Author Topic: Dinocade! Mini Pac-Man cab with my son (Read 8502 times)

More Cowbell · « **on:** January 06, 2007, 07:40:16 pm »

My son is 8 years old and is a big fan of the BYOAC hobby. He's always wanting to help me out with things so I figured it would be fun to build a cab together just for him. We decided on a mini Pac-Man cab (or something close to it) with a dinosaur theme. The build is not much different from the other mini cabs on the board. I used Markrvp's thread about his mini cab a lot for ideas, tips, and outright stealing. Thanks Mark!

The top curve gave me some trouble and I need to work on it some more with the dremel to get it looking better. The pictures tell the story and the one with the control panel in place is where we left off tonight.

The area I need big help with is the marquee. My son came up with the idea and I helped him transfer it to a bigger format for the picture. The problem is that the marquee is long and skinny so it might make this tough. It's 4 1/8 x 18.5 (I know I'm mixing fractions and decimals, don't be teh ghey and bust me on it

). Anyone out there have the skill/desire to help us put something together? The scarier the better. Any help putting it together or pointing us in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

MinerAl · « **Reply #1 on:** January 06, 2007, 08:16:03 pm »

nice!

keep us updated!

Donkey_Kong · « **Reply #2 on:** January 07, 2007, 01:42:13 pm »

Oooh I found it!

My kids were raring to go for the first 3.5 days...They now avoid the garage like the plague. Hopefully your kid sticks it out Cowbell, I mean do you think you could really pull it off without his help

hmmmm...

Good job guys can't wait to see the smile on that kid when he has a JOYSTICK in his hands instead!

More Cowbell · « **Reply #3 on:** January 07, 2007, 03:03:17 pm »

Yeah, he's stuck with it through my MAME cabinet and 6 other project cabs. He also builds his own little pinball machines out of spare parts. He's definitely got the fever and the only prescription is more MAMEcabs! We're all gonna be wearing gold plated diapers when this is all done.

More Cowbell · « **Reply #4 on:** January 07, 2007, 07:20:18 pm »

Current state of the build. I fit the monitor in and screwed in shelves to hold it in place in that laid back position. We got the control panel put together and the holes drilled. We went with a joystick and 2 buttons. If we find that we need another button for many games, we can always add it later. The pic gives you an idea of just how mini this cab is. I'm pushing 6'7" so it's not as small as you may think (but I am leaning over a bit). It's 50" tall. We'll probably paint it tomorrow evening. My son decided on red sides and front and black in the monitor area.

leapinlew · « **Reply #5 on:** January 07, 2007, 07:38:59 pm »

Awesome! Your son looks much different in the last picture than the first picture.

I'd like to hear what your doing about the front of your CP where the bottom peice meets the top peice.

More Cowbell · « **Reply #6 on:** January 07, 2007, 09:22:00 pm »

Yeah, he's really growing up much uglier than I had hoped for him.

The top and bottom of the control panel are joined with 3 flush screws, wood glue, and sone L brackets on the back. We sanded the corner with the dremel and then rounded it as much as possible with sandpaper. There will be a door on the front when all is said and done for easy access to the computer and whatnot. One thing I haven't put much thought into yet is the speaker situation. There isn't a ton of room for speakers so I'll have to do some figuring.

mccoy178 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 07, 2007, 09:56:27 pm »

Hey there. This idea is really cool! I bet your kid doesn't mix fractions and decimals, even if he is 8 feet tall! Are you keeping track of your measurements? I bet this idea has come across many a parent in the BYOAC community.

javeryh · « **Reply #8 on:** January 07, 2007, 10:03:42 pm »

You could put the speakers behind the marquee light facing down. The only problem will be running the wires to the computer down below but I assume you are doing something with the marquee light wire so it shouldn't be a big deal. I'm doing this for my mini cabinet and I think it's going to work... You can take a look at it HERE if you are interested - Check the November 2006 archive for the speaker/marquee light installation.

