Project: Themeless (working title), 1st build

[Nymwar]

Hi,

It all started when I was 10 years old and.. <snip> ..which means I probably fit the profile of most ArcadeControls forum visitors.

This is me:


I wanted to build something similar to this:


I started Blender and ended up with this:


The previz didn't exactly "Wow!" management:


The build begins... 16mm mdf.







A few days later:


I call this piece "The Router Exam":


Bezel, a clear sheet of acrylic:


Front..


..Back


Routing for t-mold:


Sand, prime, cover screw holes with PP100, sand, prime, sand.. ready for paint:


Paint, sand.. ready for second coat:


Painted again, mount bezel, t-molding, coin door. Ready for center stage:



Marquee:


Bending control-panel acrylic:


Mounted marquee lights (Ikea Dioder, 4-piece strip), buttons, joysticks, sound, computer, internal powerstrip:




2*Admin buttons, 1*Computer Power Switch:


Rear view:


Side view:


There it is; a clean canvas, themeless arcade.
- Ready for art!

[johnrt]

Man! What a great paintjob!  And you definitely passed the router exam!  Great job!

[dkssprs]

SIMPLE - CLEAN - SEXY!!!

My god what an absolutely awsome project!!!!

I also like the fact that the cab is total black and you just used two types of button colors just to seperate the players.

PLEASE dont add any artwork.

Great job!!!

[n3wt0n]

Nice job! I really like the shape. Congrats on the new arcade machine.

[Vidiot]

Very nice clean build! Congrats. Looks great! 

[harveybirdman]

I liked this a TON, until I saw....

8 buttons...


Overall very tastefully done man, love your posting style as well.  Got any plans for artwork?

[BGoulette]

Yeah, that's a really nice paint job! Excellent!

[talkgeek]

Excellent build  -  +1 on the good router skills, love the air vents at the bottom.

[Nymwar]

- Thanks guys! 

The paint came out way better than expected.

..I did however expect to get some stick over the 8 buttons. (Actually some for not fitting a CRT as well!?)

Regarding art,

It won't be a;
- cluttered mash-up of all game characters on the planet
- a retro-cade, multi-cade, rambo-cade, basically any concept ending with -cade

Nothing wrong with the above, just not for me.

- I'm thinking; dedicated, unique and "less is more".

I have a few ideas that I am trying to realize using InkScape. It is slow going but making progress. I'll keep you posted.

[stavros693000]

I liked this a TON, until I saw....

8 buttons...


Overall very tastefully done man, love your posting style as well.  Got any plans for artwork?

post modified.....sorry im a tool

[harveybirdman]

perhaps he intends on playing modern fighting games as well

*Decided it was not worth it to respond.


Nymwar:

Sounds like you are on the right track with the art, looking forward to seeing this good looking cab dressed up!  It looks like you masked the monitor for 4:3 opening?  I think your use of LCD is actually well done.

[yotsuya]

I liked this a TON, until I saw....

8 buttons...


Overall very tastefully done man, love your posting style as well.  Got any plans for artwork?

perhaps he intends on playing modern fighting games as well

You don't need to call him a tool. He's providing honest feedback and gave him a compliment. Or do we need to hand out more gold stars?

[Nymwar]

Honest feedback is much appreciated!!    Keep calm and carry on!

[Vigo]

I agree with the above. 8 buttons is wonky for the type of cab, but that is the only complaint I can muster. Slick, clean, classy -- looks like a black tie affair even without any art. LCD done very tastefully.

[stavros693000]

I liked this a TON, until I saw....

8 buttons...


Overall very tastefully done man, love your posting style as well.  Got any plans for artwork?

perhaps he intends on playing modern fighting games as well

You don't need to call him a tool. He's providing honest feedback and gave him a compliment. Or do we need to hand out more gold stars?

post modified. sorry fellas, yeah I was outta line and came off looking like a   

[matsadona]

Well done!
And I salute you for not doing the standard huge bolt on overhang box control panel  1st build 
This is a very much more classic and appealing design, according to my opinion.

[opt2not]

I liked this a TON, until I saw....

8 buttons...


