Candy MAME

[lettuce]

Grab a gutted Taito Egret 2 cab from a member over at the killercabs forum, complete with rotating monitor mech 






This will be my 3rd arcade project, and with this one i want to keep things a bit more simplistic, ive done the cab with a frankenpanel, (http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=53297.0) and while i love this cab its taking up alot of room, so have decided to scaling things down and keep things on the CP more simple. Im undecided at the moment to keep the original white colour or go for a different colour completely....maybe a sonic blue, whichever colour i go for im going to have to dismantle the cab and spray. The components im looking at using on this project are:

29" Pentranic MultiSynce Monitor -awaiting email back regarding prices Ordered, £270.25
Motherboard - Ordered,Gigabyte S775 Intel P35 ATX Audio Lan DDRII FSB133, £54.95
2.4Ghz or great Dual Core CPU - Ordered, Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 2.53GHz, £82.85
2 GB Ram -  Ordered, Corsair Memory TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2x1GB 240-Pin DIMM XMS2-6400 CL4, £35.20
Harddisk - Ordered, Samsung Spinpoint 500GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA300, £44.87
ArcadeVGA2 PCI-E - Ordered, Not buying a ArcadeVGA2 card anymore!. Nvidia Geforce 7600GT  512MB  PCI-E, £39.99
PSU -  Ordered, OCZ Technology 500W STEALTHXSTREAM POWER SUPPLY, £36.91
DVD Drive - Ordered, LiteOn DVD-ROM 16x48x Internal SATA Black, £12.94

I-PAC - still to buy
LED-Wiz - still to buy
Windows XP
Running Mala FE
MAME
NullDC (Dreamcast Emulator)

I shall be making a new control panel, i dont want to butcher the Egret 2 plastic CP as theres not a large amount of these cabs in the UK. The new CP will be made out of MDF. I shall be looking at having 2 sticks, 6 maybe 7 buttons for 2 players only, and adding a spinner, thinking of not bothering with a trackball, as not too many games use a trackball and even less are any good (minus using it for lightgun games).

The first thing i need to do is draw around the Egret 2 CP on to a sheet of MDF. Now the first problem is getting a sheet of MDF the same thickness as the Egrets CP which is 1.5" thick, so what i had to do was draw 2 Egret CP on to a 3/4" thick sheet of MDF and then will have to stick them together thus making a CP template 1.5" thick!




I decided to make the 2nd CP template just a 'frame' template as i didnt fancy the idea of routing through 1.5 inches of MDF for the pushbuttons and sticks



I then glued and screwed the 2 MDF sheets together and added clamps for good measure



Afterwards i router to put a curved edge on the top of the CP

[Donkey_Kong]

Nice job on the CP replica. Me rikey.  What do you have planned for type of joy sticks?

[lettuce]

Not 100% sure yet, but on my short list is:

Sanwa Ball Tops
Ultimarc Mag-stik Plus Ball Tops
Ultimarc J-Stick Ball Tops

I like the idea of the Ultimarc sticks as these can be turned from 4 to 8 way from the top of the CP, not sure how the Mag-stiks 'feel' though as they are not centered via a spring its a magnet.

I also orderd My Pentranic Monitor today, it cost £230 + VAT, which i was happy with as i got a quote for a Polo Star from Hantarex which was £450 odd and that was just for a 25" display!!

[Ginsu Victim]

Spend the extra cash and get UltraStik 360s. You'll be glad you did.

[lettuce]

Yeah i was thinking about them but not too sure how they would feel, do they feel like an old school arcade stick, i imagine them to feel like an analog stick rather than a arcade stick?

[Kajoq]

Just do it right and put actual Sanwa or Seimitsu sticks in it!

It might not be as easy to swap 4 / 8 way but that cab deserves serious sticks!

[Ginsu Victim]

Yeah i was thinking about them but not too sure how they would feel, do they feel like an old school arcade stick, i imagine them to feel like an analog stick rather than a arcade stick?

They feel old school, especially with a stiffer spring and circular restrictor added.

[lettuce]

Right got my Pentranics Monitor today, only 4 days after ordering really good service. Anyway heres some pics....