Your project is coming along very nice! I can't wait to see how this thing turns out.

leapinlew · « **Reply #9 on:** January 07, 2007, 10:16:06 pm »

I just thought of something cool for all you BYOAC'ers who are building these small cabinets. Once you build a cabinet with your kids, use that cabinet to measure their heights - and maybe put their high score to some game.

More Cowbell · « **Reply #10 on:** January 08, 2007, 09:18:26 am »

Quote from: javeryh on January 07, 2007, 10:03:42 pm

You could put the speakers behind the marquee light facing down.

I think this is really the only option for speakers besides just dropping them in the bottom part. I'd like to have a speaker up top and down below. I just hope there is enough room in the marquee area to fit a speaker, I'm guessing there will be. I'll check tonight. I had to run the marquee light out the back and down the outside in order for it not to show in the open monitor area. Running the speaker the same way shouldn't be an issue.

I like the idea of using the cabinet to mark height and scores and any other life events. Although he's pretty much the same height as the cabinet so that may not work in this instance for us. I think we will both autograph it when it's done for posterity. I'd love for this to be something he keeps and hands down to his kids one day. Not so sure that mdf is designed to last for several generations though. Plus who wants to tote a mini-cab around when you're 18-25? I guess that's when I add it to my gameroom and wait for the next generation to come around.

theCoder · « **Reply #11 on:** January 08, 2007, 10:46:08 am »

I had a similar experience as Donkey_Kong. My son was real interested at first, but dropped out quickly. I "made" him participate in some of the more critical parts (cutting, sanding, painting, soldering, artwork) just to expose him to these various skills. I'm glad to hear your son's got the bug.

It might be too late, but if I were doing a dinosaur theme, I think I'd go with shades of green, yellow, and brown.

For the speaker(s) you may want to consider the original Donkey_Kong, one speaker on the left side below the CP.

Regarding bringing wires from the marquee area, a common practice is to route a grove in the exposed surface, bondo over the grove with the wires in place, then sand smooth. I recently did this to bring power to a dome light on my current driving cab project.

Great progress so far.

javeryh · « **Reply #12 on:** January 08, 2007, 11:27:00 am »

I'm actually planning to install a 1/2" panel in back of the cabinet to hide the wires running to the bottom section. I want to be able to get the speakers and marquee light out of there if something goes wrong (of course I haven't worked out how to remove the top panel

). It's easier than routing the groove and smoothing it over with bondo, I think but I NEVER would have thought of that and it's probably a cleaner looking solution.

More Cowbell · « **Reply #13 on:** January 08, 2007, 11:47:04 am »

I was planning on running the cables down the corner of the recessed back and staple them in place. I'm not too concerned about how they will look since it will be butted up against a wall. Having shades of yellow, green, and brown would certainly match his room. I'll run it by him and see if I can talk him into it.

Donkey_Kong · « **Reply #14 on:** January 08, 2007, 09:15:53 pm »

Oh, and I would really like to know who drew this picture for there game? It has got to be THE COOLEST and SCARIEST arcade drawing that I HAVE EVER SEEN!

AWESOME

AWESOME

markrvp · « **Reply #15 on:** January 09, 2007, 12:10:35 am »

Congrats on a cool project. Just don't make it look better than mine.

More Cowbell · « **Reply #16 on:** January 09, 2007, 09:15:08 am »

Quote from: markrvp on January 09, 2007, 12:10:35 am

Congrats on a cool project. Just don't make it look better than mine.

No problem there. You da masterz.
No paint last night, we got hooked on the Wii. Tonight for sure, priming. Unless I get distr.. look a shiny squirrel!

