Xenophobe Conversion; Now named AniMAME

[Warborg]

Woot...  Well, I just scored a Xenophobe cabinet (the guy even delivered it) off of Craigslist...  Has both trigger sticks, 3 slot coindoor, marquee light, etc...    Used to be a MAME cab it seems (converted from Xenophobe to ESwat to MAME from what I'm told).  So I'm going to be taking it apart and starting to MAME it... 

[leapinlew]

Nice... whats the plan? I converted a Xeno and you should check out Lower Hell's cabinet for some ideas.

also... how about the weight on that thing eh? Damn thing... Heavy as hell.

[Warborg]

Nice... whats the plan? I converted a Xeno and you should check out Lower Hell's cabinet for some ideas.

also... how about the weight on that thing eh? Damn thing... Heavy as hell.

Funny thing is I was already looking at your page with your cab... 

I WOULD like to see the 3.0 pictures tho...

My big obsticle right now is how to shoehorn in a decent monitor.

[Warborg]

Leapinlew, did you use a metal panel on the CP like the original, or replace the whole thing with wood?

I have a question to you, or anyone that might be able to answer...  If I were to keep the wooden frame under the CP and then replace the top with another sheet of metal, what kind of metal should I shop for, and still be at least relatively easy to work with...  I have a metal holesaw for the buttons/sticks, but I'm not sure about being able to cut the 3" hole for the trackball neatly... 

Any input from anyone on how to work with metal for the CP top would really be appreciated...

[leapinlew]

Leapinlew, did you use a metal panel on the CP like the original, or replace the whole thing with wood?

I have a question to you, or anyone that might be able to answer...  If I were to keep the wooden frame under the CP and then replace the top with another sheet of metal, what kind of metal should I shop for, and still be at least relatively easy to work with...  I have a metal holesaw for the buttons/sticks, but I'm not sure about being able to cut the 3" hole for the trackball neatly... 

Any input from anyone on how to work with metal for the CP top would really be appreciated...

I used 5/8th plywood on the final build.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=55021.msg547762#msg547762 It mounts fine and you can keep the existing mounting brackets. By the time I got mine, it was bastardized and already had a wood CP on it. Yours sounds different though, so YMMV. 

[theCoder]

Leapinlew, did you use a metal panel on the CP like the original, or replace the whole thing with wood?

I have a question to you, or anyone that might be able to answer...  If I were to keep the wooden frame under the CP and then replace the top with another sheet of metal, what kind of metal should I shop for, and still be at least relatively easy to work with...  I have a metal holesaw for the buttons/sticks, but I'm not sure about being able to cut the 3" hole for the trackball neatly... 

Any input from anyone on how to work with metal for the CP top would really be appreciated...

I'd find your local metal supply place and ask them what they recommend.  You will probably want to go with either stainless steel or aluminum.  Stainless will last longer but will be a little harder to work with.  Both come in pretty thin sheets. 

How are you planning to treat the metal surface?  Swirled scratches?  Polished (ooh, shinny)?  Paint?

Nice find.   Good luck on your project.

[Warborg]

Leapinlew, did you use a metal panel on the CP like the original, or replace the whole thing with wood?

I have a question to you, or anyone that might be able to answer...  If I were to keep the wooden frame under the CP and then replace the top with another sheet of metal, what kind of metal should I shop for, and still be at least relatively easy to work with...  I have a metal holesaw for the buttons/sticks, but I'm not sure about being able to cut the 3" hole for the trackball neatly... 

Any input from anyone on how to work with metal for the CP top would really be appreciated...

I'd find your local metal supply place and ask them what they recommend.  You will probably want to go with either stainless steel or aluminum.  Stainless will last longer but will be a little harder to work with.  Both come in pretty thin sheets. 

How are you planning to treat the metal surface?  Swirled scratches?  Polished (ooh, shinny)?  Paint?

