SFA3 Slim showcase arcade cabinet (2nd build)- Updated 1/29/10- LCD installed!

[DCsegaDH]

I started this scratch-build project officially on January 1, but haven't taken any pictures until today. My vision is to have the control panel normal size, base a little shorter, and then have the whole monitor part really thin. Right now I have it so it comes off in 5 pieces to make it easier to move. I'm going to be putting in a 32" Hitachi LCD for the monitor and I'm going be running SFIV, arcade emulators(Mame, CPS3, model2 emu, Final Burn Alpha, and Raine) and I might put in my Dreamcast in their too. I want to put in the actual CPS2 hardware, but maybe later when I get more money.

-Its strictly made for fighting games since they are my favorite. Its a 34" panel with 2 players, 6 buttons each. Its loosely based on the dynamo showcase cabinet design. I want it to look like a showcase arcade in the 90's so that is the reason for not adding extra joysticks.

-Its mostly for fighters, but I will have shmups, platform, beat em ups, light gun and old school games like Pac Man.
-The whole cabinet is pretty small, its about 34 inches its only a inch larger than my old upright cabinet.
-I'm going to be using Street Fighter Alpha 3 as my theme since its my favorite SF game. I think my custom marquee is better than the real one. I made it in Photoshop.
-The computer hardware is going to be in the pedestal part and the computer speakers will in the control panel and the subwoofer will be on the bottom on the monitor part.


 

[evitagen]

I love it!

Post some more pics as you progress through the build.

[painterinfo]

Great design. I can imagine some metal checker plate covering the middle part

and a couple of gun holsters on the sides.

[mwong168]

Looking good and excellent progress for less than 2 weeks started    Wish I had more time and wasn't so damn cold right now or else I would finish up my showcase.  Can't wait to see more pics.

[drventure]

Two weeks? 

Jeez, have you slept? 

Nice work. 

I've always liked the shape of those showcase cabs, but they sure take up a lot of space.

[Kman-Sweden]

Great design. I can imagine some metal checker plate covering the middle part

and a couple of gun holsters on the sides.

Hmmmm.... Where have I seen this? Oh Yeah it's in my build. 

[mwong168]

I've always liked the shape of those showcase cabs, but they sure take up a lot of space.

They may take up more space but easier or can be built to make moving easier since it can be separated as podium, stand and monitor housing.  I've helped move some standard arcade cabs such as MKII in my day and they are a pain and heavy as 

[DCsegaDH]

Two weeks? 

Jeez, have you slept? 

Nice work. 

I've always liked the shape of those showcase cabs, but they sure take up a lot of space.

Ive worked on it for at least 5-6 hours a day, I'm just excited to play on this thing. This showcase is actually a lot smaller than a normal one, you could call it a mini showcase if you seen it next to a real one.

[DCsegaDH]

I took a picture of it painted, its not the best it but it had to be separated when I got it painted today. Tomorrow I plan on clear coating it and install the pc. I listed the pc specs below, anyways thanks guys for comments

PC specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 ghz
2 GB Ram
250 GB HDD
Geforce 9500gt (I still need to install it, I have a 7200 installed right now)
Antec 8" fan (its mounted on the control pedestal, its really quiet)

 

[crashwg]

-I'm going to be using Street Fighter Alpha 3 as my theme since its my favorite SF game. I think my custom marquee is better than the real one. I made it in Photoshop.

While I do like your design very much, I have a little constructive criticism...  The different characters seem to vary in their detail, some being blockier than others.  I don't know enough Photoshop to recommend how to fix that but it's something you might want to look into.

Cab progress is looking great by the way.  I don't think I've ever seen a cab come together so quickly before!

[DCsegaDH]

Yeah, I noticed some of the characters were blocky so I redone it, I actually uploaded the wrong one. This is the one I'm going to be using. I ordered this cpo http://www.mamemarquees.com/blue-blast-control-panel-from-p-1442.html along with my custom marquee.

[saurian333]

I've always liked the shape of those showcase cabs, but they sure take up a lot of space.

