First cab based on the Taitorama build

[Furemir]

After a long time lurking on this forum, i took the plunge in the deep. And started my own cab, i based it on the taitorama build. Cuz i love the lines of those early 80's taito cabs. Growing up in the 80's in Belgium most pubs had cab's with woodgrain sides. So i really wanted to put that in the mix. With less then none woodworking skills i starteds today after work, didnt get a lot done with a 2,5 years old son by my side. I hope this log will get me to keep on going.

[Furemir]

So did one side, my son helped out you ll notice! It still nees some sanding, the i ll be able to copy the side.

[johnrt]

Which tools do you have access to? When making the other side panel, I really recommend a router with a trim bit. The router has to me been a fantastic tool. I use it frequently.

[Furemir]

I have boughth a bosh router and it has a copy bit, so i ll guess i can make it happen. Tips and tricks are more then welcome.

[Furemir]

Being a fan of seventies martial arts movies ad thus fighting games this is going to be the side art

[AzureKnight]

What color do you plan on painting it?

That art might look great with some orange joysticks/buttons.

[Furemir]

Sides are gonna be stained, player 1 will be orange player 2 wille be blue. Kickplate and cp will be black with some retro oldskool graphics (probably). T molding will be white

[Furemir]

This is going to be the marquee

[markc74]

With that marquee and sideart a light varnish on that cab with white or orange t molding/buttons would look pretty sweet.

[yamatetsu]

Are you sure about the sideart ? That picture doesn't seem to fit too well into the Taitorama shape.

It would look like this :



You'd have to squash the sides and the poor guy in the white suit gets amputated and beheaded ...

As for the marquee, you might want to consider using a more rectangular picture, as you most likely will have to squash the height to make it fit.

I'm also building a Taitorama cab and I have had trouble finding images that still looked good after resizing them to fit the cab's shape.

[yamatetsu]

An afterthought on the marquee ... I'd use something that has a darker background. If you have a white background and light it, you will probably be blinded when you look at it 

But seriously, with a white lit background you'd put the emphasis on the background, not on the logo.

[AzureKnight]

I think that marquee image is cool. 

Wouldn't you want player 1 to be blue though and player 2 in orange so they line up with the dragon and the tiger (blue on left, orange on right)?

For the side art did you intend to do a full side skin of art like yamatetsu mocked up or just a smaller "poster" art?

[yotsuya]

I think that marquee image is cool. 

Wouldn't you want player 1 to be blue though and player 2 in orange so they line up with the dragon and the tiger (blue on left, orange on right)?

For the side art did you intend to do a full side skin of art like yamatetsu mocked up or just a smaller "poster" art?

I'm worried the marquee image would get squished at those dimensions.

And if we're voting, I'm for the smaller poster art as opposed to the full-side skin.

[Furemir]

I was gonna go for poster art. And indeed player 1 blue and player 2 orange was the plan. About the marquee i ll have to try it out, but you guys could be right.
Not sure yet what i m gonna do for CP art if any of you have an idea shoot.

[AzureKnight]

You have the martial arts theme going, perhaps try to make the cp look like a dojo?





With the second one, perhaps you could have the two weapon racks on each side become the location of the player controls?

[Furemir]

Made some miscalculations in my previous attempt so went to buy some new wood panels and started over, I also changed my mind about how the cab will look. Making the curve wasn't easy, ut i m pretty happy with the result. It isnt perfect though, but i have learned a lot already. Pictures were made with my cell Phone.

[Furemir]

Thinking of dropping the martials arts, found this marquee and fell in love.

[EMDB]

Made some miscalculations in my previous attempt so went to buy some new wood panels and started over, I also changed my mind about how the cab will look. Making the curve wasn't easy, ut i m pretty happy with the result. It isnt perfect though, but i have learned a lot already. Pictures were made with my cell Phone.

How did you cut the curve? It looks like you used an electrical jigsaw? You should have used a router. You can still sand the curves to become more smooth though.

[Furemir]

Yeah used an electrical jigsaw, could try some more sanding. You think i could still use my router to get a smoother curve?

[EMDB]

Yeah used an electrical jigsaw, could try some more sanding. You think i could still use my router to get a smoother curve?

Yes. Or sand more. Otherwise you will notice. Cutting a curve with a router freehand takes some practice. I did mine freehand with my router after some practice on scrap wood. (I never used a router before in my whole life). You only have to do one and copy the other side with a flush trim bit:

 

[Furemir]

Hi, its been a while. But finally i found the time to get back in to my cab. Got some work done. Made the curves better, made the layout for my cp and drilled the holes.
I ll post some pics sson as i can.