Author Topic: "Mame Mania" - First Mame Cab - Finally Getting there! Lots of pics (Read 20349 times)

javeryh · « **Reply #40 on:** February 21, 2007, 07:49:18 pm »

Wow - that's a really nice job on those mounting plates - they look perfectly flush with the surface of the CP.

acevedor2 · « **Reply #41 on:** February 21, 2007, 08:26:17 pm »

Thanks! That was so far the biggest pain. Not because it was all that difficult, but because this is the first time I have ever tried it. I am priming it as we speak and hope to have it painted tomorrow. Goal is to get the entire CP finished and wired by weekend's end..... Hopefully....

acevedor2 · « **Reply #42 on:** February 23, 2007, 09:54:48 pm »

Ok, CP top has been primed and painted. Now I have to wait a day or two for it to completely dry before I can put the artowrk and finish installing the controls. That will give me some time to get the computer setup.

This may sound like a dumb question, but I have the slikstik spinner. Is there a right and a wrong way to put that in. I mean directionally? Does it have to face a certain way when installed?

clockwork · « **Reply #43 on:** February 25, 2007, 07:54:29 am »

Looking very nice. How did you hide the joystick bolts?

acevedor2 · « **Reply #44 on:** February 25, 2007, 08:30:30 am »

I used 1/4 20 x 1/2 flat head machine screws and then countersunk them from the top. After I did that I puttied over them and sanded flush. Obvious downside is that if I ever need to change out the base plate of the joy or decide I want a different kind of joy, it will not be as easy. That said, I was willing to take the risk because I like how it looks flush.

acevedor2 · « **Reply #45 on:** March 03, 2007, 04:10:12 pm »

Ok, I was away on business last week so I didn't get a lot done until today. It was beautiful, 70 degrees and sunny. Fantastic Maming weather. Anyway, got the CPO on and trimmed up. Got the plexi on and almost all the controls. I still have the trigger joy to install tonight and then I will start wiring everything up tomorrow. I'm getting there. And then I get to start on the actual cab

Here are the latest pics. Pics show some marks on the plexi, but they are not really marks, just the reflection from the flash. The plexi looks great.

Also, thanks to LeapinLew who gave me the idea to chamfer the trackball opening. It really turned out great.

Cheers,

Knievel · « **Reply #46 on:** March 03, 2007, 06:08:50 pm »

Nice job..looks fantastic.

And I, despite your bragging about the weather there

, just answered the mouse button question in your other thread. Now get wiring!

leapinlew · « **Reply #47 on:** March 03, 2007, 06:25:16 pm »

wow! You have to be happy with how thats looking. Good job dude.

acevedor2 · « **Reply #48 on:** March 03, 2007, 07:04:21 pm »

Thanks guys. I appreciate it. I could not have gotten this far without all your help! Thanks!

acevedor2 · « **Reply #49 on:** March 03, 2007, 08:09:17 pm »

Here are a couple more with the trigger joy installed. Now I LIKE IT!!

T-molding and wiring tomorrow. That should be it. Then I get to make it work...

Donkey_Kong · « **Reply #50 on:** March 03, 2007, 08:38:35 pm »

Very, very, very cool CP! You can pretty much play it all woth this including...TRON BABY!

Who designed the artwork for the CP?

acevedor2 · « **Reply #51 on:** March 03, 2007, 08:45:34 pm »

Thanks DK. I had Scott at MameMarquees design it. I have matching sideart and marquee. He did a great job. basically I gave him a rough idea of what I was looking for and he did it. I really like the way it turned out.
Cheers.

urbecrisch · « **Reply #52 on:** March 05, 2007, 01:23:46 am »

What's holding your plexi on the MDF? I don't see any carriage bolts or maybe you didn't install them yet. Maybe post some pics when or if you get some bolts installed? My CP is based off of your visio file

acevedor2 · « **Reply #53 on:** March 05, 2007, 06:36:00 am »

Only thing holding the plexi to the CP is gravity

It is actually working quite well. The buttons are spaced out enough that it keeps it down pretty nice. I installed the T-molding and now it looks great. Started the wiring yesterday and should be finished with it tonight. Unfortunately I have some more work to do on the PC so I won't really get to test everything until this weekend.

Cheers.

NiteWalker · « **Reply #54 on:** March 05, 2007, 09:34:32 am »

Awesome job. Keep postin those pics!

The bosch colt is great right? I love mine. I use polycarbonate on my panels too, but I don't use the lexan brand. I use makrolon; it's a bit harder, but still cuts like polycarb. I'm going for acrylic on my nest panel though. Probably the scratch resistant kind. What I've found with lexan is that especially around the joysticks it'll get "cloudy" from the dust washer constantly rubbing on it.

I love reading build posts. Gets the creative juices flowing. Keep it up.

acevedor2 · « **Reply #55 on:** March 05, 2007, 12:07:22 pm »

The colt is awesome. Probably one of my best tool purchases yet! Now I need to get off my dead butt and wire it up tonight!

