Author Topic: * Project Arcadeus * (Read 60409 times)

Jontox · « **on:** January 04, 2006, 03:47:00 pm »

Hi all,

First post and first arcade project already started...

The arcade cabinet is already finished, Ultimate Arcade Cabinet 2 variation like GSXR's project that I do like very much:

CP will be assemblied by Knievel with backlit buttons and Cp art is currently made by Pixelhugger. I let him the honour of posting his WIP himselfs.

Find below the blog dedicated to the project:
http://arcadeus.over-blog.net/

The blog is currently only in French but it will be translated into English very soon.

See you soon and all comments are welcomed.

P.S.: Big applause to the nice arcade specialist community surfing here

Taborious · « **Reply #1 on:** January 04, 2006, 05:05:54 pm »

Seriously, whos garage is that clean??? I'm lucky if I can walk through mine without falling over 10 things...

Looking good so far...

Harpal · « **Reply #2 on:** January 04, 2006, 05:33:51 pm »

thats does look really nice cant wait to see how it will look when it is all finish....

Knievel · « **Reply #3 on:** January 04, 2006, 07:07:55 pm »

Your cabinet looks great Jontox..as does the garage.

Looking forward to assembling your CP once the art is done.
Pixel was saying this is his first 'tri-national arcade project'.. I'm thinking maybe it's the first one EVER??

NinjaEpisode · « **Reply #4 on:** January 05, 2006, 09:07:31 am »

Quote from: Taborious on January 04, 2006, 05:05:54 pm

Seriously, whos garage is that clean??? I'm lucky if I can walk through mine without falling over 10 things...

Amen brother!

Looks great Jontox!

Jontox · « **Reply #5 on:** January 05, 2006, 04:42:23 pm »

Nice to see that everyone likes my garage (family's garage in fact, not mine personaly) as much as the cabinet

Thanks for you comments.
I will add some pictures showing the entire painted cabinet (Glossy Black).

Some pics of the Betson Imperial 27" screen temporarely fixed in it as well.

N.B.: Hi Knievel, CP art is quite in final status. I must resist to not posting any revision picture I already get as the honour remains to the creator...

...to be continued

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #6 on:** January 05, 2006, 11:02:26 pm »

OK, here is the CP as it stands right now. Translucent buttons up top for pause, and black P1 and P2 buttons if I remember correctly.

As usual open in a new window or download to see it larger. Actual dimension of this JPEG is 1200x549, much larger than the thread will display.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #7 on:** January 05, 2006, 11:05:45 pm »

Up close and personal with the pause and start graphics.

KrawDaddy · « **Reply #8 on:** January 05, 2006, 11:12:42 pm »

Amazing as always....Pix

Kraw

Jontox · « **Reply #9 on:** March 16, 2006, 04:14:06 pm »

And here we go again... some time has passed and the project has reached next step.

First I want to tell you that Blog has been entirely translated into english. In case you want to see a lot more pictures and leave a comment here is the link
http://arcadeus.over-blog.net/

Here are the new pics I want to share with you:

Printed CP Overlay by MameMarquees (Great JOB!!!) (Pictures available by courtesy of Knievel)

Painted Arcade Cabinet (Black Gloss)

Painted Arcade Cabinet (Black Gloss) + Stools

Mounted Car Speakers + Marquee light

Marquee Close Up (With temporary piece of poster to be replaced by artwork)

Backlit Marquee Close Up (With temporary piece of poster to be replaced by artwork)

Cabinet Inside view showing Marquee lighting fixature

That's it for now... as always comments are welcomed

See you soon

Knievel · « **Reply #10 on:** March 24, 2006, 12:43:51 pm »

CP assembly is finally underway..the artwork is stunning.

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #11 on:** March 24, 2006, 05:16:37 pm »

*breathes sigh of relief for alignment* niiiiiiice!

Jontox · « **Reply #12 on:** March 24, 2006, 05:27:37 pm »

Really really nice

It should be better when backlit hehe

Perfectly designed, Perfectly aligned
Thanks to both of you

To be continued...

miles2912 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 24, 2006, 08:08:18 pm »

Ces't tres bien (one year high school french)

I love the artwork. Can't wait to see the marquee. Any side art in the work?

Don

Jontox · « **Reply #14 on:** March 25, 2006, 08:20:58 am »

Merci miles2912, your french is still valuable

Normally Side arts is planned but it will be the last thing...

