First Project: TMNT Cabinet Style, Akuma Themed Build (just missing glass)

[zackt69]

Been lurking on the forum awhile getting ideas and checking out the great builds on here, finally decided to start my own multicade cabinet. After lots of debate, I settled on building a TMNT style cab off the plans on jakobud.com. Always liked the size of it, plus I wanted the 4 player option.

Main cabinet material is 3/4 birch ply -


Layout after lots of measuring -


Cabinet frame standing, no control panel -


Control panel built, I added a couple inches to the length to allow for more button room for players 1 and 2 -




25" Sony CRT I'll be using for the monitor -


I'm expecting the coin doors, leveling feet, wheels, marquee holder, marquee light and tmolding today... so hopefully I'll make some progress this weekend.

[pbj]

You're gonna have a shell of a time

[yotsuya]

I commend you on using such a classy, traditional shape for your 4 player cab. 

[Cobolisdead]

Awesome job man! I can't wait to see how it turns out for you!

[Louis Tully]

.

[zackt69]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

That's one hell of a first post. Looks great so far.


edit: Maybe see if you can find someone to make some TMNT shell dustwashers for your cab. Paradise used to have them in stock, Jim has them on his build. They're a nice little touch, imo.



 

Thanks Louis! Those dust washers are definitely a pretty cool detail, I've never seen them before. The cabinet is based off the TMNT design, but it's not going to be a dedicated TMNT machine, so I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the artwork. While I like the look of the TMNT art, it'll probably end up being something else... but we'll see.

Here's a little update -

Keyboard shelf hidden under control panel (closed) -


Keyboard shelf hidden under control panel (open) -

 
Marquee plexi and molding installed -


Wheels and adjustable feel installed -


Handle installed on top, still have one more to install on the back -


Rough test fit for monitor to check size and positioning. It's coming out of it's case for final install -

[zackt69]

Just a quick update -

Welded up a frame for the monitor from some scrap metal I had (not the prettiest thing I've ever welded, but it's pretty solid) -


Rear wood shelf holds the tv board -

[zackt69]

Monitor mounted -

[ChanceKJ]

 

[zackt69]

Thanks! I've read through your Flynn's Arcade build a few times now... awesome build man!

Got the bezel piece cut -


Started on the back panels -


Marquee light is wired up and working -


Cut the hole for the monitor in the bezel and booted up the computer to check it out -

[harveybirdman]

How are you connected to TV? Arcade VGA? VGA to component transcoder?


This is looking REALLY good so far!

[zackt69]

How are you connected to TV? Arcade VGA? VGA to component transcoder?


This is looking REALLY good so far!

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Right now the computer is connected to the tv through an svideo cable. The tv does have component connections, and I have been looking at a both vga/component and hdmi/component transcoders, but haven't researched them enough to pull the trigger. Any suggestions on a good box? At least it'll be easy enough to add one later.

[zackt69]

All disassembled to prep for laminate/paint. Also cut the slots for the tmolding once I had it all apart -


Never applied laminate before, tested on a small back panel -

[zackt69]

Finished one side with laminate inside and out -


Neutrik USB ports arrived -


Test control panel running ipac4 (layout in pic is off, on final layout buttons 7/8 will be black) -

[zackt69]

Coin doors installed -

[a1pharm]

Great work, man!

 

[Le Chuck]

The wood work on this is really sharp!

[ChanceKJ]

The wood work on this is really sharp!

Amplified by your love of pocket holes I bet?

[Cobolisdead]

If you don't mind me asking, where did you find your coin doors?

[harveybirdman]

DUDE....

Step back just one second, you're about to put 8 buttons on what I assume will be at least two players of this 4 player build of which I also assume will have artwork themed after one of the finest Arcade beat em ups ever made....


Do you really want to play console games on this SOOO much that you need more than 6 buttons for P1 and P2?

If so, to each his own, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it....  But aesthetically it's appeal falls a notch IMHO.

[yotsuya]

DUDE....

Step back just one second, you're about to put 8 buttons on what I assume will be at least two players of this 4 player build of which I also assume will have artwork themed after one of the finest Arcade beat em ups ever made....


Do you really want to play console games on this SOOO much that you need more than 6 buttons for P1 and P2?

If so, to each his own, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it....  But aesthetically it's appeal falls a notch IMHO.

Good catch. I thought this was going to a straight TMNT replica.

