[Completed] Street Fighter Arcade Cab -Previously "Girls of"

[tommywright]

Home for Thanksgiving so I'm getting my graphics printed.  My family has a printing shop that specializes in large format printing www.CarolinaCanvas.com.  I'm having the graphics printed on a self adhesive, uv protected vinyl film and it looks amazing.  The theme will be more general Street Fighter versus series rather than "girls" of street fighter.  I warmed up the colors on this piece to match the rest.

Here's a picture of one of the printers doing one side of my side art.  I'm blanking on the original artist's name but I should definitely give him proper credit. 

[tommywright]

Back in California and putting the graphics on today. 

For a large graphic, you want to line it up first (with the adhesive back still on).  It's best if you can lay the cab on it's side because it's easier to keep the print in place.  Once you got it where you want it cut some excess off (leave about an inch on each side just in case you accidentally move it while pulling the adhesive back off.



Pulling the back off is a two man job (I don't have a picture of this because I needed the camera man  :p ).  You'll want to stick down a small piece to anchor it.  One person should be pulling the back off from underneath very slowly while the other person uses a squeegee to push the paper down and toward the person pulling the back off.  The guy with the squeegee is also making sure there are no air bubbles under the graphic.


Once you get the entire thing stuck down, you should still have that inch or so overlap.  That's easily cut off with an exacto knife or even box cutters.  Make sure you use a new, sharp blade and be careful with it.  Place the blade on the edge and move the knife consistently with the blade as flat as possible.  This part isn't nearly as hard as it looks... just cut with confidence and if you have to stop, turn the knife away from the cab.



T-molding is super easy so I'm not going to explain that.  :p

[gbeef]

that artwork is pretty sweettt!!!! nice work.

[SNAAKE]

did some redraw that street fighting collection(cammy) art in vector? looks solid

[emphatic]

That's some damn hot artwork! 

[tommywright]

did some redraw that street fighting collection(cammy) art in vector? looks solid

No, the art was already print resolution and my brother's shop specializes in enlarging stuff like that so he worked his magic and it looks perfect.  This way is much better than converting to vector because the graphic maintains the proper gradations of the original which I personally much prefer.  If the art doesn't have very many gradients then vector conversion is a good option. 

Thanks for all the compliments!  This has been a super fun project.

[opt2not]

Was searching for some Street Fighter artwork and came across this image:


Pretty cool Udon artwork. I instantly thought of your cabinet.  Nice work so far!

[tommywright]

Those Udon dudes are awesome!

Ok.. here's a picture of the controller.  I outsourced this to Dream Home Arcades.  What's funny is they forgot the spinner (top picture) and 5 minutes later he sent me the second picture.   

[tommywright]

This weekend I'm finishing things up by assembling the cab.  Sorry it's so dirty in the pictures.


Test fit the marquee plexi and made sure the light works behind it:




Put the coin door in and powered the lights from the computer:




Got the graphics printed for the marquee:




Installed the speakers (these were broken out of a brand new box.. 2 tiny speakers and a sub):



Installed the top fans:



Ready for the controller which should come this week:

[Sir Kayne]

Wow, very nice cab 
The artwork is just ...amazing !!!

[tommywright]

Thanks!

It's pretty much done now.  Got the controller in, the plexiglass is in and everything is hooked up and running well.  I still want to shell windows xp but that should be really easy.

So here's the final result!

[opt2not]

Dude, it looks really good!  Much nicer design than some of the other Street Fighter cabinets I've seen posted here lately.
Though I could have gone without the tron stick, kinda distracts from the cabinet. But then again, I'm not one for frankenpanels, I usually opt for less controls and multiple cabinets, versus one cabinet that does it all. But if you're happy, that's great!

It looks tight man. 

[wp34]

This turned out great.  Very proportional.  It looks store bought.   

The screws holding the plexi down are a great and unique touch. 

[Erik]

What's the height of this cab?  Thanks

[BobA]

Looks great!  Nice artwork and great shape on our cab.   

[tommywright]

Thanks for the compliments!     Sorry it took me so long to respond... I've been playing video game!   

Erik, it is almost exactly 6 foot tall.

[DaOld Man]

That is a great looking cab. I gotta agree with everyone else about the amazing art work.
I plan to check out that site you linked to.
Again, great job!
 

[Well Fed Games]

Wow, I think you may have finally convinced me to do full side art on my next cab- that looks amazing!!! Love the contour of the upper part of the cab, too. Great job!