Finished my first cab!

[Krynos]

<EDIT: Changed thread title, and added picture to last post>

Well I have been lurking on these boards for a couple of weeks gathering priceless information...

This weekend I start construction on my first Mame Cab!

I have my order in at Happ for controls, an Ipac coming, the computer is assembled and ready to go. I bought a 24" non-flat screen svideo TV from Best Buy ($160 --- bargain, nice picture too).

I spent pretty much everynight this week working on my CAD design for the cab, my girlfriend is printing out full size paper templates for me (and will be doing full side art prints for me too). I have three 4x8 sheets of 5/8ths MDF sitting ready to go.

This is going to be a fun fun project I think!

Hopefully by Sunday I should have the cab built and ready for painting and fitting. Once that is done I'll work on the CP layout (not got the parts from Happ yet so that is further down the to-do list) Then work on the custom art (helps that I am a graphic designer).

I'll post pictures when I get started!

- Krynos

[Krynos]

Well I have finished marking up all the mdf sheets (templates rock!) and have cut one sheet completely, I stopped as it was getting kinda late to be running a power saw.

One of the pieces is a side... this is a cool hobby!

- Rick

[TrickyFishy]

Think your excited now?  Wait till you have it all bolted together!

[Krynos]

All is going well with my project.

This morning I got all the mdf cut up (except the CP, doing that last).

Most of the assembly has been completed this afternoon / evening.

Tommorrow after the caulk sets will be final sand and primer, maybe even a coat of paint if I can get the primer on early enough. Going to paint it a deeeep almost midnight blue.

Here are some pictures of how it looked after first assembly.




- Krynos

[Krynos]

Oh and I forgot to mention a great deal at Lowes...

During constuction I dropped my cheap-&-cheesy corded drill (not the cordless phew!) and broke it. So I headed to Lowes to get a replacement, and decided on the way to buy a powersander too as I am too lazy to do it by hand.

They had a value-pack of Black & Decker tools in Lowes, the basic corded set of drill / jigsaw / sander with a storage bag (nice one too) for $37 !!! Each of those sell for $24.99 each, so this is a great deal if you need some basic powertools.

- Krynos

[SirPeale]

Yeah, I got those as an Xmas present this year.  Was very nice.

[meta87]

Your cab looks great! I like that Neo Geo style.

[Krynos]

Thanks!

I am suprised myself how well it is going so far!

I got the primer on first thing this morning, and so far 3 coats of final paint, I'm going with a deep blue, almost midnight blue in the hopes that the end result won't look too much like the monolith from 2001 when in the house!!

After the paint is dry then I'm going to add white trim, the screen plex (smoked hopefully if I can find a local source), Marquee holder and plex. Add the speaker grills, sub grill at the bottom front, fan at the bottom front.

Once it is in the house I'm going to install the TV and computer, then I just have to wait for my controls and ipac to be delivered then make the CP.

After the CP is complete I'm going to start work on the side art / marquee / CP art / bezel art.

With a good tailwind I think I will have an artless working cab by next Friday, 1 week start to finish.

- Krynos

[Apollo]

You are painting way too quickly big fella. A decent paint job on your cab should take you about a week ( seriously ).

[Krynos]

Yeah I know I should be taking more time on the painting.

However the finish is very nice with what I have done, and the majority of the cab will be covered will full art. So not much of the paint will be visable when it is finished. The only painted sections that will be exposed are around the bottom of the base section and around the screen bezel / speaker panel. I would have used laminate of the finish if I wasn't going to be putting full side art on it.

Overall after checking the paint job this morning I am pleased with the result. On the visable areas I may well do a final sand and polish though.

My ipac arrived this morning, but I am still waiting on the controls from Happ.

Last night while the paint was drying I set up the PC that will be living inside the cab - AMD XP1800+ 512mb ram RadeonVE Phillips siesmic edge soundcard etc. Got it all up and running except a front end which I am still researching.

- Krynos

[Apollo]

May I suggest MAMEWAH?

[pathdoc2]

Very nice looking cab.  What kind of sideart are you thinking of?

[jakejake28]

when searching for a front end, don't forget Dragon King. it is really easy to skin and use, and your pc will be able to handle all the cool effects you can put in.

[Krynos]

Well the paint job looks good to me - yeah it's not perfect but it is better than I thought it would be (from previous experience of painting MDF).

Last night we put on the edging, currently it is just that iron on tape stuff, maybe later on I will do t-strip, but without a router I don't want to do that now. The iron on stuff looks just fine and gives a very professional look to the cab (now painted deep dark blue)

We brought it into the house and put the cab in position. Looks great - the rest of the build and install I would rather be inside where it is air conditioned, building this in the garage was gruling due to the heat here.

