Calling Ms Pac/Galaga owners *3 simple measurements needed pls*

[spacies]

G'day guys.

I am wanting a high res photo of the side of one of these cabs.

Seeing there is no correct plans on the interweb, I think I will just print out the complete side and use it as a template. I know the correct height and width so I will just scale the photo to that.

Can anyone help please? I am looking for a direct side-on photo.

Thanks in advance.
Spacies.

[Neilyboy]

I can take a pic if no-one else can. but I thought I saw a project in project announcements of a guy who was building one from scratch who had some dead on measurements. Anyway Ill snag a good side shot for  ya if you need it.

Neil

[spacies]

Thanks,

I didn't see the thread in the PA. Can you remember who it is?
I can't find it.

 

[patrickl]

I'd love an accurate side view too.

I corrected Jakobuds side plan from the side picture I found on this page. For the life of me I don't know where I left this drawing though. The picture is slightly distorted and Wade says that the slope on the front under the CP shouldn't be there.

If fixed the image a bit, but it's still pretty low res:

[spacies]

Patrickl, funnily enough I just resized and cropped that very same pic in Illustrator.
I downloaded 3 others as well and resized and layered them in Illustrator. Then I changed the transparency to see the layers below and the all matched except for small differences in the side art which I suspect was a problem out of the factory.

A good photo of a cabinet nice condition would be very helpful. Preferably a Ms Pac because it would be easier to see the outline rather than the black of a Galaga.

Ok, pic time. Who's gonna help us out?

[patrickl]

Patrickl, funnily enough I just resized and cropped that very same pic in Illustrator.

I did more than crop and resize though. I also tried to remove the perspective and the lens distortion so that the back is straight (the blue arrow line is now bent)

A picture of an MsPac would be much easier to straighten than a Galaga one. The horizontal and vertical lines give some clues about what whould be square.

[spacies]

Dam,

A dead-on side view is what is needed to get this right.

I think the photo needs to be taken from as close of the cab to centre as possible.
Then adjusted, like you said, from there.

[patrickl]

Well it's largely a square. Just the CP area and top are curved.

The difficulty is that the picture should be as undistorted as possible (ie don't use a wide angle lens), but usually there isn't enough space next to the cab to get far enough a way to use a longer lens.

Anyway, if there is a high res picture it should be possible to correct it. But yeah it would be best if it was dead on and the camera was level.

[rotheblog]

You might want to try the thread that was hot and heavy about Joymonkey and his Ms. Pac stencils.  He has photos, drawings, and all sorts of measurements of Ms. Pac-man cabinets.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=50429.0

The attached photo in this thread may or may not match up with these, and I would trust Joymonkey based on the steps and work he went through for those stencils.

[coltchillin]

...Seeing there is no correct plans on the interweb....

glad i came across this...
so the jakobud plans are like useless??? i was going to use these 
what is the problem with these exactly?

[patrickl]

Ah that thread has a nice picture and something Joymonkey set up with measurements.

In Jakobuds plans:
- The left top is slightly lower and therefore the slope is less steep
- The sides next to the kickplate are sloped
- The CP is too high and as a result the curve is to strong
- The CP tip is "pointy" instead of rounded

To show the differences with Jakobuds side profile I superimposed that as a red line on Joymonkeys drawing:

[coltchillin]

o wow... glad i didn't start yet!!!

the jakobud version also seems to lack some holes, like in the back.

should i trash the jakobud plans? or am i ok after these corrections?
or even better...
is there a version with exact measures somewhere to be found? (you mentioned correcting them already?)
thanks.

oh je bent nederlands...

[patrickl]

o wow... glad i didn't start yet!!!

the jakobud version also seems to lack some holes, like in the back.

should i trash the jakobud plans? or am i ok after these corrections?
or even better...
is there a version with exact measures somewhere to be found? (you mentioned correcting them already?)
thanks.

I only corrected a picture to be a bit more straight. I have no idea how accurate the plans are. I assume they are not that far off.

The only thing that always bugged me was the side profile. It just looks different.

If you are interested in the dimensons of the back plate then the South African site I mentioned earlier has some pictures with measurements.

BTW if you scroll down there are plans which might have been the base for Jakobuds plans.

oh je bent nederlands...

Ja, dus ik heb al in geen jaren meer een echte Ms Pacman of Galaga cab gezien. Hooguit een "reunion cab' in Scheveningen. Geen idee eigenlijk of dat dezelfde maat heeft.

[coltchillin]

thanks again!

i wont start untill i'm certain i got some decent plans.

staat er uberhaupt nog iets interessants in scheveningen?

[patrickl]

thanks again!

i wont start untill i'm certain i got some decent plans.

Yeah hopefully someone who has a Ms Pacman or Galaga cab will help in this thread.

staat er uberhaupt nog iets interessants in scheveningen?

