The NEW Build Your Own Arcade Controls
Main => Project Announcements => Topic started by: Mark70 on September 19, 2005, 02:19:24 pm
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Hello everyone, I've bee mostly lurking for a couple of months.
I've begun planning my mame cab. It will have to wait to be built since I have a broken leg at the moment. I'll probably end up building it in the basement this winter instead of the garage, since it will be cold by the time I'm done physio.
Anyhow, as an architectural professional, I'm hoping that my ability to previsualize using AutoCAD and 3dsMax will help me through without having to buy books.
This cab is based strongly on Kneival's Neon Mame. I think it's one of the more elegant designs.
Here are a couple of the preliminary images. I've decided on a 2x2 frame which should come apart into two manageable pieces once the side panels are off. I'm toying with the idea of side panels like the Neon Mame, where the base has side panels of it's own and the arcade shaped side panels actually sit a few inches off the floor so you can turn the T moulding under and hide the joint. Right now it's not set up that way, but the only change would be to add the low cabinet side panels and lengthen the shelves and cross panels by 1 1/2". Right now it's 2'-2" wide between the side panels.
**old images linked to save on bandwith**
http://ca.geocities.com/mhowson51@rogers.com/mamecab.jpg
http://ca.geocities.com/mhowson51@rogers.com/mamecab-trans.jpg
The 3d modelling was done in AutoCAD and rendered in Autodesk Viz4. I expect to make myself a set of full size patterns for pieces like the CP top, maybe even the sides depending on the cost of printing. I'd have them printed at the local printers where we print for work. I haven't been impressed with their colour printing capabilities thus far though so graphics (much much later) may have to be done someplace else.
This is the extent of my wood working experience for anyone who is interested. This project is replacing the floor in a fibreglass boat. This project was slated to be finished this September, but as with everything else, it's been put on hold by a broken leg.
http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,96,00.html
Incidentally, this shareproject site is a really good way to post project pictures. I thank the crew at www.iboats.com for showing it to me.
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That's an awesome model, I wish my AutoCAD skills were up to your level.
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I realized that doing the side panels this way gives a great freedom of design.
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I like the top right and bottom left examples. The bottom middle example is also growing on me the more I look at it.
I'm a big fan of Kneival's Neon Mame and simalar cabinets.
Good luck.
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The bottom middle one for sure.
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Top right
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I like the top-right too...
can you put a big cool-looking hump on the back? ;D
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Bottom middle is virtually the same as the neon mame.
Top right is similar to the ultracade look.
They are my favourites as well.
Anyone have any suggestions of other shapes?
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do you have like schematics on it and all. i want to make one like the middle bottom. i want to make a 4 player arcade.
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do you have like schematics on it and all. i want to make one like the middle bottom. i want to make a 4 player arcade.
I'm not in the business of selling plans. I don't have working drawings done up for it yet but I could easily do them.
There are a couple of problems. #1 I'd want kneival's permission since it's so similar to his neon design. I don't know if the keyboard drawer uner the cp is the same or not, but still...
#2 I have a broken leg right now and I've started looking at refurbing an existing cab instead of building from scratch. I may not end up doing plans for myself anymore. If I did do them for myself I'd more than likely hand them off to you, but as things are now, I'd being doing them specially for you if I were to do them.
I guess the short answer is, "no". I don't have schematics for them right now, but I may soon.
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Toying with the idea of getting the coin door more accessible.
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now that I look at them here, it doesn't really work on the neon style cab
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i think you should build all of them and then choose, you could even switch them out when one got boring...
but seriosly, i kinda like the top left and bottom middle ones from that 5-option posting.
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Those last renderings are very very very cool. I love the dimensionality and multilayeredness (:P)of them.
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Ok I added in a curved marquee and adjusted the size.
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if it was me, i'd do something creative with the bottom edge of that side peice of wood, like one of the earlier designs. i mean, if it's not going to go all the way to the bottom, why not make it interesting? it is still unique though, so you don't need to change anything...