NiteWalker · « **Reply #56 on:** March 05, 2007, 12:10:13 pm »

What color t-molding did you go for? Let's see some pics!

leapinlew · « **Reply #57 on:** March 05, 2007, 12:52:35 pm »

Quote from: acevedor2 on March 05, 2007, 12:07:22 pm

Now I need to get off my dead butt and wire it up tonight!

What a chore... ugh.

I soldered my last CP. I like that much more than quick connects.

acevedor2 · « **Reply #58 on:** March 05, 2007, 01:41:04 pm »

I went with plain old balck textured T-Molding. I did this primarily because I didn't want to take away from the artwork. Here are some pics of it attached to the base.

I am not looking forward to wiring the CP - I started yesterday and have the ground loops done. Now I have to work on the individual controls. I am still deciding how I want to wire the switch for the coin buttons. I have read the threads and have some ideas, but basically I want to be able to "turn off" the buttons for COin 1/2 and make it so you have to put money in to play. This isn't so I can make money off the machine but rather so I can limit the amount of time my son spends on it - especially when I am not home.

NiteWalker · « **Reply #59 on:** March 05, 2007, 01:47:09 pm »

Very nice. I think blue t-molding would have looked pretty nice on it too. It looks great though. Definitely a top shelf job. Keep it up.

acevedor2 · « **Reply #60 on:** March 10, 2007, 06:26:32 pm »

Well, wiring is finally done! Now let's hope I didn't screw it up. Hopefully not. I am setting the pc up tonight/tomorrow so I anticipate being able to test it sometime Monday or Tuesday.

I figure I will start the actual cab in the next week or two. Wish I had the time to work on it full time!

leapinlew · « **Reply #61 on:** March 10, 2007, 06:33:10 pm »

Nice! Looks good.

Any reason you chose quick connects instead of solder?

acevedor2 · « **Reply #62 on:** March 10, 2007, 07:22:33 pm »

Thanks. Time is really the reason for the quick connects. I found it much quicker to crimp and go then to flux and solder each connection. I ended up having to solder one because the joy is so close to the inside of the CP box that the quick connect hit the box and wouldn' let the lid close. I can't wait to fire it up and try it out. Hopefully I didn't miss anything. I used my multimeter to make sure the connections were good so hopefully I will be in good shape when I plug it in. It is funny because it will take up three USB ports - 1 for the trackball, 1 for the IPAC4, and one for the Tornado twister. Good thing I have 6 slots in the PC.

NiteWalker · « **Reply #63 on:** March 10, 2007, 07:24:23 pm »

I prefer quick disconnects too. If you get the correct size, they will fit very tightly and not slip off. The reason I like them is for ease of part replacements.

acevedor2 · « **Reply #64 on:** June 14, 2009, 12:43:09 am »

Well, it's true what they say. Build the cabinet first! It's the only way to be sure you actually finish it.

I finished the control panel a year ago, and between work and other projects, I never got around to finishing the cabinet. So I finally decided since the weather was so nice, I would get my butt in gear and get working on it. Here are the latest pics. This thing is gynormous! I also changed my idea of the monitor. I am using a 26" LCD instead. It is pretty big.

acevedor2 · « **Reply #65 on:** August 18, 2009, 11:46:08 pm »

Well it's been quite some time, but I am finally getting there. I started this project almost 2 years ago with the CP, but with a cross country move and a 7 month military deployment, I have stayed pretty busy...

I am down tot he painting and laminating stage. The sides will be laminated and the rest painted. Over the last year I made a couple of changes to the cab design. First I went with Hyperspin vice Mala. I love the Hyperspin interface. I also had to modify the cab slightly to allow the CP to better sit in place. Lastly, and perhaps the best change I made was to switch from plexi to using smoked glass.

I originally thought smoked glass was going to be too dark, but it is awesome. It looks great and the picture is amazingly clear! The glass really sets the cabinet off and makes it more "professional" of a job in my opinion. Here are some pics. Painting should be done in the next few weeks. Thanks to everyone who has helped me out here. I could nto have done it without all of your advice and assistance.

javeryh · « **Reply #66 on:** August 19, 2009, 10:34:51 am »

Really really nice looking! It is true that you have to finish building before getting it playable. I finally set up the computer in my most recent cabinet on Monday. I have quite a bit of tweaking to do to get it just right but I ended up playing Donkey Kong for 2 hours last night!

Be sure to snap some pics of the laminating process. I'm definitely going that route on my next one.

acevedor2 · « **Reply #67 on:** August 21, 2009, 08:23:04 pm »

Thanks Javeryh. I have been following your projects as well, looks gorgeous! You do really good work. I will definitely document the laminating process. That said, I think it will be the easiest part of this build

I have done quite a bit of laminating and it really is apiece of cake!

Shortbus · « **Reply #68 on:** August 23, 2009, 03:43:08 pm »

Sweet Project. I like it alot, great pictures too....It is very true about building the cabinet 1st. Once the CP is done and you test it, you usually get into the games and lose your motivation, I've had that happen. Nice Job, can't wait to see the finished project. keep on going!


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