after stopping twice on the way there, twice on the way back and was about 45mins picking it up I still averaged 50mph, even when I wasn't moving 

Unloaded the van, took it back to the hire place and reassembled it:



Since this is a Naomi and Neo Geo hybrid I have decided to call it Neomi 

Its in pretty good condition to be honest. The only minor points are some rust/flaky paint on the base panel, worn paint on the CP and some general dirt but nothing some TLC and paint won't cure. The plastics are in great condition which is the main thing.

You can see I have swapped the bases over for one from one of my other Naomi's. This is because the cab was originally a Confidential Mission shooter and so the coins were inserted into the gun tower and the original base has no slot or coin bucket/door in the base.

I'm going to keep the base white but add some red stripes/decals to tie it all in together.

The CP was pretty grubby inside. I assume its a mixture of spilt drinks and ash. There was even a match stick in there. There was also £1.40



I gave it a good clean with some solvent cleaner and plenty of elbow grease and it has come up nicely:



Pic of the back of the cab and the other base:



Both cabs have a Sega transformer but they were wired slightly different. As I knew both setups worked with there own cabs the easiest thing to do was to swap the PSU's and power plates.

I also cleaned the back of the chassis plastic and gave the chassis a good clean with compressed air.



I put my DC/VGA box in and for 'testing' purposes and had a quick game of Confidential Mission to check every thing is working ok.



I have cut a new CP for the cab:



Somehow I managed to get the PL1 button two hole in the wrong position. I must have transferred the hole locations wrong from the CAD drawing to the mill as its 3mm out of position 

I was going to fix it but I'm not overly keen on the button spacing and its a little too far apart. I imported a image from a Neo Geo CP and scaled the button holes but I didn't actually do a mock up (school boy error!!). I think it will be just as easy to design a new CP with the holes closer together and cut another panel with the holes in the right positions.

I have received the Seimitsu PS 14-K's (well they are actually KN's) and had to try them in the panel



I have also made some mounting plates to secure the joys to the back of the panels. I just made some plates out of 3mm steel, drilled 5.5mm and couterbored them 10mm by 1.5mm deep. I faced some M5 machine screws so that the head is 1.4mm thick so that they sit in the counterbores. They will then be bonded to the back of the panel. I have shot blasted them on one side ready for painting:



Onto the painting.

I made a spray enclosure in my shop just to keep the spray from getting everywhere and stop the wind blowing any crap around:



The bezel isn't in too bad condition but I will respray it to match the CP. I was going to paint over the CP but I decided to strip it all back and start from scratch.

I couldn't find any paint stripper that was suitable for plastic but the solvent cleaner I used to clean out the CP base did revome the paint but it was still  a very long job. I used it in conjunction with some wipes, 320 grit and a flat headed screw driver for the hard to reach parts. After I has got it all off I gave it a warm soapy bath (much to the GF's delight  ) and gave it a good rub down with 320 grit to key the surface before rinsing it all down and letting it dry.

CP stripped and prepped:



I put it on an MDF base with a handle so that I could move it around to spray the sides and back easily.

I took the old CP to Halfords and picked up some Ford Sunburst Red paint wiched seemed to be the best match and red primer too.

Since the primer can only be applied to metal or paint I gave the CP a few thin coats of plastic primer for the metal primer to stick too before slowing building up thin coats of red primer:



Since the monitor surround was in pretty good nick I just rubbed/cleaned it down and applied the primer directly to it. I masked off the Naomi logo but I left the grills uncovered as I'm going to spray them white once the painting is complete.



That's where I'm up to at the moment. I'm at work this morning but when I get home I am going to wet sand the pieces with 1200 grit and get them painted. Once that's done I will rub that down and apply some lacquer to protect it.

I have never really done any propper spraying before and I'm quite happy with how its turning out so far  
 

[emphatic]

Very nice "spray booth" with all the page 3 girls.  My girlfriend caught a glimpse of the pictures and went "HEY! THAT'S WHY YOU'RE SMILING!?"