[scoodidabop]

Oh I like that laminate!  Where'd you get it?

[zackt69]

Great work, man!

 

Thanks!

The wood work on this is really sharp!

Thanks, pretty happy with the way everything is turning out.

The wood work on this is really sharp!

Amplified by your love of pocket holes I bet?

Just finished building a closet for my wife... first time using pocket holes was on that project, they're great!

If you don't mind me asking, where did you find your coin doors?

They are Happ/Suzo standard size over/under doors, I got them from twisted quarter. Very happy with the quality of them.

DUDE....

Step back just one second, you're about to put 8 buttons on what I assume will be at least two players of this 4 player build of which I also assume will have artwork themed after one of the finest Arcade beat em ups ever made....


Do you really want to play console games on this SOOO much that you need more than 6 buttons for P1 and P2?

If so, to each his own, and I'm sure you'll enjoy it....  But aesthetically it's appeal falls a notch IMHO.

Good catch. I thought this was going to a straight TMNT replica.

Yeah, players 1/2 will have at least 6 buttons (not sure on 8 yet, but at least 7 for NeoGeo games) and players 3/4 will have 4 buttons each. I'm also not sure about the fanned button layout. I've been using the small mockup stick I made, and the more I use it the more I realize that the button layout feels a little awkward. I grew up with the rectangular 6 button layout, so I may go back to that... not sure yet.

The cabinet is modeled after the TMNT machine, but we're going to be playing a lot more on it. Like I said in an earlier post, not sure on the artwork yet, I'll probably do something other than the TMNT art. I wanted the 4 player setup (actually the wife insisted), and have always liked the size and look of the TMNT cab... so I based it off that. The other great thing about the design of this cabinet, is that the cp is bolted on with 4 bolts, and is pretty easy to remove (I'll be using Molex connections on the wiring). I didn't want a cluttered cp, and with this setup it will be nice to have the option of switching out cp's if I ever decide I want one with a track ball or more buttons 

Oh I like that laminate!  Where'd you get it?

They had it at Home Depot for $44 a 4x8 sheet.

Thanks for all the comments!

[harveybirdman]

I definitely think custom artwork is in order for the quality of build you have going so far, and as I've stated before there is nothing worse than having repro artwork on a cab whose panel looks nothing like the game it's art pays homage to.

I personally wouldn't do a 7 button setup, I'd just build a separate Neo Geo Cab for the next project    But if you do go down that path and keep the Japanese style layout I recommend putting button 7 on the right side of the top row, rather than in the MK run position as it's MOST often done.  It plays better for Neo Geo Games, which seems to be your primary purpose for adding it.

Check out flawless execution of each layout on Bad Mouth's Neo Geo Slim cab and Nep's Two headed beast respectively.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,119308.msg1264320.html#msg1264320

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,108719.msg1154107.html#msg1154107

[zackt69]

I definitely think custom artwork is in order for the quality of build you have going so far, and as I've stated before there is nothing worse than having repro artwork on a cab whose panel looks nothing like the game it's art pays homage to.

I personally wouldn't do a 7 button setup, I'd just build a separate Neo Geo Cab for the next project    But if you do go down that path and keep the Japanese style layout I recommend putting button 7 on the right side of the top row, rather than in the MK run position as it's MOST often done.  It plays better for Neo Geo Games, which seems to be your primary purpose for adding it.

Check out flawless execution of each layout on Bad Mouth's Neo Geo Slim cab and Nep's Two headed beast respectively.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,119308.msg1264320.html#msg1264320

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,108719.msg1154107.html#msg1154107

Those are both great builds... I had read through the Two Headed Beast post, but not the Slim Neo Geo cab. I do like the 7 button layout on that, I'll have to mock it up and try it out. Thanks for the suggestion!

As far as the next project, I think I may go for a cocktail style build... but we'll see. I have a back house that was just vacated, so I'm looking to slowly start filling it with games.

[harveybirdman]

If I were doing a 7 button layout to support NEO GEO, SF2, and other general Mame titles I'd do this one.

[zackt69]

Excellent, thanks! I'll mock that up this weekend and see how I like it. I'm hoping to get the cp finished this weekend, but we'll see, something always seems to come up.

