My new cab (lowboy)

[melon]

Hello there.
While I'm finishing my mini pinball, I'm making a mame cab, this time not a mini cabinet, as I moved to a new house and now I have space that I didn't have before (I only had mini cabs, like the mini galaga  and a custom bartop machine)

I still have restrictions, the cab can't be more than 1,40m tall, so it will be a lowboy machine, but modified:



Not the final design, but very similar.

So, let's start. I don't know exactly the name in english, I think it's called particle board, or chipboard  melamine faced. Again, sorry for my english, here is a pic of the wood I'm going to use:



So I avoid painting (I hate painting)
Let's cut some wood:



Now let's make the frame.
I have some ¿slats? (sorry again...)



I want it to be stable. Starting to build it:





I will use some leg levellers:



Here installed:



Here a closer view of the frame:



Now installing one side:



I'm goig to have a coin door without coins, only a button:



and the button:



So I cut a hole in the front:



And finally I can install the coin door:





And finally:



It's starting to look like an arcade machine! 

That's all by now. I'll post more pics later, I have to organize them.
Cheers.

[jeremypps]

looks great, how do you put al sides together ? I mean, with this kins of wood (I don't know how to call it as well ... ikea furniture wood ?  ) you cannot use screws, right ?

[dkssprs]

i love the wood you have chosen!!!

What are you going to do with the small sides? Will you use T-molding? I dont think so cause you have already assembly the cabinet...

What kind of monitor will you use? CRT or LCD and what about the inches?

Last thing ....could yoy please share with us the sketchup model? Your project is very interesting.

I will watching it close.

[opt2not]

Hey man this is shaping up nicely! 
I like the smaller, slimmer stylings of a low-boy you got here.  And that coin-door w/ button looks great! May I ask, where did you source the button and the one-slot coin door?  Is that a repro coin-door or a restored one?

[stefano]

Very very nice design!!!!! 

[jongunz]

I like this.  The wood is gonna make it look pretty classy.   

[lukensteinz]

Looking good man. Nice style.
Can I just please beg you not to put extra buttons on the front of the control panel!?
I reckon you could hide them on the top/back part of the Marquee area. Perhaps smaller buttons too?
Sorry pal... It just irks me when I see that. You've got a great simple clear design, don't clutter it up.

[melon]

Thanks for your comments!

looks great, how do you put al sides together ? I mean, with this kins of wood (I don't know how to call it as well ... ikea furniture wood ?  ) you cannot use screws, right ?

It's assembled using screws, from inside the frame so no scews are seen from outside. It's not bad wood, better than some IKEA things...

i love the wood you have chosen!!!

What are you going to do with the small sides? Will you use T-molding? I dont think so cause you have already assembly the cabinet...

What kind of monitor will you use? CRT or LCD and what about the inches?

Last thing ....could yoy please share with us the sketchup model? Your project is very interesting.

I will watching it close.

For the small sides I'm using this:





It could be called U molding, it fits very well and hides all the imperfections of the cut.
I'm going to use a 19 inches TFT 5:4 monitor.
 Everything, monitor, motherboard, PSU, buttons will be "stolen" from this machine (and you can see how the U molding fits):

Hey man this is shaping up nicely! 
I like the smaller, slimmer stylings of a low-boy you got here.  And that coin-door w/ button looks great! May I ask, where did you source the button and the one-slot coin door?  Is that a repro coin-door or a restored one?

I got it from a local online shop here in spain, they sell it as a pack.

Looking good man. Nice style.
Can I just please beg you not to put extra buttons on the front of the control panel!?
I reckon you could hide them on the top/back part of the Marquee area. Perhaps smaller buttons too?
Sorry pal... It just irks me when I see that. You've got a great simple clear design, don't clutter it up.

Yes, I agree with you. This was only a first approach of the real thing. There will only be 1 player start and 2 player start in the control panel. The other buttons, USB hub and Volume control  will be hidden.

Cheers.

[opt2not]

I got it from a local online shop here in spain, they sell it as a pack.

Got a link?

[melon]

Here is the link to the product:

http://www.factoryarcade.com/tienda/product.php?id_product=203

I've been testing the artwork. I think I'll go with Ghouls'n ghost theme:



I've got hi res CP and bezel only, do you guys know where could I find a hi-res marquee?

Regards.

[markc74]

Artwork.joymonkey.com has it but you have to pay to download from them. It might be around somewhere else though.

[jdbailey1206]

I've got hi res CP and bezel only, do you guys know where could I find a hi-res marquee?

Regards.

PM sent about artwork.

[melon]

PM sent about artwork.

 
Thanks dude!

Well, I've been working on the control panel.
It will made of MDF. I got two pieces:



Now I glue them :



After 24 hours, I put some extra hinges to assure it:



Now I can round the edge:



Now it's time to work the plexi:

I put it where it's going to be, I attach a table so that there is some weight that will bend the plexi uniformly.



I use a hot air gun to bend the plexi:



Once it's bended, I hold it with clamps for some hours so that it keeps the form while it cools.



And that's it:



Here testing a final fight artwork...

