Bartop for Dad Centipede Style ** Deliverey ** 6/10/07

[Chris G]

Great job so far, and great job documenting.  It must be very motivating to have a hard date to be working toward!  I'm sure your dad is going to be thrilled - be sure to have someone take a picture of his expression during the grand unveiling.

And good luck with the finish work.

 
Chris

[psychotech]

Looking really good!!

Just have to ask if you're sure about the speaker panel's front edge angle? (Possible marquee mounting problems ..?)

Otherwise, keep up the great job!! Hope you'll get it done in time !

psycho.

[psychotech]

Never mind.., if you were to cut back the marquee area like lew already recommended, you'll be able to "fix it in the mix"..

[Kaytrim]

Busy weekend finishing up phase 1 of construction.  Rounded the CP front edges.  I got the t-molding slot cut.  Thanks again Lew, without your warning I would have had a serious problem.  Filled the screw holes with bondo.  My first time working with this stuff.  Good thing I moved the cab out to the garage this stuff stinks.  It also sets up rather quick.  Back door and CP mounted with locks and hinges.  I'll have pics up later today.

I also started playing with Virtual PC 2007 from M$.  I intend to use this to play around with various front ends and operating systems.  For those who are interested here is a link to a free download.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[mountain]

Looking great Kaytrim!

Yeah, Bondo definitely stinks up the place. Well worth it though. I think my next project will be a bartop.

[Kaytrim]

Thanks mountain, coming from you that is a big complement.

Pics are ready and I'll be posting them in batches of 4.  This first set is the rounding of the CP.  I temporally screwed the CP into place.  Then I used my belt sander with 80 grit following up with my random orbit and 150 grit.  The belt sander was used from side to side while the random orbit was used from from bottom to top.

[Kaytrim]

I removed the CP so you could see the rounding and the cleat I mounted underneath.  The cleat was a single piece of wood that was cut in half using the same angle as the CP.  The other two pics are of me routing the t-molding slot.  A BIG Thank You goes out to LepinLew.  Without his warning about the screws I could have been making this post from the hospital.  I should get my t-molding in the mail today from GGG as well as the coin button.

[Kaytrim]

After routing the t-mold slot I re-installed the screws and filled with bondo.  Bondo really leaves a smooth finish when sanded.   Here you can see the finished side and the back with the hinges and lock.  I really like these hinges.  They are similar to the European hinges without needing to drill a hole.  Around $2.50 each at Lows.

[Kaytrim]

Here is the CP mounted with the piano hinge and lock.  It is keyed the same as the back.  I used bondo to fill in the gap where the piano hinge was mounted.  To do this I screwed the CP back into place with a folded piece newspaper in the gap.  Then I mixed up a small amount of bondo and pushed it into the crack.  After the bondo cured I sanded it down and removed the CP.  As you can see there is hardly any gap left.

Next on the list is to cut the monitor board and the CP for controls.  Then on to the paint.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Kaytrim]

The last of the parts have just arrived!

20' of black leather t-molding, player 1 & 2 start buttons and the GGG Nova Gem CDR

I also got an upgrade to my 49-way stick.   Green Translucent ball top stick and new grommet.

Thank You Randy

TTFN Kaytrim

[Kaytrim]

Still, we need more pix !

psycho

I hope that there are enough for you psycho. 

[leapinlew]

damn man... thats looking pretty sweet.

Around this point, I start worrying if I'll mess it up by painting it. Whats the paint plan?

[Kaytrim]

Thanks Lew, I am a sculptor not a painter so the paint plan is rather simple.  I am trying to stay with the Centipede theme all the way through.  So basic white sides black t-mold and the blue CP with star burst.  If I can get CP artwork that will work.  I am definitely out of my league there.  I have played around a bit with Illustrator and the vector artwork for the CP but it is going to be real slow if I even can do it at all by Father's Day.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Timoe]

The new thread to watch.  Great profile Kaytrim.

[theCoder]

The last of the parts have just arrived!
...20' of black leather t-molding

I just installed black leather t-molding on my Xcelerator project.  I think you'll be pleased with the look.

[Kaytrim]

Thanks for all the positive feedback guys.  Keep it coming, I'll need it when it comes to the final push.  I worked on the CP artwork some last night.  I posted my progress and roadblocks over in the artwork forum.  I need all the help I can get on this.  I also need to locate the side art.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[leapinlew]

I met some of the "nicest" girls playing centipede.

[NIVO]

I met some of the "nicest" girls playing centipede.

....and then spanked them. And beat their scores as well   

Very nice work so far Kaytrim, keep 'er goin!