Nice find.   Good luck on your project.

nah, I actually think I'm just going to keep everything basic black with red trim...  I just figured from a mounting perspective the metal might work out a little better.  Right now we are just taking it apart and cleaning it up a little, and covering it in vinyl laminate from Parts Express...  I don't even have a name for it yet, or know if it'll ever have one...  Although I am gravitating toward an Anime inspired theme...

[Warborg]

Just a small update...  Did a little cutting to the monitor box, and was able to fit the 22" Viewsonic Pro series VGA monitor that's been collecting dust in my closet for a few months... 

Gah, I want to get this up and running, but my stupid JOB is keeping me away from the important stuff like working on this!   

[leapinlew]

Just a small update...  Did a little cutting to the monitor box, and was able to fit the 22" Viewsonic Pro series VGA monitor that's been collecting dust in my closet for a few months... 

Gah, I want to get this up and running, but my stupid JOB is keeping me away from the important stuff like working on this!   

Are you planning on painting it? Mine was covered in some type of wallpaper type material. I assume thats what they used on that style of cabinet.

[TOK]

I replied to your post in the Main Forum, but this seemed like a better place to post my pics. Not trying to be a Project Announcement Within A Project Announcement, but I have a Power Drive upright which has a totally different top than your machine, but happens to share the lower profile and control panel mount. I'm on my third revision of this control panel, and I chose to use MDF with a plexi overlay sprayed from the back with Pactra R/C car body paint.

Here is the second panel along with the original base I used as a template... I'm too embarrassed to show anyone the first. 
It was just plain gloss black, but I made a couple of sophomore effort mistakes like not hiding the metal trackball frame and the separate mouse buttons. The original panel had these crazy "shifter" sticks, which is why the base has the huge holes.


Here is the latest panel mounted to the cab. I painted it to try to follow the theme of the side art. I countersunk everything and integrated the mouse buttons as the bottom row of the player 1 controls.
You can see how it bolts right up to the original Bally base.


Just a closer shot that shows the Groovy Game Gear spinner and slightly offset t-molding to make the plexi flush with the base.


Flips open just like the original.


Fired up with the lit trackball. I've kept the original bezel, which really limits the monitor size I can use. It can fit maybe up to a 21" monitor, but right now the original 19" size is in there.


I did have to trim the inside of the metal base just a bit to make room for the trackball mounts. Overall, after basically learning how to make a control panel on this very machine, I think you're better off going this route instead of messing with the metal. The wood is quieter and feels more solid.

[weasel-like_animal]

First, the CP looks great. That color scheme is awesome. How did you affix the wood CP to the existing steel CP? I'm actually in the midst of doing the exact same thing and yours looks good so I figured I'd ask. I was thinking of leaving a 1.5" trim edge of the steel, cut out the inside (MKII cut already), then screwing the bottom of the panel in through that...

[xmenxmen]

A few months ago, I help someone converted a Survival Art (looke just like TOK's) cab to a mame cab.  The original cp was also metal with a Street Fighter layout.  That cab now has a wood cp that's 32inx18in to allow more room for the 2 players.  About an inch or so of the side was cutout to allow the cp to sit on the side and flow outward toward the side. 

Don't have any picture of it right now, but if interested I can get some the next time I visit.

BTW, I still have the original one from Survival Art if anyone is interested.

[TOK]

First, the CP looks great. That color scheme is awesome. How did you affix the wood CP to the existing steel CP? I'm actually in the midst of doing the exact same thing and yours looks good so I figured I'd ask. I was thinking of leaving a 1.5" trim edge of the steel, cut out the inside (MKII cut already), then screwing the bottom of the panel in through that...

Thanks for the compliment. There is a flange bent inward in the metal where it meets the wood at the front. There are about 8 screw holes across the front. I put 1/2" wood screws in each of those holes. The panel also rests on the original brackets built into the cabinet sides, and there are latches on the sides near the back. You latch that part down through the coin door. Its all original arcade hardware, so its very tight and sturdy when locked down.

[Warborg]

Another update...

Well, managed to cut a piece of plexi to put in front of the monitor, and masked it off and painted around the viewable so it has a black mask and put it in place, turned out fairly decent.

