DARKADE - Imperial Bartop COMPLETE with VIDEO

[Santoro]

Missed this project till now... Holy cow... Great job!

[lokesen]

This is by far the most advanced Weecade build I have seen - And probably will see. You are very skilled and creative!

[Le Chuck]

This is by far the most advanced Weecade build I have seen - And probably will see. You are very skilled and creative!

Thanks man, I can't say enough thanks for putting up your weecade plans and all you've done for the community through your various projects.  I really liked the weecade from the start and wanted to do an homage with my own multifunctional take on it.  Glad you liked the results.

Missed this project till now... Holy cow... Great job!

Word, good stuff bro 

[dandare]

Indeed. lokesen has been a major inspiration for me, and is a top bloke for sharing such detailed build plans.

(though his aversion to t-molding is a mystery. each to their own i guess) 

Darkade is definitely the number one weecade homage.

[sho]

Do I see correctly that the marquee / speaker area is wedge shaped to accommodate for the rotation (vertical aspect)?

[Le Chuck]

Do I see correctly that the marquee / speaker area is wedge shaped to accommodate for the rotation (vertical aspect)?

Yes.  I removed the speakers from that area entirely and went with a rear panel installation to make the spacing work a bit better.  Probably wasn't necessary as I think there was room but it certainly helped with light dispersion.  The panel above the screen (floor of marquee area) is not parallel to the bottom of the build.   

[sho]

Looks like the Sith are gaining traction: http://www.gamoover.net/Forums/index.php?topic=25746

[Le Chuck]

I'm a bit past the 6 month mark since completing this build, almost 8 now.  

I've decided to redo the CP.  It works great as a single player but this cab has been getting a lot more two player action than I thought it would.  That is probably due to the absence of a full size multiplayer rig in my house at this time.  

I have been so pleased with the auto 4-way 8-way I'm adding a second one.  Now both joys will have the functionality opening up a few other games and allowing me not to have to switch to the P2 position to play the classics.  

Moving from a 6+2 to a 4 & 4 player button set-up.  This will cut down on guest confusion and open up all the two player games minus a few fighters.  I'm losing my MvsC and SVII but I'm not overly heart broken.  Besides I'll probably just program both those titles to play MP MK HP HK only and lose the soft hits because I'm a masher and don't use those first two wussy buttons anyway.  Already put in the order for the servo and Omni2 and have completed the updated CPO.  Going to try one of those cheap-o overseas print services and see how I like the product.

Here's the art:



Here's another version, I like the above, having the vertical lines not be symmetrical helps move the eye around the CP and with four I think it is over crowded.  Always open to suggestion and recommendation or course.




Oh, and I've got a black DOT knob coming because the red wasn't a good match for the ball-tops and always bugged me.  Changing that knob is what motivated me to redo everything.  

[Nephasth]

This will cut down on guest confusion...  

Nothing you do will help with this. Even when when the only usable controls are lit, I get "what does what?" C'mon, it's 2 buttons and a joystick, not too hard to figure out. When the screen says "Insert Coin", the coin rejects are lit, and there's a pile of tokens in my gameroom, I get "how do I start this thing?"

Anyways, art looks good! Looking forward to seeing your retrofit!

[fantoboy]

I love this project.  The Imperial logos make such a great graphic for the base of a joystick.  That's so perfect.

I'm interested in the less cool stuff: rear panel.  Is that MDF with a grill put into it? With magnets holding it in? Do you not have case fans in there?

[Le Chuck]

Is that MDF with a grill put into it?
Yup

With magnets holding it in?
Yup. The manual rotation for the monitor makes a lock and key a PTA.

Do you not have case fans in there?
Nope.  No need.  It's a laptop and a small monitor.  There is ventilation from the bottom and out the back.  Had it running for days with no spike in temp on the CPU. 

[edekoning]

As the woodworking part of my own full size cab is almost done, my 6 year old son is starting to get really interested and excited about it. So I sorta promised him his own bartop after mine is done Anyways, I showed him a short list of what I consider excellent bartop builds from this forum. As soon as he saw the DARKADE, he was sold. There was no need to show him anything else.

So there you go, a big thumbs up from my son 

[Vaderforce]

Hi, Great cab could you pm me the artwork and mala layout.

[opt2not]

Hi, Great cab could you pm me the artwork and mala layout.

Great first post.     

[leapinlew]

Don't do it Chuck! Vaderforce is Disney lawyers code name.

[BorgDog]

Hey Le Chuck, I know this is old, but did you ever update to your new control panel layout?  pics....

Looking to do a similar CP layout for my next project.

[Le Chuck]

Hey Le Chuck, I know this is old, but did you ever update to your new control panel layout?  pics....

Looking to do a similar CP layout for my next project.

Can't say as I did.  Had all intention too but it's hard to rip down a full working machine - and the kids love it so...

[spudzaiah]

I know this is an old topic, but I really like your build! I was also wondering if you had any tips on bending Plexi such as you did. I love the waterfall control panel.

[Le Chuck]

I know this is an old topic, but I really like your build! I was also wondering if you had any tips on bending Plexi such as you did. I love the waterfall control panel.

This is always the most stressful part of my build.  Every cab I've done has had a wrap-around plexi cover for my CP.  This time I made it all the way through on the first piece.  I went deadly slow and made sacrifices to Murphy along the the process by occasionally torching myself... totally worth it.

Thanks!  Okay, so as you can see I had the panel all the way off and bit of plexi the right width but longer than a needed.  Really that part is optional, but it makes it easier to clamp.  When you're done you can just hit the sides with a flush-trim bit. 

So what you wanna do it get the wood panel all done and rounded out the way you like it.  Clamp the plexi to the panel and then heat the plexi.  Recommend using a heat gun but a propane torch can work if you keep that flame moving super fast - else you'll bubble or yellow the plexi.  Move the heat back and forth over the length for even heat and don't start bending until the plexi droops under its own weight.  If you need a bend past your CP, like I had, then do that with a dowel rod of the right radius if it's smooth, or if it's a sharper angle just use the edge of a table. 

I keep a clean piece of MDF to help push my bends.  I'm going over these hillbilly techniques because I figure you, like me, don't have a bending table.  Anyway, once you do your bends, I recommend doing them over two or three heat sessions.  Don't try to finish the bend all at once or you'll get too much pull, then edges, and it'll get out of whack.  Just go slow and keep clamping your way around. 

Do not route your button holes until after your bends are complete or they won't match up.