Well I went there last to see the MsPac/Galaga reunion cab again, but that's about it.

[rotheblog]

coltchillin

What is it exactly that you are looking for?

And did spacies get the information he needed, I didn't see him post again.

I have two Ms. Pac-man cabs, I just have limited time.  Maybe there could be some sort of trade of information?

[spacies]

Hi,

No I haven't got the info. Although Joymonkeys drawing might do.
All I need is a direct side on photo of a MS Pac cab.
I don't need any dimensions/measurements.

 

[coltchillin]

coltchillin

What is it exactly that you are looking for?

And did spacies get the information he needed, I didn't see him post again.

I have two Ms. Pac-man cabs, I just have limited time.  Maybe there could be some sort of trade of information?

thanks,
ultimately... i need decent plans so i can build from scratch

but a trace of the side panel or like spacies said a hi-res pic so it's suitable for a vectorization would be a nice start.

[coltchillin]

i guess ordering the side art from twobits would solve the panel shape problem

[patrickl]

Lol. I can't understand why he let the sides come out so far forward around the CP. Looks like these pointy things are going to be something you bump into a lot. (On other pictures it shows this better)

[spacies]

i guess ordering the side art from twobits would solve the panel shape problem

So does their art come pre-cut?

[patrickl]

i guess ordering the side art from twobits would solve the panel shape problem

So does their art come pre-cut?

If you look at the picture you can see where the artwork is and where it's painted blue.

I would assume it's pre-cut, but oversized.

[spacies]

Yeah I see that.

I was blinded by that 'thing' it is stuck too. 

I am going to use Joymonkeys drawing above I think.

[coltchillin]

...I am going to use Joymonkeys drawing above I think.

you got it in .ai or something?

[spacies]

...I am going to use Joymonkeys drawing above I think.

you got it in .ai or something?

Yeah I do.
I created a new project with the correct horizontal and vertical size, inserted joymonkeys pic and stretched it to fit.
I have done this with every other good photo I could find so now I have 6 layers. When I flick through them or make them transparent they all line up with very slight differences in the art work which I suspect is from the factory.

I printed a full size cab out and this is what I came up with.



That is lying on my artwork.

This confirms I have the sizes right:



The MDF on the right is cut to Jakobuds specs:



This confirms those plans are wrong:



I am fairly happy now.
A bit more tweaking and I am ready to build.

[coltchillin]

looking fresh!

so you had the artwork already? and you already messed up some mdf?
would you share the .ai? or are questions like that a no no onhere?

are you gonna cut two plates at once? or what is the best way to go about it?

[patrickl]

@coltchillin
Spacies artwork doesn't look pre-cut, so he wouldn't have know from that how a real Ms-Pacman looks.


@Spacies,

The top of your side-profile collage looks oddly straight. Is that from Joymonkeys drawing?

[shardian]

looking fresh!

so you had the artwork already? and you already messed up some mdf?

It appears he just cut a profile out of some 1x8 or similar stock.

[coltchillin]

...@Spacies,

The top of your side-profile collage looks oddly straight. Is that from Joymonkeys drawing?

yeah, if that's not optical/angle etc related, it sure does look very straight.

[spacies]

looking fresh!

so you had the artwork already? and you already messed up some mdf?
would you share the .ai? or are questions like that a no no onhere?

are you gonna cut two plates at once? or what is the best way to go about it?

Yep I have the artwork already.
Yep I already built a machine using Jakos plans:



Even though its a skinny you can tell the curves are all wrong.
As for the cutting, I will cut a template on a thin piece of MDF and then use that as a template for the sides. They will be cut with a flush trim bit on the router.

@coltchillin
Spacies artwork doesn't look pre-cut, so he wouldn't have know from that how a real Ms-Pacman looks.

Correct, I am in New Zealand and we didn't get many USA machines here. I have never seen a Ms Pac or Galaga.

@coltchillin

The top of your side-profile collage looks oddly straight. Is that from Joymonkeys drawing?

Good spotting. It is straight. This was the first printout I did as a test. I wasn't bothered with getting the curve right at the top. I was more interested in the front curves. It was not Joymonkeys drawing. His will be used as the final template though.

It appears he just cut a profile out of some 1x8 or similar stock.

That was the offcut from template of the purple thing above.

yeah, if that's not optical/angle etc related, it sure does look very straight.

As above. The real deal will be right.

[patrickl]

It's always cool to see a pro work on these things Can't wait to see your end results.

BTW even though the lines don't exactly match, that's a nice skinny cab.

[spacies]

It's always cool to see a pro work on these things Can't wait to see your end results.

BTW even though the lines don't exactly match, that's a nice skinny cab.