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if it was me, i'd do something creative with the bottom edge of that side peice of wood, like one of the earlier designs.
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What's the tightest radius anyone's bent T-molding around? Those are sharp points right now and you'd see a cut in the T-molding, but something tells me that they'd be less effective with a 1" radius on them.
I have never done it but I would think that if you sliced the "T" off of the back side for the duration of the radius, it should curve it nicely. Of course, you will have to make sure that when the "T" resumes, it will need to be pulled tight before being hammered into the slot.
Bottom line, I would perform a test with a small scrap wood piece cut to a similar angle and some T-molding you can afford to waste. If you're happy with the results, you have your answer.
Nice design ideas. Keep the pics and ideas coming. You're inspiring the masses.
Good luck
Bumble
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Pixel got it right; the "multilayeredness" is what makes that design look so cool. The Mortal Kombat cabs have the same look and I've been toying around with a similar derivative too. Again, I wish I had your AutoCAD skills as most of my design work has been pencil and paper.
Something to keep in mind is that your cab will be extremely heavy with that kind of design. You basically have an extra half sheet of wood used for the concealed sides. That extra material, along with a full internal frame, might make the whole cab too heavy to move easily. That's less of an issue if the side panels are removeable.
-Ace-
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I looked into buying someone else's mame cab.
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Love those two designs with the pointed bottoms. Of the two, I think I like the single pointed one just a bit better. The only thing I can think of that would make them look cooler is a control panel contained totally within those sides instead of hanging over. Since your panel isn't even a huge one with a large overhang, it doesn't appear you'd be sacrificing anything.
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I love those curvy flame panels. I miss the three sided kick panel though.... or maybe it could be a bow front kick panel like the cp and marquee.....
Anyhow... very very cool!
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A lot of what I researched and learned here has changed what I want in my cabinet. I'm tending towards a traditional CP now that doesn't overhang. The quick connect CP topic is what inspired that; and that I like the classic look with white sides with side art and black middle.
I'm probably looking at a total redisign and I'll end up doing a very classic looking cabinet, but good ideas come out of these concepts, so I may keep doing a few.
A bowfront kick area would be interesting. I'd just have to figure out how to mount the coin door in a curve.
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Here is what I will probably go with.
It has the Mortal Kombat CP on it, but the cabinet is modified underneath the CP so it doesn't look like a pregnant lady.
**old images linked to save bandwidth**
http://ca.geocities.com/mhowson51@rogers.com/cabinet.jpg
buddy there is 72" tall or 6'-0"
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hm, nobobdy reminded me that the front edge of a Mortal Kombat CP is moulded and I wouldn't be able to use lexan with t moulding on my CP.
Redesign.
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Ok,
I think that this is the final design.
Would appreciate some comments.
(http://ca.geocities.com/mhowson51@rogers.com/cabfinal.jpg)
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mmmmm....KonkeyKong likey. I dig the way the side panels flare out a tad as they go up to the control panel. The way the rounded marquee echos the rounded control panel is also quite pleasing to the eye. Nice attention to details here, sweet renders as well. Any ideas on color schemes yet?
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It looks cool, very nice.
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...more bandwidth issues with my crappy ISP.
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I think about 25" is about the minimum two full sized dudes could play at. This panel with a 3" trackball is 27.5 inches and its fine for two players.
Its all smudged up, and I moved the admin buttons off the panel after letting kids play it (they'll smack at ANY button), but its a similar layout and size to what you'll be doing. This one is also contained fully within the side panels of a cab.
(http://home.comcast.net/~tok/mamecab/images/pdcab_happlit.jpg)
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Are those pinholes around your supers for a restrictor plate?
Damn I love the look of the illuminated translucent trackballs, but man what a price.
I have my mouse (trackball) buttons above it. What do you think about trackball button location?
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Mark,
I think those are just bolts and not restrictor pinholes. Looks like he just went with the top mounted option.