Last night I mounted the main speakers up top, the sub down at the bottom with grill, external volume control, an intake fan down at the bottom. Positioned and mounted the TV, installed the PC and power strip, installed the neon strip in the marquee, and installed the masking so the light doesn't bleed into the rest of the cab.

My Happ controls were delivered today, so now I will start work on the CP. I did play a little on it as it is last night - though only with a sidewinder usb pad - I am really looking forward to the real control panel being completed.

Also I have found a local supplier with a great range of in-stock plex and lexan. Going to go there tomorrow and get the smoked plex the bezel, a piece of milk and clear plex for the marquee, and a piece of lexan for the CP.

Soon I will start work on the side / marquee / cp art. Not sure of the theme yet, something reflecting the 80's retro while looking fresh and new - that will be a cool section of the project.

- Krynos

[SNAAAKE]

Well the paint job looks good to me - yeah it's not perfect but it is better than I thought it would be (from previous experience of painting MDF).

Last night we put on the edging, currently it is just that iron on tape stuff, maybe later on I will do t-strip, but without a router I don't want to do that now. The iron on stuff looks just fine and gives a very professional look to the cab (now painted deep dark blue)

We brought it into the house and put the cab in position. Looks great - the rest of the build and install I would rather be inside where it is air conditioned, building this in the garage was gruling due to the heat here.

Last night I mounted the main speakers up top, the sub down at the bottom with grill, external volume control, an intake fan down at the bottom. Positioned and mounted the TV, installed the PC and power strip, installed the neon strip in the marquee, and installed the masking so the light doesn't bleed into the rest of the cab.

My Happ controls were delivered today, so now I will start work on the CP. I did play a little on it as it is last night - though only with a sidewinder usb pad - I am really looking forward to the real control panel being completed.

Also I have found a local supplier with a great range of in-stock plex and lexan. Going to go there tomorrow and get the smoked plex the bezel, a piece of milk and clear plex for the marquee, and a piece of lexan for the CP.

Soon I will start work on the side / marquee / cp art. Not sure of the theme yet, something reflecting the 80's retro while looking fresh and new - that will be a cool section of the project.

- Krynos

ALL THAT without pictures ! !  

Whats wrong with you... ..I mean  
Seriouslly..take pictures and post.I am sure the cabinet looks great(skills)  

[Krynos]

Well today I got the control panel overlay done, and the GF printed it for me. I picked up the plex, and tonight I have been constructing the control panel

New pictures of the cabinet!







The flash has made the blue look much lighter that it actually looks in reality, I think it is the semi-gloss finish doing it, also it has dimmed the screen down, it is plenty bright enough.

The control panel is not wired yet, that is my next task.

- Rick

[traknfieldSUPAstar]

I'm diggin your cp overlay... nice job overrall by the way  

[BombProofPlane]

you gonna put some grills over those top speakers?

nice panel but for such a nice looking cab you should of went with an arcade monitor

[SNAAAKE]

LOOKS GREAT !  
I dont get the bottom speaker "thingy" though
....
Bare speakers sticking out ? ? ?

I like it the way its all blue with white molding.
The overlay looks pretty cool too.

[Krynos]

It's not finished yet!!

Yes, speaker grills are ordered for the top speakers.

The bottom grills hide on the left the subwoofer, on the right a 120mm intake fan.

Also the volume control is not fully attached yet, and the marquee is currently just the milk plex wedged in the hole...

Currently I do not want to mess with adding an arcade monitor, the whole exposed death in the cab and the additional psu is something I don't want to deal with right now. Maybe in the future I will add one.

I just finished wiring the CP up, worked first time perfectly. As you can see its the basic "fighter" setup. I will be building other panels in the future (got to get this in shape first).

And of course --- I 'need' a coin door at some point

So far so good

- Krynos

[GSXRMovistar]

Excellent looking cab  

I especially like the CP overlay, nice to see something different.

Look forward to seeing it finished (with morepics!).

[Daver4676]

Currently I do not want to mess with adding an arcade monitor, the whole exposed death in the cab and the additional psu is something I don't want to deal with right now.

A lot of people have been asking me why I'm going to use a TV instead of an arcade monitor.  That's pretty much my reason too (besides price).  I'm not so much worried about me, but when I eventually need help taking the monitor out (which will happen when I move) I don't need my clumsy friends grabbing the wrong part.

But I like your cab -- nice work.  You gave me some great art ideas on the overlay too which i have been wrestling with for some time (though it's still taking a backseat to actually completing the cp first).  

[pathdoc2]

I love your control panel overlay.  Would you mind sharing it with the rest of us?  I'd use it on my next cab.

[Krynos]

Progress is s.l.o.w.i.n.g. down... I assume this is normal once the cab becomes playable lol!

