First Project Chi town: From Hell

[mikev43]

What can I say... my girlfriend says I'm "from hell" and in a good way mind you.. That's why I'm calling this project "from hell" and from the pictures you will see why..  

This is in progress but coming along nicely.

Some original pictures of the cabinet.. how can I say this.. nicely beat to    






So I stripped most of it out, light scraped off the uneven areas on the side and had to scrape a ton off of the bottom as it was mashed and worn down.. I'm missing a small chunk at the bottom that I'm going to have to come up with something but for now it's not bad..

Work in progress






Getting VERY close!!



As of tonight and this post I am nearly done.. have the led's on both sides drilled and mounted.. controller is redone in the black leather as is the lit up/flip up trackball!!  I'm soooo close now.. just need a decent bezel and marquee which I'm going to name "CONTENDER" probably in tron'ish lettering..

Update: I have drilled a hole on each side for pinball emulation also... just haven't cut them out or hooked it up yet.. 



Trackball will light up when PC is brought down


Need to repair the lifted up leather






Some random shots of the remainder of basement with toys and more  

Girlfriends Belly dance bazaar hideout


Brought the outside inside over the winter


Dance floor


Shoot some stick anyone?




Please let me know what you think.. critics welcome as are compliments and or suggestions!!  I'm really excited about this project and it really hasn't taken much time..

If you have any questions about the material I used I can definitely let you know what it is and where I got it.  Thanks to my awesome girlfriend who spotted the side material.. I personally LOVE it and there was ZERO painting etc.. minimal scraping and very little indentations are noticeable on the sides...  

[eds1275]

yeah what is it? looks good, almost like truck bed liner with sparkles. Not that that'd look good on a truck, but on an arcade machine it's almost like looking into space.

[mikev43]

yeah what is it? looks good, almost like truck bed liner with sparkles. Not that that'd look good on a truck, but on an arcade machine it's almost like looking into space.

it's some sort of plastic laminate (rolls up, bends, lays flat etc...) with a textred firm cloth on the back of it which really helps for gluing.  It's also not super thick which helps since once you cut it leaves a small edge.. I will try and get a picture of this but it's NOT distracting etc..  I got it at Joanne Fabrics along with the fake black leather (on my controller board and front of cabinet) which also feels nice when playing.  The cool thing about this stuff is you can just lay it right on top (black leather was a little stretchable) with little to no effort as far as repairing the cab.  Even in the back of the cab there were parts cut out and it makes it appear as if it's one piece.. really great stuff and reasonable.. I got the space age looking material and black leather for $60 or less I believe.  If you ever go this route always use a 50% off coupon as the space age stuff would have been $11 or $12 a yard and I also had another 20% off my total because my girlfriend is on their list and now I am too.   

I'm going to try and update more today.. new pics etc..

[jipp]

yeah i really like that material, def space look.  sure made that beat to hell cab look like a little cutie on prom night..  sad to say my prom was decades ago now.. damn im starting to get up there in age.. good think middle age aint to 60 i think.. laughs.  but being 36 is not all that bad, very little drama the older we get.. BONUS!

look forward to your build

chris.

[NYSubway18]

Looks like you made a lot of progress in a very short time!  Looking forward to seeing your graphics...

Wish I could agree with you Chris on the very little drama part as we get older...at 35 I feel like my life is a freakin' novella...lol (Spanish Soap Opera) 

[mikev43]

Thanks for the positive comments all...  it's really coming along and nearly done.. just need to put on some more led lighting on the bottom front and possibly two round circle led lights under the flip up trackball so to give some more cool illumination.. i haven't totally decided on that part yet..  then the pinball buttons on the side which is a cakewalk.  The marquee I'm trying to figure out if I can somehow add  "CONTENDER" into this picture..    does anyone know how I can do this and still make it look like it was part of it?

[Erik]

no idea about the graphics but I'm so envious over your tales of the arabian nights!  my all time favorite pin

[mikev43]

no idea about the graphics but I'm so envious over your tales of the arabian nights!  my all time favorite pin

heheh thanks.. yeah it's an awesome game.. some think a little easy and or not enough depth but it's kinda like a REALLY good original arcade game.. at least to me it is.. everyone who comes over to play it absolutely loves it.. from the theme to the ball disappearing and the locks etc... and it's almost unarguably the most artistic cabinet and play field.. it's truly a work of art an only 3400 or so ever manufactured.. it's staying hopefully forever!

I also own a JM...