Everything else is going back together nicely after the paint/laminate install. I'm going to start moving the components into the cabinet tonight and start the wiring -

[zackt69]

Wiring is about halfway complete. The marquee, cabinet fans, speakers, monitor, power switch, external USB/Ethernet ports, and coin doors are all wired up and working. Wires are all in Techflex and secured to the cabinet. Still working on the floor area, started at the top and am working my way down. Sorry for the crappy pics and all the dust. I'll post better pics when everything is finished, all wiped down and out of the garage 


Speaker panel -


Coin door lights wired up -

[harveybirdman]

Looking good.....

With all due respect to Twisted Quarter (I order from them all the time) you might want to consider some custom coin reject inserts.

Check out this thread from KLOV for some ideas...

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=139222

Here's something I'm kicking around for my current project

[zackt69]

Looking good.....

With all due respect to Twisted Quarter (I order from them all the time) you might want to consider some custom coin reject inserts.

Check out this thread from KLOV for some ideas...

http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=139222

Here's something I'm kicking around for my current project

Thanks! Another great suggestion. I'm definitely going to be changing those inserts out once I figure out what the artwork is going to look like. I'll have to sit down this week and start laying it all out, I'm getting real close to wrapping things up and can't put on the t-molding until the side are is on

[EMDB]

I would put the 4 buttons in a row at the bottom row to be able to access them more easily...

[Louis Tully]

.

[zackt69]

After mocking up and trying a few button layouts, I ended up going with the original 8 button layout for players 1/2, and a 4 button layout for 3/4. Had a few people over this weekend and gave it a try, everyone seemed to like it. Only had a couple issues with button mapping, but after fixing those everything was great. I still need to clean up the cp wiring, laminate a couple more pieces, get the bezel glass and get the artwork... but for the most part, everything is up and running!

Control panel -


Control panel hinged-


Control panel "toy box" hinges-


Coin doors wired up and working-

[harveybirdman]

Just make sure to finish! Found to be distracting having ot fully operational!

[zackt69]

Just make sure to finish! Found to be distracting having ot fully operational!

This is very true! Every time this weekend someone went out to the back house for something quick, they would get stuck at the machine and disappear

I took the cp off today, not putting it back on until everything but the art is finished 

[Cobolisdead]

It's looking good man! Any idea on what you want to do for the artwork?

[Locke141]

This is coming along very nicely.

Is the laminate as good looking in person as it is in the photo? If so I would consider some small art on the sides. Like Super Spacefortress Macross. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137636.240.html
 

[zackt69]

It's looking good man! Any idea on what you want to do for the artwork?

Thanks! The artwork is definitely the toughest decision so far... I have a couple ideas I'm working on, I'll post up some mockups when I get a chance.

This is coming along very nicely.

Is the laminate as good looking in person as it is in the photo? If so I would consider some small art on the sides. Like Super Spacefortress Macross. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,137636.240.html

Thanks! The laminate looks pretty nice, I'm pleasantly surprised with how it came out. When I bought the sheets, the selection they had at Home Depot wasn't the greatest. Most of the sheets were broken or scratched, so I got the least damaged they had (and a little discount). It does look good, but there are a couple small scratches that I know are there, but nobody seemed to notice this past weekend.

I like that Macross cabinet a lot. The small art is definitely a direction to look at, especially since I'm planning on going with a dark themed cab.

[zackt69]

Finished cleaning up all of the CP wiring tonight. All wires individually numbered, sleeved and assembled into Molex connectors. More pictures once it's all back in the cabinet and all tidied up -

[ChanceKJ]

  oooo, nice.

[zackt69]

oooo, nice.

Thanks! I'm definitely glad that the wires are getting sorted out... the rats nest was driving me crazy.
This is what it was looking like before  -


Here's where it's at now. Going to look a lot cleaner too once the wires are routed to the controls and tied down, but it's already way better -


Here's the cabinet with the last 2 pieces (bezel and CP) laminated -


I also installed the latches for the control panel top now that it's hinged -

[Locke141]

I like all the attentions to detail. 

[zackt69]

I like all the attentions to detail. 

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Talked with my little brother about the artwork last week, and we decided on going with an Akuma theme. Should go well with the red/black controls and the black laminate. I redrew all the art in Illustrator and sent it over to Brad (Lucian045) this morning for printing. Here's a small version of the layout -


Coin reject button art -

[scoodidabop]

Looks great.  I've been using GOG for a while for control panel prints - is Brad pretty reasonable on the sideart?  GOG's control panels are nice but around $180 per side is a little too rich for my blood.

