Knievel's Dynamo Redux

[Knievel]

With all the cold weather up here lately I decided to give my old Dynamo cabinet an overhaul, working in the warmth of the basement. I wanted to add one my CP's to it so I had to create a 'shelf' for the CP box to sit on.

I started by notching out the 'bumps' on either side of the cabinet, where the standard CP normally fits in between. Then to get the depth I needed for the box I also had to cut back the monitor area on either side. See the picture below, the red line is where I cut..



After doing that I had to re-cut the t-mold slot on either side in the monitor uprights. Then I threw on a fresh coat of black paint and some new blue t-mold all around.

Cutting the sides back like I did reduced the depth of the monitor area a few inches but I still managed to fit a 21" flat CRT Trinitron PC monitor in there, with the case removed. I have the monitor on a simple shelf sitting on 2x4's attached to either side on the cabinet.

I made my usual admin panel below the monitor and attached it to the insides of the cabinet with some angle brackets. A black posterboard bezel and the original monitor glass finished the monitor area off.

I then went about building my standard CP box/CP top. Went with Blue Happ Supers for the 8-way's and a Ms Pac Reunion joy for the 8-way. I replaced it's standard short stick with one from Tornado Terry, using a regular black Super sleeve instead of the silver metal one he gives you.

Using a yellow ball-top and a few yellow buttons gives the CP some interest and ties in with the Pac image in the artwork. It also helps the kids when playing as they always head for the yellow button which saves me some explaining. 

The trackball is the usual blue translucent 3" Happ USB variety, also from Terry, and the spinner is a Slikstik one I had from a project that got cancelled.







I also added a keyboard drawer below the CP box using some full-extension slides, it's well hidden.

So with the CP installed and some PC speakers mounted in place of the arcade speakers it was just a matter of finishing it off with some button decals and artwork.
The decals were of course from MikeD and Mamemarquees did their usual fantastic job of printing my art work. Kudos to Scott for getting the yellow Pac image to really pop, the pics below look photoshopped but they haven't been.

You might recognize this artwork as I used it on the black version of the Woody I did. The CP on this one is a little bigger so I was able to do the black outline, and the sideart is new. The background image is available in the AAL (link below).





Hope this will give those Dynamo owners out there some ideas. I know there are a bunch of us with these cabinets.

Links:

CP parts: Tornado Terry's - http://www.tornadoterrys.com/surplus.htm
Art Printing: Mame Marquees- http://www.mamemarquees.com/
Button Decals: MikeD - http://ironvulva.com/jump.html
Background Image: Arcade Art Library - http://www.localarcade.com/arcade_art/

[steveh]

Always putting together great projects.  Great job. 

[Knievel]

Thanks. We christened it with a 3 hour marathon game of Rampage last night.

I'm really starting to regret showing my kids that game. 

[leapinlew]

Thanks. We christened it with a 3 hour marathon game of Rampage last night.

I'm really starting to regret showing my kids that game. 

Ha! Rampage is great. Do you play 3 players with that setup?

I really like what you've done with the cab. It shows what can be done with a bit of ingenuity. This would be a huge time saver.

[johnperkins21]

Very nice, as usual.

Hey, is that background image in your front end animated? Cuz that would be awesome! I'm not a huge fan of it on the CP, but it looks great on that marquee and side art. And it fits really well as an FE background.

[javeryh]

That's a sweet Fisher-Price castle in the background on the floor.... yeah I've got kids too 

Very very nice as usual.

[Knievel]

No three player Rampage for us I'm afraid. The 4-way is linked to the P1 8-way. It's got me considering my first 4-player CP though...

No that background isn't animated but I agree that would be really slick.

Yea we've got fisher price coming out the wazoo. 

[Kronos]

Thats the type of case I have.. (my first mame cabinet)  Been trying to decide a way to make a better cp for it. I am not very good at building stuff.

[Jontox]

Hi Knievel !

What a nice conversion 

I should add that the screen image is really neat !!!!
Is it a CRT arcade monitor ? Flat monitor ? At which resolution do you run your frontend ?

Jontox

[Knievel]

Jontox! back from the dead Good to hear from you.
That's Mamewah running on a 21" flat CRT PC monitor running at 1024x768.

Kronos if you want to tackle this just e-mail me and I'll give you more details on where to cut your cabinet out.

[Kronos]

Here is my case.. it is different that yours but the cp looks the same as your old one. I have only had this for a couple of weeks.. All i have done so far is make a shelf to sit the monitor on and replace all of the stuff on the cp with new buttons and sticks and an Ipac.

[Knievel]

Interesting cabinet, does it come apart  in the middle? I've never seen a Dynamo like that.

You've got my favorite Dell monitor in there so that's a good start.

I got your e-mail and I'll try and get back to you tonight. Have a look around my site in the meantime. You might like the X-Men Arcade I did.

[Kaytrim]

I like your front end.  Could you share the skin?