Melissa Jones · « **Reply #17 on:** January 10, 2007, 02:49:13 pm »

Quote

The area I need big help with is the marquee. My son came up with the idea and I helped him transfer it to a bigger format for the picture. The problem is that the marquee is long and skinny so it might make this tough. It's 4 1/8 x 18.5 (I know I'm mixing fractions and decimals, don't be teh ghey and bust me on it ). Anyone out there have the skill/desire to help us put something together? The scarier the better. Any help putting it together or pointing us in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

I love the drawing for the marquee!! your son is very creative!! it would be cool if you could cut out the whole design out of some kind of 1/2" wood. and open up the mouth and eye to let light through, round the edges and the teeth with a dremel and find a scary font for the letters. the hard part will be fitting it on such a long and shinny area.... i dont know much about building arcade games and hopefully you will understand what i am trying to say. but maybe you could some how have the eyes stick up a little higher than the hight of the top of the game to give you a little more room. i dont know if that is something that can be done. but i cant think of how else you are going to fit that cool design on such a small area. but i will definitely let you know if i think of anything else. good luck!

johnperkins21 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 10, 2007, 04:43:50 pm »

That's a great idea. Who's to say you need a traditional marquee. How cool would it be if you could build a dinosaur head (maybe out of paper maiche?) with it's mouth open and Dinocade inside his mouth, backlit. Like he's coming up behind the arcade and eating it. You could paint the arms wrapped around the sides, and then claws made out of wood or something penetrating the view of the monitor (just barely though). That would be so awesome.

Oh, to have any sort of talent. All the cool things I could make...

Donkey_Kong · « **Reply #19 on:** January 10, 2007, 04:50:32 pm »

Guys, guys LOOK they got a joystick and BUTTONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This game is AWESOME!!

I want to play pacman on this DINOCADE. My game is broken AND it GOTS worms

Plus I want to know...Will this game play my favorite game also? My favorite game is Donkey Kong. Well, let me know when you get a chance ok? Thank you!

More Cowbell · « **Reply #20 on:** January 10, 2007, 09:05:35 pm »

Quote from: Pinewood Princess on January 10, 2007, 02:49:13 pm

I love the drawing for the marquee!! your son is very creative!! it would be cool if you could cut out the whole design out of some kind of 1/2" wood. and open up the mouth and eye to let light through, round the edges and the teeth with a dremel and find a scary font for the letters. the hard part will be fitting it on such a long and shinny area.... i dont know much about building arcade games and hopefully you will understand what i am trying to say. but maybe you could some how have the eyes stick up a little higher than the hight of the top of the game to give you a little more room. i dont know if that is something that can be done. but i cant think of how else you are going to fit that cool design on such a small area. but i will definitely let you know if i think of anything else. good luck!

That little drawing of his has been growing on me. I like the idea of doing something interesting with it. Great ideas Princess, we know who has all of the talent in your household!

More Cowbell · « **Reply #21 on:** January 19, 2007, 10:30:42 am »

Got the 1/2" t-molding yesterday so we can paint the cab and install it this weekend. I routed out the t-mold groove last weekend with son's help holding the vacuum 1" away. That really really helped keep the MDF dust down. We decided on a different paint theme on the sides. The side will be green and the top 1/4 or so will be black with jagged edges like it's been bitten by a dino. Then some blood dripping down. My wife is intrigued and horrified but my son is all about it so we're going with it. Pics this weekend.

I got the computer up and running this weekend. I found a guy on freecycle giving away computers from his office so I grabbed 14 of them! They're all like 500mhz but they all have usb and cd roms and play all of the classics flawlessly. I've used a couple for parts to juice up the others and it works out well.

Kaytrim · « **Reply #22 on:** January 19, 2007, 10:40:56 am »

I like the ideas for the paint job. Keep us posted with pics.

More Cowbell · « **Reply #23 on:** January 21, 2007, 08:16:47 pm »

We got a lot of painting done this weekend. The green went on without a hitch and then we masked off for the black area to represent the bite marks. Just a while ago we got the blood done. My son got a little over zealous with the red paint and it got a little more bloody than I had planned. But he like it so I'm putting all of my opinions aside. Mom just makes faces. Next step is t-mold once everything dries overnight. Then I'll get the control panel painted and we have some camoflauge paper for the cp overlay. Then I'll drill out holes for the plexi to go on the cp. Feels like a long way to go but I'm sure it will go quick. As long as we don't connect up the cp and start playing games, then it will take years to complete.

Donkey_Kong · « **Reply #24 on:** February 08, 2007, 02:42:57 pm »

VERY VERY nice paint job Bart!! You are soooooooooooo talented!

