2 BARTOP arcades Midway UPDATE...Bezel+Cp plexi installed...PICS inside

[saleem]

i will be doing the same as you with the insides of my cab.if you got a nice clean inside even though it might be smooth wood/mdf why paint it?its clean and at least you save some time for other little jobs.

so looks like you officialy named them.
 

[bigpete405]

    Yeah Saleem I only painted the front panels, speaker panels, a little bit on the inside, and the back panels and it took so long.. why waste money on something your never going to see re guarding the inside of the cab.
   I still haven't completely commited to a name or artwork for my cab yet, Javier plans on going full mortal kombat 2 which should look real badass. Ill have more pics up shortly, today was very productive. 

[Mysteriozone]

Still waiting... 

[bigpete405]

   Whats up everyone? Today I can say very happily   that 95% of the painting is complete, and so is the three piece back panel which I based off of Pete Diak's mini multi game bartop, it looks very clean. I installed the red t-molding on Mysteriozones cab, and it looks badass. I have to figure out how I'm going to mount the bezels still, and start assembling the actual electronics. Happy to be inside the house working thank god.  

Pic 74 shows me using the lock keys to space out the perfect amount for the panels to fit together, and open and close without a problem. I didnt realize how short those locks were so in order to use them in 3/4" mdf that had to be countersink them which actually looks better.

[Mysteriozone]

WOW  That is freaking impressive work! Never did I ever think it was going to look this great. 

[bigpete405]

  Thanks Javier. I thought they would look good, but I think there going to be great. I got lots of great ideas from the people on this site.    

[bigpete405]

Bartop arcade update #6. Showing groovygamegear.com coin button, and overall progress of cabs so far. I live on Long Island and if you watch the news you know there is a blizzard going on.. so its snow removal first  unfortunately  .   

[JohnEDollar]

bigpete405:

Great job on the bartops so far!  VERY impressive work! 

What plans are you using for your bartop design?  If they are original plans, will you be posting them here?

(Getting ideas for future projects... )

- John

[bigpete405]

Hey john, thanks for the compliment! ! Yes the plans are original, I used my mortal kombat arcade's for the basic shape I wanted. I'm bringing it to a CNc woodworking shop soon to get it cut out perfect. It's a good looking bartop, and it's unique. Give me time and I'll make nice blueprints for anyone who wants to build one. If you would want me to send you a bare cabinet after I go to the cnc shop let me know and will figure it out.   
 

[bigpete405]

   What's going on everyone? I got the coin button, and joystick mounted on Mysteriozones Cab it looks sick . I was able to route the joystick area so the stick is recessed in the cp, and I must say it looks alot better... not the neatest routing job but it works, also I had to remove the cross support on the underside of the cp due to the joystick not having enough room...its still rock solid so no big deal. I fitted some buttons in the cp to get an idea of how it will look and feel, and I have to say its excellent. I hope you guys are liking these cabs so far. This cab in the pics is going to have a Mortal kombat 2 dedicated look, with all the artwork made to fit it will compliment this cab perfectly since the design idea is based off a midway cab. The button colors on the top aren't definite yet, and I still have not decided on art for my cab yet.  

[bigpete405]

 Hey Guys, I just decided to get some new stuff to step it up a notch, 20ft 3/4" light blue t-molding from t-molding.com..
2  NovaMatrix LED Marquee Light's, 7blue, 3white, and 2red  NovaGem Lightable Horizontal Pushbutton's, and Inserts for four buttons, P1, EXIT, CREDIT, and PAUSE from grooveygamegear.com

   Gamester's ARCADE GALAXY Cabinet inspired me to go ahead and light things up, and I feel as though the blue t-molding will look real nice.  

I need my Computer asap  

[elfman12]

Lookin' great man! I love the coin button dead center. Good stuff.

[bigpete405]

Thanks elfman12 

[bigpete405]

wired up cab 1 for mysteriozone... I still need to splice in the led coin button on the front panel. I cant even imagine how much of a rats nest mine will look like with the led wires for the novagems.   

[bigpete405]

    Whats up guys? Today I received my light blue t-molding from t-molding.com, and it looks fantasic.  . Also one of my youtube friends user name Spacegoogie made me some awesome artwork that goes with the overall blue theme of my cabinet. I'm waiting on my computer, and order from groovygamegear.com, and then I should move along pretty fast. 