[Knievel]

Sure, just e-mail me and I'll shoot it to you.

[Kronos]

It seems to be bolted together.. not sure why it is two pieces.. The guy I got it from said it was a Data east cab... I will wait to hear from you.  BTW... I love your site.. you have a really nice collection.. I love the Xmen and the Metal station.

Once I get my CP built I want to make a Justice League/Superman Inspired CPO.

[acevedor2]

You never cease to amaze me K.  Awesome work as usual!

[arcadefever]

  you have gold in your hands   

i wont mind do have one like that 

as usual great job 

[Loki]

Damn you Knievel... it's your fault I stepped in to this expensive world when I first seen your cabs. 

But nice job as usual ^^

[SodaPopinksi]

Just awesome, as always with your projects. I am beginning to really appreciate the nice glossy look of a plexi/lexan covered cp, I am going to try it on my next cab.

[Knievel]

Thanks guys. This was the first cabinet I purchased, in the early 90's I guess.
Once I discovered Mame it and it's 6 Jamma boards quickly got pushed aside.

Really nice to see it getting some play again. 

[markrvp]

First of all, it looks great as usual.  I especially like the yellow accents on the CP.

What did you do with NEON MAME? 

Also, the last time I played Rampage World Tour, it hung up about 10 minutes in.  That was MAME v.92.  Is it running correctly now on the new versions of MAME?

[steveh]

Here is my case.. it is different that yours but the cp looks the same as your old one. I have only had this for a couple of weeks.. All i have done so far is make a shelf to sit the monitor on and replace all of the stuff on the cp with new buttons and sticks and an Ipac.

I love your markee.  "Thing Smash"

[Knievel]

Thanks Mark, I'm loving the yellow too.

The Neon machine is presently sitting in a local millionaire's loft, beside his 10-pin bowling lane.
I got crazy busy around here and he wanted something ASAP.
It's sort of a loaner, if I build him one I can get it back.

[Stobe]

Thanks Mark, I'm loving the yellow too.

Do they make a yellow trackball that matches tho buttons?

-Stobe

[Knievel]

Hmm I've never seen a solid yellow trackball, that would be sharp though.
The translucent yellow one wouldn't cut it.

Anyone?

[BLah247]

This post already has me thinking about my next project... and I'm not even done with my first!

Then again I need to buy a house with a dedicated game room... mine is just sitting in the corner of my office right now.

[SodaPopinksi]

When searching for a custom trackball for my next cab I came across this place:

http://www.complexplastics.com/balls/balls1of3.htm

Haven't inquired with them at all, yet anyways.
There were some other places mentioned in the forums too recently, for 3" acrylic juggling balls. I wonder what their weight is though compared to the standard trackballs.

[spacies]

Bitchin' rebuild.

PS, you have mail.

[Nannuu]

Hmm I've never seen a solid yellow trackball, that would be sharp though.
The translucent yellow one wouldn't cut it.

Anyone?

Excuse my lack of a link but there is a site that sells juggling balls that people have used as trackballs.  Supposedly they work great.  I'm sure they'd have yellow.

Looks great btw.

EDIT:
Ah crud, looks like they are all translucent.
http://www.seriousjuggling.com/Balls_Acrylic.htm

[Cornchip]

A clean balanced machine as always. Nice job. I owe you a 'thank you' for suggesting that Pixelhugger possibly help personalize my cabinet. He does amazing work. I can't wait to see how it turns out.   

 Cornchip.

[mxpxpxpx]

Hello I have a cabinet just like yours and I was thinking of putting a new cp on it as well. The cp I have now has 2 hinges so I can fold it down. I still have not put a shelf for the monitor to sit on, but I will soon. take a look at the pics of my cabinet and tell me what you think. I really want to know how you mounted your cp on?
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=62979.msg626355#msg626355

[SodaPopinksi]

Err scratch the above complexplastics place for a trackball... I just asked and they require a 100 pc minimum order  Too bad, they had quite a variety.

[Knievel]

A clean balanced machine as always. Nice job. I owe you a 'thank you' for suggesting that Pixelhugger possibly help personalize my cabinet. He does amazing work. I can't wait to see how it turns out.   

 Cornchip.

No problem, send me a couple of those custom joys and we'll call it even.

[Cornchip]

   Still working me over on the custom joys eh? Pretty soon I'll start feeling bad.   

 I'll seroiusly look into it in the near future (Supers and others). I have an idea what the material costs are. Slikstik has set a very respectible price point. I doubt he makes money on what he does. He must do it for the hobby. But I geuss we all do.

 Cornchip.

[Anubis_au]

Knievel, is it possible for me to also get a copy of your MaLa interface?

[Knievel]

Yes. It is a Mamewah skin though, and wasn't created with the latest version.

[Bartman]

Thats an awesome build.  Love the control panel graphic and how its integrated into the background off the FE.  Really ties it all together.   

-Bart