NeedlesMcGirk's First Upright Cab Attempt - Arcade Anthology *Finished!

[needlesmcgirk]

Greetings!

First I'd just like to thank all of you in the BYOAC community.  I wouldn't have been able to get any of this done without all the help and inspiration from you guys.

All my life I have loved arcade games.  I remember my favorite thing to do was go to the arcade and spend all the quarters I could come up with on games like TMNT, Street Fighter, MK, etc.  I guess this is really the 2nd generation of arcade games, but I also loved the classics that were a little before my time, especially pacman.  When I found out about MAME I knew I had to do this sometime.  A few years later I have finally gotten started.

I decided to put some pics up, etc. and I hope to get some response and some good feedback/criticism from you guys as I can definitely use it.


01.29.07 - First Post: Details and Pictures

PC:  Pretty simple PC.  Just built a cheap, fast one.
AMD 64 3700+ 2.2 ghz
Asus Motherboard
512 MB RAM
60 GB HDD
Cheap ASUS Video Card (got 256 MB RAM though, which is a plus)

The front end is Mamewah.  I'm waiting for the marquee to get finished before I work on the art on the layout.

PICS:

Control panel top with formica and holes for controlls drilled out:



Heres the control panel top with the controlls installed.


These are all Happs controls and purchased from Tornado Terry.  Player 1 and 2 and Competition, 3 and 4 are ultimates.  the middle joystick is a Ms. Pacman dedicated 4-way and I must say it performs wonderfully.

I am planning on replacing the screws that hold the joysticks in place with black ones and making them flush with the formica.  I've heard they make screws that are flat on top without screwdriver guides, I think those would be great too if I can find some...


The wiring job.  Its not pretty, but it gets the job done!  I purchased a wiring kit from divemaster127



The finished control panel and box.  There are some clamps (fancy window style) in the back and piano hinge on the front.



The Cab:






I used standard 3/4" mdf and cut it all with a skill saw.  I basically used Lusid's plans, and they worked out pretty well.  Obviously I went away from his control panel plans (I had to have 4 players!).

You can see in the front where the control panel goes there are 4 straight-bolts that insert into the bottom of the control panel box where they are tightened with wing-nuts inside the box.  This works great for keeping it sturdy, but also keeping it detachable.  There is also a keyboard drawer.

Unfortunately the paint job went sour.  It was a beautiful day when we painted it, but it end up getting cold and not warming up again for a while, so it didn't dry well.  After these pics were taken we sanded the whole thing down and smoothed out the air bubbles etc., and now I'm just waiting for the weather to warm up so it can get a new coat.  A lot of the other finishing touches are also on hold because of this.

The speaker panel has also been cut and holes for speaker grills have been jigsawed.  I'm using some cheap Cyber Acoustic 2.1 speakers.  68 watts is good enough for me on this cab.

The TV is a 27" Sharp I picked up from Goodwill pretty cheap, and it is working very well for this.  I also got a Happs bezel and trimmed it to fit, but it won't be installed until the paint job is finished.

The marquee is currently being worked on by a friend.  I'm not too creative so I just shot her some ideas and hopefully she will come up with something great.  its basically going to be a montage of classic arcade characters.  There will be updates on this so I can get some feedback from you guys!

[needlesmcgirk]

Alright, finally got some days off over Easter to finish this thing up.  Due to the overwhelming response on this thread, I know you are all thrilled to hear this.

My plans right now are:

Cut 1/2" off the top panel (I didn't leave room for the marquee)
Finish painting the cab
Insert some blocks to keep the TV in place
Install the speakers and speaker panel
Install the bezel
Install half the marquee retainers (I don't have the marquee yet...)
Pound in the T-molding

I'll probably also take out the wood support blocks for the top panel and use L Brackets instead as I've read that the blocks will keep light from hitting the marquee on the sides.

Other than this, just I'm sure there will be a few other finishing touches that I'll need to do.  I just can't wait to get this thing finished up and play some games.

[javeryh]

Due to the overwhelming response on this thread, I know you are all thrilled to hear this.

