Author Topic: Project Mame - 95% done. Renamed Lunarcade (Read 31281 times)

Silas (son of Silas) · « **on:** July 05, 2009, 02:37:28 pm »

Ever since I discovered Lokesen's Project MAME on this forum I have played with the idea of building my own.

My life is a little complicated as I work about 120 miles from my home, so I leave home at 5am and don't usually get home until quite late. Add to that the fact that for the last 9 months I have been on day rate, so if I don't work a day, I don't get paid. That doesn't really leave much time to build arcade machines, and after spending up to 5 1/2 hours a day driving, the time that is left is usually spent trying to recover $:-\$

After some cool words of encouragement from my wife I have finally taken the plunge and started building my own cab. I also took last week off work, the first time I have had any days off in 9 months and below are the results.

Progress will be limited to fits and starts of activity as and when I can find time to work on it and it is also limited by funds (naturally). I expect to see my next flurry of activity hopefully coincide with my next paycheck

Edited to add: The guy in the photo is my good friend Steve who cut out the side upright profiles for me.... credit where credits due. Thanks Steve!

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #1 on:** July 05, 2009, 02:40:39 pm »

More Pics:

jeef · « **Reply #2 on:** July 05, 2009, 05:47:36 pm »

"encouragement from my wife" is not something often spoken around here

You've made some quick progress though! Look forward to seeing this progress

splunkett · « **Reply #3 on:** July 05, 2009, 06:28:53 pm »

You have everything else going against you so the wife's support is great

I used to have a very similar nightmare commute so know the feeling but the project will keep you going on the long drive home. Having just got my first cab playable in the last few days I can say its well worth the pain and after spending a few hours today playing Commando (and taking unreasonable satisfaction in thrashing my teenage sons on it!) there is a great prize at the end of it all.

Keep going and post the pics, it keeps the pressure on in a good way.

And I can guarantee you that by the end of the process your new creation will be known as "that damn arcade machine" by your wife so enjoy the support while it lasts!

Steve

Ond · « **Reply #4 on:** July 05, 2009, 10:20:22 pm »

Nice and clean work so far, when time is really scarce every bit of progress is like a mini triumph! Keep posting your own work and ideas and vewing other ppls as well to keep the energy flowing.

Ond

severdhed · « **Reply #5 on:** July 08, 2009, 04:44:37 pm »

good progress so far, keep it up. i like the cabinet shape.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #6 on:** July 09, 2009, 10:32:03 am »

Another step forward....
I have been sketching out control panel layout on graph paper today and rapidly came to the conclusion that I need some controls actually in my hands so I can realistically have an idea of what layout will suit me best. I have ordered a 57mm trackball, a joystick and some buttons.

The MDF CP that is on the cab at the moment is just for me to work out layouts and angles. The actual CP will be a punched and formed sheet of stainless. Once the stick, ball and buttons arrive I will decide on a layout and punch and form the CP.

The other joystick, remaining buttons, I-Pac etc will have to wait until next pay day :-(

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #7 on:** July 30, 2009, 05:40:01 pm »

So things are moving along at a crawl. I have been occupied lifting and laying new floor boards in my kitchen and having the walls plastered. Next stop fitting new kitchen cabinets, worktops etc. :-(

My thoughts however have not been very far from my arcade and i just snagged a Yamaha Subwoofer from eBay for it for the princely sum of £12.50

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #8 on:** October 05, 2009, 06:17:28 am »

Having a spare couple of hours yesterday and the weather was good, so I decided to roll out the cabinet and make some progress. I have been deliberating what to do at the back of the machine for access to the PC internals and the subwoofer. After browsing a few woodworking forums and learning about circular saw plange cuts I decided to give them a go. My plan is to cut 2 doors top and bottom, retaining the pieces I cut out to use as doors.

I only managed to cut one so far. I'm quite pleased with how it came out. If I get some time next weekend I'll cut the other one.

