The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: yotsuya on June 05, 2014, 12:56:54 pm
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Ok, so this past spring, I was offered this:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310181)
Now, I'm not one to say no to a project, even when it's free, but I decided to pass.
You can see from this photo why it was leaning like that (it's not the photo angle) - the bottom and back panel was totally rotted away. In fact, look how thick and fuzzy the lower left side was:
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310183)
I really didn't have room for it, and I had just finished my Macross (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137636.msg1420628.html#msg1420628) project, so I was ready to take a break. My buddy Jawhn was going to toss it in the dumpster, but wanted to see if I wanted it first. I told him thanks but no thanks. I didn't need a dedicated Galaga, nor did I have the $$$ to replace all the art, buy a Marquee and Bezel, and so on...
A few days later, on Easter Sunday, I was visiting with my family, talking about ZapCon and Macross. My sister mentioned to me that she'd love a Ms. Pac-Man. This wasn't the first time that she said that, so I've always wanted to get her something. I remember the cabinet, and I also recalled that Galaga and Ms. Pac were the same cab. When I got home, I texted Jawhn about the cab. He hadn't tossed it yet (trash pickup was the next day), so I went on Easter Sunday to pick it up. My sister's birthday is in May, so I talked to my brother-in-law about it. He was on board, so I got to work.
I brought it home and looked at it. The bottom was fully rotted, swollen up to almost 4 inches in some parts. It was clear I was going to have to not only replace the missing parts but also rebuild some of the damaged areas. That's OK, though- I had done something similar with my second MAME cab.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310185)
After stripping off the side art, I hacked off 5 inches from the front, 7 inches off the right side, and OVER a FOOT on the left side, sanding the sides down after each cut. I left the t-molding on because the edges were all swollen and fuzzy, and keeping the t-molding ON allowed me to use the orbital sander to get it where I needed it to be. Usually, I pull all the t-molding off first thing, so chalk this one up as a learning experience.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310187)
I carefully measured, made new sides, and used a dowel bit and dowels, along with a ton of wood glue, to secure the new sides. I built a new bottom and back, installed wheels, and when it was all dry, I propped it on its side. Stabillity had been achieved. Now it was looking like a Midway cabinet! You can see the seam in this photo...
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310189)
.and once I used some Bondo glaze and primer, now you don't! Light fixture installed.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310191)
At this point, I brought it in the house to paint as well as install the internals. I got a free 19" Dell CRT from a buddy of mine that I decased and installed. I also did a test fit of the metal parts that I ordered from TwistedQuarter.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310193)
Now, as far as the theme goes, I really liked WellFedGames' Mr. + Ms. Pac-Man (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,110635.0.html) theme that he did a little while back. He's a good dude and posted the artwork that he used, so I contacted him as a courtesy to let him know that I was going to use it as well as tweak it a bit. He gave me his blessing.
I had two big changes from the original. On his side art, he used ghosts on each side. I knew my sister was a big fan of Mrs. Pac, so I replaced the ghosts with Pac-Man on one side, Ms. Pac on the other. I used the assets from the marquee for consistency. The other change was with the paint scheme. He did Pac-Man yellow on the front, Ms. Pac blue on the sides. I went with black on the front and Ms. Pac blue on the sides because I thought it might blend nicely, plus I did it as a shoutout to the Galaga origins of the cab. The blue paint I got was the good stuff from Sherwin-Williams (I got the color match off KLOV). I ordered pink buttons from Paradise, pink t-molding off eBay, and got some bronze plexi from Home Depot. I was lucky enough to have an extra coin door lying around that fit a Midway cab, so I popped that in.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310195)
A friend of mine who prints vinyl made the side art prints for me. Right side
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310198)
Left side
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310200)
Here it is, in it's new home.
(http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=136713.0;attach=310202)
The only thing it's missing is the CP overlay, which I am printing up. My wife was kind of leery giving it to her, thinking she might not want something so big, but she didn't realize that my sister and I lived for going to Peter Piper Pizza and playing games as kids. Honestly, my sister LOVED it. I took it to her last weekend, and she just about died. Her husband and daughter were hooked as well (I even added a few games at his request). By the end of the night, the conversation started to shift on what the NEXT cab in their collection was going to be. :)
Just some vitals, it's running a P4, MAME .145, AtomicFE front end. I bought a Happ Reunion stick and a cheap JAMMA harness to hack off eBay, buttons from Paradise, and a KADE for the controls (have I told you how much I love the KADE??? :) ) . I have it set to boot directly into 25pacman, which is the Pac-Man/Ms. Pac/Galaga ROM. I figure they can turn it on and let guests play. Hitting P1 + P2 exits MAME, and hitting P1 + B1 adds credits (the coin door DOES work, though). In AtomicFE there is a list of all the 4-Way, 0-2 button vertical games for them to choose from. I also have HBMAME running the Donkey Kong Pauline ROM as well as some Ms. Pac-Man hacks I thought she'd like.
Thanks to my homies Nephasth, Malenko & HaRuMaN for the feedback along the way, and to WellFedGames for his artwork and ideas. I hope my cab does his concept justice.
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Nice!!! :cheers: You took that from very rough to very chuff!
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Nice!!! :cheers: You took that from very rough to very chuff!
When I'm tired of X2's quote as my quote (probably never), this will be my next one.