   Nice.  Your cab is looking good so far.  The paint job is the hardest past so I can definitely sympathize - it's been holding me up for a few weeks now too.  What color t-molding are you planning on?  Are you going to have any side art or a CPO?  What are those two buttons on the top of your CP for?  What about a coin door?  So many questions!!!!  Keep the pictures coming!!!

[(+_+)]

Tsk, Tsk, you angled your outer player joysticks. I did too.  .

More pics please.

[needlesmcgirk]

I'm going to have some side art eventually, I just haven't really thought about it too much yet.  Right now someone is working on the marquee for me, so whenever that gets finished up I think the side are will be related to that, as will the front end graphics.

Right now the t-molding is just standard black, which is kind of boring so it might get changed in the future depending on how I feel about it, and the eventual side art I guess.

I think the coin door would be a really cool addition to put in later, but right now I'm just leaving it as is without it.

The two buttons on the top of the CP are admin buttons (escape and pause).

There was an issue with angled player 3/4 joysticks?  Anyway, I figured this would be the most comfortable for those players, and I've tested it out and it seems to work pretty well. Of coarse we all know that player 3 and 4 are for jerks, right? 

I think the biggest disappointment I have right now with this are those joystick screws on top of the CP that just scream ugly.  I'm looking into ways to hide these or make them look better, including getting some black screws and some screw caps/covers  Any ideas will be great.

I'll definitely be taking a bunch of pictures as I'm getting back to work on this thing.  I'm really excited.  Glad to get some feedback!  Any input is greatly appreciated!

[needlesmcgirk]

Alright, I did a little work on this this afternoon.  I heard on here somewhere that using blocks for the top panel can leave the sides of the marquee dark, so I went ahead and took care of this, as well as shaving around 1/8" off the top panel to leave room for the marquee when it gets finished.



The speaker panel is missing in there because I'm going to paint it seperately so it will be easier to install the speaker grills (yanked them out of some old Dell speakers)

Hopefully since the weather is going to warm up some, I'm going to get back to painting this thing.  Can't wait until that will be finally over!  After that put some blocks in behind the TV to keep it in place, install the bezel and the t-molding and i will be pretty much finished other than the marquee and other finishing touches.

[theCoder]

I think the biggest disappointment I have right now with this are those joystick screws on top of the CP that just scream ugly.  I'm looking into ways to hide these or make them look better, including getting some black screws and some screw caps/covers  Any ideas will be great.

The most common way to cover the screws is with a sheet of artwork, covered with Plexiglas.  Unfortunately, you already have the cp cut and wired.  It is practically impossible to get artwork to line up with existing holes.  Plus, you typically make the cp from 5/8" mdf, then when covered by a 1/8" piece of Plexiglas, it matches up with a 3/4" piece of t-molding.

[Chris G]

Hey, looks like a lot of hard work so far!  Great job.  Sucks about the weather delays - I know how that can be and how frustrating it is when you just want to get rippin' on some games.

 
Chris

[needlesmcgirk]

In case some of you didn't read my thread in woodworking entitled "problems painting mdf," thought I would share with you the latest on this cab.

In a nutshell I messed up the paint job.  I think what happened was it wasn't warm enough outside (around 57 degrees) and I believe I put the second coat on a little too early.  The paint was too think, and when I was sanding it down the next day I noticed some peeling.  The peeling actually occurred on over half of the cabinet.  I end up spending the next day and a half peeling and taking all the paint off, including the primer on these sides.

After that I decided I am not messing around or taking any more chances.  I got some Kilz Original and primed the sucker with 3 coats, sanding between each coat.  I had to leave town once this is complete, but I feel better about the primed coat.  When I return I will re-paint the cab, this time with semi-gloss instead of a high-gloss (I was shooting for the moon...).

On the upside, however, I painted the screws in the control panel with black enamel and they look MUCH better and actually don't look so bad against the formica.  I'm very happy with that.  Pictures soon!

[needlesmcgirk]

Ok, I am having round 3 of painting this thing this weekend.  There should be a nice update on all this after the weekend is over.  Wish me luck gentlemen!