The translucent balls are really nice and they can be had for 80.00
on ebay or cheaper, thats where I got mine. Here's a link
http://cgi.ebay.com/3-Happ-Trackball-Red-Blue-Green-Black-USB-PS-2-plugs_W0QQitemZ6217711179QQcategoryZ13718QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
On the trackball buttons, just wire them up to your player one buttons since you will only use those buttons in Windows anyhow, will cut down on your clutter, just a idea.
Tim
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Thats correct... Those are black allen bolts with rounded tops. Wanted a really solid feeling panel, so I used 3/4" MDF. Top mounting worked out best. I routed out the panel for the mounting plates, but at the time I built it I wasn't aware that I should have routed it deep enough for the dust washers too. :P
The picture doesn't do the Happ ball justice. It's lit with 3 red LED's and glows fiery red. The downside to the red translucent is that it looks pukey orange unlit.
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Unfortunately I've already purchased my trackball, and secondly, $80 US is about $110 - $120 Canadian, for me plus any tarifs/duty for bringing it across the border. It probably works out to about the same as the CAN$150 to buy them locally.
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Ok,
So I just finished accurately laying out the
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Actually I forgot the space for the mounting plate. At the very least I have to leave room to route it in under the lexan.
(http://ca.geocities.com/mhowson51@rogers.com/CP2.jpg)
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I still occasionally bump my hand on the Player 2 stick on my panel playing Golden Tee. The joystick center is 7" diagonally from the Player 2 joystick center. That's a worst case scenario, its fine for everthing else. You'll adjust to it quickly, first time players might have a bit of a learning curve.
I have a buddy that's kind of a control spaz, he hits the sticks every time. He also moves his body about 3 1/2 feet side to side playing Robotron, so you know he's a worst case scenario. ;D
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Why not bring the joysticks closer to the user so that the handles are in line with the center of the joystick? That makes it easier to miss the player 2 joystick in Golden Tee.
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Why not bring the joysticks closer to the user so that the handles are in line with the center of the joystick?
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mock up pics added.
**old images linked to save bandwidth**
http://ca.geocities.com/mhowson51@rogers.com/mockup1.JPG
http://ca.geocities.com/mhowson51@rogers.com/mockup2.JPG
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Awesome renderings. It must really take the guess work out of trying to imagine the final appearance.
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Now that I have the design nailed down, it's just a matter of creating the side art and cp art to do a full colour, photoreal 3d mock up. I was going to go with a kind of hero/fighter theme, put together in the classic white sides with sideart way. I'm finding out, however that I'm not that polished an artist. It's this terrible internal struggle; do I do the side art myself and have it look just ok but know I did it, or get art done that is top notch with my design but know that it's no 100% mine.
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I couldn't deal with passing to page 2 so I'll update.
I built my prototype CP on plywood. I discovered a few things about my button layout.
-I'm going to have to order more buttons since I discovered visual pinball. I now want flipper and nudge buttons on the sides
-I want to eliminate the admin button next to the start button, but I can use it as start and select in SNES emulator, so I also want to keep them.
-I know I'm going to want mouse buttons beside the trackball.
I'll post pics of the prototype soon, though I'm sure you've seen them before.
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Hey, Great looking designs... and really impressed how your laying everything out in autocad first...
I was wondering if you would be kind enough to share any of your components from autocad - such as 1 button, 1 trackball, 1 joystick etc...? I've been trying to throw together designs in 3D and although I can get the overall look, it seems to take me ages to get the size of individual components right... No matter if not.
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http://www.oscarcontrols.com/library/
Here's where I got them. Most of the major parts from major suppliers in 3d.
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Here's the prototype.
From this I learned that I don't need the coin buttons on top.
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Love the renderings! Everything looks good so far. Question about the button placement...As a big Stargate/Defender fan, I was curious if you planned on playing them or not. If so, you may want to move your bottons a bit closer to your joysticks so you can easily hit reverse.
What joysticks are you planning on using? If you play PacMan and the like, get some that can switch to dedicated 4-way so the diagonals don't hinder your performance.