Happy with the picture bright and vibrant...





But have notice a strange display problem on the righthand side of the screen, it seems to be 'sqwished'....

[Twin-X]

Crap........ .........

This was a big mistake too look at this topic!

Now i want that monitor too!!!!!

Excellent price. I live in the Netherlands. i wonder how much shipping would be.

Rotating 29" wow man arent those vertical games going to show too big at that playing range?

[lettuce]

Have stripped the cab down and used wet and dry to get a 'key' on the surface and added primer...



Prior to priming i used a heat gun to remove the side art, by the looks of it it has had a fair few coats of paint on before...



I then had to get some plastic primer for the control panel and the monitor housing, as the primer i used for the cabinet wasnt adhering to the plastic.....

[lettuce]

I have scrapped my control panel from above and re-cut another cp same shape but slight bigger. Used the old CP as a template for a cutting a thick 5mm bit of hard plexi-glass....



I then used the plexi-glass as a template and used a router to make a recess in the CP for the plexi-glass to fit into..after a bit of fine sanding...

[Franco B]

Looks awesome! 

Dammit, I want a Candy cab!!

As Ginnus said, If i was you I would go for U360s. I went for Sanwa JLWs on my cab but it turns out U360s are just a (very,iI.e PCB etc) modified JLW.

If I had known before I would have bought U360s. Luckily as I have drilled my CPs for JLWs I can easily change them for U360s.

I dont know anyone who has said a bad thing about the U360s.

Keep up the good work, I can see this being one of the projects I love to hate (only cos I want one so much!!) 

[arcadefever]

  Good job on the panel 

[lettuce]

Got my Order from Ultimarc (thanks Andy) this morning. 2 U360 sticks with, 2 sets of harder springs, longer shafts etc....



Also got round to spraying the first coat of top coat this morning, wasnt too sure if i would like the colour i selected to start of with, but i think it suits the cab?......



Now im undecided weather to go with a 2 tone colour scheme, im thinking of having the doors at the front, speaker grills and inner or outer section of the control panel either, black or white, not sure which would go best with that shade of blue

[lettuce]

Got around to putting the 2nd coat on the main cab and the first coat on the CP and cab lid...

[Ginsu Victim]

So you DID get the U360s! That's awesome....

You're at least the third person I've got to buy them (and maybe others who just read the board and don't post..)

[Franco B]

Ginsu, do you have shares in Ulitmarc too? 

Awesome paint job. What kind of paint did you use? Is it hard wearing? Im just interested.

That is a lovely shade of blue. I think is crying out for some white contrasting parts. 

I think black would look quite smooth but may be a little severe, I think white would really make it pop.

 Keep up the good work and keep taking plenty of pictures!

[lettuce]

The spray paint im using is called, Plasti-Kote (http://proof.plastikote.co.uk/Product/pcode---4181/pccode---6751), its colour is light blus gloss, its for interior and exterior use so it surpossed to be hard wearing. Also got the plasti-kote clear sealer to go on after ive done final coat so it protect it  . yeah im thinking of going more with the white, i can try each colour out as im yet to prime the front doors which will use a black primer, and then i can also see what the white look like on another door before i add the primer

[Ginsu Victim]

Ginsu, do you have shares in Ulitmarc too? 

Nope, but I should start getting kickbacks.

[gavkiwi]

this is a cool build I like it alot, SF III looks very, very good, bravo 

[lettuce]

Some slight progress, have now painted the inside of the cab white....



this afternoon finished spray the main cab and doors too...




Heres my proposed CP layout, the button in the middle of the CP is for the spinner, may or may not add one yet, not sure. The buttons alone the top are admin buttons, Menu, Enter, Esc, Credit, Pause etc, and in the middle Player 1 & 2 start. May decide to do away with the admin buttons, depends if i can program these fuctions into the I-PAC using a shift key
fuction...



Now im in 2 minds weather to leave the plastic bezel dark grey, or spry that white too which i think would finish the cab of nicely

[clockwork]

Sweet looking cab. Nice restoration work. That is one monster of a rotating device.