Shortbus · « **Reply #9 on:** October 05, 2009, 07:28:12 am »

When I started to read, I thought I was reading my life story, I commute 102miles each way and know EXACTLY how crappy that is, by the time I get home, I can't commit to anything but eating and family time for a bit, sleep, then back to do it again. So I totally relate. Your project looks good so far...keep it up, love all the pics....

I was a victim of the economy and downsizing, which made me take a job further from home, but the new president has promised us hope and change.

I miss George......

take care and hang in there, 5hr power shots keep me awake during my long arse commute....

Peace,
Shortbus

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #10 on:** October 16, 2009, 01:33:34 pm »

I had a couple of afternoons at home so I have finished hanging the doors. I had mooch around a few woodworking forums for a while I found a really neat trick for hanging flush MDF doors without it splitting or the screws pulling out. The magic lies in Ronseal Wet Rot wood hardener. Like it says on the tin "sets rock hard'

Also picked up a pair of 10cm 2-way speakers that were half price in Halfords yesterday. They'll come in handy

I can't wait to take this all apart, laminate it then re-assemble with glue and screws rather than just screws.

My coin door is due to arrive from the US of A next Wednesday... Progress Progress

Some pics of my progress.

Epyx · « **Reply #11 on:** October 16, 2009, 01:46:34 pm »

Quote

I had a couple of afternoons at home so I have finished hanging the doors. I mooch around a few woodworking for a while I found a really neat trick for hanging flush MDF doors without it splitting or the screws pulling out. The magic lies in Ronseal Wet Rot wood hardener. Like it says on the tin "sets rock hard'

Very interesting, how do you apply this? Do you just brush it on above below and side where you are screwing in?

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #12 on:** October 16, 2009, 02:24:08 pm »

It's the thinnest liquid you can imagine, it drips and runs everywhere. The screws are 3.5 x 40mm. I drilled 39mm deep pilot holes with a 3mm drill, test fitted the hinges taking care not to over tighten or split the MDF (not screwing in the last 1mm) disassembled then painted the edge of the MDF and surrounding areas with the area until it would take no more, then left in the shed to dry, then re-assembled.

on the final assembly after I have laminated it, I will squirt some PVA into the screw holes, assemble and forget forever.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #13 on:** October 25, 2009, 10:31:32 am »

Much to my delight my coin door arrived from the US, complete with $0.25 coin mechs

All I need do now is work out where I'm going to get hold of 20 bucks worth of quarters in the UK?

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #14 on:** October 30, 2009, 05:35:10 pm »

I've been playing with colour schemes for the cab. I just threw this together in GIMP. I have also started thinking about what to call it. The jury's still out on both.

Epyx · « **Reply #15 on:** October 30, 2009, 06:34:48 pm »

Quote

Much to my delight my coin door arrived from the US, complete with $0.25 coin mechs All I need do now is work out where I'm going to get hold of 20 bucks worth of quarters in the UK?

Depending on the mech you should be able to adjust it (remove magnets etc) to accept tokens.

Chicken McNobody · « **Reply #16 on:** October 30, 2009, 08:52:21 pm »

I think the color and the name are both nice. It has a mix of classic and current design, but it feels like a new take rather than a copy, and it still feels unique as well. If you don't use it, I will. . .

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #17 on:** October 31, 2009, 04:43:16 am »

Quote from: Epyx on October 30, 2009, 06:34:48 pm

Quote
Much to my delight my coin door arrived from the US, complete with $0.25 coin mechs All I need do now is work out where I'm going to get hold of 20 bucks worth of quarters in the UK?

Depending on the mech you should be able to adjust it (remove magnets etc) to accept tokens.

Ahh.... yes, I could do, but like most of us I am trying to re-create a bit of their childhood, which for me is pumping quarters into arcade machine on my summer trips to the US. That's why I specifically bought US coin mechs rather than our own British currency.

Unfortunately the idea of putting 10p pieces into my arcade makes me think of miserable seaside holidays in Cornwall, sticks of pink rock, 'kiss me quick' hats and never ending rain.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #18 on:** October 31, 2009, 04:44:46 am »

Quote from: Chicken McNobody on October 30, 2009, 08:52:21 pm

I think the color and the name are both nice. It has a mix of classic and current design, but it feels like a new take rather than a copy, and it still feels unique as well. If you don't use it, I will. . .