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I've gone for economy and versatility over specialty here. Those are happ supers. I'm looking just to get my first cab built. This layout will play most games, and that's good enough for me.... for now.
There may be alternate control panels, or with any luck another cab in the distant future.
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I love the renderings, the cab's gonna be nice.
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OK, here are the build pics.
I used shareproject since my web space is getting limited and it's so easy to upload images and text to their site.
More users here should try this.
http://www.shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,164,00.html
and for those who don't care to follow the link
(http://ca.geocities.com/mhowson51@rogers.com/cabprogress.JPG)
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Oh, and when I was researching here, nobody said how insidious MDF dust is.
To think I almost decided to do this in my basement with sheets of poly as dust screens.
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Design looks nice. I like that the bottom doesn't look like a pregnant guppy (like mine).
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Design looks nice.
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Ok, here it is so far.
Mocked up with screws.
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Great Looking Cab... I can only hope mine will look this good.. its going to be the same style.
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Great Looking Cab... I can only hope mine will look this good.. its going to be the same style.
You should have said somethig earlier. I do plan on making the plans available. They're all done in Autocad and dimensioned. I laid the pieces out on 4'-0" x 8''-0" panels and have each piece dimensioned. I did make some changes from the plan. There are some details that I would do differently; but all in all the plans should work for most projects.
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I haven't really started it yet, its still in the planning stages, I was looking at yours and my wife like the style so thats what we are going with.. I want to make sure I know exactly what I want to do (and how to do it) before I start.
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Great Looking Cab... I can only hope mine will look this good.. its going to be the same style.
You should have said somethig earlier.
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I'll need someone to
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My thoughts?
(http://www.stingraysmadness.com/EE/images/smiles/redxd.gif)
;)
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My thoughts?
(http://www.stingraysmadness.com/EE/images/smiles/redxd.gif)
;)
Yes, I'm terribly sorry about that. My ISP has an hourly bandwidth limit. It refreshes in a short time. I may have to go back and just link the images on the first page.... in fact, I think I'll just do that.
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I ordered my t-moulding.
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how can I better embrace the purle?
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Mark70:
Would you consider attaching your pics within the post? You do so by clicking on the ADDITIONAL OPTIONS below.
I'm excited about your cabinet, but your links aren't ever up when I check your thread.
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Oh. Holy crap. That's what I've been looking for. Saves me bandwidth and you guys headaches.
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oops wrong cp overlay up above there.
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I have some web space I think could host the plans..
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These are really quick and dirty.
I'm thinking of going white sides with side art. Not only will it help me cope with the purple t molding I impulsively bought, I like the classic look.
keep in mind I didn't spend any time fitting side art in the rendering. Just plopped something in to give my mind the idea.
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Great looking cab! I would like to add one thing: One pushbutton startup using the SmartStrip. I always thought it was a nice feature. I didn't see it mapped anywhere on your cab. I know some people place the button on the side, and others place it underneath the CP, above the coin door.
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I like the White, it does give it an old school feel
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Black or White sides?
I've started on a Gauntlet Theme. Probably will end up calling it "Game Gauntlet" and I'll modify the gauntlet text with "the game" on top in the same style text. I'll then use that text to trim the bottom of the side art.
I also plan on taking the stripes out of the cp art. I'll to something which more resembles the gauntlet art. Ignore the marquee for now, it's just the cp art repeated. CP art is the pressing one. The cabinet is painted excpet for the sides and I need a CP overlay to start assembling.
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Maybe it's just me, but the sideart seem low and it doesn't quite fit since it's short and wide and the sides are tall and narrow. how about laying out the characters different?
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Yeah,
I kind of know it in my gut that, to pull off the white sides with sideart, you have to have excellent, colourful sideart, that takes up allmost all of the white space.
My wife even said it looks way better black.
If I ever do side art, I'm going to have to spend a lot of time designing it. I want this thing playable soon. I think I'm going to go black.
