Mini Dragon's Lair from scratch

[javeryh]

Very cool.  It's the little touches like this that make these things stand out.

Was the metal hard to bend at that angle?

[amadama]

Hi javeryh,
It was not too bad bending the metal. I sort of eyeballed it and used some scraps of MDF to help with the bending.
The more bends the stronger the control panel gets.
I ordered a bunch of wico leaf spring buttons and joysticks so until I get those I am not too much in a rush to finish this.
I also ordered a GPwiz to use as the encoder.
(btw: I love the way your daughter's machine is coming along! Superb!!)
Alex

[ark_ader]

Nice work,

My sub mini cabinet is ready for cutting, I scaled it like you did and using Jakobuds diagrams managed to get everything stenciled out.

Just waiting for a clear day to get it cut (MDF is nasty to cut indoors) as it has been raining in my part of the world for a few days now.  I was scratching my head with the thought of the marquee.  I understand I need marquee rails, but I cannot picture what they look like.  Looks like spray adhesive is in order.

I like your metal panel, but unfortunatly I cannot emulate it with my project.  Do you think I can cheat by using thicker plexi and bending it with heated metal rods?  I did plastics in high school like 20 years ago, cannot think it could be difficult unless I kill myself with the fumes.   

What kind of joystick are you using with that?  Is it a Happs Universal?

I cannot wait to see yours finished.   

[Anubis_au]

Hi Anubis_au,
You are pretty observant!
Yes, those are original Dragon's Lair and Space Ace machines.
I also have a Dragon's Lair II
What looks like a Pac-man is actually a Mr & Mrs Pac-man pinball.
I also have the following:
Popeye
PunchOut!
Baby Pac-man
Street Fighter II (actually a Konami Jamma cabinet with a bunch of Jamma boards in it)
NeoGeo 2 slot
Tempest
Millipede (cocktail)

I drool in your general direction.

That would have to be one of the finest and most extensive home arcade collections I've heard of. Anyone able to top this? I'm curious...

Incidentally Amadama, were these all bargains you scopped up along the way or are we talking a small second mortgage for these old machines?

[amadama]

Hi again Anubis_au,
MDF is really painful, so much dust, so much weight. Please use some sort of filter mask and goggles when you cut it, and cut it outdoors! I was at the mercy of the weather as well when I started cutting too.
The marquee brackets were fairly easy to make. I bought a six foot long piece of aluminum which was in a L shaped cross section. I measured how long each piece would have to be with a string and then used a dremel to cut them and to cut the notches where the bends would be on the wood (I used the wood marquee pieces as a template.)
I will photograph this for you tonight.
Don't use adhesive!! Make the marquee brackets, it's worth it.
As far as the CP is concerned I suppose you can use plexi if it's thick enough. That's the nice thing about this hobby, you can be creative. Wood is a superb option too (check out Javeryh's current build for a nice little wood CP!)
I will use a Wico leaf switch joystick and Wico leaf spring buttons on this machine (those old beat up ones in the picture are the same type actually).
My collection is very meager compared to the real hardcore collectors out there.
Actually if I had the room I would probably have 30 games by now (I started my collection in 1996).
Check out some of the collectors here (especially the guy who runs the site:
http://www.dragonslairfans.com

Best of luck to you!
Alex

[amadama]

Here's a cross section of some of the aluminum angle I bought.
I used the smaller one for the Dragon's Lair Marquee bracket (the larger one is for my Pac-man cabinet.
The second pic shows one of the angled corners of the installed bracket.

[amadama]

Got most of my joysticks and buttons. Now I am having the same type of problem as on my Pac-man build, how to mount the CP! Wow, the metal looks good but it would have been much simpler out of wood!
Anyone got any suggestions on how I can mount this thing to my cab?
Thanks,
Alex

[amadama]

Wrapping things up!
Pics tomorrow!
Alex

[Chris G]

Great project!  Look forward to seeing the final pics... today? 

I'm doing a DL-themed cab right now too, so this is inspiring.

 
Chris

[amadama]

Sorry, no pics today. Went to see Transformers movie with my daughter (she's only four, but a huge fan of the 80's cartoon!).
I like the original better....

[amadama]

Here's my mini Dragon's Lair control panel. It's made of metal and all things considered it came out ok.
The buttons are leaf spring and the joystick is an Ultimarc J-stick (was going to use a Wico leaf spring but it was in pretty ratty shape. If it cleans up well I'll use that one instead). The overlay I printed on adhesive Polypropylene and coated it with Acrylic clear matte finish.
The second pic shows a size comparison to my recent Pac-man CP (23" wide).