Next, I cut a 3" hole in between the speaker holes, and then re-mounted the wire mesh for the speakers, and then drilled 2 holes over the 3" hole, and mounted the volume control and headphone jack from the 2.1 speakers system I hacked into the stock speakers.

Lastly, I mounted the motherboard on some plastic standoffs to a vertical board inside the base, along with the power supply, and put in the video/RAM/etc., so now I just need to mount the HD and DVD drives, and I'll be ready to throw an OS on it and fire it up... 

[Warborg]

Ok, if anyone actually is interested even slightly, here are some pictures of what I've done this weekend:

[leapinlew]

I'm interested, but I'd like to see some more explanation of the pics. Is that a volume control?

[Warborg]

I'm interested, but I'd like to see some more explanation of the pics. Is that a volume control?

Sorry, I posted those on the way to dreamland last night... 

Yeah, because I hacked a set of 2.1 PC speakers and plugged it's amp into the original cab speakers, I made some room in the middle of the grill area to mount the speaker's amp board to expose the volume knob and a headphone jack (for those late nights that you don't want to bother anyone while destroying aliens or slaying dragons...    ).

The PC is an Athlon 64 3000+ w/1GB of RAM, a GeforceFX 5900SE, a Sony DVD-ROM, and a 120GB JB WD SATA hard drive.  Just a bunch of parts I built up through various upgrades...  (between my PC, my GF's, and my 2 kids, I tend to accumulate parts...    ).

The monitor box houses a 22" Viewsonic Perfect Flat CRT hooked up through BNC, and a piece of plexi over the front that I masked off and painted from the inside with some glossy black Krylon to hide the monitor, and then used some vinyl tape on the inside edge of the monitor case to hide any remaining white that might have been peeking out.

I got the PC up and running last night, and WinXP on it w/drivers, and fired up Typhoon 2001 just to check it out before bed...  I'd have to say I'm fairly happy with the results so far... 

[Warborg]

Reinstalled WinXP, put on WinXP Performance Edition, installed all apropriate drivers and threw ZiNC and Typhoon 2001 on there to test, so far so good... 

[Warborg]

Ok, more updates...  Got my vinyl from Parts Express and covered the cab, love this stuff...  Also added red t-molding to give it a little "pop"...  Sorry for the crappy image quality, I have to rely on my phone for pics right now, my real digital cam died.  Also, I think we have a name for it now:  AniMAME.  The whole family likes anime, so I figured why not just theme it after that, come up with some Mala screen with anime characters? 

[Warborg]

Well, work progresses, comments and opinions welcome...  Got the steel all cut/drilled and mounted for the CP, covered with vinyl and some T-Molding, and the spinner mounted...

[Warborg]

Ok, all the controls are now in!  Now it's time to start on the wiring...   

Anyone have any comments?  Eh??  Tell me it's great, tell me how much I suck at this, anything...  I'd love some feedback... 

[Warborg]

No comments?  No input?  NO one throwing rotten tomatoes?

[Level42]

Guess most people here either prefer to see self-built MAME cabs, or restorations of originals. At least I do

Still, you did a very nice job on what you did as it is ! Nice CP and the whole cab looks tight in it's new shape...

[bfauska]

Looks like you're doing a good job of cleaning up the cab.  Do you have plans for the area around the volume knob, it looks like the only old wood on the cab after your vinyl job?  On a second look, maybe it's speaker cloth, is that what I'm seeing speaker grille cloth with some dust behind it that the camera is picking up?

As far as tomatoes go, what's with the angled sticks?    I don't really see them as all that bad, but according to common opinion around here nobody is going to be able to know which direction their characters are supposed to go on screen with your joysticks mounted at an angle.  Maybe it doesn't make too big of a difference for me because I play with restricted sticks on 4 way games and am not very good at most fighters so I don't notice the slight in-acuracy of trying to use the angled sticks.

Are you going to light those buttons?  They look translucent, what are they?