[emphatic]

Great work! 

[Nimbus]

I love lowboy cabinets, and this looks to be a really nice one.  Keep up the great work!

[melon]

Control panel attached to the cab 

First of all I'll be using a table, attached to the cab with a piano hinge so that the panel can be abatible



In this table I'll put some auxiliar controls (Esc, menu, pause...), volume control and USB conexion, so this stuff will be hidden



Open:



And closed:



Here the USB I'm using

[talkgeek]

Is there any updates?  - I'm liking how this is looking / progressing 

[melon]

Well, it's been 6 months sice the last update. Too busy with Visual Pinball I guess (I think I'll have to rest a bit...)
I'm back again.
Been working in the control panel.
First I use a template to make the holes to the MDF and the plexi:



Here the result:



Here testing the sticks and some buttons:



Those are Zippyy arcade sticks, with a long shaft so that can be monted below a wood control panel.
And here is the panel mounted with the ghouls and ghost theme:

[Pinfritz]

Where do you get these USB -Plugs? I'm searching also for an mini coindoorswitch ...do you have any sites for me? My project is leaning on your inspirating Minipinballproject and i must integrate the switch in an little carfront...  Project and Pictures of my "Taxi 2000 - the pinballcab" a still coming soon      - AND very important for me to say...your skills, your fantasy ...awesome!!!!!

[emphatic]

Welcome back! Progress looks great!

[Gatsu]

That. Is. AWESOME! Loving this cab man. Great work.

I may have to *ahemborrowahem* this design for a later build.

[emphatic]

Where do you get these USB -Plugs?

They're called Neutrik. You can get them from many vendors, but here's a few:

http://www.focusattack.com/search.php?search_query=neutrik&x=0&y=0
http://www.paradisearcadeshop.com/search?controller=search&orderby=position&orderway=desc&search_query=neutrik
http://www.arcadeshop.de/Connectors-Neutrik-NAUSB-W-B_1011.html

[talkgeek]

That. Is. AWESOME! Loving this cab man. Great work.

I may have to *ahemborrowahem* this design for a later build.

+1 

Good to see you back on it 

[melon]

Thanks guys 

That. Is. AWESOME! Loving this cab man. Great work.

I may have to *ahemborrowahem* this design for a later build.

Yeah, I'll post the sketchup model if you want.

More photos.. monitor mounting:



Here attached to the cab


Here is how it looks (old photo, here the control panel wasn't finished)


And for the audio I'm using a 2.1 PC speaker set:



Speakers in the marquee zone:



And here's where the sub is going to be:



Well, it's allready mounted, but I forgot to take a pic.

[Gatsu]

That's looking really good man. Nah don't worry about the sketchup file. Just some basic measurements will do. I can work out the rest and modify it some so it's not 100% like yours.

[melon]

And here is the sketchup model.

[melon]

And more updates:

Here mounting the control panel:



Just testing how the UMolding fits...
Here a closer view:



Those are two hacked cheap pads. Not the cleanest wiring, but it works!

Here the electronics:



Mother board, PSU, HDD and there is a 12V relay conected to a molex from the PSU, so that when I turn on the computer I can turn on  the audio, the monitor and the marquee light.
Here I'm placing the power on button and two little fans:



And thats all for now. I'll post more pics when I get home later on today.
Regards.

[Gatsu]

Thanks for sharing the sketchup file. It's appreciated.

It's coming together nicely.

Have you decided what front-end and emulators you're gonna run?

[melon]

I have MALA installed, and now I'm in the process of matching roms and snaps, and looking for some nice layout I like.

[jmike]

Melon this looks fantastic.   
Looking forward to seeing your mala layout.

If I may ask where did you find the artwork? Ghouls 'N Ghosts was one of my favorite games.

 

[dkssprs]

Sweetest project is back!!!!

Is the u molding self adhesive? If it is not how will you mount/install it?

I am about buying the same u molding thats why i ask.

[melon]

Little update:

Here a cover for the speakers hole:



I'm using one of those in the mini pinball to cover the fan, but here you really can't see them from the player's view. I think it's not a bad idea.

Sweetest project is back!!!!

Is the u molding self adhesive? If it is not how will you mount/install it?

I am about buying the same u molding thats why i ask.

Nope, no self adhesive, you have to use some kind of glue.
BTW, just installed:



You can also see the speakers cover and the marquee light.

Melon this looks fantastic.   
Looking forward to seeing your mala layout.

If I may ask where did you find the artwork? Ghouls 'N Ghosts was one of my favorite games.

 

Well, I'm going crazy right now. I have roms and snaps matched, but I'm looking for a layout I really like, or making my own...
About the artwork, bezel and CPO I really don't remember, basically searching the web (CPO is from Lord Hiryu) and jdbailey1206 gave me a really nice marquee.

[eds1275]

Where do you get these USB -Plugs?

They're called Neutrik.

That style is called Panel Mount. Neutrik is the brand. Switchcraft also makes them. I wish there was a cheap asian knockoff, but so far I've been paying top dollar for them. They aren't expensive, until you need like 12 of them.