New Lowboy Cab from Scratch

[Lord Hiryu]

Hi guys!!!
Well, I'm glad to show you my last creation...(it is not finished yet!!)
Is a based lowboy cab for a friend of mine.
BTW, the downside of the cab is more similar to the Taito's Arcade from the 80's.

The core is a PIV 1.3Ghz with 512Mb Ram, Ms-Dos O.S, Advmame 0.99, Advmenu, SoundCard Integrated and a Nvidia Geforce 2 Mx.
For the controls I will do a matrix using the LPT1 of the PC.
The monitor is an Hantarex MTC 9000 20" new from box!!!

Now, the pictures of the process.

Cutting and mounting the chassis of the cab using pinewood.


The sides of the cab, ready cutter-ed on TEKA wood...(to achieve a retro flavour!!!)


A picture of the new monitor.


The monitor placed on the right way!!!


Putting the pieces together!! (the yellow molding is provisional yet. Finally will be Red Molding)


The Coin Door placed on the front of the cab with the MDF control panel.


The rear of the cab is ready on place. Also, I placed the T-Sticks to see if they fits OK.


Testing the monitor. Power on the PC, the image is scrambling, the bios shows ok, the menu ok, the game works.....ready to save Jessica!!!!


Now, the artworks.
For the artwoks I vectorized some graphics for the Japanese flyer of the Phoenix game..(more hardest than an standard Danmakku!!!), and later, I does a  retro composition.
The Marquee and the CPO.
The CPO is provisional too. All the arts are printed on an standard A3 laser printer, on normal paper to confirm if it fits ok or not. Also, if you see some brights on the paper, don't worry about that, 'cause is the adhesive tape that I using to fix the papers.....
BTW, I think I will change some colours....(the blue ones seems maroon...(too many yellow on the CMYK) and also will be replace some elements, as putting new ones (for the control buttons...ESC, PAUSE, OK and RESET)



And the side-art!!!!


Now, with the red U-Molding...(is like our T-Molding but has a "U" form. Here in Spain is too hard to find T-Molding)


Lights out, Phoenix in all it's splendor!!!!


It's not finished yet.
I rest to do the interface for the controls, fixed the artwork for the marquee, print on vinyl the arts, doing the plastic protect for the CPO, done a card board bezel........there's enough work yet, but it beggins to seem a arcade cab.

And finally, a video with the machine working and a few comments on it (It's in spanish....sorry guys.. )
[youtube]FE0yFAu6XJE[/youtube]

I hope you agree.

Cheers.

[Twin-X]

Man so simple and yet it looks brilliant.
Great graphics. I like it alot.

[TOK]

They never had that style of cab anywhere around me, but I think they look fantastic. Much nicer than the typical US cabaret and with a bigger monitor too. Very nice build. 

[Lord Hiryu]

Hi TOK, I think on the same way as you.
I don't understand the American guys.
In his country there are plenty of dedicated machines from the 80's and 70's too, and with the auctions, are easy to achieve one for a low price.
In Spain, when the bomb of arcade video-games explodes, was in the beginins of the 80's, and it's very strange to find a dedicated machine, the major problem was there only a few companies as SONIC, CIDELSA or PETACO do this kind of decoration.
I friend of mine has an original Gauntlet, the same model as the American, but with all the texts in Spanish, a very rare one.

I suppose that our houses are big, and better make a big cab than a little one, but in my opinion, they're some weird experiments, with all this "Huuuuuugeeee" panels, as the wings of an aeroplane with hundred buttons....

[leapinlew]

They never had that style of cab anywhere around me, but I think they look fantastic. Much nicer than the typical US cabaret and with a bigger monitor too. Very nice build. 

I agree. I like this design.

[brock.sampson]

That is a sweet cab.  Any chance you can share the plans?  I'm itching to do a scratch build and I really like the shape and size.

[Anubis_au]

Brock, leapinlew, it looks like an Aussie Lowboy cab. Do a search, you'll find the plans. I think plans are even linked from the wiki website.

Lord Hiryu, awesome build mate. I'm watching with great interest.

[Spaced Ace]

Hi TOK, I think on the same way as you.
I don't understand the American guys.
In his country there are plenty of dedicated machines from the 80's and 70's too, and with the auctions, are easy to achieve one for a low price.
In Spain, when the bomb of arcade video-games explodes, was in the beginins of the 80's, and it's very strange to find a dedicated machine, the major problem was there only a few companies as SONIC, CIDELSA or PETACO do this kind of decoration.
I friend of mine has an original Gauntlet, the same model as the American, but with all the texts in Spanish, a very rare one.