A compliment

!!

Thanks Chick'McNo'

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #19 on:** November 06, 2009, 07:41:37 am »

Woo-Hoo.....! I have audio

I have been picking up audio bits for a while, The cheap eBay sub, Pair of 2-way car speakers and today my eBay sourced Lepai TA2020 2 channel amp arrived from Hong Kong (£13.50 inc. postage)

I just wired everything up to check it works and it sounds fantastic. The Lepai amp is only handling the mid to high range and the amplified sub handles all the BASS. I am sooooo chuffed with how well this has worked out.

12 quid for the sub, 15 quid for the car speakers and 13.50 for the amp. 40 odd quid for a sound system that sounds AMAZING. I am Uber Happy

HaRuMaN · « **Reply #20 on:** November 06, 2009, 08:21:31 am »

I'm sure someone would be willing to send you some quarters from the US...

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #21 on:** March 13, 2010, 03:35:38 pm »

Looking out the window on a brand new day, neither work nor a cloud in sight I wheeled out the arcade to begin again. It's been a few months, but hopefully things will pick up pace again now there are a few more dry days coming my way.

Today's objective was to finish off a few odd's and sods that I have been fiddling with. These being:

Find some way of mounting that huge sub out of the way but off the floor
Figure out how to let the sub 'breathe' out of the cab
Work out where/how I can get a coin box in the cab with the afore mentioned sub
stick in a shelf over the sub to mount the PC guts
Fit the speaker panel at the front

Edited to add: I also solved my coin problem; a friend at work gave me 20 bucks in quarters

Epyx · « **Reply #22 on:** March 13, 2010, 07:38:49 pm »

Quote

Looking out the window on a brand new day, neither work nor a cloud in sight I wheeled out the arcade to begin again. It's been a few months, but hopefully things will pick up pace again now there are a few more dry days coming my way.

Lucky man! Enjoy and GL on the rest. Will be nice to see this finished!

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #23 on:** April 05, 2010, 01:04:49 pm »

More work today : -

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #24 on:** April 10, 2010, 01:24:03 pm »

The sun was shining, a whole free day to work on the arcade machine WOOHOO!

Splitting headache, stiff neck and strange dizzy spells. Not so woohoo $:-\$

I picked up some black and ridiculously bright yellow laminate this week, so thought I would make use of the fantastic sunshine. I also decided on my final CP layout.

After the black is completed I'll fit the CP which will be a metal 1 piece with punched holes and stud welds for the joy's and the trackball. Once that's in place I'll laminate the outside with the yellow and fit the orange T-molding.

Epyx · « **Reply #25 on:** April 10, 2010, 02:13:28 pm »

Looking classy!

Laminate looking great so far, really curious to see how the yellow will look.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #26 on:** April 10, 2010, 02:50:32 pm »

Quote from: Epyx on April 10, 2010, 02:13:28 pm

Looking classy!

Laminate looking great so far, really curious to see how the yellow will look.

Thanks buddy. For my cab to be described as looking classy from the creator of the Aliens cab is high praise indeed!.

I think the yellow will fall into the love it or hate it category. I am guessing most people on here will hate it. We don't exactly seem to be drowning in yellow cabs on here. I love really bright colours on cabinets like the green Taito Jungle King cab and the yellow and black on Qbert.

My next cab is going to be an upright driving cab. Exactly the same profile as this one but laminated in Altofina Orange 001 (see below) This cab will be Altofina Yellow 001. If people find the yellow garish, the orange will really raise an eyebrow.