[Kaytrim]

I got the first coat of primer on the cab last night.  The HDF rollers work very well but it will defiantly take more than one or two coats to prime MDF and Bondo.  The second coat should look better.  The wife unit is starting to get a little peeved at me because I am doing nothing but this for the last week or so.  I have to finish getting the downstairs office so I can move in there and she is chomping at the bit.  So tonight I will spend working on the house and not the cab.  Though I might sneak in another coat.    No pics yet but I will try to remember to take one or two before I add the second coat.

On another front the artwork is coming along as well.  I have done some changes to the Centipede CP and they are posted in the artwork forum.  I could still use some help from someone with Illustrator experience to clean up my mess and scale it to fit my CP area.  I wish I could afford to have MameMarquees print all this off for me but the wife is watching the money I am spending and I only have about 3 weeks left.

3 WEEKS LEFT!!!   I still have to finish setting up the PC, mount the monitor, mount the controls, bend the plexi for the CP, finish the paint, finalize and print the artwork.  Am I going to make it in time??  Why did I set a deadline like this for my first full scale cab.  AHHHHHH!!!!

[shardian]

I got the first coat of primer on the cab last night.  The HDF rollers work very well but it will defiantly take more than one or two coats to prime MDF and Bondo.  The second coat should look better.  The wife unit is starting to get a little peeved at me because I am doing nothing but this for the last week or so.  I have to finish getting the downstairs office so I can move in there and she is chomping at the bit.  So tonight I will spend working on the house and not the cab.  Though I might sneak in another coat.    No pics yet but I will try to remember to take one or two before I add the second coat.

On another front the artwork is coming along as well.  I have done some changes to the Centipede CP and they are posted in the artwork forum.  I could still use some help from someone with Illustrator experience to clean up my mess and scale it to fit my CP area.  I wish I could afford to have MameMarquees print all this off for me but the wife is watching the money I am spending and I only have about 3 weeks left.

3 WEEKS LEFT!!!   I still have to finish setting up the PC, mount the monitor, mount the controls, bend the plexi for the CP, finish the paint, finalize and print the artwork.  Am I going to make it in time??  Why did I set a deadline like this for my first full scale cab.  AHHHHHH!!!!

I would highly recommend you skip the cp plexi and splurge on a laminate cpo from mame marquees. It will save you time and cost on the plexi to appease the wife, plus it would only be like $30. Side art is fine to print on photo paper. Just make sure to clear coat it very well.

[leapinlew]

The wife unit is starting to get a little peeved at me because I am doing nothing but this for the last week or so. 

Ah yes... this situation. It's annoying to me, cause here we are, a couple good guys who want to stay at home and work on our hobby. It amazes me that sometimes our wife/gf can get as mad about us working on arcades as some of my buddies wife/gf when they go to a strip joint and stay out all night. 

[Kaytrim]

I would highly recommend you skip the cp plexi and splurge on a laminate cpo from mame marquees. It will save you time and cost on the plexi to appease the wife, plus it would only be like $30. Side art is fine to print on photo paper. Just make sure to clear coat it very well.

That is true about the cost if I could get by with 10x23 but I would need to go to the second size 18x26 for $40.  The CP size is exactly 16 X 10.25 and I would want to have it oversized a bit as well.  If I would get MM to print the CP I might as well get the underside of the CP covered as well.   I just realized that I am damed if I do and damed if I don't.    The plexi could get in the way of the hinge.  That and the side panels are flush with the CP.    I might as well bite the bullet and get MM to print it off.  I still need to get the artwork done quickly so MM has time to do their normal turn around of about 2 weeks.

Kaytrim

[javeryh]

Kaytrim - this cab is coming together quite nice.  I especially like how you handled the CP.   Keep it up! 

[Kaytrim]

Ok folks time for an update.  Second coat of primer is on and it still will need one more to completely cover.  However instead of painting I installed the PC and Monitor.  Cutting the monitor mount board was a pain and a lot of trial and error.  I'll not bore you with the details (I didn't take pics) but show you the end result.  The pics below are of the first coat of primer.

[Kaytrim]

As I said in the previous post the mounting board was a pain to cut.  It took three cuttings  The first one was too small, so I re measured and cut again.  That one was still small but close enough that I could get a good line for the final cut.  Even after the final I still had to use a wood rasp to finish the fit.  The images below are of the monitor in the final position.

In all my work I negelected one minor issue.  I forgot to protect the screen.  Now I have minor scratches all over the center of the glass and a few in other spots.   Does anyone know of a product that can repair them?  I don't want to find another 17 inch CRT and do it all over again.

[Kaytrim]

  After I got the monitor installed I decased the computer.  I have all the components shown in the first pic and the second pic shows them mounted on a 1/4"pice of MDF  The whole thing is then slid into the lower compartment and two screws hold the board in place.  The motherboard ports are accessible from the front of the cabinet.  All that is left to do for the hardware install is to setup an exterior power button.  Hack a power strip with a relay.  Finally install the controls.