Thanks mate,
I really want to get this right. Usually I jump straight in an just go but I love the shape of this cab so I am taking my time. I am glad I have because I have found out that the kickplates are only 584mm wide (not including the sides) and I usually build my cabs @ 600mm.

The skinnys are cool. I wasn't sure on that colour scheme but it really shines in the flesh.

I lurve the CP:



Thanks again 

[coltchillin]

yo spacies, that looks really clean!

i have this woodworker helping me out but i'm kinda worried the side panels won't be identical or tight. he also told me a template would do the trick but i was still sceptical.

so you cut each panel seperately from the template?
or two in one go, like layer them first?

thanks.

[patrickl]

Thanks again 

Thank you for being an inspiration

BTW The RAZR is a nice phone, but pictures taken with a real camera would do your creation more justice 

[spacies]

yo spacies, that looks really clean!

i have this woodworker helping me out but i'm kinda worried the side panels won't be identical or tight. he also told me a template would do the trick but i was still sceptical.

so you cut each panel seperately from the template?
or two in one go, like layer them first?

thanks.

Cheers.
Use a template. Cut each panel separately using the template as a guide. They will come out as close as you will get without CNC. The good thing about MDF is that a thinner piece shapes up really easily with some sandpaper. I usually seal the edges of my templates to avoid them going soft and stopping the bearing on the router from making a line after repetitive usage.

Thanks again 

Thank you for being an inspiration

BTW The RAZR is a nice phone, but pictures taken with a real camera would do your creation more justice 

Ha ha ha, good spotting again. I hate that darn phone. It is sooo slooowwww with all the pics on the mem card. You know, its too easy to pull it out of your pocket and take a pic rather that trash the good camera. My lady gets a bit uptight if I get glue and paint on the good one :p

I don't know if I will do a PA on this build.
I might just post a finished pic when its done. BTW I am building 2.

I am still totally stunned there are no correct plans for what is one of the most recognized cabs out there! 

[Jakobud]

Hmmm I remember thinking that my Pacman and Ms. Pacman plans were not exact but I did not think they were as far off as in these pics.  Those curves on the front are really difficult to measure and quantify on paper.

[coltchillin]

...I am still totally stunned there are no correct plans for what is one of the most recognized cabs out there! 

maybe your side panel measures, shape and other additional stuff (door, holes in the back etc) can be incorporated into jakobud's plans (if the only problem is the side panel ofcourse)...

[spacies]

maybe your side panel measures, shape and other additional stuff (door, holes in the back etc) can be incorporated into jakobud's plans (if the only problem is the side panel ofcourse)...

Yeah but I am building a replica using a photo off the web.
The measurements need to come from an original cab. There are tons of them out there but nobody has done it or wants to do it. There are tons of replicas on ebay even!

Come on guys! As you can see there are a lot of people wanting these drawings. Get off your backsides and contribute. Please? Pretty please? With Jam on?

[coltchillin]

yeah, i agree...

patrick pack your tape measurer, cam, drive to scheveningen and molest that reunion cab. 

but seriously... somebody? 

[Jakobud]

You need to understand that it is not an easy cabinet to measure dimensions of.  If you have a big rectangular box, ya anyone can easily determine the dimensions of it.  But when you throw in large curves like Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man has, how do you measure it accurately?  How do you hold a tape measure up to a curve and quantify how the curve is defined or how large the radius or arc-length (which is still useless w/o a center point) is?

If I remember correctly for this cabinet, I had a large reference picture that I imported into AutoCAD.  For the curve, I used the picture to trace some curves that matched up to the curves on the image.  I then approximated the curve radius's (radii?) down to the nearest useable unit (I think it was either 1/8 or 1/16").  I didn't make much sense to tell people to cut a curve that had a 36.29384832" radius.  So an approximation has to come into play somewhere.

Now guys... just a reality check for you all.  The cabinet you are making is NOT a real Ms-Pac Man.  It's not an original.  It never has been and it never will be.  So it doesn't matter how exact you try to copy a cabinet.  Even if you think you have accurately copied a cabinet down to the nearest 1/128 of an inch... it is still not an original.  It's just a copy.  No one is ever going to measure it.  No one is ever going to line it up with another cabinet to check how exact you copied it.  A lot of people on this forum are so super hardcore about being original and staying true to the original design, etc, that they loose scope of what they are working with.  A copy.  Hell, even the ORIGINAL Ms-Pac Mans differ slightly from one to the other (if you look close enough).

BTW, I'm not making excuses with what I'm saying here.  I'm just saying that even what people consider to be 'perfect', 'pristine' copies, really do differ a little when you look close.  I will get those plans more accurate on the front curve when I have some time.  I never knew they were that far off (and honestly I'm surprised that with so many people using the plans over the past 4 years that no one has caught this before).