I bet the cab will look awesome with the fresh paint job, those pretty Seimitsu's and the classy overlay.

[Franco B]

He he, cheers dude 

I thought I may as well put some of the better pages up

Yeah she should look pretty nice ones she's all done. I am going to respray the leg covers too and I'm thinking of doing them red with a white stripe to match the Neo CP. I'll do a mockup to see what they look like.

I need to get most of the painting done this weekend as I have about a dozen or so marquee holders to make this week and I want to get the painting done whilst the shop is still clean.

[Franco B]

I still have about a million things going on at once. I'm getting a little stressed but its better to be too busy than not busy at all.

I got the primed CP wet sanded and painted. It has come out really nice so far considering my lack of painting experience. I have let it dry and harden for the last few days before I wet sand it again prior to lacquering it.

I didn't have as much luck with the bezel cab front. When I was wet sanding it the primer was coming straight off as I don't think I had keyed it well enough. I should have just removed all of the primer and keyed it properly but I got annoyed with it and started removing all of the paint. It took about 20 mins to remove a tiny section of the paint so I decided to get the big guns out to remove the rest.

I used some Loctite 7200 which is a solvent gasket/seal remover. You have to be careful with this stuff as it will start to eat away at the plastic if you leave it on too long. You just have to spray it on, leave for about 20 seconds or so and then the majority of it will wipe off. I just a scotch pad and some 120 grit emery to remove the more stubborn parts. I also sprayed it with a water bottle as I was going along to wash off the solvent to make sure it wasn't eating away at the plastic. It took me nearly a whole morning to strip it due to all of the nooks and crannys but the end result should be worth it.



I then gave it a bath and scrub down with 120 grit to remove any final stubborn bits before giving it the final key with 320 grit all over. I also gave the back etc a good clean with a tooth brush as it was a little grubby. I don't think the GF wants her toothbrush back now 





I let it dry overnight and I primed it yesterday ready for rubbing down and painting today.

I have the new CP cut. It took me three attempts in the end as the first one I had a hole out of position, the second one the endmill picked up some material on the way round and caused some huge burrs. It could have been salvaged but I wanted it to be 100% so I made a third. It cost me £30 in material alone but this last one is spot on.



I also got a new pair of Sanwa JLF's that you can see ready to be mounted.

I bought a 4 slot and 6 slot MVS mobo's off ebay. I ideally wanted to put a 6 slot in but I wasn't sure if it would fit. They were ending at the same time so I bought them both. After receiving them it looks like the 6 slot wont quite fit so I will have to make do with the four slot.



I also bought a 15k>31k converter to connect the Jamma/MVS to the 31k monitor
 


I also have a MVS>Jamma adapter on the way from jammaboards.com as the audio wiring on the MVS mobos is slightly different to Jamma.

My friend who designed the CPO for me has also done a marquee for me:



I am going to have the white logos cut out and the back piece of the marquee will be 3mm opal acrylic so that the letters should light up by the red LED strip.

I submitted the CPO to arcadestickers.co.uk to get a quote for printing.

There is still crap loads to do but it's getting there slowly

[emphatic]

You used her tooth brush? 

Agreed, that panel does look spot on for NEO-GEO. Can't wait to see that marquee lit up. Hopefully it'll look just as awesome as you've planned.

[Franco B]

Well its kinda her spare one, we both have an ultrasonic one so I yoinked her spare 

Yeah, I'm hoping that the acrylic should light up nicely. I'll have to see though. If it doesnt then the marquee should still look quite nice

[HaRuMaN]

OOh I want that marquee for my candy.... noice

[Franco B]

I'll ask the guy who made it for me if he minds me sharing it along with the CPO, I'm sure he won't. 

[emphatic]

I'll ask the guy who made it for me if he minds me sharing it along with the CPO, I'm sure he won't. 

You could probably make some loose NEO-GEO panels and sell them for top dollar along with that artwork. Too bad most NAOMI cabs are 31kHz only.