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Painted all black with purple T moulding installed. It looks blue in the photo, but it's a kind of blueish purple. It was supposed to match happ purple buttons, but it's off a little. Looks fine enough for me.
Now, coming up with CP art is holding up assembly.
Off to my honeymoon for two weeks, it will have to wait.
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Mark, it looks awesome! I like the black cab, but I'm pretty conservative :) Your design approach with the mock-ups is top notch...have a good trip! Congrats!
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Ok,
I've pretty much decided. I found a reasonably high res photo montage of a Gauntlet control panel, and I modified it to fit mine.
I'm going to call my cab "Game Gauntlet" and to the marquee with the gauntlet text.
Here's some test renderings of it.
Today I bought locks to repace the ones on my coin door. A used Happ over under that had no keys. locks are $6 at home depot and fit perfectly.
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full view
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I was going to post the plans but .dwg is not an allowed file type. If you want them PM me your email and then post something here to tell me to check my PMs.
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you've got PM
The T-mold you got is dark blue or purple?
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you've got PM
The T-mold you got is dark blue or purple?
The t-molding I got is purple. I ordered it from t-molding.com. It's not an exact match to the happ purple pushbuttons. You'll notice that my right most pair of pushbuttons in each set are purple. They're happ pushbuttons I ordered from Starburst Coin Machines in Toronto (I'm Canadian). The t-molding is a very close match to the purple, but not exact. For the record, t-molding.com contacted me and explained that they would replace my t-moulding if I wasn't happy with the colour. I emailed them back and told them, I'd already installed it, and they said, If you're not happy with the colour, send it back anyhow and we'll send you something else. I'd say, they're definately a stand up company to do business with.
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I've never gone with www.t-molding.com, I always assumed shipping and duty would be too much into Canada. I got all my t-molding from Starburst. Some t-molding that isn't quite as popular, they have to order in, but even then it only takes a few days.
Your button spacing in your renders look a little off. The distance between your x axis looks different than your y axis. I've heard other people who have done it that way complain about different button distances after the fact. Personally, I use 1-1/2" centres all the way around. Just a heads up.
Edit: Ignore my last comment. Looking again at the pics of your drilled control panel the button spacing looks fine.
It's nice to see another CAD professional making use of full 3D mockups. Call it overkill but I just had to be sure everything would fit too. If I ever get my 1up arcade replica cab built I'm REALLY going to need the 3D layout. ;)
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I've never gone with www.t-molding.com, I always assumed shipping and duty would be too much into Canada. I got all my t-molding from Starburst. Some t-molding that isn't quite as popular, they have to order in, but even then it only takes a few days.
Your button spacing in your renders look a little off. The distance between your x axis looks different than your y axis. I've heard other people who have done it that way complain about different button distances after the fact. Personally, I use 1-1/2" centres all the way around. Just a heads up.
Edit: Ignore my last comment. Looking again at the pics of your drilled control panel the button spacing looks fine.
It's nice to see another CAD professional making use of full 3D mockups. Call it overkill but I just had to be sure everything would fit too. If I ever get my 1up arcade replica cab built I'm REALLY going to need the 3D layout. ;)
When I did the 3d model I just plopped the button models into the drawing. All of the panels were 100 accurate, and I took a lot of care in placing the trackball, but I just eyeballed the button and joystick placement to get a sense of where to position them. If you consider the joystick and six buttons as a unit, the CP isn't symmetrical, so I thought of the button joystick set as occupying a rectangle and spaced those rectangles evenly on each side of the trackball. So the 3d model let me eyeball the setup; I then went 2d in AutoCAD and made the CP patter accurate and made all of the numbers nicely equal and exact. I never went back and applied it to the 3d. When I mocked up the CP in 3d to see that everything would fit underneath and I'd have room to wire the buttons, I gave generous space to the buttons, knowing I could cut them pretty tight to the sides without any problems.
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Brax,
Can I ask what you paid for your t-moulding from Starburst? and how many feet you bought?