Overall very tastefully done man, love your posting style as well.  Got any plans for artwork?

perhaps he intends on playing modern fighting games as well

You don't need to call him a tool. He's providing honest feedback and gave him a compliment. Or do we need to hand out more gold stars?

 






  gold star please

Please just stop.

You don't need 8-buttons for "modern day" fighters.  The only fighter that absolutely depends on it is Rising Thunder (which isn't officially released yet, and isn't very good anyway).  Guilty Gear Xrd uses 5 buttons. Tekken 7 uses 4. Blazblue uses 4. Same with P4A.
Ultra Street Fighter 4 obviously only need 6, but like UMvC uses the extra 2 buttons as shortcuts for pressing a combination of regular buttons.  If you're a lazy new generation gamer, this probably appeals to you. If you're not a poseur and actually played and currently play fighting games, you'd know that 6 is the defacto standard and the most you'll need.

The only valid reason for having 8-buttons is for console support, but most console games that are not arcade ports play better with a gamepad than it does with arcade set-ups.

[stavros693000]

I liked this a TON, until I saw....

8 buttons...


Overall very tastefully done man, love your posting style as well.  Got any plans for artwork?

perhaps he intends on playing modern fighting games as well

You don't need to call him a tool. He's providing honest feedback and gave him a compliment. Or do we need to hand out more gold stars?

 






  gold star please

Please just stop.

You don't need 8-buttons for "modern day" fighters.  The only fighter that absolutely depends on it is Rising Thunder (which isn't officially released yet, and isn't very good anyway).  Guilty Gear Xrd uses 5 buttons. Tekken 7 uses 4. Blazblue uses 4. Same with P4A.
Ultra Street Fighter 4 obviously only need 6, but like UMvC uses the extra 2 buttons as shortcuts for pressing a combination of regular buttons.  If you're a lazy new generation gamer, this probably appeals to you. If you're not a poseur and actually played and currently play fighting games, you'd know that 6 is the defacto standard and the most you'll need.

The only valid reason for having 8-buttons is for console support, but most console games that are not arcade ports play better with a gamepad than it does with arcade set-ups.

I ACTUALLY DIDNT MEAN TO CALL HIM A TOOL originally, I accidently hit the wrong smily and didn't check my post afterwards,.

so sorry bout that....... and im not a fan of modern fighters but the last time I played gods among us I thought I used 8 buttons on the controller, perhaps I misremembered......so sorry bout that.

I am building a vewlix next and I was going to use 2 player 8 button set up cause I thought that was needed for HD fighters.
so I guess ill just use 6 button layout.....thanks for the input.

why do peeps use 8 buttons I vewlix? is it purly for console games? cheers

[Bowshock87]

This looks awesome, when I see threads like this that say 'hey guys my first build!' and it looks like this it makes me want to sell all of my crap on Craigslist.

Awesome machine!

[Frank Drebin]

What kind of paint/primer did you use?  Did you use a sprayer?  Finish looks amazing!

[yotsuya]

Why do people use 8 buttons? Probably a mixture of the Slagcoin layouts, not doing enough research, wanting to play console games on a platform not meant for consoles, and finally getting well-intentioned but really unhelpful "that's alright, buddy, it's your cab, do what makes you happy" feedback.

[jlfreund]

I'm also interested to hear a lot more about the painting process.  This is the look I'm aiming for on my current build.  I do have a sprayer, but I was hoping I could get away with canned spray paint and still get a finish like yours. 

[stavros693000]

Why do people use 8 buttons? Probably a mixture of the Slagcoin layouts, not doing enough research, wanting to play console games on a platform not meant for consoles, and finally getting well-intentioned but really unhelpful "that's alright, buddy, it's your cab, do what makes you happy" feedback.

ok thanks, ill either go with 6 or 7 button vewlix layout. ill do some more research before I decide.

if that's the case slag coin should not have 8 button layouts on there site, its confusing for noobs like myself. I prefer to play old school games since i was born in 1980 but have played a few of the newer HD fighters on my sons 360 and quite injoyed playing them

[Nymwar]

Regarding the paint..