I know the feeling of not getting too many comments, but don't let it discourage you.  I am sure there are people following, and if not this thread will still prove useful to somebody else restoring or modding this type of cab down the road.

 

[Warborg]

Guess most people here either prefer to see self-built MAME cabs, or restorations of originals. At least I do

Still, you did a very nice job on what you did as it is ! Nice CP and the whole cab looks tight in it's new shape...

I hear you, my original plan was to build a cab from scratch, but I just happened to be browsing Craigslist one night and saw the cabinet for next to nothing, and it had the trigger sticks and coin door still in it, and the guy was willing to drop it off at my door for me, so at that point I just couldn't refuse...

Appearantly he had used it as a MAME cabinet of some sort, although after digging in it, it was a half-assed job, so I figured I'd just take it apart and start over...

The other real bonus for me is it turned into a real family project, my 2 teenage daughters started helping with it, and my girlfriend jumped in to work on it to, so it was pretty rewarding just from that aspect.  Everyone is looking forward to my firing it up complete so they can play their favorite games on it, and my daughters are planning a pizza party to launch it once it's ready... 

[Warborg]

Looks like you're doing a good job of cleaning up the cab.  Do you have plans for the area around the volume knob, it looks like the only old wood on the cab after your vinyl job?  On a second look, maybe it's speaker cloth, is that what I'm seeing speaker grille cloth with some dust behind it that the camera is picking up?

As far as tomatoes go, what's with the angled sticks?    I don't really see them as all that bad, but according to common opinion around here nobody is going to be able to know which direction their characters are supposed to go on screen with your joysticks mounted at an angle.  Maybe it doesn't make too big of a difference for me because I play with restricted sticks on 4 way games and am not very good at most fighters so I don't notice the slight in-acuracy of trying to use the angled sticks.

Are you going to light those buttons?  They look translucent, what are they?

I know the feeling of not getting too many comments, but don't let it discourage you.  I am sure there are people following, and if not this thread will still prove useful to somebody else restoring or modding this type of cab down the road.

 

Thanks for the compliments...  Yeah, that is a metal mesh plate over the speakers and volume control, but part of the paint peeled off when I needed to mask it for something, which is OK because I do plan on pulling it off and repainting it and part of the coin door anyway, I just haven't gotten to that point yet.

As to the angled sticks, it was a combination of space considerations and pure asthetics for me...  As I mentioned in my previous post, my kids were also working on it with me, and we voted on it and that is what won.  There isn't a big angle to them, and I matched the angle to the angled corners on the panel so people can stand slightly off to the sides, and as long as they are standing in in line with the edge it should be "straight" to them...

Yes, the are translucent convex buttons from DreamArcades (I live and work very close to their shop), and will be lit.  The admin buttons across the top also have transparencies that I downloaded and modified from the Artwork forum here so they are labeled (Exit, Pause, a power symbol, and a lighting bolt for the Shazam button).  So yeah, all I need to do is figure out how to get the power to them neatly, but that comes after wiring up my KeyWiz.

[superbigjay]

I don't see any problem with the angled sticks/buttons.  In fact, it gives a bit more space for the player 

They only thing where I could throw a small tomato    is the spinner placement vs the trackball.
but if you're comfortable with this layout, it's all that matter.

[Yes, the are translucent convex buttons from DreamArcades (I live and work very close to their shop), and will be lit.  The admin buttons across the top also have transparencies that I downloaded and modified from the Artwork forum here so they are labeled (Exit, Pause, a power symbol, and a lighting bolt for the Shazam button).  So yeah, all I need to do is figure out how to get the power to them neatly, but that comes after wiring up my KeyWiz.

Are you following Pod's advice (thin sheet as stryrene? 2 layer of transparency film? glue?)
I also have transluscent buttons on my uroMAMEstyx project that I have to label, and yours seem to come out great!

Jay 

[Warborg]

I don't see any problem with the angled sticks/buttons.  In fact, it gives a bit more space for the player 

They only thing where I could throw a small tomato    is the spinner placement vs the trackball.
but if you're comfortable with this layout, it's all that matter.