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Those of you who contact me for plans, be aware that there were some things that I changed during the building phase to make it work. The plans aren't perfect. There are some issues with the way that the drawer fits with the inside panels of the lower cabinet, and if I could do it again I would put the lower cabinet door on top of the sides instead of between the sides. Use the plans at your own risk. They're not perfect, but should be a really good guide. You still need to measure every piece to fit as you build it, if you do it the way I did. Things never end up perfectly in square and plumb. I leave the method up to you, but you can get a reasonable idea of how I did it from the "shareproject" link in this thread... way up there somewhere.
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Brax,
Can I ask what you paid for your t-moulding from Starburst? and how many feet you bought?
Geez, it was over a year ago. I really can't remember. It depends what you get too. The chromed stuff is more than colours.. etc. It was definitely competitive and there's no shipping. If I remember correctly it was around the same as t-molding at the time or just slightly more per linear foot. It worked out to a better deal since there's no shipping involved. I was very happy with their prices.
As for how much I bought... again I can't remember but I have an odd-ball side by side cocktail cabinet so I'm not sure it would help. (maybe 15' or so)
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Here's how it should look when it's done. No hall of famer for sure, but I think I'll be able to be proud of it.
I think I still need to dress the marquee up a little.
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you have a pm.
Great looking Cab...
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observe it in all of it's shinyness and beauty.
I love taking that blue crap off of acrlyic
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they're right. photos don't capture that reflective, shiny, plasticy, jewel quality that it has in real life.
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3
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I bet you were thrilled when you got it. It looks simply great. Enjoy
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Well, I'm mostly done. Still a lot of setup to do. Smart strip, back door, bezel art, etc.
Some things I learned.
-the changeable control panel design I came up with is not as changeable as I thought it would be. I'm going to fix it in there and if in the future I decide to put a different one on it will be fairly easy to switch. It's just not, plug and play switching.
-tolerance, tolerance, tolerance. MDF has very flat smooth surface. It's easy to make things to very very tight tolerances and they mock up just fine. Paint is thicker than you thought it was. It will make drawers stick, doors stick, CPs fit too tight etc.
-MDF dust is insidious. I spent about 2.5 hours in the garage with the shop vac running. I vaccumed everything. I mean everthing. Walls, my lawn mower, last summer's dead potted plants, my tools, the whole floor..... and little pieces of mdf shavings are still showing up on the carpet in the living rooom. To think I nearly decided to build this in my basement instead of the garage.
Anyhow. without further adeu
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Laying on the floor will reveal the hidden, countersunk, credit buttons.... and the scuffs from the keyboard drawer, starting already, and some abuse from taking the CP on and off. Well....it's all in black on the underside.
Yes the paint I used isn't as black as it should have been.
Keep that in mind. If you choose a colour chip at the paint store, the black has white in the mixture. I bought mine, one guy took the order, I said as black as you can get it and handed him the "black onyx" paint chip. When I picked up, another guy had mixed it and presented it. He asked what it was for, and I had forgotten to dress up like a goth and say "my living room" so I told him it was to paint out parts of a cabinet I was making. I said I needed it as black as I could get it, and he said "oh you should have told me that, I could have left out the white". Dumbass.
Add that to the list of what I've learned.
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My bezel glass is made of acrylic. It's about two inches shorter than the whole opeing, including up behind the speaker fascia. The bezel and acrylic slip up behind the speaker fascia then drop down in behind an aluminum channel at the bottom. I built the bottm part out of an aluminum 90 degree angle which I bought at the local hardware chain store. I had to bend it to an acute angle a bit at a time working along the length of the piece with my bench vise. then sand out the teeth marks from the vise and paint black.
Those are the dust covers from a $20 set of speakers I got at future shop. They're fixed over holes in the speaker fascia, and the speakers will soon be mounted inside the cab behind.
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The flash really makes all of the blacks look different, but in the dark basement, under incandescent light, it really all looks much the same.
