Centipede Marquee LightBox

[coasternuts]

A simple starter project for me.  I loved the idea of having marquees lit up like it was an arcade so I made this little lightbox as a test.   I wanted something thinner than most so that it doesn't look too overwhelming hanging on the wall. 

Materials needed: Cold Cathode lighting, extra pieces of 3/4" oak plywood from your cabinet construction, 600ma AC/DC adapter(?), tmolding, hardboard for the backing, wire taps, and plastic corner molding. 

All pieces were cut with circular and compound miter saws.  Grooves were cut using a router.  The strips were all cut first.  Grooves were cut into the sides for tmolding.  The marquee was recessed with an offset groove(a rabet?) along the edge.  45 degree miters and wood glue clamps frame the box.  Hardboard was painted white and attached to the back.  The corner molding was clamped to the top piece and I drilled a whole for the switch through the modling and wood.  Frame was painted semi-gloss black.  Molding was painted gloss black. 

This would have been much faster and easier with a table saw I'm sure.  Cutting a 1 1/2" strip of wood isn't easy with a circular saw.  Clamps are a must.

600ma might be too much.  Adapter gets hot! Better not leave it plugged in all the time, though when lit up, looks awesome!

The cold cathode lighting comes with a ATX power adapters, I orignally used those but clipped them as they took up too much room.  In the pic you can still tell where the AC converter box is.  I may have to move that.  It doesn't look as bad as the pic shows.  But then it's my work and I can't criticize it. 

Happs tmolding was used but I think I may have to try a thicker piece to help stop light leakage from the sides.  Also I like the shape of t-molding much better than Happs. 

All in all, a simple project with very little assembly.  I highly recommend it if you can't get enough arcade nostalgia  and you don't have enough room for more arcades.

[coasternuts]

Some more pics.

[coasternuts]

Here are the shots of the 1/4" groove and tmolding.

[CJK]

Nice project -- I bet you end up doing more of these to decorate your game room.  (And those of your friends) 

-- Chris

[crashwg]

That's friggin neat! 

What would be even neater would be if you had a custom neon made up to go arround the perimeter of your room and build a box arround that to hold a whole butload of marquees!

[coasternuts]

Thanks for the kudos.

The molding looks a little offset because I ended up using velcro to hold it in place so I had access to the lights under the marquee.  I think I would have prefered access to the back but eh.

I had thought about doing a perimeter box but the problem is most marquees are different dimensions.  (eg. Asteroids vs. Centipede.) 
Making that look nice might be a little involved. 

[GameOver]

Nice job!  I'm waiting on a Robotron marquee to do something similar.  I also thought about a multi-marquee 'board' sorta like crash suggested.  For now, I'm still waiting on just 1 marquee (that e-bay dude better not burn me...it's been 11 days....).

Still looking for a good lighting solution.  Don't want wires all over if I end up with a bunch, maybe need to work out some sorta wire management.

Looks good!

[GameOver]

Got my Robotron marquee a few days after my last post here and just started my 'box' today.

[CJK]

I like that one even better than the Centipede one! I have a small collection of marquees -- I'm going to have to do something like this myself.

Once again, BYOAC adds to the list of things to do at my house...   

-- Chris

[arcadefever]

this is a very good idea i love it
good job.

[dweebs0r]

Great idea.  Cheaper than a neon light for a game room by far.

-Dweebs

[coasternuts]

Nice Game Over.   Are you planning on hanging it on the wall?
Post a pic when you get it painted and the light installed.

CJK,  I think the edge molding is what makes mine somewhat less desirable but in person it's not that bad.  Plus I used velcro so that I could have access to the lights inside, that is what makes the molding stick out.

And yes, anyway you do it should be cheaper than a neon light, unless you buy a Galaga,  Ms. Pacman, or Tron marquee.      

Let's see some more!!

[CJK]

CJK,

[GameOver]

Nice Game Over. Are you planning on hanging it on the wall?
Post a pic when you get it painted and the light installed.

Thanks!  I've really enjoyed this mini-project.  Now I've got a geek nightlight!   

I'm planning to build these for several of my favorites, than put on a shelf in our 'computer room'.  I ended up using fluorescent since I saw while shopping they sell these lights with a plug on them.  This will solve my messy wires dilemma once I have several of these built and on display.  I'll just need to plug in the first box, then the rest will plug into the previous one.  Sort of a daisy chain effect.

Any advice on the best way to touch-up imperfections in these marquees, or should I just leave it alone?  I'd probably end up making it worse anyway.

[dweebs0r]

Nice!

I have to build one of those.  Hmmm, I don't need three projects at once!

-Dweebs

[coasternuts]

What did you decide to do with the inverter for your cold cathode lights?

I ended up using 3-12V DC/AC Adapapters found in Wal-Mart.  There were several kind.  I got 300ma and 600ma.  I plugged both in and they work fine.  However, I wouldn't leave the 600ma running overnight.  It gets a little hot.   My next one is going to use the 300ma.  But that will have to wait for my cab. 

GameOver, nice idea of daisy chaining the lights. 

I would hold off touching them up unless you can pick up a spare cheap.  The problem is going to be matching the paint.  There is a thread I posted asking about it here:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=38720.0