Tough call on the bezel color. The white is definitely a better fit for the cab, but may be too much contrast and a distraction when playing. Dunno. Probably have to try both ways.

[shinhed]

Sweet project. I vote you keep the bezel gray.

[tk375]

Your Arcade is turning out very clean, I will be looking forward to see your finish product. that monitor was very cheap, my next project is going to have a monitor of at least 29 Inches.

[Neilyboy]

This thing is beautiful... maybe one day ill find a candy cab locally.. With gas prices the way they are and being broke all the time pretty much eliminates the possibility of driving anywhere to pick one up..

nice work man ill keep an eye on this one..

neil

[lettuce]

Got my PC parts a few days ago, from dabs.com, based here in the UK...

Gigabyte S775 Intel P35 ATX Audio Lan DDRII FSB133, £54.95
Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 2.53GHz, £82.85
Corsair Memory TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2x1GB 240-Pin DIMM XMS2-6400 CL4, £35.20
Samsung Spinpoint 500GB 7200RPM 16MB SATA300, £44.87
Nvidia Geforce 7600GT  512MB  PCI-E, £39.99
OCZ Technology 500W STEALTHXSTREAM POWER SUPPLY, £36.91
LiteOn DVD-ROM 16x48x Internal SATA Black, £12.94

Have attached the components to a 1/2 inch mdf board which will fit inside the cab and slide in and out, just like the PCB board would do..


Wont be keeping the DVD drive attached to the mobo so havent screw it to the board, will upload any files to this PC, via my network after installing windows. Just need to decide either Windows XP 64 or Vista 64 

[Timstuff]

This thing is beautiful... maybe one day ill find a candy cab locally.. With gas prices the way they are and being broke all the time pretty much eliminates the possibility of driving anywhere to pick one up..

nice work man ill keep an eye on this one..

neil

I haven't even seen a candy cab in person... I'm not sure if there even are any in my state.

[BASS!]

Ok, the only thing I see missing is a good aftermarket cooler. This board is dieing to be overclocked. If you need help with settings tazznz is always around in the mame benchmark topic. FYI I have this same setup with a intel e8400 which runs stock at 3.00ghz running around 4.2ghz stable as a mule. The only other thing I have found about these boards is they don't cope well with sleep mode and overclocking. If you put it in sleep it will often have a bios error and re set your default motherboard settings.

About the bezel, I like dark gray, I think it will look great with the blue case. If you are dieing to switch it up you could always maybe paint it a tad lighter, but stay away from white, its going to drive you mad if you stare at it too long. Otherwise congrats on the cab, If only someone had one in the Seattle area I could nab for under $1000. LOOkin great!

[jeffhlewis]

Nice looking project, I think that blue color is awesome and suits it perfectly.

That PC is a beast! You running MAME on this primarily or other stuff too?

[lettuce]

Thanks, mainly mame, aswell as NullDC too

[lettuce]

Right, have decided to go with both CP's and see which i like the best once finished. So today i got hold of a scrap bit of 2-3mm sheet metal, and used a template to draw an out line of the CP on the bit of metal....



After a bit of filing down the edges it fits perfectly....



Now the original CP top is a little worse for wear...



Any suggestions on how to fix this, they seem too deep to be able to sand out 

[lettuce]

Got round to sticking the stick and button stenceis to the metal CP and used 2 types (24mm & 30mm) of Q-Max metal sheet punchers, quality bits of kit....


Stripped the rotary mech, sanded it down and gave it a coat of vanish, shall grease the wheels up and reassemble...


Sanded down the CP housing and used filler on the chunks and scrapes, sanded down again and the primed the CP, looks good   .....

[BASS!]

Right, have decided to go with both CP's and see which i like the best once finished. So today i got hold of a scrap bit of 2-3mm sheet metal, and used a template to draw an out line of the CP on the bit of metal....



After a bit of filing down the edges it fits perfectly....



Now the original CP top is a little worse for wear...



Any suggestions on how to fix this, they seem too deep to be able to sand out 

IMHO bondo is about the coolest substance ever. Just go around the nicks with a nice filling and let dry. Then sand away the excess. It will look brand new.