I suppose that our houses are big, and better make a big cab than a little one, but in my opinion, they're some weird experiments, with all this "Huuuuuugeeee" panels, as the wings of an aeroplane with hundred buttons....

Might get flamed on this one, but I too think some people have MAME cabs that are just out of control.  A 4 player is pushing it as it is.   I know people want 20 in 1, but besides space being an issue, why not just build several cabs?  A control panel with 30 buttons, spinners, track ball, flight stick, 4-way, stearing wheel, pedals and so on, is just a bit much.....

But that is just one opinion among hundreds, so what do I know?

As far as cabs go, in the US, thats all we have ever known...  Nothing says arcade like 400 lbs. of beefy hardware and software.  Im sure most of us wouldnt complain if we all could afford the luxery of a Dynamo Showcase with a huge monitor and full stereo sound.

[jeffhlewis]

Definitely agree with Spaced Ace here.  Maybe it's just because I didn't play that many games growing up that had a trackball or spinner, but I can't see paying the $$$ and sacrificing the CP space to be able to play the handful of games that make good use of those devices.  Some people are nuts with how much stuff they put on their cabs.  And to be completely honest, how many people with 4 player controls actually make use of them consistently? are there that many 25-40 year olds playing 4-player Ninja Turtles every weekend? 

Granted there are some games like Arkanoid and Golden Tee that are practically unplayable without their respective devices but if I wanted to play one particular game bad enough I would just buy the original cab for it.

[leapinlew]

but I can't see paying the $$$ and sacrificing the CP space to be able to play the handful of games that make good use of those devices. 

You guys should take this to a different thread, instead of gunking up this guys thread.

Plenty of classics took odd controls: Defender, Stargate, Robotron and Asteroids used standard controls, but in a different configuration.

If you haven't had people over playing some World Class Bowling, Shuuz and Shuffleshot - there is a whole side of this hobby you haven't explored yet. Not everyone loves to play the slow moving round robin game of Donkey Kong, but I can always get some of my non-arcade addict friends to bowl a game or play some shuffleboard.

[gonzo90017]

Great job so far. You make the build look very simple.
Knowing you I can't wait to see the finsihed artwork.

[Spaced Ace]

Shuuz, that game rocks....

Final post here for me. 

leapinlew, you have me all wrong.  Im saying, why not have a MAME cab for fighting games, 6 buttons ect.  One for spinners, one for trackball, one four way old school.  I know it has to deal with $.$$.  But if you can AFFORD to do it, than do it the way its supposed to be.  Have a dedicated for each type of game. 


Lord Hiryu wrote that he didnt understand why we go crazy with our huge multi-perpose control panels, I was simply responding....

[TOK]

Shuuz, that game rocks....

Final post here for me. 

leapinlew, you have me all wrong.  Im saying, why not have a MAME cab for fighting games, 6 buttons ect.  One for spinners, one for trackball, one four way old school.  I know it has to deal with $.$$.  But if you can AFFORD to do it, than do it the way its supposed to be.  Have a dedicated for each type of game. 


Lord Hiryu wrote that he didnt understand why we go crazy with our huge multi-perpose control panels, I was simply responding....

In the context Hiryu's reply to me, your comments make sense, and since its his project thread maybe it's worthy of discussion.
For my first machine I didn't really build a frankenpanel with everything on it, but that machine did wind up as kind of the do-all. A horizontal cab with twin 7 button layout, trackball and spinner. I don't really play a lot of trackball and spinner games, but its there for a quick game of Tempest, Camel Try, Major Havoc or Centipede.

Because I have the room, I have 5 more specialized or dedicated games, but I'd be OK if I didn't because that first MAME cab will play 95% of the games fine. I think thats the real goal with many peoples first cab, or if they know they only have room for one. If I had to give them all up but one, that original cab would be the one that stayed, even though it's the least pure. Even before realizing how much I loved Hiryu's lowboy, I wondered why a Phoenix fan went with a horizontal rather that vert layout. 

