new pics of minicab - 5/9/04

[OSCAR]

Here are some pics of a couple of my current project cabs.  One is a Centipede restoration, the other is a 3/4 scale Gottlieb cabinet (modeled after my Mad Planets) as a MAME cab for my oldest kid (3.5yr).

Neither is 100% complete yet, but I hope to have the Centipede finished next week.  The MiniPlanets will be a little longer.  When complete I will have dedicated webpages up for both projects.






A quick synopsis of the Centipede w/ links to more photos & previous threads:

Control panel rebuild
Cabinet rebuild
Monitor chassis re-capped and a new TV tube installed
Coin door stripped and refinished
Fantastic marquee (eBay)  $16.00 shippedNnew posterboard bezel (arcadeshop.com)  $25.00
New plexi bezel (arcadeshop.com)   $45.00
Cost of dead Centipede board & service by Mike Haaland to bring it back to life (awesome guy!! - mikesarcade.com)  $75
I had to build a new Centipede harness, the existing one was terribly hacked for a jamma board.
I built a new rear door, the original was missing.
translucent blue trackball and fire button installed instead of the original white
The sides are painted white & new sideart arriving from phoenixarcade.com next week.
Install the t-molding....  she's done!









I put split loom on some of the wiring to keep it neat.






3/4 Scale Gottlieb MAME Cabinet
The paint is Rustoleum "sunburst yellow" gloss enamel.
All the interior panels (speaker board, front panel, top, back, etc) will be black.




This project isn't as far along as the Centipede.
14" PC monitor installed.
Entire rear panel removable for service
Many unorganized construction photos of the MiniPlanets cab




A single slot coin mech (similar to Nintendo) will be installed in the front of the cab, no dedicated coin button planned right now.






Artwork- I received a quote from Michael at www.classicarcadegrafix.com for my entire artwork package I am plannig for the cab.  The quote seems pretty reasonable, I just need to finish the cp and bezel art and send it out.  Thanks to all the vector artists for submitting your work to the library, it has helped me out a lot!


click for larger pic


click for larger pic

[Edgedamage]

Awesome little cab!

[ChazMan]

Thats cool that you are rebuilding a Centipede Machine. Me Im gutting my Centipede Machine so it can play 6000+ Games!   Take a Look!!


http://Home.Comcast.net/~ChazMan

[OSCAR]

Awesome little cab!

Thanks, Dean.  The little girl is driving me nuts asking when "her game" will be finished.

At the very least, I'm bringing her up right...  Mom plays Socom and MOH on the PS2 while the girl and I play the "good games" on the 2600 in the basement.  

[zaphod]

I love the way the back comes off the little MAME in one piece.  Very slick.  Can't wait to see more pics!

[dmsuchy]

Super clean, both projects look incredible! Man, if I was a rich man I would force you to sell me that centipide cab. I love that you went with the translucent buttons and track ball.

[froggerman]

Very cool little cabinet. Did you draw up plans for the little cabinet, or just scale down a full sized cabinet?

[OSCAR]

I love the way the back comes off the little MAME in one piece.  Very slick.  Can't wait to see more pics!

I wasn't sure if I really wanted to do that, but it looks better than I thought it would.  I really wanted to be able to access the speaker/marquee area, and that was the only way I could think to make it doable.  I took an aluminum angle and flattened it a little in a vise, then attached it to the back section (still needs to be painted, though).  This makes a little lip so the removable back rests on the board directly above the marquee.  Then there are 3/4 x 1-1/2 strips running along the back of the cab, which keeps the removable back from falling into the cab.  I will have a lock installed on the back panel so it stays in place and you will need a key to remove the back door.

Super clean, both projects look incredible! Man, if I was a rich man I would force you to sell me that centipide cab. I love that you went with the translucent buttons and track ball.

Thanks!  My original plan for the Centipede was to restore it to sell, but now I'm not sure...  Once I put the sideart on it, I'm afraid it will be a keeper.  Maybe I'll have to find another one to restore and sell...  

Very cool little cabinet. Did you draw up plans for the little cabinet, or just scale down a full sized cabinet?

Both, actually.  I drew up my Mad Planets cab, then scaled it down until it was 4ft high.  That happened to be 3/4 scale.  I have rough AutoCAD plans of the little cab, but I need to clean them up a bit before I make them available.  I plan to have websites available for both cabs, and the plans for the MiniPlanets will be on the site.

[Yander]

Nice centipede cab. I always loved those for some reason.

[zorg]

really nice cabs. as usual your work look's really clean.

Thanks to all the vector artists for submitting your work to the library, it has helped me out a lot!

you're welcome. it's the arcade art library goal to provide to all of us an usefull place
(and it seem's to be, even for some artwork sellers)

<subliminal note>
just put one vortex spinner on your gift list for me
</subliminal note>

more seriously, could you provide us a high res pic of the lovely red eyes bug, I would try to trace it and giveit back as vector format

[Edgedamage]

AAAHHHHH I need a garage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Edit by moderator: removed some of the '!!!!!!' as it was throwing off the screen.

[OSCAR]

more seriously, could you provide us a high res pic of the lovely red eyes bug, I would try to trace it and giveit back as vector format

That bug is a Galaga88 bug, taken from a Japanese console version, I think.  I found a CD cover online, and I liked the look of it, so I drew it up.   It's already in a vector format, sorta.  Don't laugh, I drew it in AutoCAD and then added the shading in Photoshop.  

