Author Topic: Multi Williams Bartop (Read 6974 times)

spacies · « **on:** June 29, 2006, 10:58:29 pm »

Hello from New Zealand fellow gamers.

Been reading a few build ups and thought you bartop fans might like this one.
Was a solid 3 day effort but well worth it.

First up I had a rough sketch on paper to figure out sizes etc based on 15 inch monitor.
I used a CRT because I already had . Why? Basically they are just given away these days so its an easy and cheap way to get started. I did all the artwork a few days before and made sure I had everything ready to go on the day.

Next step was to build the cabinet. 18mm MDF which was slotted for the T-Molding and glued and screwed together.
Nothing fancy here.

Control panel added and a dummy up with the screen. You can see the PC in its case and I just sat the monitor on top. Worked out extremely well.

Primed the whole outside ready for the application of artwork.

End of day one and the front artwork is added. The holes are drilled in the CP and buttons are dummied in place. The IPAC was attached to the underside of the CP. 80mm hole is cut on the side for the fan to keep it cool inside.

Determined to get it done in 3 days, there was no mucking around so it was an early rise at 7am and straight into it. First up the pre configured Dell slimline PC was mounted with the front facing the rear of the cabinet. This means easy access to power up and CD drive. The monitor was masked and sprayed black and fixed in place with angle brackets. The Bezel was cut to size and marked to measure the size of the artwork. The artwork was printed in reverse and added to the inside of the Plexi. I built a plinth for it to sit on and the speakers where attached inside facing down under the CP with holes cut inside. The speakers were mounted from the bottom up so the volume control was easily accessible which you can see in a shot further down. Joysticks and buttons were also mounted and wired with a pre purchased JAMMA loom which I just cut to bits so I had the wires with the connectors already attached ready to go. Keeping it simple.

Extremly hectic day but almost finished in 2 days! Satin black T-molding was applied. This shot was taken approx 11pm on day 2! The Williams games got a hammering over a few beers and it was a late night!

Note the peice of acrylic sheet to protect the artwork. This was cut earlier and I heated it up with a heat gun and bent the front lip which you can just see in the pic. Also the placement of the 1 and 2 player start buttons which worked out cool.

Day 3 consisted of a few minor things. Mounting the marquee properly and constructing and attaching the back door. I also masked and clear coated the side art and the art on the front face, but was all done. Everything went very well and no problems along the way helped keep the blood pressure down. Also, having a shed full of the right equipment for the job helps too.

I have built lots of custom machines and as we all know, building something from scratch can turn ugly pretty quick if not thought out properly.

And there we have it.
A cool Multi-Williams Bartop.

Enjoy.

GAME ON!

JamIt · « **Reply #1 on:** June 29, 2006, 11:56:05 pm »

Beautiful! I'm jealous
--JamIt

Timoe · « **Reply #2 on:** June 30, 2006, 12:13:52 am »

oh mang, that is VERy nice!

good for you!

theCoder · « **Reply #3 on:** June 30, 2006, 01:17:19 am »

3 days! Holy cow. Great job.

What is the joystick on the left with the one button?

spacies · « **Reply #4 on:** June 30, 2006, 01:49:15 am »

Thanks guys.

Coder: Thats the main joystick. The button right next to it is 'reverse' for Defender. That button is also used as a 'flap' button with Joust and Player 2 uses the other joystick and the fire button to 'flap'

I cut down the joystick underneath too so I could mount the reverse button as close as possible. Perfect!

Oh yeah, 2 joysticks so I can thrash Robotron in case you hadn't played it.

Quarterhorse · « **Reply #5 on:** June 30, 2006, 10:30:57 am »

I definitely want to do this for my next project....you made it seem so easy!

Great job.

Did you get the art from the vector arcade site?

spacies · « **Reply #6 on:** July 02, 2006, 06:47:08 pm »

Cheers dude.