Eventually I plan to build a 3rd and final cab in woodgrain. Chicken McNobody was kind enough to give the dimensions of his gorgeous cab, so I plan to clone it.

korbitz · « **Reply #27 on:** April 10, 2010, 03:08:35 pm »

Nice looking cab, great workmanship also. I almost wish i could start again with mine, so many things i would love to change that i initially rushed through, oh well, plenty ideas for my next cab then

I think yellow on a cab works, not sure about the full sides though, but it will be different at least

saleem · « **Reply #28 on:** April 10, 2010, 06:48:13 pm »

how did you manage to laminate the insides of the cab ie:the insides of the sides.

i love laminate,i used it on my bartop and i decided to start another one with the left over mdf and used the left over laminate on that also.just running out of laminate,so no 2 sides with laminate this time unfortunately.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #29 on:** April 11, 2010, 05:23:14 am »

Quote from: saleem on April 10, 2010, 06:48:13 pm

how did you manage to laminate the insides of the cab ie:the insides of the sides.

I designed the whole cab so that it can be assembled and disassembled from the outside with the intention that I would remove each side individually, laminate the inside (the bit you are referring to) then laminate the panels in the middle such as the panel with the coin mech, speaker panel etc then reassemble leaving only the outside of the cabinet to be laminated.

When all the middle and inside of the cab is completed, I plan to remove the monitor, subwoofer, bezel etc the lay the cab carefully on its side (on some carpet) and laminate the sides, thereby covering up the screw heads and leaving the cab assembled forever with no visible screws anywhere.

The method I use to laminate is the same as Epyx uses in his tutorial for laminating control panels (i.e. with a bottom bearing flush trim bit, rather than a top or dual bearing bit.) The only disadvantage of trimming such a large area with a bottom bearing bit is making sure that you constantly blow away the dust or it gets trapped between the router footplate and the laminate and can scratch it. The laminate I am using has a very slight texture so it tends not to scratch as easily as perfectly smooth laminate. I chose it for that exact reason.

Encryptor · « **Reply #30 on:** April 11, 2010, 07:32:03 am »

Quote from: Silas (son of Silas) on April 10, 2010, 02:50:32 pm

Eventually I plan to build a 3rd and final cab in woodgrain. Chicken McNobody was kind enough to give the dimensions of his gorgeous cab, so I plan to clone it.

Did you ever draw up the plans for this cabaret cab?

Encryptor

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #31 on:** April 11, 2010, 04:57:41 pm »

Quote from: Encryptor on April 11, 2010, 07:32:03 am

Quote from: Silas (son of Silas) on April 10, 2010, 02:50:32 pm
Eventually I plan to build a 3rd and final cab in woodgrain. Chicken McNobody was kind enough to give the dimensions of his gorgeous cab, so I plan to clone it.

Did you ever draw up the plans for this cabaret cab?

Encryptor

Mostly. I have a few nights away on business over the next couple of weeks with nothing better to do. If you'd like a set I can finish drawing it up if you'd like a set?

Encryptor · « **Reply #32 on:** April 11, 2010, 05:13:27 pm »

That would be great. Thank you very much.

Encryptor

Chicken McNobody · « **Reply #33 on:** April 12, 2010, 11:57:35 pm »

Quote from: Silas (son of Silas) on April 11, 2010, 04:57:41 pm

Quote from: Encryptor on April 11, 2010, 07:32:03 am
Quote from: Silas (son of Silas) on April 10, 2010, 02:50:32 pm
Eventually I plan to build a 3rd and final cab in woodgrain. Chicken McNobody was kind enough to give the dimensions of his gorgeous cab, so I plan to clone it.

Did you ever draw up the plans for this cabaret cab?

Encryptor

Mostly. I have a few nights away on business over the next couple of weeks with nothing better to do. If you'd like a set I can finish drawing it up if you'd like a set?

Did the "dimensions" that I gave you help enough? If needed, I can try to give more details, let me know. It's nice to see my girls cabinet being used to inspire others. My daughters love playing on it, and are going to make all the boys jealous that they have not only there own arcade machine, but an arcade in the basement.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #34 on:** April 15, 2010, 08:52:02 am »

Quote from: Chicken McNobody on April 12, 2010, 11:57:35 pm

Did the "dimensions" that I gave you help enough?

I think so. I started drawing it up and I don't recall having any missing dimensions or angles that I couldn't get from the photo's.