If you can make use out of the DXF file, I have it here:  http://www.oscarcontrols.com/tmp/galaga88_bug.dxf.

[zorg]

That bug is a Galaga88 bug, taken from a Japanese console version, I think.  I found a CD cover online, and I liked the look of it, so I drew it up.   It's already in a vector format, sorta.  Don't laugh, I drew it in AutoCAD and then added the shading in Photoshop.  

If you can make use out of the DXF file, I have it here:  http://www.oscarcontrols.com/tmp/galaga88_bug.dxf.

DXF is a format i can handle, I'll see what i can do whit it.

thank's

ohhhh what about the subliminal message

[OSCAR]

Here are some new pics of the minicab.  I still need to get the sideart, but that is pretty much it.  I have a yellow balltop handle for the Wico and some yellow buttons in a box in a closet somewhere, but I haven't found them yet so I put in the green handle and other buttons until I can find them.  I'm also thinking about modifying a Q*Bert cp overlay in photoshop to fit the style of the cab, right now it just has the black vinyl.

I have this cab running a bare bones install of Win98 with CocktailFE for the vertical monitor.  I don't know if many people use that front end, but it seems very much like a stripped down vertical version of Mamewah.  Nice, simple, windows frontend which is perfect for this little cab.



The back panel is held in place by a cabinet lock.  The lock blade rests against the underside of the fixed panel above the marquee when it is locked, preventing the back from coming off.  It works well, and is the only way to get into the cab to unlatch the cp.  I built it this way to keep the 3yr old from getting into it to figure out how the game works.  

The green button on top is the power button for the cab.  I have all the soft power updates for Win98 and the mobo installed so a tap of the button starts up and shuts down the cab.




The electronic coin mech is pretty cool.  It has a cavity right in the mech that accepts any type of coin, token, whatever...  When a coin is in the cavity, it automatically calibrates the mech to accept that particular size/weight of coin.  Not bad for $15 on eBay...






You can see my "oops" on the marquee.  I printed it too large and it cut off the top and bottom, so I need to get that reprinted.  DOH!


zorg.....    

[quarterstringer]

Great looking little cab. Are you going to get her a matching barstool, or does she have to play standing up.

[pathdoc2]

Awesome little cab you've built.

[bdsjake]

>>soft power updates for Win98 and the mobo installed so a tap of the button starts up and shuts down the cab.<<

Oscar, where do I get "Soft power updates"?  I have an older computer, 400 celeron from Dell, and I cannot find any options in bios screen or windows/contol/panel/power management to get it to do a window shut down with press of power button.

thanks,

ps, cool mini cab!

[OSCAR]

I had to install this patch, http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/downloads/contents/wurecommended/s_wufeatured/win98se/ as indicated at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;239887, because when I did a soft power down my system would hang on the "Windows is shutting down" screen.

I also set the mobo BIOS to POWER DOWN instead of stand by in the power configuration. The BIOS has to support a soft shutdown, too.  It won't work on every system, and of course it won't work with an AT computer.

[bishmasterb]

Great work Oscar. Love the rear door, what an excellent idea, lots of room to work and install/remove components.

How does your little girl like it?

[OSCAR]

quarterstringer  - That's a real good idea to make a matching barstool, I'll have to do that this weekend if I get the time.


bishmasterb - The removable back did turn out very nice even though it was born out of necessity (mother of invention, right?).  My girl loves it, of course.  Really, what kind of a daughter of a geek wouldn't??  


I was also able to find the yellow Wico balltop and buttons.  They match the cab pretty good, too.






Here you can see where I used some black posterboard to shroud the back of the plexi bezel so the marquee light doesn't shine from the inside of the cabinet onto it causing a glare.

[Matt, GoC]

Dude that little cab is the bomb!

<ZeroWingReference>
I wish someone would set me up the bomb!
</ZeroWingReference>

Who makes the coin mech anyway?  You said it's Nintendo-like, that's why I ask.

Dude that little cab is the bomb!

[quarterstringer]

Wow, you can build your own barstools too? BTW thanks for the Vortex with natural aluminum knob I installed it Wednesday and it works perfectly.

[OSCAR]

Apocalypse Never  - I'm not really sure what the manufacturer of the coin mech is.  I threw out the box after I installed it.     Here is a link to the auction where I won it, though: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3285332300.  I would check with the seller, it was a dutch auction and not all the mech's sold.  The mech is certainly a Tawain or Chinese import, though.  It's not as hefty as a Happ coin door, the face plate appears to be a die cast aluminum instead of steel, but it is definitely okay for home use.  I spray painted mine with Rustoleum black textured paint so it blends in nicely with the cab.


quarterstringer - I wasn't going to build a barstool from scratch, but rather to match.  I bought a little 24" one from Target ($17) and gave it a Pac paint job, complete with pellets on the legs.  It turned out pretty good, I'm happy with it.  Thanks for the idea!  I'm glad you are happy with your Vortex, too!

[pcdoctor]

Oscar,

Very nice work!
Your daughter must be proud of you.
When are you going to make a cabinet for your wife?
Hey, shouldn't that cabinet for your daughter be a Ms. Pacman?
Great work on the stool too!
I prefer the small cabinet over the big one!