Pixelhugger should start working on the marquee soon... I'm sure he will keep you posted with new pics asap.

See you soon

Jontox

mccoy178 · « **Reply #15 on:** March 25, 2006, 09:14:20 am »

Pulling out the big boys eh, for some dirty work? Excellent idea!!! You couldn't have picked two better guys to help, and the quality! For geez sakes that looks wonderful! Are you going to have any artwork on your bezel?

fixedpigs · « **Reply #16 on:** March 25, 2006, 12:15:43 pm »

Quote from: Knievel on March 24, 2006, 12:43:51 pm

CP assembly is finally underway..the artwork is stunning.

looks good...!
what's the best way to get that nice curve along the front of the cp top...?
i marked 1" lines along mine and then connected the dots based off of measurements from my cad model...but it still has that slight freehand look to it...

SNAAKE · « **Reply #17 on:** March 25, 2006, 02:59:20 pm »

PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMP !!

Lon · « **Reply #18 on:** March 25, 2006, 07:32:45 pm »

Very Nice Job!!!!

Jontox · « **Reply #19 on:** March 26, 2006, 06:15:16 am »

Quote from: mccoy178 on March 25, 2006, 09:14:20 am

Pulling out the big boys eh, for some dirty work? Excellent idea!!! You couldn't have picked two better guys to help, and the quality! For geez sakes that looks wonderful! Are you going to have any artwork on your bezel?

The Betson 27" will have a Happs 27" black bezel (which is already ordered).
At first, I didn't plan to add any plexi in front of the monitor but when I found this link http://www.oscarcontrols.com/smoked/ I changed my mind.

Monitor will be covered with smoked plexi so artwork could be planned...but after sidearts...

I've search the board for recommandations of any kind and found these:

RandyT suggested dark gray (Neutral color which doesn't interefer with colors from the monitor)
Oscarcontrols advised a plexi referred as Lucite transparent Gray
Light transmittance of 20%, 25% ? (Cast acrylic)
1/4 inch tick?, Oscar used 1/8 inch tick and I do really like the result, I wonder if thicker peace of Pleaxi would not darken the picture too much

Do you think it should do the job ?
Any additional precise information and suggestions will help me find the correct plexi here in Belgium (Europe)

Thanks in advance

Jontox

Wade · « **Reply #20 on:** March 28, 2006, 03:39:28 pm »

Quote from: Jontox on March 26, 2006, 06:15:16 am

Quote from: mccoy178 on March 25, 2006, 09:14:20 am
Pulling out the big boys eh, for some dirty work? Excellent idea!!! You couldn't have picked two better guys to help, and the quality! For geez sakes that looks wonderful! Are you going to have any artwork on your bezel?

The Betson 27" will have a Happs 27" black bezel (which is already ordered).
At first, I didn't plan to add any plexi in front of the monitor but when I found this link http://www.oscarcontrols.com/smoked/ I changed my mind.

Monitor will be covered with smoked plexi so artwork could be planned...but after sidearts...

I've search the board for recommandations of any kind and found these:

RandyT suggested dark gray (Neutral color which doesn't interefer with colors from the monitor)
Oscarcontrols advised a plexi referred as Lucite transparent Gray
Light transmittance of 20%, 25% ? (Cast acrylic)
1/4 inch tick?, Oscar used 1/8 inch tick and I do really like the result, I wonder if thicker peace of Pleaxi would not darken the picture too much

Do you think it should do the job ?
Any additional precise information and suggestions will help me find the correct plexi here in Belgium (Europe)

Thanks in advance

Jontox

I highly, highly recommend AGAINST using smoked plexi over the monitor.

Older monitors have lighter colored tubes, and often have screen burn, and the smoked plexi helps to hide that. They look BAD without a tint over them.

New monitors already HAVE a tinted coating on them. Also, most new games don't have tint over the monitor, probably for this very reason. Putting the plexi over a perfectly good monitor just dims the picture and you'll have to crank up the brightness to compensate. Might as well just turn down the brightness and get the same effect!

Wade

Jontox · « **Reply #21 on:** March 28, 2006, 04:35:24 pm »

I really didn't know about that.

That seems logical so no smoked Plexi over a Betson 27"

I will only go with a normal no tinted Plexi then...

Thanks for your help Wade

xteeejx · « **Reply #22 on:** March 28, 2006, 09:08:32 pm »

That's a beautiful cp. From the pics it's really hard to tell where the t-moulding ends and the graphic begins. Good Job!