Talking of drawing up, I have some progress on my control panel. Hopefully will get the metalwork completed in the next week or so.

badgerjohn · « **Reply #35 on:** April 16, 2010, 04:45:41 am »

Hi Silas,

Hope all is still going well, mine's moving along nicely now too! I'm thinking of getting the same coin door as you. Is yours this one from Happ?:
"40-0008-00
Standard Door, Double Entry w/o Harness, Meter or Box Assembly - $103.90 "

Also, if it is then can you tell me how wide it is?

Cheers
John

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #36 on:** April 16, 2010, 06:36:38 am »

Hi John,
Yes, that's the door and mechs that I bought (there's photo's of it further up this thread.) I paid £104.59 (note the pounds not dollars) including 2x US 25c coin mechs in Oct 2009. I am guessing that unlike me you won't have the hassle of special ordering coin mechs from the US, so the price will be different for 10p/20p/whatever mechs.

Suzo-Happ UK can be contacted here:

Suzo-Happ Group (UK) ltd
Units 1 & 2
King Georges Trading Estate
Davis Road
Chessington
Surrey
KT9 1TT Phone:
Fax:
E-mail: (+44) 208 391 7700
(+44) 208 391-7760
sales@suzo.co.uk

The dimensions for the aperture are:

mwong168 · « **Reply #37 on:** April 16, 2010, 10:35:52 am »

How much is laminate and is it easy to work with?

javeryh · « **Reply #38 on:** April 16, 2010, 11:04:18 am »

Quote from: mwong168 on April 16, 2010, 10:35:52 am

How much is laminate and is it easy to work with?

It is expensive ($60-$80 per sheet) but VERY easy to work with.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #39 on:** April 16, 2010, 11:17:47 am »

Quote from: javeryh on April 16, 2010, 11:04:18 am

Quote from: mwong168 on April 16, 2010, 10:35:52 am
How much is laminate and is it easy to work with?

It is expensive ($60-$80 per sheet) but VERY easy to work with.

+1 It is expensive but it looks fantastic and as long as you take your time, use a nice sharp router bit for trimming, make sure you keep the foot plate of the router flat on the workpiece at all times it's actually so much easier than I had anticipated.

I use spray contact adhesive too, which is so quick and easy compared to regular contact adhesive. I'm pretty good at painting (as in respraying cars) and I would never consider painting a cabinet. The amount of time and effort it would take to get a comparable quality finish just wouldn't be worth it.

mwong168 · « **Reply #40 on:** April 16, 2010, 11:26:37 am »

so much for taking the easy way out for restore my 70's pinball cabinet

I guess I better start sanding.

I came across this the other day on a site called twistedquarter.com

BLACK LEATHER STYLE VINYL COVERING

http://www.twistedquarter.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=502&zenid=91ef739a703c1f37a28e16463c51c637

Anyone ever use this before? I would still be better off and cheaper sanding, woodfiller, sanding some more and then paint but just curious.

javeryh · « **Reply #41 on:** April 16, 2010, 11:33:46 am »

I think you'd still have to fill and sand before applying that stuff. It is really thin and any imperfections will show through to the top.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #42 on:** April 16, 2010, 11:36:42 am »

Why don't you just laminate it?

opt2not · « **Reply #43 on:** April 16, 2010, 02:48:54 pm »

Quote from: javeryh on April 16, 2010, 11:33:46 am

I think you'd still have to fill and sand before applying that stuff. It is really thin and any imperfections will show through to the top.

+1
Vinyl may be cheaper, but it does take a bit more effort. If you're going this route, make sure your surface is as smooth as possible before applying it. Also, Vinyl isn't going to be as tough as Laminate.

@ Silas
Good progress on your cabinet so far. I really like the Lokesen cabinet shape and I think you made a good choice.
What size monitor did you put in it? 19"? Sticking to a 4:3 aspect ratio? It's too bad it's hard/expensive to find larger 4:3 monitors out there...

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #44 on:** April 16, 2010, 03:58:41 pm »

@ opt2not, It's 19 inch, but its a 5:4 ratio SXGA (1280×1024) resolution screen not 4:3.

