Marvel Super Heroes Original Build

[Dance Commander]

So I had this cab that I built without any guidance or outside input and it didn't turn out well (I also never finished it). I resented it, especially since all of the other builds I found on here are so nice and polished. It has been dismantled, and the innards stripped out so that I might build a proper cab worthy of display in the living room 

My sketchup is a bit rough, need to watch more youtube tutorials. But it's a fairly accurate representation of what I want to accomplish. The top hood and the control panel will be removable since this thing will eventually need to move at least once or twice. This also means I can build more than one control panel if I really feel the need to (probably not).


The underside of the control panel is open for easy access to the J-sticks to switch between 8-way and 4-way. Is this a terrible idea? I don't see any other cabs doing this.


Staying under budget means getting poster on ebay for cab art. Luckily I found some stuff that will work well for the sides, controls, and marquee.


I've had these credit buttons but never used them, but I wanted a coin door. This was a compromise to save money. I'm just going to mount these on this plain steel door I picked up.


Trackball, J-sticks, black butons.


Getting some red T-molding and some MDF this weekend hopefully. I'll also need to get some acrylic for the top of the control and marquee.

[Dance Commander]

T-molding arrived along with speaker grills and the power switch. Also picked up some MDF. That's exciting.


Since I'm not going to be printing a custom marquee I figured I'd try something different. I have access to an engraver at work, so I'm going to have the "Marvel Super Heroes" logo engraved on the back of the marquee acrylic. Then I will fill in the engraving with paint to achieve this effect hopefully.


I can do the same with the control panel if the marquee comes out well. That is if it needs. I'm not convinced it will yet.


I'm testing different methods of finishing the side art. Tried brush on water based polyurethane... terrible idea. The water made the colors bleed and it dried with very visible streaks. Trying some minwax oil based spray polyurethane right now. Also good practice for trimming the sideart.


I also slimmed down the cab a bit and made all of the angled cuts parallel and the curve of the control panel match the curve of the marquee. I'm eager to start cutting.

[Slippyblade]

Don't fill in the engraving with paint.  If you embed some LED's around the edge of the acrylic it will make the engraving pop out in a really cool way and you'd still see a ghost of the artwork behind it.

[Dance Commander]

I'm wondering if edge lighting would work with a lit marquee light behind it. I could put some translucent white acrylic behind the artwork to diffuse the light as much as possible I guess.

[Slippyblade]

Doesn't hurt anything to setup a cardboard enclosure and test it.  It's your build though, so go with what makes you happy - only thing that matters. 

[AzureKnight]

The open bottom CP:  I have one question, do you have a cat or kids in the house (even as visitors running around)?  A cat will jump up and into the cab yanking wires, a kid may just play with them.

Other than that I can't think of a reason why it would be a bad idea.