first attemp at a bartop

[arcade-mad]

Hi all thought id have a go at making a bartop yesturday and took some pics along the way this is what ive done so far...

Any comments good or bad are welcome any pointers to help me out or give me some ideas would be great 

Im using a 15" tft monitor as i cant fit in a crt made cab too small 
and a one player panel with 3 buttons
just gunna have a few games installed like pac man donkey kong bombjack mappy etc etc screen is vertical.

dont think ive done too bad for a days work............

[retro]

very good Richard.
you said you would keep me informed,keep it going and keep me posted
cheers Peter.

[JonnyBoy]

I like it a lot. It looks very clean and the control panel looks great as well.

Keep us updated.

[dpz147]

Wow...all of that in a day?!  Pretty impressive!  Looks great! 

[arcade-mad]

Hi thanks for the positive comments just wiring up the i pac then i could be playing it tommorrow but i wont cos it'll never get finished then 

Going to paint the inside matt black then the outside yellow paint or vinal not decided yet then get some smaller pacman grafix done for side art and marquee then it will be done

ill keep posting pics as i progress

thanks

p.s hello peter ive just e mailed you ill get pics of my other cab to you ( i know ive been sayin this for ages but ive been realy busy no excuse i know sorry mate)

[retro]

Hi ric
i know i got the email that is why i am here.
positive comments. DO NOT FORGET TO KEEP US ALL POSTED.
cheers Peter

[arcade-mad]

Hello again not posted any updates since end of april as i just got out of hospital 2 weeks ago and havnt been well enough to work on the bartop project.

Got rushed in to hospital with belly pains and six weeks later im minus my appendix and minus some bowel and a nasty tumour has been removed from my pelvic wall. Then ended up with a lung full of gunk due to pnemonia then got a blood clot on my lung which has now dispersed thank god

So back to what i love as im off work for the next 8 weeks or so.

got the pc running the games i want on a 15" tft monitor im using filled the outer screw holes with wood filler and sanded most of them.

Going for some paint in the morning (not supposed to drive for 6 weeks but sure i can manage a trip to B&Q once the mrs has gone to work )

ill post pics later

Regards

Richard

[leapinlew]

How do you plan on giving credits?

[theCoder]

Sorry to hear about your recent health issue(s). 

A few recommendations...take them in the spirit they are intended.

Are you using electrical tape to hold the hard drive to the power supply?  If so, I'd recommend something a little stronger (like Velcro belt) or mount it to the sidewall of the cab.

It looks like you could have moved your buttons a little farther to the right.  Are you reserving the space to the right for something else?

If you are going with a flat panel screen, your box does not need to be nearly as deep as you have it.  I significantly reduced the depth on my bartop cab going with a flat panel.

As leapinlew mentioned, you may need a few other buttons unless you plan on using the "Shift" key in the ipac.

I'd definitely recommend going with some side art and maybe something on the control panel.

Great progress.  Keep it up.

[miles2912]

Hot powersupply + hot harddrive = bad.  Don't leave the hard drive mounted to a PS.  If you have to have it there, make some type of insulating spacer to buffer the heat.

D-

[cool69rtcharger]

Hot powersupply + hot harddrive = bad.  Don't leave the hard drive mounted to a PS.  If you have to have it there, make some type of insulating spacer to buffer the heat.

D-

ya if you are going to keep it like that put an air gap or something

[arcade-mad]

Hi thanks for the heads up on the harddrive power supply heat prob ill sort that out.

Will be using the shift function for credits.
just wanted to keep the control panel nice and simple as only going to be playing a select few vertical games on this cab.  (1942 kong pac man bomb jack) as i can play other games on my cocktail type cab i built (horizontal screen) 

think im going with black on the inside of the cab and yellow on the outside with pacman side art so it should look like a mini pacman replica.
not decided yet though 

Regards

Richard

[arcade-mad]

Hi
 back with an update on my bartop as you can see from the pics its nearly done just need sideart.
please give opinions good or bad......
what do you think of the angle of the plexi ?? looks kinda strange but at thins angle i get no or very little reflection not sure yet though ill let it grow on me.
apart from the angle of the screen im pleased with the outcome.

look at the pics and let me know what you guys think

[arcade-mad]

more pics 

[TOK]

Looks great. I think if you either use tinted plexi (or tint what you have with 20% auto tint) you won't notice the forward angle and also won't see the inner monitor surround.
I did a similar foam board surround on my cab, and tinting the glass made a huge difference in the appearance.