RandyT · « **Reply #23 on:** March 29, 2006, 11:49:11 am »

Quote from: Wade on March 28, 2006, 03:39:28 pm

I highly, highly recommend AGAINST using smoked plexi over the monitor.

Older monitors have lighter colored tubes, and often have screen burn, and the smoked plexi helps to hide that. They look BAD without a tint over them.

New monitors already HAVE a tinted coating on them. Also, most new games don't have tint over the monitor, probably for this very reason. Putting the plexi over a perfectly good monitor just dims the picture and you'll have to crank up the brightness to compensate. Might as well just turn down the brightness and get the same effect!

I've been asked to give an opinion on this. For the record, this is strictly a matter of taste. But there are benefits to using the dark plexi.

As stated, screen burn and light colored phosphor can be hidden by dark plexi. But even with the newer tubes, just turning down the brightness doesn't do quite the same thing.

One feature of the dark plexi that I really, really like is the fact that screen borders can be completely eliminated. On a 27" monitor, a vertically oriented game just looks like a 19" vertical monitor is in the cab, not just a smaller screen that is pasted into the center of a larger horizontal one. If you use artwork graphics to fill in the edges, this may not appeal to you.

The reason this works is that a CRT can only achieve a certain level of "blackness". The scanning of the electron gun is still happening in the black areas, and a certain level of phosphor excitation is still occurring. The dark tinted overlay will make the black levels nearly absolute and by increasing the contrast, a bright image is still achieved. The dark tinted glass of the newer monitors helps a lot, but they aren't designed to completely negate the background like this method does. The result is also very comfortable for "in your face" viewing for long periods of time.

As I said, it's a matter of taste. Those who are using this method seem to like it. OSCAR liked it after trying it for himself based on my recommendations. And I personally like it enough to make it part of my current setup, as well as to make it part of my plans for future units. So if you are at all interested in what can be achieved with it, give it a shot. It's probably the only way you'll know

RandyT

Jontox · « **Reply #24 on:** March 29, 2006, 12:25:54 pm »

Thanks RandyT for your comment.

This make me solved two pending issues...

Smoked Plexi will be used as I want to give it a try. No offense directly addressed to you Wade
It is just that pictures behind a smoked plexi increase the nostalgia feeling that made me start this project at first
No artwork will be used on the bezel to maintain the illusion vertical games are running on a 19" monitor.

Thanks again for your time...

Wienerdog · « **Reply #25 on:** March 29, 2006, 08:32:32 pm »

What kind of balltop is that and what kind of buttons ar you using? I think everythinig is going to look great together, and I like the smoked glass for the same reason (it hides everything behind the glass).

Wade · « **Reply #26 on:** March 30, 2006, 09:51:05 am »

I have several classic games and several newer games, both with tinted glass and without, and I can honestly say that the tint does nothing positive EXCEPT on the games with worse picture tubes. It is also good for hiding a poor looking bezel, which I'm sure is the reason a lot of people like "the effect"...

My main MAME cabinet with a 27" monitor doesn't have tint, and in my gameroom, vertical games are just as you describe - no border, it essentially looks just like a 19" vertical monitor under the glass.

I also keep my gameroom pretty dim except for the neon lights, so someone who has their game in a brightly lit room might feel the tint has more of a benefit. For me, the tint has just been a nuisance, and made otherwise perfect monitors look too dim (of course I had to CRANK the brightness to make it look better, which wears the monitor quicker).

Obviously it is a matter of taste, and I agree, it doesn't hurt to try it.

Wade

Timoe · « **Reply #27 on:** March 30, 2006, 10:09:45 am »

Control Panel Assembly questions.

1. is the artwork sandwiched between two sheets of acrylic/polycarbonate?

2. are the joysticks top mounted?

3. what thickness is the wood for the CP top?

4. what is the thickness for the t-molding on the control panel?

5. are there anymore pics of the control panel assembly?

Jontox · « **Reply #28 on:** March 30, 2006, 02:21:12 pm »

Quote from: Wienerdog on March 29, 2006, 08:32:32 pm

What kind of balltop is that and what kind of buttons ar you using? I think everythinig is going to look great together, and I like the smoked glass for the same reason (it hides everything behind the glass).

You don't recognise them ?...

SlikStik Custom Ball Top Joysticks,
Stainless Steel, Handle Type : Optical 360

As for the buttons, I wanted the CP to be backlit so these are from FXBUTTONS, Knievel could answer you better than I on that.

