Project J.A.R.V.IS. MK 20

[wicketnezz]

So this is my first time building an arcade cabinet. I have been putting it together based off of pieces of information that i have read here over the years, It would have probably been wise for me to do a refresher but I decided it was time to jump in and just get going. 

The goal was to build a 4 player mame cabinet that would also do some pc games.  I found some measurements for the Mortal Kombat 1 cabinet and decided to build a modified version based off of that setup for the cabinet itself.  As for the controller panel layout, Delusional's ultra arcade was the inspiration that moved this, from a yeah it would be fun to build one of these, to NOW i MUST build one of these.

I tried to also minimize expenses for this project as I am trying to restrict myself from spending to much on this whole project, so I am using things I have around the house that were collecting dust.  I have a 32" flatscreen HD tv, and a couple of older dell laptops, so thats what I am using for the guts on this.  I didn't want to post this project up on the forums until  I hit a point of no return on the project, that is to say, enough of it has been put together that there is no backing out of it.

Here are the pictures of my work so far.

[wicketnezz]

This initial assembly, showed me some of the flaws in my design work.  The initial base was going to need more support to keep from falling apart as you can see here, and there were gaps in the sides that were appearing since I didn't have clamps at the time I put it together.  So I remedied these problem areas.

[wicketnezz]

After that was getting the front door put on and the two angled sides.  This part ended up taking a little bit longer than I had originally anticipated but eventually it came together fairly decently.

[wicketnezz]

Once I had the issues with the door fixed I decided I wanted to get the TV put in place so i could play with the angles and see how deep I wanted to put the screen in, and at what angle.  Since I have never taken apart a TV I decided it would be best to leave the TV intact and just build with its frame in mind since it wasn't too terribly large.

[wicketnezz]

The design layout for the controller board was a little complicated, with no working printer (to be replaced this month) I had to play around with different ideas and layouts until I found one that was most comfortable for me.  The majority of it was based off what I saw on Delusional's arcade, so but i decided to put a curve to the buttons for players 1 and 2 that was more comfortable for me.  The side walls and front walls werent fully squared off in these pictures, but I did get them adjusted.

[wicketnezz]

Now came time to get the holes drilled in and commit to the design.  Putting in the trackball took me a couple of tries to perfect the technique before I actually applied it to the main piece. Scrap was used for 2 practice cuts before I got it down enough to feel comfortable with tackling the actual board.  To cut the plexi i used a step bit which worked wonders, I was able to get it cut right the first time without cracking any of the plexi which was a huge relief!

[wicketnezz]

Finally it was time to deal with hiding the screen so it didn't look so terrible, and add the shelf for the marquee and speakers.  I wasn't concerned about the plywood that i used for this as it is going to be covered up with art anyway. This brought the project to a major milestone for me since I felt like it now looked mostly complete (as far as building things went anyway.  It still needed to be wired up and have casters put in but I really wanted to see some of the art put on this.

[yotsuya]

Not bad, but fix the angling on you P3/P4 joysticks before it's too late.

[wicketnezz]

After I got this part finished up I felt like i was far enough in the project to begin adding a test print of the controller art to the cab.  (This was also because I was getting really anxious to have an idea of what some of the finished product would look like, as I didnt really have much drawn out for this.) In the pictures there is still saw dust in between the plexi and the board, and the plexi is a little dirty, this will all be cleaned up before the actual final art print is put on.  After I got this done I was really pleased with my progress overall.

[wicketnezz]

Not bad, but fix the angling on you P3/P4 joysticks before it's too late.

Umm yeah....its too late.

[wicketnezz]

Primed and painted.

[wicketnezz]

And this is were its at today, Last night I put on a test print of the side art, obviously needs to be a little bit taller and a little wider, the test print that I did for the art around the tv frame was off by too much, so i have to make some adjustments to the art and print another test.
thoughts and comments are appreciated, even pointing out flaws, the tv brace in the back is crooked, but I will have that fixed when the tv gets put in.   

[wicketnezz]

would help if i would have attached the picture....

[yotsuya]

Not bad, but fix the angling on you P3/P4 joysticks before it's too late.

Umm yeah....its too late.

My homie wicketnezz knows what's up. 

[wicketnezz]

So last night I had a little bit of time to work on the controller panel.  I didn't take pictures so I will get those and post them on here tonight.  Got all the sanding done on the plexi glass so that i could put the final print of the controller art in.  Got the art placed and the trackball cut out of it.  Tonight I am going to drop the buttons in place, and get the joysticks in.  I am waiting on some electrical disconnects to come in next week hopefully so that i can work on the wiring part.  I also need to do some shopping around for some speakers, I am hoping to place one final order for all the remaining things I need next week and then it will just be a matter of putting it all together.   

[HaRuMaN]

That big overhang on the corners of the CP (vs the CP box) looks kinda weird...

[rablack97]

In reference to the CP....

[yotsuya]

In reference to the CP....

At least it ain't...

[wicketnezz]

That big overhang on the corners of the CP (vs the CP box) looks kinda weird...

My original design to trim those off didn't look right to me, I tried a couple of different ways to trim it down, but ultimately I didnt find a way to do it that I liked, I figured I would side bar that issue until later on, I it wouldn't take any effort to cut them off later on, but for now I'm content with it.

[johnrt]

At least it ain't...

[wicketnezz]

In reference to the CP....

At least it ain't...

I do try to learn from other's mistakes

[yotsuya]

I do try to learn from other's mistakes

Good. Now, if you haven't applied the CP artwork yet, I would really try and correct the angling if you can. You'll be happier with it later. 

[wicketnezz]

Good. Now, if you haven't applied the CP artwork yet, I would really try and correct the angling if you can. You'll be happier with it later. 
[/quote]

It's already been applied, i just haven't posted the pictures of it yet.  I plan on getting them posted sometime this weekend, or next week, back to school shopping has to take place for my kid this weekend, and i have course books to get for my college classes.    so those are going to be that way until i decide to build another CP layout.

[rablack97]

In reference to the CP....

At least it ain't...

[wicketnezz]

Currently I am waiting for parts to arrive in the mail, this weekend I will probably be headed out to get the speakers that I need, the tmolding has been ordered,(because I apparently ordered the wrong kind last time), 1 button that I managed to forget somehow, quick disconnects, speaker covers, I still have some adjustments to make to the side art,  and front art, but I am hoping to have 90% of this project finished by the end of the weekend since classes start again monday, and my free time is about to be shut down.

I did have one of my stress test engineers look at the CP and make sure it would handle abuse tests.  It held up quite well 

This weekend will hopefully be the final crunch and clean up for a lot of the issues, obviously the wiring on the LEDs wasnt completed as the picture shows, I just wanted to get a ball park idea of how it would work, and let my daughter play with the controls.  Will probably be a quiet week for this project until parts arrive. 

[DeLuSioNal29]

Not bad, but fix the angling on you P3/P4 joysticks before it's too late.

Umm yeah....its too late.

It's never too late.  I am planning on fixing mine.  It will be  a tight fit, but a Dremel will help sort that out.  :-)

D