Brothers Build - Arcade 2

[jennifer]

So you are talking about a sub 100 dollar project with a 5000 dollar paint job?

Tell that to the body shop, I'm not a painter. He's doing his own custom paint job.

4 wet coats of a High build polyester primer, blocked 220 will make that plywood as smooth as anything else out there....which is probably what hell do....however, the only issue I see with him having to paint on that substrate would be the eventual shrinking of the unstable material....which will reveal the wood grain under the urethane finish entirely and negate all that prep work, I learned that the lesson the hard way.

Since you are going to be handing this cabinet off to him when it’s finished....I’d definitely recommend that you let him know that will be an issue...and gluing a laminate or smoother material such as Masonite on the exposed surfaces to be painted will be very much worth the extra cost.  Plus, it will save him a ton of money and time on prep.  I like using MDF for this reason.

That's a lesson learned the hard way on an otherwise  nice build...There are tricks to that, but long dry times between coats work best  if time is not an issue....and starting with cured wood.

[leapinlew]

Don't sweat it. Glad you're having fun Ranger. That's the key.

If you were in the market for some additional input, I'd like to suggest the following:

2 players: Did I hear you say you wanted this to be for 2 players? I noticed the monitor is vertical, there isn't a lot of 2 player simultaneous vertical games, at least, there are much more 2 player horizontal games. Did you plan on 2 sets of controls and a vertical monitor? It may work out better to be configured with a larger horizontal monitor.

Nails: You may want to switch to screws for a couple reasons. You can recess your screws and cover the holes for a cleaner finish. They hold better and won't pop out when/if you move the cabinet.

Monitor: Check to make sure the monitor visibility is good from viewing it from the right and left side. Flat panels can have a poor viewing angle in vertical position.
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Front End: Definitely spend some time looking at front ends. I would suggest MALA if you are fairly new to front ends, but definitely check out Launchbox and Hyperspin. The Frontend is what folks use to selct their games and it can really make a cabinet feel more professional with no additional cost.

[rave0035]

Seconded the "viewing angles" comment.  This can make or break the multi-player experience.  Worth spending a few bucks to get a monitor with high vertical / horizontal viewing angles - otherwise folks who are not looking at the monitor straight will see distorted colors, or may not be able to see well enough to play at all.