[Mysteriozone]

Damn that blue looks great, never seen a cab with blue molding  Are you getting a matching joystick?

[bigpete405]

Thanks Javier , I'm just going to use a black happ I have for now, but I have been looking at blue ball top sticks. I knew the blue would look great because when I taped the cabs off for painting I used blue painters tape and it allowed me to get an idea of what it would look like.

[bigpete405]

Hey everyone, I just wanted to show you some stuff I ordered from groovygamegear.com. Check out the pic. Everything except the older model I-pac. If you order novagem led pushbuttons THEY DON"T COME WITH MICROSWITCHES so remember to order them.. thank god I have some to spare. 

[saleem]

i am actualy thinking about novagem led illuminated buttons for my project.

i aint hot on the ultralux as they are convex if i aint mistaken.i bought sanwa for my fixed betting odds terminal mame conversion and i dont like them at all.i am flogging the cabinet in parts now as i decided i would rather build my own mame cabinet rather than convert an existing one.its more interesting.

so yes looks like i will be oredering something similar,let me know what you think about them once you get them fitted.
 

[bigpete405]

They look pretty good Saleem. Don't forgot to order microswitches if you don't have extra, because they aren't included with the nova gems... Also if you don't have a marquee light yet you might want to get the nova matrix light as well. I'll post pics, and a video update soon, but I need to get a multimeter to test the powersupply wires voltage before I hook those buttons up. 

[bigpete405]

Mysteriozone got all the emulators and roms ready to transfer over to my computer check it out.  
Check out is youtube page http://www.youtube.com/user/Mysteriozone





Thank you Javier.  

[bigpete405]

Youtube user Spacegoogie's maximus arcade theme in action. I don't have all the emulators setup on maximus so this is just a few, but it has a hyperspin feel, and is light years better then the standard maximus theme . Thanks J.  

[bigpete405]

Check out youtube user spacegoogie's page on youtube. If you like these themes send him a message and he will send you the files. They really look great and add a completely different feel to maximus arcade.

[bigpete405]

Whats up everyone? here are a couple of pics to hold you guys over for the time being... The joys/buttons are in the cp, and the plexi bez and marquee are in place. I didn't get the artwork printed yet and I'm still waiting to get a pc you have no idea what Ive been going through concerning the computers  . I purchased a computer off ebay and when I received it and it was broken, I sent it back and got a replacement from the same company.. needless to say it was broken as well, now I'm waiting for them to receive the computer from me so I can get a refund and purchase a working computer or build one. What route do you guys think I should take reguarding the pc? 

[saleem]

i would have said build one.your in usa aint you?well if you are prices should be better than here in uk.

if you can find one and if you buy it and its working that would be great but,if its faulty its just even more of a pain and you still got nothing.

[bigpete405]

Saleem, I live in New York and I'm about ready to  lol. In a way I'm happy it got delayed it makes me have enthusiasm again. Your bartop looks badass by the way.  I think I'm going build one from scratch I have a microcenter about 10 miles from my house.

[apfelanni]

ur mk minis are coming out very nice pete. im glad u didnt oversize the control panel like seen on lots of us cab builds. the documentation is very impressive and helpful.  keep up the good work.

ps. i m not getting whats the prob with the computer ? a new all in one micro atx with onboard graphics and mainstream cpu wont get u ruined .  dont know the situation with used comps in usa , but here in europe is so much second life comp stuff available that the prices are goin down 2 zero. yesterday i bought a full working eizo tft for 9 euro via ebay from a local compstore nearby. he has 2 pay ebay + 19 % tax , hand me over a printed bill and give 1 year warranty . all for the 9 euro .  needless 2 say i double checked the screen surface for scratches 2 get some price reduction.