SXGA is a good choice because it's a squarer resolution giving a taller screen for vertical games than much 'larger' wide screen monitors and still gives a reasonable width for horizontal games. The viewable area of my monitor is 30.5cm x 38cm. If you compare that to a 24 inch 16:9 monitor they only have a viewable area vertically of 29.9cm.

SXGA monitors are 'cheap as chips' these days because everyone wants HD and 1280×1024 just doesn't cut it anymore.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #45 on:** April 17, 2010, 05:23:43 pm »

I awoke this morning with full intention of doing a full day of gardening, leaving the arcade machine for tomorrow. I started on the lawn but I guess I wasn't paying attention. My mind wandered and well... Heck...

So after accepting my mind was elsewhere I succumbed to the calling and got started laminating again. I made pretty good progress. Pics to follow tomorrow, I ran out of light today so the pics I took didn't come out.

One of my cats hates the sound of the router. Stupidly I left the garage door open whilst I was working, covered my car in dust and scared the cat into the garage from where I couldn't retrieve her for nearly 4 hours.

ammitz · « **Reply #46 on:** April 17, 2010, 05:46:15 pm »

Look's like a nice old car on the picture.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #47 on:** April 18, 2010, 01:13:21 pm »

Quote from: ammitz on April 17, 2010, 05:46:15 pm

Look's like a nice old car on the picture.

My 76 year old Austin 10/4 saloon De Luxe.

The same make, model and year of manufacture as my Father's first car when he was 20 (in 1958). He bought his for £25. When new it cost £172 and 10 shillings.

tanhauser · « **Reply #48 on:** April 22, 2010, 01:37:23 pm »

Hi, little help please,
which are the dimensions of your wooden control panel, 60 cm wide * ? length

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #49 on:** April 22, 2010, 04:00:42 pm »

The CP is finished ready for fitting. The brushed stainless finish is gorgeous. Assuming it looks this amazing with the buttons and trackball fitted I will leave it on show. Originally I was going to cover it with a CPO. The photo doesn't do it justice, it looks AWESOME

Quote from: tanhauser on April 22, 2010, 01:37:23 pm

Hi, little help please,
which are the dimensions of your wooden control panel, 60 cm wide * ? length

The dimension you are missing is 270mm. Attached is a pic of the dimensions and angles I used for my CP.

Franco B · « **Reply #50 on:** April 22, 2010, 04:12:21 pm »

My stainless divining rod started twitching and brought me here

Very nice

kyoke · « **Reply #51 on:** April 30, 2010, 10:09:36 pm »

Hey Silas, this is an awesome looking project with tons of attention to detail! And the more I see people using laminate the more I wish I had done the same on my cab. After all the priming, sanding, painting, lather, rinse, repeat I've been doing on my bartop I have vowed to use only laminate in the future. Hey, did you do the stainless steel fabrication/bending/cutting yourself? It looks way pro.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #52 on:** May 01, 2010, 06:08:13 am »

Hi kyoke,
Thanks for the compliment. I try as hard as I can to get the little details correct so if I screw up (I haven't yet) overall the cab should still be something I am proud of. My end result that I am shooting for is to own a cabinet that I built, but looks like I bought it.

Quote from: kyoke on April 30, 2010, 10:09:36 pm

It looks way pro.

That's because it is

My father knocked it out at the engineering company he used to own before he retired. He still goes back in as a consultant regularly, so he punched and formed it for me. I have uploaded the DXF file to the file repository, so anyone who wants to replicate it can take it to a fabrication shop and have it manufactured.

shrunkenmaster · « **Reply #53 on:** May 08, 2010, 10:31:55 am »

Hey Silas, this is coming together real nice. Can I ask where you got your laminate from?

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #54 on:** May 08, 2010, 11:16:03 am »

Quote from: shrunkenmaster on May 08, 2010, 10:31:55 am

Hey Silas, this is coming together real nice. Can I ask where you got your laminate from?

