micro-pac
Well, I guess I'll just get the ball rolling here since it's so close, and I'm going to be too busy this week to remember to post this on Friday...
Here she is!
The fruit of my last few weeks' labor --
micro-pac. While it's not a scratchbuilt scale replica of an arcade cab, it was a VERY involved conversion project that took a lot of planning, and a lot of trial and error. What it is, is a very small, fully functional MAME machine, built into the shell of an old Coleco table-top electronic Pac-Man.
When I was in 5th grade, someone brought one of these to class. I was a geek with major Pac-Man fever, so I ran over to check it out. The casing looked arcade-like, cast in the rough shape of a GI Joe-sized arcade upright, boasting the same sideart that I was familiar with.
As I approached, I imagined some miniaturized CRT screen playing the same game that I had played in the arcade, but was disappointed when I got close enough to see the rather abstract LED graphics and grating sound effects... This wasn't Pac-Man at all! The maze was red, the animation was crude, and the ghosts had dots and little pac-men inside them! It was the biggest gaming disappointment I'd yet to experience (until the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man was released some months later...)
About a year ago, the topic of micro-cabs came up in an old thread. I was intrigued, and acquired an old non-working Coleco Pac-Man, just like the one I'd seen at school 20 years before. It was missing the marquee sticker, but I knew where to get the artwork to reproduce one... I also bought a Cassiopeia E-100 PDA for $40 from ebay, with the intent of hacking it into the Coleco, giving the little game new life, hosting an arcade-authentic version of the same game. But once I got the PDA, I found it in such good shape (and it was so useful) that I felt it a waste to make it into a micro-MAME machine. It was outdated though, and I eventually opted to buy a new Dell Axim X5 for PDA use, freeing up the Cassiopeia for it's original intent...
The first challenge was to interface the Coleco's controls with the Cassiopeia. I did this by first identifying the ground and NO contacts for all the switches on the PDA, then soldering ribbon cable to the PCB traces. Some of these were quite tricky to connect, as the connections inside the PDA are very delicate and closely spaced. After testing the contacts with a multimeter, I squirted a few drops of hot glue to protect the delicate solders, and closed the thing up.
The appropriate wires were soldered to points on the stripped Coleco board, and a quick test showed that all buttons worked correctly. I added a few additional buttons to the Coleco's control panel for exit, menu, and fire, and two more on the back of the shell for reset and power.
The PDA's cradle was mounted where the Coleco's battery compartment used to be, and the PDA was secured to it using hot glue at strategic locations. This supports the PDA inside the Coleco, and allows it to receive power, charge the batteries, and sync with my PC for uploading software and roms.
Next, I designed a bezel frame from black foamcore board. This fits around the edges of the PDA, and allows the printed and laminated bezel artwork to fit flush against the front of the PDA. The artwork is scanned from an orignal Pac-Man upright, modified slightly to fit with the constraints of the Coleco/PDA. This frame was secured inside the top-half of the Coleco with some generously applied hot glue. The edges of the artwork match perfectly with the edges of the PDA's backlit screen.
In order to make sense of the additional buttons on the control panel, I created a new overlay, using original Pac-Man cabinet artwork. The look is in keeping with the original overlay. It was laser printed at Kinkos on a Fiery. The Kinko's I go to has self-serve lamination, so I was able to slip a backing sheet in behind the printed page, and laminated the two together. Once it cooled, I cut off the edges of the laminate, producing a one-sided laminated label that is more receptive to adhesive than normal 2-sided lamination.
I punched all the necessary holes in the label using round craft punches. I coated both the control panel and label with professional grade rubber cement, let it dry, then pressed the label in place for a permanent bond. I hinged the label to the CP with a piece of tape before joining, so that it would line up perfectly (dried rubber cement bonds instantly and you only get one chance to get it right.
As a finishing touch, I added a stylus clip to the back of the Coleco, using a plastic cable mount clip and some hot glue. I don't want any fingerprints or scratches on that touchscreen!
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