Edit: beer grammar 

[mountain]

I love this cab, great job! I am a born again Phoenix fan. It's funny, I built my first MAME cab because I was fascinated that it was even possible, not so much from an arcade addiction. I totally forgot about Phoenix until my cab was done and I stumbled onto it. My older brother and I lived just around the corner from a 711 that had one and we played it alot.  After finding Phoenix and totally loving the fact that I could play it again, my brother visited from out of town and I could not wait to show it to him. It was awesome to throw that at him and see him react.

I have never played an arcade game against 3 other people....ever. However, as far as the "play every game" control panels are concerned, I see it the same as having fast cars and loud stereos; you don't go 100 miles an hour or crank it way up all of the time, but you can when you want to.

[Lord Hiryu]

Hi again guys!!!
I'm come back with new shots!!!

Well, I'll explain some things.
Firstly, I made it a cardboard bezel, but it looks horribly.
To correct that, I made a DM bezel.
First, I take the size of the monitor space to fit the bezel Ok.


Then, I glue the for sides of the inner bezel...(ready cutted with the correct shape to fit with the screen curve).
When the glue was dry, I sanded the bezel, take out the vertex of the bezel, and shape-round the inner side.
Here's a shot of the rear side of the bezel, ready glue.


Later, a prime coat, sanded again, another coat of prime, sanded again, and finally, two coats of black spray (not gloss)
Here's the result.
A shot with the prime coat applied.


When the second coat was finally dry, the result was good for my:


Here a detail of the round shape of the inner side:


Also, I put the final art on the CPO, and all the buttons and sticks...(not wire yet!!)
I changed some colours (for instance the blues has no more yellow on the mix....CMYK words)


An artistic shot:


BTW, the Red U-Molding don't likes me, so...I changed the red for a Black U-Molding.
Now it looks more Retro.


Here's a picture of the screen zone. The DM Bezel fits OK.


Well, and this is all at the moment.
TODO list:
- Drill a few holes in the rear table of the cab for a better PC perform.
- Put on the base of the cab a black rubber to protect the base of the hits (and kicks!!)
- Put the final sidearts and the marquee.
- Make a LPT1 interface for the controls and configure it for Ms-dos.
- Put 5 buttons (esc, ok, pause, tab and reset) inside the cab..(on the coin door zone).
and finally, add lights to players buttons, and also, on the coin mech.

I hope you agree with the shots. (and I hope my English will be understable for yours!!:P)

[TOK]

I think that is the best home made bezel I've ever seen! Getting the curve of the monitor and inside corners correct looks like it'd be very frustrating, but your results are excellent! Your game looks great!

[thatitalian]

There is retro, and then there is this bad boy!

I feel like I am in 1980! Great Job!

[jeffhlewis]

 

excellent work, looks fantastic!

[NIVO]

you have done a fine job. Well Done! 

[brock.sampson]

That is awesome.  I see a lowboy in my future.  One question that monitor looks to be at less/more of an angle compared to most lowboys I have seen.  Where are you mounting the speakers?  They are usually on the bottom of the marquee box but with your monitor at that angle that space is gone.  That angle looks to be a little more comfortable for sitting an playing.

[Franco B]

Me likeys, me likeys a lot 

Damn it, why is it I want every shape of cab/bartop/ juke that there is!

Good job 

[javeryh]

Damn it, why is it I want every shape of cab/bartop/ juke that there is!

I was thinking the same thing.  Add it to the list!

[AnthonyB]

nice!

Y en espaņol!

[patchboston]

This cab is phenomenal!
One of the nicer-done projects I have seen.

I usually don't like wood grain, but man that is slick...

I'm going to go research lowboy cabs now. ha.

[Lord Hiryu]

Thanks for the comments guys!!!

Brock, about your question.

I was thinking about to place the speakers at the front side, near the coin door zone, but the idea dislikes me, so finally, I placed it on the box of the marquee.

I put you an scheme.

The marquee zone, in his downside has a table of 15 Cm (5'9 Inch's), with a few holes to do the speaker grill.
When the table is placed, is hidden by the glass and the bezel.
Could be seem that will be dumbfound the sound, but it doesn't, really sounds loud!!!! And also, the speakers are completely hidden to the eye.

The blue zone is the table where the speakers are mounted, and the red zone, is the glass.



Finally, there's the final shot...(well, this is a early shot from the process...)

[Anubis_au]

What angle is the monitor mounted at? A standard lowboy has the monitor mounted at 30 degrees, but this looks more like 45...

[mcdubbin]