The very helpful Blackheath Products

Blackheath Products Ltd
Units 2-4 Fairfield Park
Halesowen
West Midlands
B62 9JL
UK

They only deal with trade (which I am not). They require proof that you are a business in order to open a cash account. I stopped at the motorway service station en-route and had some business cards printed for a fiver

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #55 on:** June 07, 2010, 09:14:08 am »

I know the thread hasn't moved for a while, but I haven't actually stopped working on this. I figured me fettling a couple of mm off a piece of MDF, or painting the cab interior wouldn't be of much interest so I didn't bother to post. I offered up the CP for a trial fitting and thought I'd post a pic.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that in the earlier photo the stainless didn't have a protective film, but now it has. That's because it's a different panel. Turns out I had given the wrong dimensions to my father by about 3mm on the height, so it just wouldn't sit right.

In the end I decided to scrap it and had a new one made up. First mistake I have made thus far. Just a shame it had to be such a bloody expensive one.

My Minipac arrived from Ultimarc the other day, as did the remaining buttons. Just need to finish the black paint interior, laminate the sides, wire it up and start thinking about a marquee, side art and a CPO (yes I am covering up the stainless.)

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #56 on:** June 17, 2010, 01:26:26 pm »

I have had a few days to make progress on my cab. In a few weeks it will be a year since I started building this thing.

I have completed painting the lower inner area of the cab and the screen and bezel supports, as well as finishing the yellow and black. I need to remake the top panel as it was slightly out of square and drove me nuts every time I looked at the 1mm gap on the back edge. I know no one would EVER spot it, but I would know it's there.

Next steps are to laminate the backs of the doors, laminate the shelf the mobo and PC innards will be mounted on, mount the (already wired) control panel and crack on with the final assembly.

I have been exchanging emails with Gamecreature from this forum to sort out getting some artwork done. His CPO and marquee were really nice, so fingers crossed.

Here's my progress:

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #57 on:** June 18, 2010, 11:37:00 am »

I just fitted the control panel and monitor. The Stainless looks really cool against the black, yellow, orange and red so I have decided to leave it on show rather than cover it.

I would however like to have 'Player 1' and 'Player 2' written on the CP. I was thinking vinyl letters, although I don't know how hard wearing that would be. (but does that even matter because the would be cheap to replace?)

Anyone have any suggestions?

I also decided to go with the name Lunarcade. My surname in Moone, so Lunar and Arcade kind of makes sense.

emphatic · « **Reply #58 on:** June 18, 2010, 11:50:47 am »

Quote from: Silas (son of Silas) on June 18, 2010, 11:37:00 am

I would however like to have 'Player 1' and 'Player 2' written on the CP. I was thinking vinyl letters, although I don't know how hard wearing that would be. (but does that even matter because the would be cheap to replace?)

Anyone have any suggestions?

Did you consider etching it (with acid)? I don't know ANYTHING about the process, but it might be worth looking into.

Bender · « **Reply #59 on:** June 18, 2010, 11:18:04 pm »

Man this is looking Great!!!

I say keep the stainless clean and get the buttons with the player symbols on them

badgerjohn · « **Reply #60 on:** June 19, 2010, 05:17:24 am »

Silas this is looking sweet, a year well spent!!

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #61 on:** June 19, 2010, 09:02:39 am »

Thanks for the comments guys. I started to wonder if I was writing a soliloquy here

I'll see if I can grab some time this weekend and fit the bezel and glass back in and take some photo's with the CP and glass. The S/S CPO looks so sweet. I am really pleased with it.

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #62 on:** June 20, 2010, 01:03:02 pm »

Had one of those weekends where nothing seemed to go right for me. The shelf the sub sits on that has sat quietly for months in the bottom of the cab, suddenly doesn't fit. Last week it dropped in and out like teenager at dinner time, but something has obviously changed somewhere. So all painting has gone to pot, because I have scuffed the cab and had to take a skim off the shelf.

Then to make matters worse, my arthritis is giving me absolute hell at the moment in my hands and wrists and I dropped the freshly laminated / painted top shelf that the mobo sits on and 'doofed' the corner in.