Quote from: timoe on March 30, 2006, 10:09:45 am

Control Panel Assembly questions.

5. are there anymore pics of the control panel assembly?

Unfortunately, I've uploaded all CP pictures I got till now on my blog and they are all showing CP assemblied and not WIP. http://arcadeus.over-blog.net/photo-128340-cp-close-up_jpg.html

Knievel could have additional pictures of WIP but I doubt so...

I hope he could help you and answer the remaining questions...

Jontox

Wienerdog · « **Reply #29 on:** March 31, 2006, 12:22:20 am »

Quote from: Jontox on March 30, 2006, 02:21:12 pm

You don't recognise them ?...

SlikStik Custom Ball Top Joysticks,
Stainless Steel, Handle Type : Optical 360

The funny thing is that I was talking about the red balltop, I can't afford anything from SlikStick

. You've gone all out on everything so I'd trust your choice in stick (I was just hoping it wasn't a $60 stick and base combo from SS

.

Quote from: Jontox on March 30, 2006, 02:21:12 pm

As for the buttons, I wanted the CP to be backlit so these are from FXBUTTONS, Knievel could answer you better than I on that.

Thanks, they look great. I have a blue and red FXBUTTON but they both look a little darker.

Jontox · « **Reply #30 on:** March 31, 2006, 11:43:59 am »

Quote from: Wienerdog on March 31, 2006, 12:22:20 am

The funny thing is that I was talking about the red balltop, I can't afford anything from SlikStick . You've gone all out on everything so I'd trust your choice in stick (I was just hoping it wasn't a $60 stick and base combo from SS .

This is a new old-stock Wico 4-ways LEAF joysticks

Jontox

Knievel · « **Reply #31 on:** April 03, 2006, 01:18:29 pm »

The CP is officially completed and will soon be on it's way to Belgium. I have taken more WIP pictures and will be sending them to Jontox for his website blog.

I've done quite a few of these now but this one really stands out.
Here are a few pics of the finished product..

Pixelhugger · « **Reply #32 on:** April 03, 2006, 02:18:50 pm »

escher · « **Reply #33 on:** April 03, 2006, 02:37:37 pm »

Quote from: Knievel on April 03, 2006, 01:18:29 pm

The CP is officially completed and will soon be on it's way to Belgium. I have taken more WIP pictures and will be sending them to Jontox for his website blog.

I've done quite a few of these now but this one really stands out.
Here are a few pics of the finished product..

Absolutely gorgeous.

Jontox · « **Reply #34 on:** April 03, 2006, 02:38:09 pm »

AMEN

It is really a masterpiece.

Great work Knievel !!!, I was sure that you were the right one to contact for that ....

Jontox

Jontox · « **Reply #35 on:** April 04, 2006, 03:43:38 pm »

Quote from: Knievel on April 03, 2006, 01:18:29 pm

The CP is officially completed and will soon be on it's way to Belgium. I have taken more WIP pictures and will be sending them to Jontox for his website blog.

New batch of pictures uploaded on the Blog arcadeus

Timoe · « **Reply #36 on:** April 04, 2006, 04:07:14 pm »

any chance we can post the new pics here also? I can not find them on your site.

Jontox · « **Reply #37 on:** April 04, 2006, 04:33:46 pm »

Well not to overload too much this thread, you will find here below the direct link to the pictures album

http://arcadeus.over-blog.net/album-128340.html

Otherwise once on the blog, in the upper left corner you have direc links to all 3 albums available.
Arcade Cabinet, Control Panel, Painted Arcade Cabinet.

Just click the link or the "Main" picture of each album and it will open it in a new window.

Jontox

Timoe · « **Reply #38 on:** April 04, 2006, 05:14:02 pm »

thank you. The wiring for the LEDS is awesome. omg, that looks so clean.

I learn something new everyday with this hobby.

today I learned that Knievels work is FREAGIN' SWEET

Knievel if you read this, I gotta get one of your panels someday., The lines are so clean.

Maybe I have to go and reread your build threads. But if you ever get a chance you should make some tutorials. your work is ridiculous.

/rant

nullb0y · « **Reply #39 on:** April 05, 2006, 01:40:24 am »

::falls over and dies:: that is beautiful..... wow.....


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Author Topic: *** Project Arcadeus *** (Read 60409 times)

Author Topic: * Project Arcadeus * (Read 60409 times)