  I started to install MAME and Mala but I now have a crick in my neck.  iRotate won't work with the built in graphics chips, Intel 82810 even with updating the driver.  I purchased a cheap PCI graphics card on ebay in hopes to get the rotation I need.  Unless I am missing something.  If anyone knows another method to get the screen to rotate in windows so the FE can work properly let me know.

  I still need some help with my control panel artwork.  I have a post in the artwork forum but nobody had come forward to help.

TTFN 

[Kaytrim]

I just found a program called Pivot Pro.  It got the screen rotated so I don't kill my neck anymore. I am making this post from the cab. The down side is that it costs $40 and uses up some resources.  At lest I can use the 30 day trial to get things to a more suitable setup.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[leapinlew]

After I got the monitor installed I decased the computer.  I have all the components shown in the first pic and the second pic shows them mounted on a 1/4"pice of MDF  The whole thing is then slid into the lower compartment and two screws hold the board in place.  The motherboard ports are accessible from the front of the cabinet.  All that is left to do for the hardware install is to setup an exterior power button.  Hack a power strip with a relay.  Finally install the controls.

  I started to install MAME and Mala but I now have a crick in my neck.  iRotate won't work with the built in graphics chips, Intel 82810 even with updating the driver.  I purchased a cheap PCI graphics card on ebay in hopes to get the rotation I need.  Unless I am missing something.  If anyone knows another method to get the screen to rotate in windows so the FE can work properly let me know.

  I still need some help with my control panel artwork.  I have a post in the artwork forum but nobody had come forward to help.

TTFN 

I can't get the built on graphics card to work either. I usually buy a decent pci card in the $50 area.

[Kaytrim]

Ok folks, this week has been rather slow on the updates and progress on the cab.  There are a few things but no pics at this point.  I have found software to help me with the vertical setup of the monitor.  However it is $40 to register.  I hopes of avoiding that cost I purchased a Matrox Millennium PCI Video card on eBay for $10 shipped.  It arrived today so I'll get a chance to install it this weekend. 

I've also been testing this setup using a keyboard and so far there are no issues with MAME other than getting the ROMs converted to version .89 as well as selecting the ones to have on the machine.  I am starting to see issues with the HD though.  On boot up there is a HD seek error.  I am going to check the cables run chkdsk and possible reformat.  If none of that works I have a spare HD I could use.  I also have the option of going solid state with a CF card.

Artwork on the other hand is not going as hoped.  I have not received any help from anyone in the artwork forum even after begging.  So I guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and keep pluggin away on the CP myself.  I should have the side art and marquee in hand soon though.

On the cab itself though I have the holes cut for the speakers.  The monitor bezel is almost complete and the plexi is cut and tinted.  I have the power switch hacked to a button on the back of the cab.  Next I need to hack a relay into a power strip for the one button power on solution.  Install the speakers and hack the volume control.  After I finish the artwork I can install the controls and button it up. 

The final area of possible problems is the marquee.  I am going to try and light it using LEDs instead of a florescent tube.  The plan is to sandwich the artwork between two pieces of plexi with the back piece sanded to give it a frosted look.  This should help with dispersing the light.  I have several white button blaster LEDs from GGG, these should provide all the light I need.

Other than the artwork and hard drive issues I should be able to meet the deadline of Father's Day.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Kaytrim]

Time for a brief update and some pics.  I still have tonight and hopefully some time tomorrow to get some additional work done but here is what I have so far.

  Final coat of paint has been applied.  Below are the latest pics took this morning.  Other completed items include Power Strip hack, external power button mounted, Speakers mounted and wired, CP artwork completed, CP mostly drilled, Back door remounted, Bezel painted and mounted, Plexi cut and tinted.

I have more details and pics later.  Still left to do...

Mount LEDs for Marquee lighting
finish cutting the CP
mount CP artwork
mount and wire controls WIP
supply power to LEDs
Print and mount side art (waiting on CD to arrive)
Print and mount marquee
format and reload the hard drive using CF card on IDE to CF adapter
setup MAME and Mala using DOS
hide OS using DOS
Deliver cabinet on Father's day.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Kaytrim]

Lighter 'er up.  I have setup my lighting for the marquee.  I started with 4 button blaster LEDs from GGG attached to a small shelf inside the cab.  Then I took the first piece of plexi and sanded both sides with 80 grit using my random orbit sander.  Nice frosted look achieved and look it lights up.   This last pic was taken with lights on and no flash, a nice even glow.  Can't wait to get the marquee artwork setup and in there.

[Kaytrim]

The trackball just fits and I have it glued in place with loctite.  I may add a few screws through the CP into the TB casing to really lock it down but it is solid as is.  I also populated the holes just for looks at this point just to see how it lays out.  I think it will be serviceable.  The blue action buttons are almost lost in the blue paint though.  We will see how they look once the CP artwork is in place.  I may have to swap them out for another color.