I have decided not to work on the cab until my hands have stopped hurting so much, as I will only ruin my good work so far. I have assembled all of the odd components that are hanging around the house just to get them out of the way whilst I take a break from working on it for a week or two. I think it looks pretty good.

Bender · « **Reply #63 on:** June 20, 2010, 10:50:47 pm »

Keep your chin up!
That cab is looking Fantastic!
LOVE the color scheme and design. It's modern but still with that classic feel...
Not easy to pull off, and you did it beautifully

Take a few days off and come back fresh (But not too long I want to see this finished!

)

opt2not · « **Reply #64 on:** June 21, 2010, 12:21:29 am »

+1

Taking one step back can lead to two steps forwards.

The cabinet looks great, the colours and the construction design really go well together.

Rest up, then hit hard when you're ready!

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #65 on:** January 03, 2011, 02:37:03 pm »

That was quite a rest....

I spent some time over Christmas working on my cab. Most of the hard work is inside and software/scripting. I'll post some pics this weekend.

The cab is now fully playable, running Ubuntu Linux 10.10 with Wah!Cade front end and XBMC for linux simultaneously so I can hotkey between the arcade front end and XBMC as a music and video Jukebox (handy when listening to music whilst playing games.

The PC is also set up as a media server, delivering music and movies to all the TVs in my house. It runs a script every 3 minutes and looks for various signs that either games are being played or media is being viewed. If all's quiet the script waits 5 minutes (just in case) then suspends to RAM to save electricity. All the media players around the house have start-up scripts on them so when they are turned on, they send a magic packet to the arcade cab and wake it from sleep in about 6 seconds, ready to deliver media.

Yesterday I finished installing the PC hardware just in time for a family get together. It was a total hit. I couldn't get near it all day. Even my mother in law was hooked.

amendonz · « **Reply #66 on:** January 03, 2011, 05:24:33 pm »

just great,

also loved the business card thing

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #67 on:** January 29, 2011, 04:15:47 pm »

Couple of photos of the PC de-cased and mounted inside. I made the disk tower with some cheap angle steel from B&Q and a few hours with the MIG welder.

Still to do:
Marquee and side graphics
Make a coin box
Panel mount reset power switches behind the coin door
Paint top vented panel (I remade it as I wasn't happy with it)
Find someone who can sell me a pair of bulb holders for my HAPP coin door - PLEASE can anyone sell me a pair of these and post to the UK?

lokesen · « **Reply #68 on:** January 30, 2011, 01:30:46 am »

Nice CP and colors, love it. What marquee are you going to use?

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #69 on:** January 30, 2011, 05:13:53 am »

Quote from: lokesen on January 30, 2011, 01:30:46 am

Nice CP and colors, love it. What marquee are you going to use?

I'm still playing with different ideas. At the moment this one is winning:

ulfur · « **Reply #70 on:** February 27, 2011, 04:55:02 pm »

Great job, the cab looks absolutely awesome. I for one love the yellow and can't wait to see the fully finished article with the marquee and artwork.

I'm also really curious about your software setup as I mentioned in your "mamebuntu" thread.
It'd be fantastic if you could share some more info on that with us, perhaps in tutorial-esque form if you have the time at all

Epyx · « **Reply #71 on:** February 28, 2011, 03:24:49 pm »

Silas,

One thing to make note of...the bracings you are using will likely cast marquee shadows as they appear too close to the front of the cab. You may think about trimming them back a bit? I love the cab just worried about the shadow effect.

geomartin · « **Reply #72 on:** February 28, 2011, 05:44:31 pm »

With the bright yellow sides and orange T-molding, have you consider Solarcade?

Silas (son of Silas) · « **Reply #73 on:** November 02, 2015, 09:14:33 am »

I never did post a pic of the finished machine... so digging my thread up from the dead... here it is.

BGoulette · « **Reply #74 on:** November 02, 2015, 10:08:44 am »

Just saw this for the first time today. Beautiful work!

tomstewdevine · « **Reply #75 on:** November 02, 2015, 11:38:29 am »

Nice work.


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