I used a roller both for the two coats of primer and the two coats of paint (in some places 3 coats of paint).

Breakdown:
- I lightly sanded the bare MDF  (For sanding I used a multi-sander, Bosch PSM 160 A)
- Applied 1st coat primer
- Covered screw holes (Plastic Padding PP100)
- Sand everything
- Applied 2nd coat primer
- Sand everything
- Applied 1st coat paint
- Sand everything
- Applied 2nd coat paint
(skip sanding)
- Touch-up 3rd coat

The primer was a "normal" wood primer (oil-based to dig into the mdf).
The black paint was... I'm searching for words.. "cursed magic"!? I got it recommended by my local dealer.

Perhaps you can see this link ( http://www.nordsjo.se/sv/produkter/ambiance-superfinish-40 )
If not, the paint is acrylic latex with added polyurethane if I'm reading the description correctly.

Stirring it reminds me of mercury. Odd!

In places where I really did the sanding correctly the paint would just magically stick and float to perfection.
In places where I rushed priming/sanding or sanding was hard to do the paint was like... painting over silicone!? Done that? It would just not stick. (You can see what I mean in the picture above where the first paint coat has been sanded, the insides are almost bare as I had not spent that much time sanding there)

Please note; I've never done painting like this before so I cannot tell if I any of the steps were unnecessary.



Regarding the 8 buttons..

Simple math: S-F(3+3)+N-G(0+4) = 8

I figured that 7 would look even more wonky than 8 (for anyone not regular to this forum).
I've currently got top right buttons wired to Coin when playing Mame. (Works for me!)

If I ever redo the CP, which I might, I'll go with 4 buttons only as SF is not that important to me.

[matsadona]

Aha, ännu en svensk på forumet - trevligt   

[johnrt]

I used a roller both for the two coats of primer and the two coats of paint (in some places 3 coats of paint).

- Covered screw holes (Plastic Padding PP100)

Her kan jeg nesten skrive på norsk :-)

What kind of roller? Foam?
The Plastic Padding. I presume you bought that from Clas Ohlsson (http://www.clasohlson.com/no/Lettvektsparkel,-Plastic-Padding-PP-100/35-955)? Does it shrink when drying?

[Nymwar]

I used a fine foam roller for the black paint. I was skeptical at first because my roller kept pushing down air-bubbles into the paint, regardless of how "full" the roller was. However, the bubbles "magically" disappeared after a minute or two leaving a nice flat finish.

PP100, Yes, I got it from Clas Ohlson. I found it nice to work with. I had to iterate the "mixing - applying" quite a lot. It hardens crazy fast.
It does not shrink much (if any). But, given the time it takes to harden it's not really an issue. Just apply another layer.


"Ah, hela Scandinavien är här. Kul!"

[rablack97]

This 7 button setup was done tastefully.



Most pro-sticks have the 8 button layout as well, so it's not a whether it's needed or not, its a personal preference in regards to what layout allows you to play the game more efficiently.



Some people are good at the combo button presses, but what makes it easier is where those buttons are on the stick.  So the 8 button layout accounts for that, more flexibility for mapping.

To some folks its not all about aesthetics, this is a very nice cab which has the option of maximum mappable buttons to kick somebody's ass in your favorite fighting game.

I wouldn't call adding extra buttons being lazy, he's just optimized his layout for full compatibility across the board.

[rablack97]

Custom MKX cab with an 8 button setup, this cab was done 2 weeks prior to the actual release.

[stavros693000]

Custom MKX cab with an 8 button setup, this cab was done 2 weeks prior to the actual release.

I agree, I didn't know u could remap buttons to combinations and thought I needed 8 buttons but like you said it gives you the option and looks aesthetically appealing, IMO.
the 8 button layout just seems to be universally hated around here . I do think it looks a little odd on classic cabs but is quite nice on the modern candy cabs/slim.

To the op ,sorry didn't mean to hi-jack ur thread..........ur build is very nice indeed, especially for ur first.
I like that u kept it simple and clean. Ive noticed a lot of first timers make the mistake of having an overcompensating control panel and go overboard on the graphics not unlike mine