[Kaytrim]

The joystick is a little special in the fact that I modified the restrictor to be changeable from the top and show what mode it is in, 4 or 8 way.  I used my dremel tool with a rotozip bit to cut the slot.  I am going to have to add a little paint inside that slot or it will stick out like a sore thumb.  I have to add another coat anyway to some spots so it won't be a total waste.

That is all for now.  Let me know what you all think.

TTFN   
Kaytrim

[Kaytrim]

DOH!!!!  I just read through this thread and realized I am missing a few key parts....  ADIMIN BUTTONS.    Mainly the quit and pause buttons.  I don't know if I should put them to the left of the start buttons or above the marquee.  They won't work on the bezel because the area is too thick.  They won't fit around the trackball either.  The TB takes up all the available space on that side of the CP.

Any suggestions??

Kaytrim

[polaris]

i think they'd look just fine next to the start buttons, the cp overall is not symmetrical in design and thats the only thing that would stop me from putting them there.
nice design mate, a bartop is something i'd not seen before joining these boards, but the effect you and lew have created with your two cab designs both make me think of full size cabs , really reminiscent looks to them.
 

[IG-88]

Hey Kaytrim,

What did you decide on games for this machine? I think I remember you saying that you were going with vertical only on it. How did you decide what games you wanted? (more importantly what were they) Also, did you end up using Spystyle's boot CD with GL to get the orientation the way you wanted?

[TOK]

DOH!!!!  I just read through this thread and realized I am missing a few key parts....  ADIMIN BUTTONS.    Mainly the quit and pause buttons.  I don't know if I should put them to the left of the start buttons or above the marquee.  They won't work on the bezel because the area is too thick.  They won't fit around the trackball either.  The TB takes up all the available space on that side of the CP.

Any suggestions??

Kaytrim

I used little momentary switches and couternsunk them on my Stargate bartop. Not sure if I have a good pic. I put them on the side.

Edit to add: Found a pic that shows them, but its not so great. These are on the lower left side. Front one is coin-up, rear one shuts the whole thing down. I use the Shift functions for exiting the front end and games.

[Kaytrim]

i think they'd look just fine next to the start buttons, the cp overall is not symmetrical in design and thats the only thing that would stop me from putting them there.
nice design mate, a bartop is something i'd not seen before joining these boards, but the effect you and lew have created with your two cab designs both make me think of full size cabs , really reminiscent looks to them.
 

Thanks polaris, that is the effect that I was shooting for.   Once I get the artwork printed off and applied it will be even more reminiscent of the Centipede cabinet.

I used little momentary switches and couternsunk them on my Stargate bartop.

Thanks for the input TOK.  I'll look into them only they will more than likely be next to the start buttons or maybe on the underside of the CP.  I'll have to think about that a bit.

Hey Kaytrim,

What did you decide on games for this machine? I think I remember you saying that you were going with vertical only on it. How did you decide what games you wanted? (more importantly what were they) Also, did you end up using Spystyle's boot CD with GL to get the orientation the way you wanted?

It will be vertical games only at this point IG-88.  I used the sortinfo program that SpyStyle mentons on his website.  The information on this is in chapter 11 about 3/4 the way down that page.  I will have trackball, 4 & 8 way games on here.  The list is mostly done I need to play my way through them to make sure they all work and will fit what he likes.  I will be putting a few shumps on there since they are like the 194X series games.

As far as using his DOS CD that is in testing mode now.  I have a IDE to CF adaptor card with a 512MB card installed and DOS is loaded.  The rotation issue is not a problem in DOS as he said in his software thread here.  I still need to copy over the roms but I am having problems with the motherboard and video at this point.  The MB is having drive scan problems.  I thought it was the HD but there is still the problem with the CF card.  I even swapped IDE cables.  I picked up a few free old PCs last night so I have the option of swapping out the motherboard and finding the right setup.  The video crashes when GL launches.  I'll spend some time this week figuring it out.

Thanks again for all the replies.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[Kaytrim]

One other thing that I forgot during construction was the airflow.  I did plan for it I just didn't do the work yet.  I will have a few slots in the underside of the CP where the air can come into the cab.  I also used a holesaw on the back of the monitor shelf to cut three good sized holes.  The final cut will be at the top  Either it will be a few slots like the intake or a single hole for a fan.  If I go with the slots I will put a fan in the monitor shelf where the holes are cut.

Suggestions??

Below is an airflow diagram to show what I mean.

TTFN
Kaytrim

[leapinlew]

The only suggestion I have is to make sure you spend some money on a good fan. I went with some cheapies that I had to replace because they were too loud. My latest bartop has a 120mm fan in it with ball bearings and has a 19db loudness rating. Super quiet. Cost $20 but worth it.