Here's the bottom of the bezel
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I think I already posted a shot of the finished CP.
Oh, when you get your artwork printed, specifically request that they print it without any borders. My CP art was shrunk by 1/4" all around and it has little screw ups in the corners which I'm going to have to stick something under the plexi to hide.
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Wow...I'm glad I read this post. I didn't know there was a place in Toronto to buy arcade parts. It's not always convenient to place orders from the US. Since I'm going to the International Auto Show Friday..I'll have to stop by Starburst. I have been lurking long enough and will get my project into high gear. Actually I bought a used PC in Markham last Friday to use in my CAB.
- IBM NetVista 8307 2.66G w/40G
-HP 21" CRT monitor (Sony Trinitron Tube w/dual VGA inputs..Dreamcast???)
I haven't thought much into a design for my CAB yet. I like the Lusid style the best. On the the forum is a sweet CAB...The Neon. Wow! I would compare your CAB closely with that. All of the above are very clean examples of what I would like to accomplish.
Best of all..my wife approves. :) Just as long as she gets a remodel of our down stairs bathroom (started on Friday...can't wait till it's done...I'd rather build a CAB!!).
Cornchip ;D
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This cab owes just about everthing to the neon.
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I like this project. I'd like to ask if your still offering the plans in DWG.
PM sent.
Cornchip :D
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Thanks Mark. That looks like the right file (2D layouts). Nice use of the MDF...I noticed at The Home Depot a 4x8 sheet is actually over sized at 97". Very economical. Quickly I noticed that I'll have to increase the side panel from 3'2" to suit the depth of the monitor (19.5"Hx19.5"Wx19.5"D). I'm guessing 3"to 4" inches will do. The width seems fine inside with .5" to spare either side. :D
Do you remember what length of T-Molding you ordered? I guessed at around 48'. I added a 10% cutting allowance.
I'll continue to plan ahead as I think of things.
Thanks again...
Cornchip :)
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I think I ordered 50'. I seem to remember getting two rolls and a half roll.
I had plenty left over. I redid my CP and I still have about 5'.
Measure in CAD. I was too lazy and just used the fermi method when I ordered.
Oh, if you do the curved marquee, I used PVC flor tile edging for the marquee retainer. I just snipped out bits of the part that would normally sit under the tile and it curved nicely. You have to play to get the length right so it sits in the same curve as your marquee panels.
I have a 17" PC monitor in mine. My monitor shelf is tilted so it's perpendicular the laid back angle of the side panels. The tilt may save you some room. As with everything else, draw it in with CAD.
Don't try and put pinball buttons in the side like I did uless you add width or move the joysticks closer to the center. And plan for the trackball bolts. Mine are too tight to the front of the CP to get nuts on them.
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I believe I will end up making the CAB a little wider as you mentioned. I bought a used Circus Charlie marquee. I haven't recieved it yet...so I can't say for sure how long or tall it is. When I know more I'll calculate a radius based on length and how much I wish to "bow out" this plexi marquee. While I'm at it I'll widen the rest of the panels accordingly.
I called Starburst about the T-Molding. They had less than 30' on hand of blue. I'll have to find another source. I was planning a order to Groovygamegear.com for a KeyWiz anyways...they have blue.
Cornchip
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Don't try and put pinball buttons in the side like I did uless you add width or move the joysticks closer to the center. And plan for the trackball bolts. Mine are too tight to the front of the CP to get nuts on them.
I take it back. I ordered some snap in sanwa buttons off of ebay and they fit really well. They don't have the satifying click then you depress them like the Happ buttons do (because of the cherry microswitches) but some people don't like that. I found that I like the click of the cherry switches because with the sanwa buttons, which are quite sensitive I found myself sitting with the button depressed and didn't realize it during a Visual Pinball session. I think the sanwa buttons are preferred for fighting games where you have to hit them quickly. I don't know for sure. All I know is that they fit and I have working pinball buttons now.
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Plans teaser for the GWJers