I was thinking the same thing..."slim showcase" is kind of an oxymoron, isn't it?

It does look quite nice, though...excellent work. 

[DCsegaDH]

I've always liked the shape of those showcase cabs, but they sure take up a lot of space.

I was thinking the same thing..."slim showcase" is kind of an oxymoron, isn't it?

It does look quite nice, though...excellent work. 

Yeah, the name is kind of oxymoron since only the monitor part is slim, but if I made it any smaller it wouldn't look very arcade-like. It's going to be in a small room but its going to fit perfectly only because of the monitor part is shortened. I just clear coated it, I didn't take any pictures since its still in pieces and it needs 24 hours to dry. When its put together I'm going to post some more pictures. Thanks saurian333 for compliment.

[DCsegaDH]

I just got my 32" LCD television delivered by UPS today, but its broken I'm going to be getting a replacement, it might take a week so at least I can work on the software part in the meantime.

[saurian333]

Yeah, the name is kind of oxymoron since only the monitor part is slim, but if I made it any smaller it wouldn't look very arcade-like.

I hear you.  There really isn't any other place to slim down a showcase; can't make the CP pedestal too small without sacrificing some controls and/or stability, and you can't use too much less distance from the pedestal to the screen and still be able to see it properly.  You've done a nice job of condensing it as much as you have.

I just got my 32" LCD television delivered by UPS today, but its broken I'm going to be getting a replacement, it might take a week so at least I can work on the software part in the meantime.

Bummer!  I'd be screaming. 
Oh well, setting up software/games is fun, too.

[DCsegaDH]

I got the showcase into the house and assembled today. I'm going to be using some Guncon 1 light guns that Ive painted black awhile ago ( I need to repaint them & add clear coat), I still need to buy the Aimtrak units. I also installed the PC yesterday with a Happ coin door and added a shelf for the DVD drive, so I don't have to go behind it like my old one. Later on I might get some CAPCOM logo side art, I probably have to make them smaller since the sides aren't very wide (5 inches). I can't wait to get my artwork from Mamemarqees!

[saurian333]

Question: planning to use T-molding or something anywhere on that?  The edges just look like they could use a little help.  Some kind of trim on the monitor box and CP would dress it up nicely, I think.

Just curious; other than that, looking pretty good.   The Guncons look pretty slick.  I love my Guncon2, but I always liked the shape of the older ones better.  They're much more similar to the ones in the arcade.

[SNAAKE]

marquee looks pretty bad. everything else is good. if you want I can make a marquee for you. FREE!

[DCsegaDH]

 

Question: planning to use T-molding or something anywhere on that?  The edges just look like they could use a little help.  Some kind of trim on the monitor box and CP would dress it up nicely, I think.

Just curious; other than that, looking pretty good.  The Guncons look pretty slick.  I love my Guncon2, but I always liked the shape of the older ones better.  They're much more similar to the ones in the arcade.

Yeah know what you mean its a little rough, I want t-molding but right now a router is out of my budget. I want red t- molding around the whole cabinet to give it some contrast. Thanks, yeah I like the Guncon2 light guns too but I like the style of the older ones and I even modified the trigger with a microswitch so it shoots quick like the arcade ones.  

[saurian333]

Yeah know what you mean its a little rough, I want t-molding but right now a router is out of my budget. I want red t- molding around the whole cabinet to give it some contrast.

Not in the budget?  I know what you mean, same here...

That's why I got one of these:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44914

They're also called "laminate trimmers."  Basically, it's the same as a router, but only takes a 1/4" shank (no worries; they're plenty common).  On average, they tend to spin a bit faster as well, I imagine because they're designed for lamiate.  There are other things you can do with a router that this won't do for you, but I can't really think of any that would come up on an arcade cabinet, unless you're doing something really fancy.  I wouldn't use one for any big or heavy-duty jobs.  It does have the advantage of being smaller and easier to manage.  The slot cutter you'll need is a little steep too, though; haven't seen them for less than $20 (even the cheap ones I've seen come in a set, so you still have to spend that much).