[zackt69]

Looks great.  I've been using GOG for a while for control panel prints - is Brad pretty reasonable on the sideart?  GOG's control panels are nice but around $180 per side is a little too rich for my blood.

Thanks! Brad's total price shipped for the side art, marquee and cp was slightly cheaper than the GOG's $360 for side art only ($180 per side). I can't comment on the prints yet, but Brad's been great so far. Very quick with communication and helpful answering questions on art and materials. Before I made a decision, I searched the forums for recommendations on printers, and he came up a lot... plus all of the builds that used him look great. Looking forward to seeing the finished work!

[ChanceKJ]

Brad's work is pretty solid. He printed my FLYNN's art, and was very patent and took the time with me to make sure what came out was right, and the way i wanted it. Very happy with his work and work ethic.

[zackt69]

Artwork arrived from Brad yesterday and the quality is awesome! The other great thing is the material he uses, it really makes installing the artwork pretty easy (to be fair though, I've wrapped a couple cars before, so I may be the wrong guy to ask  ). The only issue I'm having is with my marquee light... it's too bright, so I'm going to try a couple things to dim it down. If I can't get it to work I may switch to led's so I can control it a little better. Here's a quick phone pic of the installed art. I still need to change out the coin reject buttons to red and put the art in those, replace the screws on the cp with some that are black (harder to find black screws than I would've ever imagined) and get the bezel glass mounted. Everything else is done though. I should have better pics this weekend.

[ChanceKJ]

Well done!  Yeah, switch that light up to some LED's and light it locally behind the brighter parts of the art. Take a look how I did it on Flynn's. I used Brad for my art too, so I'd assume it's the same material.  I picked up a sting of 12v LED marquee lights from GroovyGameGear, only used two of the six and still added colour gels for tint.

[zackt69]

Well done!  Yeah, switch that light up to some LED's and light it locally behind the brighter parts of the art. Take a look how I did it on Flynn's. I used Brad for my art too, so I'd assume it's the same material.  I picked up a sting of 12v LED marquee lights from GroovyGameGear, only used two of the six and still added colour gels for tint.

Thanks man, I appreciate it!

Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking for the lights. I bought 5 meters of white led's off amazon for $9 (you can cut them every 3 led's and start a new circuit), and I'm thinking that's going to be the way to go. The fluorescent light just blows out everything, especially the blacks and darker colors. I'd really like the center of the marquee brightly lit and the outer edges more on the dark side. Overall though, I'm real happy with the way everything turned out

[harveybirdman]

You made some choices that I wouldn't have, but this is really turning out dynamic..

I'd love to play through D&D, Battle Circut, Sengoku 3, The Glad,  and TMNT on that thing with three buddies

[zackt69]

You made some choices that I wouldn't have, but this is really turning out dynamic..

I'd love to play through D&D, Battle Circut, Sengoku 3, The Glad,  and TMNT on that thing with three buddies

Thanks, and thanks for all the suggestions and comments along the way! Definitely looking forward to breaking this thing in - I still haven't reconnected the control panel, taking everyone's advice and keeping it unplayable until I've wrapped it up.

I've never heard of "The Glad", I'll have to give it a try!

[harveybirdman]

ts only playable in newer versions of MAME but dude.... check it...

[Cobolisdead]

That cab looks awesome man! Great work!

[Le Chuck]

That cab is sick!  You nailed the art, big ups!

[zackt69]

ts only playable in newer versions of MAME but dude.... check it...

Oh yeah, that definitely looks like a game we're going to have to try! Thanks man! 

That cab looks awesome man! Great work!

That cab is sick!  You nailed the art, big ups!

Thanks for the compliments guys, I really appreciate it!

I took a few more pictures today, it's hard to get a clean shot of the sides since it's super glossy and the back house the cabinet is in is full of windows I wired everything back up and all that's left is the front glass, which I ordered yesterday.

- Coin doors with custom inserts


- Keyboard/mouse drawer with ipac4 - that pic reminds me that I have a piece of trim to put over that drawer edge.


- Inside the back panel


- Back panels all buttoned up. I put that rubber piece on there in case we even need to move it out of the back house. There's a couple steps up, and because of the weight we'll need a dolly for sure.


- Side art


- Front

[ChanceKJ]

  wow, this cab is Very well done! I'm loving the glow on that side art, the little details, design choices, construction. Damn, good job man!

[Cobolisdead]

That rubber piece is a great idea man! I am quite impressed, especially considering that it's your first build.