[needlesmcgirk]

Alrighty, I'm done painting this thing.  Its been a disaster since I started, and I'm done with it now, and it doesn't look fantastic, but Jimmy cracked corn, and I don't care.  The thing plays games and I'm happy about that.  Eventually I'll get some side art to post up and it will make it look that much better.  Other than painting I did a couple of other things:

- Installed the speaker grills (ripped off of some old Dell speakers) and then installed the speaker panel.
- Installed the black t-molding.  This thing is definitely way too black, so I think I am going to get some more lively t-mold.  Thinking blue or green...
- Finished the pull-out shelf.
- Readied the bezel.  The pictures have it in, but its not secure at all.  I'm not sure how I am going to secure this thing honestly.  I think I may have to get some heavy duty velcro or something.

So here are some new pictures of the arcade nearly finished:

So here it is in all its glory!  Full frontal standing.  As you can see the Marquee is not up yet as its not quite finished.  it may take a while...


Here's a closer look:


Side view:


Pull-out shelf:


So I hope you guys will like it.  I know its not even close to the craftsmanship of most of you guys's machines, but like I said earlier, it plays games well and I'm happy with it right now.

Things left to do:

- Install the bezel
- Secure the speakers to the speaker panel
- Plexiglass or glass to cover the bezel
- Finish the marquee and install it (with fluorescent light)
- Get some new t-molding for color
- Eventual sideart
- Play a whole lot of games

[shardian]

Congrats on the build.

[theCoder]

So I hope you guys will like it. 

In the end it is you that has to like it, warts and all.  It looks great for your first.  Regarding t-molding, I'd recommend red because that is the predominate color on your CP.

[needlesmcgirk]

^ I dunno, red and black is pretty intimidating.

[n3m3s1s]

Hi,
 
Nice build!

Why not go red down the right hand side of the cab to match the player 2 buttons, blue down the left to match player 1 and white around the CP to match player start buttons.

[needlesmcgirk]

hmm, that's not a bad idea.  Might look a little too wild though.  It'd be sweet if it was among a bunch of other arcade games, but I think this thing is goign to be the centerpiece of my living room =)

[needlesmcgirk]

Alright, so working on getting a finished version of the marquee.  I posted it up in the artwork section, but thought I'd put it up here too.  I'm thinking this is close to completion.  Let me know what you think!



You can get a better look at it in the artwork thread:
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=65520.0

[needlesmcgirk]

Alright, after over 1.5 years I've finally hunkered down and got some work done.

- Finished the marquee and ordered it (Scott did a good job).
- Mounted a marquee light.
- Mounted the speakers.
- Inserted the marquee attached the marquee holders.
- Secured the bezel.

It definitely looks a lot better now that the marquee and bezel are in place.





I need to do a couple more tweaks but other than that its pretty much done, which is awesome.  I changed the color scheme and layout of MameWah to match the marquee and it looks pretty good.  I'll post a picture of that when I take one.

Thanks to everyone that gave me advice and helped out on this forum.  You are all a classy bunch and I wouldn't have been able to do this without you!

[needlesmcgirk]

You know, looking at these pictures this thing is just too black.  I think I need to get some different colored t-mold and some side art.  I'm thinking donkey kong.  For now though I'm happy that there is now a marquee covering the enormous gaping hole in the top of the arcade I've had for almost 2 years!

[Todd H]

My cabinet is black with red t-molding. I think it looks pretty good. Here's a picture:

[needlesmcgirk]

^ That does look pretty good.  Not as intimidating as I first though, but none the less intimidating...

I think I am going to go with some lite blue ala Mountain's t-molding.  The color scheme I use with MameWah is pink (like the "Arcade Anthology logo on the marquee) with light blue so I think it will match pretty well.  Either way it will look good to break up the "BLACK EVERYWHERE" theme.

Overall it has been a fun project to work on and a great learning experience.  I've never used many power tools (as you can probably tell) among other things.  I would like to make another one sometime that will look a lot nicer that maybe I can convince the lady looks good in the living room!

[needlesmcgirk]

Picture of the Marquee and MameWAH up and running:

[Martijn]

will it get some sideart?

looks nice and clean
everything seems in proportions