Awesome tool for the money though, I must say.  I talked about mine a little bit on my build page, and there's a pic of the plexi I used a flush-trim bit on.  It made me feel like a kid with a new toy.

[DCsegaDH]

Thanks for the link, that price sounds great T molding would make it look more official. I have to get that router later on maybe next month when I'm not so broke, majority of the budget went into the 32" LCD.

[saurian333]

Thanks for the link, that price sounds great T molding would make it look more official. I have to get that router later on maybe next month when I'm not so broke, majority of the budget went into the 32" LCD.

Ha!  I don't doubt it; I'm looking for something around 32" that does 1080p, not easy to find at a reasonable price.  My living room TV is still a 20" CRT.   We watch a lot of movies and stuff, so it would be worth upgrading, just haven't had the money.

But yeah, at that price, you can't go wrong.  Just using it to trim my top piece of plexi made it well worth $22. That job went from 1 hour with a Dremel and sandpaper to 5 minutes with the router.  Very sweet deal.

[DCsegaDH]

I just got my artwork today, but I haven't took any pictures yet. I'll definitely upload some tomorrow. The UPS guy picked up my broken LCD and my replacement shipped out yesterday so I might get it this week or early next week.

I was working on the emulators,these are the ones I have so far:

- Final Burn Alpha (CPS 1 & 2)        
- Sega Model 2
- NullDC
- Mame
- Kega Fusion (Genesis, 32X, Sega CD)
- ZSNES
- CPS3

[DCsegaDH]

I'm really impressed with Mamemarquees, I love the artwork especially the control panel artwork. My only problem is the lighting on the marquee, I have a 22 inch light in their and it doesn't shine through well, but I'll add another light in their to make it brighter. I purposely didn't match the marquee to the cpo because I might want to change it so that is the reason for going with this one. I almost forgot, I'm also going to change the buttons for 2 green, 2 blue and 2 red buttons for each player like a capcom arcade, but I had to do the JPN button layout for ergonomic purposes even though its not authentic its what I prefer. 

[saurian333]

My only problem is the lighting on the marquee, I have a 22 inch light in their and it doesn't shine through well, but I'll add another light in their to make it brighter.

Looks nice.  You might want to reconsider a second light--may turn out too bright.  Try making a reflector dish out of tinfoil or something first.  Cheap and fairly easy fix if it works.  Haven't tried it myself, but I've seen others here who made reflectors for their uprights with good results.

[painterinfo]

Hey I like the lens flare effect on that CP.
An illuminated white track ball would look good in the middle I recon.

[DCsegaDH]

My only problem is the lighting on the marquee, I have a 22 inch light in their and it doesn't shine through well, but I'll add another light in their to make it brighter.

Looks nice.  You might want to reconsider a second light--may turn out too bright.  Try making a reflector dish out of tinfoil or something first.  Cheap and fairly easy fix if it works.  Haven't tried it myself, but I've seen others here who made reflectors for their uprights with good results.

Thanks for the tip.

Hey I like the lens flare effect on that CP.
An illuminated white track ball would look good in the middle I recon.

  I was thinking about getting a trackball, I don't think I have ever played a trackball game before and it would be kind of hard to install it since the artwork is already on. I think Ive seen a Youtube video when someone was using it as a mouse, it would be cool but maybe later on when I get more $.

[DCsegaDH]

I'm almost finished, except for the light guns but I'll update it when I get the Aimtrak units installed. I had it done yesterday but I didn't like how the bezel turned out so I redone it, it had window tint on the glass and it had lots of bubbles on it. In some of the pictures you can see the VGA cable around the side, I ordered a 10 ft cable and it broke so right now I'm using a short cable until my long one comes in.

I painted the glass black and put it in front of the LCD. I bolted the TV stand on the monitor stand and zip tied it, not the best way but its strong enough.

I got some Happ buttons from Lizardlick, some Capcom arcades had this color combination mostly the VS Capcom games. I like these colors, they are nice and bright.

I also ditched the yellow coin door lights for red ones and put a under cabinet light behind it, its not the brightest but it works fine.