I think where I saved a lot of time was leaving the PC in its case and utilizing it as a stand for the monitor.
You can spend a heap of time mounting a PC in a cab trying to fabricate brackets for the CD drive ec.

Nobody sees inside so who cares?

Yes, the art come from the Library. Just tweaked to suit the project.
Many thanks to the owner of that site and contributors too. Great work guys!

Crafty · « **Reply #7 on:** July 03, 2006, 12:45:09 am »

Good Effort

Just goes to show what can be achieved in a short time frame...

KenToad · « **Reply #8 on:** July 06, 2006, 02:23:40 am »

Nice work, man. Love that William's Artwork.

Cheers,
Ian

jcroach · « **Reply #9 on:** July 06, 2006, 08:46:49 am »

Very nice. Enjoy it!

Craig · « **Reply #10 on:** July 06, 2006, 12:23:50 pm »

Very nice! I want one.

arcadefever · « **Reply #11 on:** July 08, 2006, 02:22:55 pm »

can i have one

Cameronj · « **Reply #12 on:** July 08, 2006, 07:08:42 pm »

Three days incredible!!!!!!!

I love it! Excellent work!

spacies · « **Reply #13 on:** September 17, 2006, 08:32:10 pm »

Just in case you missed it

TehJefe · « **Reply #14 on:** September 17, 2006, 10:48:20 pm »

Looks like I missed it!
Pretty incredible to just crank out such a bitchin cab a long weekend's time.
Ive got a question for you though:
Is the cab open-backed? If its not, how did you go about cooling and such?
As I understand it thats the main reason to take the pc out of its case.

spacies · « **Reply #15 on:** September 18, 2006, 12:55:04 am »

Thanks.

The cabinet has a lockable door on the back.

The front of the PC is what you see when you open the door. Means you can access the CD-ROM drive if you needed to. Also note the fan placement at the bottom in the 2nd last pic. This was right by the PSU fan on the PC, probably about 2-3 inches away which makes for good cooling.

theCoder · « **Reply #16 on:** September 18, 2006, 12:59:03 am »

Could you provide more info on how you bent the plexi on the front.

Thanks

spacies · « **Reply #17 on:** September 18, 2006, 01:06:44 am »

Hi,

All I did was measure the lip that needed to be bent and marked it with a non permanent marker. Then overhung the peice that was going to be bent off my workbench and heated it with a heatgun carefully and it just 'flopped' over by itself. I pushed it down to make sure it was even and once it cooled it goes hard again.

I managed to get this right on the first attempt but the next time I did it I was too eager and ended up with bubbles inside the plexi. Just take it slow and you'll be fine mate.

Good luck!

TehJefe · « **Reply #18 on:** September 18, 2006, 01:27:25 am »

Ohhh nice. That is a pretty well camo-ed fan you got there.

spacies · « **Reply #19 on:** September 18, 2006, 01:56:13 am »

Quote from: TehJefe on September 18, 2006, 01:27:25 am

Ohhh nice. That is a pretty well camo-ed fan you got there.

Yup!

Inman · « **Reply #20 on:** October 21, 2006, 04:33:37 am »

That is one cool bartop. I hope my Defender bartop turns out that well. Cheers!

Grasshopper · « **Reply #21 on:** October 21, 2006, 07:18:30 am »

Very nice.

Can you give some tips on how you bent the acrylic? I'm interested in doing the same for my panel but I'm afraid of cracking, melting, or burning the plastic.

arcade-mad · « **Reply #22 on:** October 21, 2006, 10:19:29 am »

Grasshopper look four posts up

it tells ya there

Grasshopper · « **Reply #23 on:** October 21, 2006, 10:33:51 am »

Quote from: arcade-mad on October 21, 2006, 10:19:29 am

Grasshopper look four posts up
it tells ya there

D'oh!

Santoro · « **Reply #24 on:** October 30, 2006, 08:11:30 pm »

That came out great. Congrats.


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