[Franco B]

I would love to make more but CNC milling them takes far too much time. If I could get them water or laser cut it would be much easier/quicker but it would be too expensive to make the small runs that would be likely to sell.

I spoke to my buddy aryssoR over at arcadotaku.com and he said he didn't mind me posting the artwork files as long as I credited him and posted his email address which is rossyrara(at)googlemail.com

I have attached the files in the [Control Panel ART: Post all of your Control Panel overlays (Designs) here!] thread as I thought that would be the most appropriate place to upload them.

[aryssoR]

Some excellent work going on in here Franco, nice one
 

[Franco B]

Howdy bud, I see you made it over to the dark side

Thanks for the comment 

I picked these up from the post office this morning 



I only have a few Neo Geo games when I bought a bundle off ebay a couple of months a go so I thought it would be a good idea to get a couple of good vertical scrolling and horizontal scrolling shooters.

IIRC, the MVS games I have are

Metal Slug
Metal Slug 2
Metal Slug X
Puzzle Bobble
Capcom League Bowling
NAM 1975
Art of Fighting
Samurai Shodown

...as well as those two I just picked up today.

I was planning on installing the 6 slot but as I'm going to use the four I think I will hvae to put four in at a time and rotate them now and again.

I think for a start I'll put Metal Slug, Puzzle Bobble, Strikers 1974 Plus and Samurai Shodown in for a bit of variety.

I'm not a fighters fan at all, hence why I don't have any decent fighters but I thought I may as well put one in incase people want to play one.

I'm hoping to pick up Neo Bomberman too and I'm keeping my eye open for other MVS carts so if any one has any they are looking to part with then let me know

[Franco B]

Oh, I forgot to add that I got a price back for the artwork printing from Nigel at arcadestickers.co.uk

He quoted me £23 delivered for the CP and instruction area graphic which I thought was pretty good value! I'm going to go ahead and order it. He said turnaround is about four days so I will let you know what it's like when I receive it

[thatitalian]

Interesting... I would like to see the result of that...

[emphatic]

Howdy bud, I see you made it over to the dark side

Welcome to the humble dwelling of heavy equipment geekery en masse.

I picked these up from the post office this morning 

Nice score!

My own NEO-GEO collection is also very small. Not a very impressive system IMHO. But the Slugs are very good for business I think, made for credit feeding.

[aryssoR]

Oh, I forgot to add that I got a price back for the artwork printing from Nigel at arcadestickers.co.uk

He quoted me £23 delivered for the CP and instruction area graphic which I thought was pretty good value! I'm going to go ahead and order it. He said turnaround is about four days so I will let you know what it's like when I receive it

Great price, I should get off ---my bottom--- and design my own. I hate the Net City CP on mine, besides not even being original to the cab, it's garish orange and matches nothing else really

[Franco B]

I think your panel looks really nice but then again I'm not sure what the rest of your NC looks like. Those dustwashers look great though, know where I can get some of them? 

I started rubbing down the CP but the primer is coming through a little so I'm going to pick up another can of paint and give it a few more coats. I gave the monitor surround two cans worth and that looks like it should be plenty thick enough.

I let it dry for a day and decided to put some of the parts back in it to see what it will look like.









I'm thinking about keeping the panel under the monitor white and also the surround clips too for a little contrast.

I also thought about doing something like this (MS paint skillz ahoy!)



I was thinking about painting the grills white and adding a white strip at the top inside the recessed section. I also thought about adding some red stripes to the panel under the monitor and possibly some Neo Geo decals too.

Any thoughts?

[emphatic]

I was thinking about painting the grills white and adding a white strip at the top inside the recessed section. I also thought about adding some red stripes to the panel under the monitor and possibly some Neo Geo decals too.

So this will be a "dedicated" NEO-GEO machine then? You haven't considered painting the bezel black btw? I think the gray looks kinda off against that red. Perhaps white stripes might be a bit too much? You should do some more mockups with the marquee and CPO, I think it's easier to decide then.