[lettuce]

Yeah thats what i used 

[lettuce]

I reassembled the monitor mounting plate and fitted it back in the cab..


then greased up the wheels and rotary mech and place in back on the mounting plate...


Right now for the bit of the project i was dreading the most.....
We shall be putting this...


Into this cab...


To achieve this...


First of we have to discharge the tube, now most modern Monitors discharge themselves but you never know so its best to be safe than sorry.

To do this you need a flat head screw driver with a rubber handle if possible, a high conductive bit of wire about 2 feet long and 2 croc clips, attach the 2 clips to either end of the wire. Now attach one clip to the earthing strap on the rear of the tube of the monitor and the other clip to any metal part of the screw drive and a maybe a rubber glove...well i did..


Now only every use one hand when working on monitors place you free hand behind your back or in your pocket. Place the screw driver under the red anode cap (looks like a suction cap).....

and push towards the center of the anode cap where 2 pins are, you'll either hear a crack sound or like i did nothing, do this a few time just to make sure the tube is properly discharged, once done it should now be safe to remove the cap.

Pull the rubber/plastic bit of the suction cup back to expose the 2 pins, pinch the pins together so you can release the cap from the tube, you may need to add quite a bit of pressure. Once removed you can breath a sigh of relief...


now remove any other wires from the PCB to the tube to get to this..


Now time to fit the tube into the rotary device of the Egret II, as lucky would have it no modding to the tube or rotary device is need  its a straight fit....


Now the bit where this falls down slightly, the plastic screen bezel doesnt quite fit the radius of the monitor  ....



While the bezel was still against the screen, i placed a penicl against the screen and drawed on the beezl in the 4 corners where it was press against the screen....


I then took a dremel to the bezel...



After shaving the corners with the demel and placing the bezel back in the cab again, going back to the work bench, rinse and repeat a few times i got to this stage...




But alas the top of the bezel i could not get as close as the rest of the sides no matter how much i shaved from the corners  ....


But i can live with the small gap

As you can see there is just enough space at the rear of the tube for the anode cap to go back on, thew  :shock: .....


I had to cut the cable ties on the wires on the PCB as they were not long enough, i had to place the PCB on a box on the floor of the cab, as with it mounted in the cab there wasnt enough space to get my big head inside the cab as well to see where the wires had to plug in  , i only had to chop one wire as it wasnt long enough, one of the black ground wires, you can probably see the chocolate block in the picture....

[lettuce]

Havent worked on this project for about a week cos the weathers been shite here in the UK, but today was nice so i cracked on.

My father kindly made me up some 'L' shaped brackets for my joysticks to screw to so there wouldnt be any bolt or screw head on the top side of the CP showng...


The 'L' shaped brackets are screwed from the underneith upwards and then the ends of the screws that protrude above the CP are sanded down and then the whole top surface of the CP with be sanded with an orbital sander, hopefully with a couble of coats of paint you wont notice the screws...

[lettuce]

Decided to replace the standard speakers, as one of the speakers sounded slightly distorted so i got a Logitech X-210 2.1 system, worked out ok as it means i dont have to get an amp to power the standard speakers for use with my PC...


Had to drill a hole in the rear of the speaker case so i could mount it to the speaker bracket inside the cab, stuck some heavy duty padding tape to the rear of the speaker case to cut out any vibration from sound that may occur...


Seems to fit rather well i think....

[lettuce]

I slight upgrade on the PC side, decided to overclock the CPU so need a 'larger' heatsink and fan, so got a Xigmatek HDT-S1283. Have overclocked my 2.55ghz Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 to 3.8ghz and stress tested for over 8 hours without a hitch with 1.37500 vcore and temps never going about 53c underload for each core  ....

[lettuce]

Almost finished my CP now, put the last coat on this morning....



And then later on this afternoon installed the buttons and sticks....



Shall be putting a sheet of paper in the instruction marquee bit of the CP sprayed the same blue as the rest of the cab, also the dust covers for the stick shall be sprayed white and the coin cover shall be blue also

[Franco B]

Looks luuuurvely.

Loving the colour scheme. Looks really fresh