Yeah, I love a challenge. You should see the Nintendo cab I'm starting to work on. Nothing structural like this one, it's all surface problems. :cheers:
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:applaud: :applaud:
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Wow, that bottom was a mess! Amazing you were able to replace it seamlessly. I think booting into that ROM will make it super-easy to use. What a cool gift! Glad the artwork served you well and the i think side art tweaks are great. Would love to get my hands on another midway cab like that at some point.
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Wow, that bottom was a mess! Amazing you were able to replace it seamlessly. I think booting into that ROM will make it super-easy to use. What a cool gift! Glad the artwork served you well and the i think side art tweaks are great. Would love to get my hands on another midway cab like that at some point.
Thanks for sharing the concept with us, my friend. A lot of people who saw it swore they played Mr. + Mrs. Pac-Man back in the day. :duckhunt
I agree about Midway cabs. In a lot of ways, they're easier to use than some of the other ones I've messed with. I'd recommend the shape/design to anyone who wasn't going to FrankenMAME but instead wanted a simple machine for playing 4 way verticals.
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Really great work man. Turned out awesome and a cab was saved from the clutches of the landfill. :cheers:
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Where do you store all the boards that you downloaded your archival backup ROMs from?
Just kidding. We're all thieves here.
Nice work on the cabinet.
:cheers:
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Where do you store all the boards that you downloaded your archival backup ROMs from?
Just kidding. We're all thieves here.
Nice work on the cabinet.
:cheers:
Thanks, brah. I figure my sister won't snitch me out. :cheers:
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As always, top notch work yotsuya :applaud:
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So, what's the deal with those 2 anyhow? They had a kid and never got married?
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Fantastic work, love how it turned out
Question tho (please don't ban me from this site or flame me :-\ )
I get the reason to save cabs wherever possible (especially rare ones), but given the extent of the damage, and work its seems you needed to do to repair, would it not have been cheaper / less effort to build the cab from scratch ?
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So, what's the deal with those 2 anyhow? They had a kid and never got married?
This one is the "Living In Sin Championship Edition".
Fantastic work, love how it turned out
Question tho (please don't ban me from this site or flame me :-\ )
I get the reason to save cabs wherever possible (especially rare ones), but given the extent of the damage, and work its seems you needed to do to repair, would it not have been cheaper / less effort to build the cab from scratch ?
Where's the fun in that? :cheers:
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I get the reason to save cabs wherever possible (especially rare ones), but given the extent of the damage, and work its seems you needed to do to repair, would it not have been cheaper / less effort to build the cab from scratch ?
Sometimes it is a time vs money thing. I'd lay odds that it was much cheaper to do a resto on that than to build from scratch. Not to mention there's always the ability to say, "This is a 30+ year old cabinet...". Which is always cool.
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Slippy's right. It cost me less than $30 for two sheets of 3/4 2' x 4' MDF to fix that damage. To do a scratch build, I'd need at least 3 sheets of 4' x 8' material, costing me $125-$150.
The real damage was just contained to the lower foot of the cab. If the top had water damage, or a full side, then it probably would have been more feasible to trash the cab. As it was, I just had to rebuild a part of the cab you never really look at. :cheers:
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You guys clearly pay a lot more for MDF than we do - what we don't have that you guys seem to love using is Bondo..
Anyway great job :cheers: - Makes me rethink how I'll approach the next "Dead Cab" offer - not that my garages have any space for another one anyway :badmood:
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what we don't have that you guys seem to love using is Bondo..
I'm sure you have something similar. Bondo is a brand name, but I'm sure if you went to your local automotive hardware store you'd be able to find some sort of body patch repair/dent filler paste.
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You can put bondo on everything! Dented Car? Bondo it! Broken arcade cab? Bondo It! Kids got a broken bicycle? Add a little Bondo, and it is as good as new! Fractured skull? Bondo will fix it! Genital herpes? Try a applying little Bondo to heal and sooth! Regular burgers can be boring, but you can spice up your next cookout by serving up some bondo burgers. You will be the talk of the neighborhood.
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... I think that's the infomercial for bonDON'T.
I learned today that it comes in a tube. A freaking tube. Why have I been mixing it manually for so long???
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You can put bondo on everything! Dented Car? Bondo it! Broken arcade cab? Bondo It! Kids got a broken bicycle? Add a little Bondo, and it is as good as new! Fractured skull? Bondo will fix it! Genital herpes? Try a applying little Bondo to heal and sooth! Regular burgers can be boring, but you can spice up your next cookout by serving up some bondo burgers. You will be the talk of the neighborhood.
:laugh2:
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You guys clearly pay a lot more for MDF than we do - what we don't have that you guys seem to love using is Bondo..
Anyway great job :cheers: - Makes me rethink how I'll approach the next "Dead Cab" offer - not that my garages have any space for another one anyway :badmood:
To me, there's just something refreshing about bringing a cab back to life. I've brought a Centipede and a Missile Command back from the dead, resurrected a Star Wars and Tempest (running MAME, but with original controllers), and taken gutted cabinets slated for the dumpster and remade them into new ideas (Macross and this cab). It brings me great joy to do these projects. I haven't had to tackle a scratch build yet (except my jukebox). I love working in the parameters of what the existing cabinet gives me.
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Hmmm. Bondo burgers... Maybe. Just maybe.
:lol
At any rate, I love this build. It goes without saying that to take something this busted up and make it work takes determination. Great job!
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Thanks, Chance. I've designed out a bunch of scratch-build ideas, but I've yet to pull the trigger on one. :cheers:
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impressive Yotsuya. That was pretty cool of you to give away to your family to enjoy. Nice work, restoration is much more difficult than building IMHO