[Yes, the are translucent convex buttons from DreamArcades (I live and work very close to their shop), and will be lit.  The admin buttons across the top also have transparencies that I downloaded and modified from the Artwork forum here so they are labeled (Exit, Pause, a power symbol, and a lighting bolt for the Shazam button).  So yeah, all I need to do is figure out how to get the power to them neatly, but that comes after wiring up my KeyWiz.

Are you following Pod's advice (thin sheet as stryrene? 2 layer of transparency film? glue?)
I also have transluscent buttons on my uroMAMEstyx project that I have to label, and yours seem to come out great!

Jay 

Well, the big thing with the spinner vs. trackball is that frankly I think the spinner will be used more...  I take care of my mom who's in fairly bad health right now, and she really wants to be able to play her favorite game Tempest, so this also makes it easier for her to use.

No, as far as the labels, I actually just printed them on 2 laser transparancies and then used a low-tack spray on hobby glue (like what's used for scrapbooking) to paste them together...  It frosts them a little bit, and it's repositionable if need be.  The buttons I'm using already have their own diffuser disks in them, so I just pop the tops off, put in the insert and close 'em back up, worked like a charm.

[Warborg]

It lives!  It lives!  Controls are fully wired and working, coin door and speaker mesh are repainted, Tron spinner+Opti-Wiz working smooth as glass...  All I have to do is wire the LEDs in the buttons and coin door, and wire the switches in the coin slots...

[bfauska]

Looking real close now.  Are you going to do a marquee or any CP artwork?  It looks real clean, but the marquee area looks a little empty.

[Warborg]

Looking real close now.  Are you going to do a marquee or any CP artwork?  It looks real clean, but the marquee area looks a little empty.

Yeah, we are going to do a marquee for it, we are still tossing around ideas in the family as to the design and stuff, and I still need to make a mesh top for the monitor box...  And the marquee is going to be a little shorter then average due to the way the monitor fits in it.  But yes, will be a marquee printed on backlit material, and lit with a NovaMatrix from GGG...

As to the CP, no, I'm going to leave it black vinyl like it is now...  Doesn't require a lot of cleaning/maintenance, and is pretty durable.

[Level42]

I like the "seperated" monitor on this cab. I also like the red and black combo, reminds me a bit of my own Mame cab....which has been pretty much ignored the last year....

Congrats, it's nice when you can work together on a cab. I feel SOOOOO alone here.... 

[Warborg]

Okayyy...  I have everything wired, CP, coin slots, everything, works like a charm...  Just got done running power to the LEDs in the buttons and lamps in the coin door, I'd have to say I'm pleased...  Now all I need to do is figure out the best way to light the trackball up...  Any suggestions welcome!

[leapinlew]

nice work... 

the job would be 10x nicer if you had a better camera. 

[Warborg]

nice work... 

the job would be 10x nicer if you had a better camera. 

Yeah yeah yeah...    I had a decent cam, but it went belly up so I've been relying on the camera in my pdaphone for right now...  I think I am going to borrow a friend's digital camera to take a few decent photos and upload them as soon as I get the chance...

But, aside from the insults cast at my camera   thanks for the complement! 

[Warborg]

Ok, now I've actually been able to take some pictures with a better cam, and have also installed the trackball light...  I'm seriously thinking about installing a couple of rotary joysticks for Ikari type games, or one U360 for P1...  Still can't decide!  Also picked up a couple of barstools from the local PepBoys...

[theCoder]

Nice job. 

[Warborg]

Nice job. 

Thank you...  Now all I have to do is finishe the monitor box and cook up some sort of marquee... 

[Warborg]

Okaayyy...  Well, it looks like the P1 joystick is going to be replaced by a U360 stick soon, so already an upgrade...    A friend wanted to "pay" me for helping him with his cab, so he is buying me one plus the spring kit, so who am I to complain?    I'll post when it's installed with any pics that might be relevent, and maybe even an opinion on how the U360 works with my favorite games...