[bigpete405]

   Thanks apfelanni, the kind words are definitely appreciated  . I'm glad you like the control panel, I wanted to keep it proportional, and true to the Mortal Kombat/midway design, look, and feel. I'm having minor clearance problems with the 7Th button on my cp it will require a little modification.
   Reguarding the computers... I went the refurbished route through a reputable seller on eBay and I had terrible luck receiving two different computers with broken mother boards. My full sized Mk Mame uses a refurb and it works fine, I guess when you are selling such a high volume of computers it's impossible to check each and everyone. I'm a novice at best when it's comes to computers so I feel like putting one together would be a good learning experience. I wish I got it for a price like you did.


 

[apfelanni]

if price is an issue ( maming a cab for friends ) i also try to use those dell optiplex p4 with an avga bootleg or soft 15 k . barbones cost about 3o euro here. the cheapest i got was a p4 2,4 for 19 euro pick up on a local store. harddiscs and memory added and its ready 2 roll. i never had something damaged like urs. guess the comp dealer does some testing 2 avoid feedback of pissed customers.   

[bigpete405]

   Hey Apfelanni, the Dell optiplexs are what I was buying, and what I already use in my mk mame 2.8,p4... I got mysteriozones computer last night which is also a optiplex. they are definitely the way to go I'll get a working one soon enough. The main problem with the place I was getting them from is distance I'm in n.y. they are in az which is 1500+ miles away so it takes a week each way to ship. There should be a pretty nice update later today once mysteriozones comp is installed.

[saleem]

i bought a compaq evo,its a turncades pc,fully loaded to the brim with what they give all their customers,also i got a minipac ps2 with the harness and grounding harness for £64 delivered off ebay.thats a bargain!
i always wanted a more professional setup for the frontend,i was always happy with gameex but,i never learned to install the other emus and such.the turnmcades pc should speak for itself.

i will be whopping that into my bartop project.

weighs a bit though.
 

[bigpete405]

Hey saleem, can you send me a link so I can see what that pc looks like please. 

[saleem]

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=99885.0
luckily i updated my project thread with a pic of the pc and the minipac and the wiring.its a pretty hefty pc for its size though.luckily it fits comfortably in the bottom of the bartop.but,my bartop is more like the top of an upright arcade cabinet

[bigpete405]

     Whats up everyone? I gotta be fast with since I have work early tomorrow. I worked on this basically nonstop from 1:45pm to 10:30pm. I disassembled mysteriozone's PC and mounted it in his bartop, disassembled his speakers, and had to cut and rewire everything, drilled the holes in his speaker panel, wired the novamatrix marquee light from groovygamegear.com, but only 4 leds are working and they are very dim.. if anyone has an idea why this is so let me know? I wired the led on the coin button from groovy game gear which looks bad ass. I tried to be as neat as possible with the wiring by bundling lots of the wires going in the same direction. Let me know what you think. Both cabinets still need art work and little finishing touches so there will be a bunch more updates.  



BTW KEYBOARD WORKS IT WAS A STUPID MISTAKE  

[bigpete405]

Here are some more pics

[Mysteriozone]

Wow that looks great! Can't wait to check it out in person tomorrow, thanks for everything! 

[bigpete405]

No problem Javier.. your going to be impressed in person. 

[bigpete405]

     New pics, everything except power button on top wired and neat, power strip installed. I wired the novagem coin button 12volt, and novamatrix light 5volt, backwards  by accident  thats why only 4 leds were lighting up..they should have been the other way around. Yellow wire from power supply for 12voltmarquee light, and red for the 5volt pushbuttons. It works fine now. The white circles in pic 110 are showing the solder on the wires before I taped them.

[bigpete405]

     What's going on forum   Today I installed the second cooling fan up top to blow the hot air out, I also wired the main power button to turn everything on and off with one push of the button. I drilled two holes just behind the control panel for volume up and down, and yes I know they are slightly off and I don't know how I let that slip by me .. but it doesn't look bad:dunno, and finally I wired the groovy game gear coin button the the Ipac. WATCH THE VIDEO FOR FURTHER DETAILS. 

[Mysteriozone]

Great work yet again  Now hopefully you can get started on your cab soon and we can have booth of them running side by side. For disabling screen rotation try this:

* Control Panels > Display > Settings Tab.
* Click the Advanced button
* Click the Tab for the Video driver you use
* On that tab look for a button for More Options, or Graphic Properties, or
something like that.
* Once in the video software, look for a tab or option to edit the hotkeys.