Recently completed
Speaker grills are in place now.
Lighting bar is in place.
Internal marquee masking is in place now (to stop light bleed into the main cab.
Milk plex installed in marquee for light diffusion.
Main power switch installed on cab (still waiting on smart strip to arrive)
Computer fully installed.
Volume control affixed to final location.
Top marquee designed, hopefully printed today.
Roms installed on cab computer.
MameWah installed, most custom lists done.
Cabinet PC added to network.
Custom programming of ipac and mame set up for full cp functionality.

Still remaining:
Design / print / mount side art
Install smart strip
install marquee art and final clear plex
Create custom mamewah skin
Replace windows xp startup/shutdown screens
Replace windows startup/shutdown sounds
*maybe* add custom bezel art (not too sure on this, the smoked plex looks awesome on its own)
Tweek fans (cab / computer) they are running at max speed atm, and are too noticable, need to quiet them down.

Work is constantly slowed down by the need to play two player tetris with the GF... she is annoyingly good at it.

Looking good so far!!! Though the main cab will be complete soon and I need to think about designing the additional control panels (designed cab with this in mind).

I'm thinking I need a second CP with 4way + spinner + trackball. And a third with steering wheel / gear change (not figured out the best way to add pedals yet). I have a MS sidewinder steering wheel/pedels I am planning on using for this. Oh and I'll probably want a yoke CP and 360 degree wheels (probably 2). I can see this being the never ending project... which is a good thing honestly.

- Krynos

[walls83]

I love the white t-molding looks very good with the blue.  CP overlay is very nice too. great job.

[Krynos]

I've added a smartstrip and I love that, great little item all mamecabs should have ---- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Also I have installed the marquee, though I am not sold on the artwork I created, it may be a do-over. Going to live with it for a few days first though.

I found a solution to the TV not remembering the channel and power status though. The one I have does not power up when power is restored and it defaults to channel 6 not svid.

I found a Infrared receiver / transmitter, that I am going to use in conjuntion with Girder (windows automation application). I will teach girder the IR codes for power on and vid mode select from the original TV remote, then girder will start up automatically when windows loads, and send the codes to the TV to turn it on and select svid automatically.

This means that I will also not have modify the windows boot up and welcome screens as I will never see them, just the shut down screen as the TV will be on until the computer is fully powered down.

- Krynos

[Krynos]

Well the Cab in now "finished" (well as much as these things ever are - mods to come later - mainly new cp's)

All that is left now is a custom MameWah skin, and tweeking of the XP boot / login / logout screens.



Photoshopped out the background as final contruction took place in the house and it is a complete MESS... soon as I finish posting this, operation clean up begins...

Without all the great information and projects on this board (and this is the BEST board for cab construction) this cab would still just be an idea waiting to happen.

Thanks!!

- Krynos

[pathdoc2]

Great job.

[GSXRMovistar]

Looks sweet, what did you print your side art to and how was it attached?

[Krynos]

All the artwork (side / CP / Marquee) was printed by my girlfriend on a HP DesignJet 5500 60" wide printer, on HP production gloss heavy paper, she works with large format printers (this is one of many in her print lab - but it is the best).

I designed the side art with a 1" bleed all the way round, to give me some wiggle room in mounting. The adhesive was 3M Super 77.

The main concern in mounting was that I would 'miss' accurately positioning the side art first time, and super 77 does not allow for repositioning, once it touches it's on there. I carefully lined up the art work and got two corners in position (lots of practice first without adhesive) and my girlfriend used a roller while I made sure the print was only touching in the right places untill the roller got there.

I designed the side art so that I would be able to miss and it would not show, as long as I was within the bleed.

The side art was designed by me - basically it is a combination of several photoshop filters, and I think it came out rather well.

Once the glue was fully dryed (well about an hour) I got a straight edge and scalpel and carefully trimmed the side art.

I was planning on doing a bezel too --- but to be honest I love the look of the smoked plex! When it is off you cannot see the TV behind, and when the it is on, the picture just kind of floats in the darkness and looks really cool - so I am going to leave it as it is.

Last night I also did a custom mamewha skin that matches the cab art and ties it all together - and I'm currently working on thw winxp boot screen and log in /shut down screens.

The last thing to add I have on order I should receive next week. It is a Tira http://www.home-electro.com/tira1.htm intrared transmitter reciver. I am going to use Girder http://www.girder.nl/ to learn the IR codes for the TV for <power up> and <vid select>. I've ordered the caseless OEM Tira, and I will be mounting the IR led behind the bezel infront of the TV's IR reciever. Then the plan is that Girder will load automatically with windows, send the codes to bring the TV out of standby and then switch to svid mode.

This will make the cab a one button deal for powering up and powering down. Currently everything is controlled via a smartstrip which powers up / powers down everything when power to the PC is sensed - the power button for the PC is hacked to an arcade button on the front of the cab. One press to turn it on, one press to shut it down.

- Krynos