I think DINOCADE better win the next MAMEY AWARD or else some guys are gonna be in big trouble!

More Cowbell · « **Reply #25 on:** February 08, 2007, 08:00:40 pm »

Work has been slow since it has been like a brazillion degrees below zero here in Chicago for the last several weeks. We did get the paint finished, the bezel finished, and the control panel art and plexi in place. This was the first time I ever cut plexi so it was nerve wracking at first. It went very smoothly so don't sweat it if you're thinking about it. The door needs work as there is not room for the hinges so I need to cut the inner shelf to allow for more room. You'd think an 8 year old would think to measure stuff! Still need to finalize the marquee and hook up the speaker too.

Bloinkxp · « **Reply #26 on:** February 09, 2007, 04:49:37 pm »

Father & Son Projects Rule

Bones · « **Reply #27 on:** February 09, 2007, 08:22:56 pm »

Looking good Cowbell.

It's fun getting the kids involved. My daughter Lisa also helped with the painting of my project.

More Cowbell · « **Reply #28 on:** February 11, 2007, 06:49:24 pm »

I see you have her painting the inside!

My 3 year old, Maggie, got the same job. That way there's kid work to admire without the worry of drips and splatters.

More Cowbell · « **Reply #29 on:** March 23, 2007, 10:50:19 am »

Well, it has taken quite a while to put the finishing touches on the Dinocade, but with the marquee finally in place, it is finished. Special thanks to Leapinlew for coming up with the marquee design and then tweaking it 100 times to make it perfect.

Bort loves it and it really completes the project perfectly. Check out the pics.

javeryh · « **Reply #30 on:** March 23, 2007, 11:00:16 am »

Wow! That marquee is stunning. The cab turned out great. I hope my mini comes out that good. Very nice job!

leapinlew · « **Reply #31 on:** March 23, 2007, 11:12:44 am »

Kids today.... They don't even have to walk to an arcade.

I mean. DAMN! the kid has an arcade game in his room. Cowbell, your never going to get rid of him at this rate.

Looks great - good job.

More Cowbell · « **Reply #32 on:** March 23, 2007, 11:17:05 am »

Quote from: leapinlew on March 23, 2007, 11:12:44 am

Kids today.... They don't even have to walk to an arcade.

I mean. DAMN! the kid has an arcade game in his room. Cowbell, your never going to get rid of him at this rate.

Looks great - good job.

He definitely has the arcade bug. He was telling me last night that we need to move his desk and bookshelf so that we can fit more things in his arcade. A chip off the old block.

Jeff AMN · « **Reply #33 on:** March 23, 2007, 01:01:19 pm »

That marquee is proof that at least something good came from the release of Turok: Evolution.

RetroBorg · « **Reply #34 on:** March 24, 2007, 02:31:58 am »

Quote from: Jeff AMN on March 23, 2007, 01:01:19 pm

That marquee is proof that at least something good came from the release of Turok: Evolution.

Excellent project, that marquee came up great, good choice of font too.

What is the name of that font?

Crowquill · « **Reply #35 on:** March 27, 2007, 09:12:44 am »

Awesome project!

With the work he put into it I'm sure he'll never forget it. The biggest problem might be if he gets too tall for it at some point in the future. But then you could always build a base and call it a cabaret.

The camo CP is pretty cool too. What does the button on the front do?

leapinlew · « **Reply #36 on:** March 27, 2007, 01:52:38 pm »

I'm going to guess it's a dedicated quit button.

No pause for todays child on the go?

More Cowbell · « **Reply #37 on:** March 28, 2007, 09:55:27 am »

The front button is the SHAAAZZAAAAAAMM!!! button. I installed the Keywiz encoder and it acts as a shift key for the other buttons. SHAZAAM and P1 is a coin in, SHAZAAM and P2 is escape, etc. etc. and such and such. No pause because I'm teaching him to finish what he starts like we did back in the day.

theCoder · « **Reply #38 on:** March 28, 2007, 11:16:40 pm »

More than the arcade itself, he will remember that you made it with/for him.

Before too long, he will be hitting you up for a full sized one.

Great job.


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