Tifosi unite - Ferraricade

[rdenis]

I finally completed my first MAME cab.  I started with the design in October of this year and just completed last night.  When I was designing my cab there were a few key features I wanted to incorporate:

-   two player
-   lighterweight and somewhat moveable
-   slim and sleek looking
-   themed

With these targets in mind, I decided to build my cab out of ¾ inch Maple plywood primarily.  I also decided a modular design would enable portability and I like the look of the UAII style of cabs.  I also decided to go with an LCD monitor to enable a sleek/slim design.  Finally for my theme I chose to base it around F1 racing and the Ferrari racing team since I am a huge fan of the sport.

With that I set out to design some actual plans in Microsoft Excel.  After a few hours of work I came up with some plans I liked and started to gather my materials.  Construction began the first week of October.

Started with constructing the top of the cab and base:



I wanted to incorporate a hidden keyboard drawer in the base.  It slides and the faceplate is hinged to the actual drawer.  It is opened simply by pushing on the face plate which is held in place when closed by spring loaded magnets.



I wanted a large 1080p LCD computer monitor (not TV).  I found a 28” monitor at TigerDirect.  It is large enough to play vertical games at full scale.



With the monitor mount completed, it was time for a little sanding, priming, painting and artwork application.  The artwork was custom designed with Vlad at Mame Marquees - great job and very professional!



With the artwork applied, it was time for a little chrome T-molding before installing the marquee and speakers.



Got a great deal on an Altec Lansing 2.1 system from Futureshop.  It has a separate volume, base and treble control module which I keep tucked away in the keyboard drawer.  Subwoofer is in base of cab.







Time for the marquee, LCD Topgun LED strips and monitor glass.  The marquee is backlit with the NovaMatrix LED lightstrip.  The Topgun LED strips are attached to the sides of the monitor behind the 5mm grey tinted monitor glass (tempered).



Here is a shot with the glass and bezel installed – you can see the TopGun LCD LED strips on the left and right quite clearly.



Here is a shot of the back – you can see how the top and base are secured with 4 lag bolts.



Before tackling the control panel, a quick test to make sure everything works as so far intended.



Alright, on to the control panel.  I decided on two players with 7 buttons per player along with a spinner and trackball.  First things first, I built the control panel base which is secured to the cab with removable bolts, again for max portability.  The control panel top is 34 x 18 and also made of ¾ inch maple.



I made a drilling template and printed it on transparency material after comparing it to my actual CPO.





With the control panel complete, I sanded primed, painted, and installed the CPO.  Fits great so time to install some controls and wire this puppy up.  I installed the following:

-   2 U-360 joysticks
-   TurboTwist 2 spinner
-   Betson Imperial electric ice trackball with RGB lighting
-   8 RGB electric ice buttons
-   4 single LED electric ice buttons
-   Single LED lit P1, P2 Credit 1, Credit 2, 3 dedicated “admin” buttons, 2 pinball buttons
-   LED Wiz to control lighting
-   IPAC 2

I also hinged the control panel with hidden hinges that open the top away from the monitor.  There is even room to store my LCD lightgun!



Spaghetti – uggh!



Here are a few completed shots.  First with keyboard drawer open and extended.





Drawer closed up:





A few other final shots:













 



I'm really quite pleased with how it came out.  Hope you enjoy as much as I did!

Take care,

Rich

[Havok]

Beautiful job! I love the art, did you design it yourself? Where did you get it printed?

That's the I-Inc iF-281DPB monitor, right? How do you like it so far?

 

[BobA]

Nice looking cab.   Nice to see the thinner LCD cabs in real life.  Great artwork.

 

[blueznl]

 

Very nice!

[TheDriver]

Nice, I like the cabinet design, as I will be doing an lcd project myself soon it's nice to see some different examples on the board. 

Regards.

[DaOld Man]

Great work!!!
 
Im very surprised your wife let you do any painting on it while it was on that beautiful hardwood floor!!
(I dont see any drop cloths or plastic laid down)

[CheffoJeffo]

I'll admit that I was skeptical when I saw the thread title (I think it's the 'cade thing that does it to me), but that is a really beautiful cabinet -- VERY nicely done!

 

[dweebs0r]

That looks awesome!  Great job.

Great design.  Similar to "Kneivels Woody" but a little different.

Can you post a few more pics of how the vertical games look on that monitor?

-D

[arcadefever]

  very nice !!!!

i love the panel 

[rdenis]

Beautiful job! I love the art, did you design it yourself? Where did you get it printed?

That's the I-Inc iF-281DPB monitor, right? How do you like it so far?

 

Thanks!  I worked with the designer Vlad from Mame Marquees and had Scott print the artwork.  The I-Inc monitor is pretty good considering how relatively inexpensive it is - I am quite impressed with it so far.

[rdenis]

Great work!!!
 
Im very surprised your wife let you do any painting on it while it was on that beautiful hardwood floor!!
(I dont see any drop cloths or plastic laid down)

My wife is incredibly understanding!  I took over the dining room for a month and she didn't complain once

[superart]

If I had 18 thumbs instead of the 8 regular fingers and 10 toes, I would be giving you 20 thumbs up. Absolutely love that cabinet.

[blueznl]

The more I watch this one the more I like it. Could I have a look at the actual dimensions?

[Level42]

Uhhhmmmm, Ferrari and no steering wheel ? 

[sfrascella]

I find it totally hilarious that someone using the name "rdenis" built the Ferraricade!!

Nice job. 

[rdenis]

Yeah don't let anyone from McLaren know!   

But I would sell my plans to Ron for way less than his last fine!   

[Franco]

Uhhhmmmm, Ferrari and no steering wheel ? 

Exactly what I was thinking.

Awesome job though!     

[Stobe]

Talk about hitting a home run first time at bat!

Very nice.  I was excpecting to see a racing cab from the title, but was not disappointed by what I found.

Now, take control of the dining room again and start building a sit-down racer!

-Stobe

[rdenis]

The more I watch this one the more I like it. Could I have a look at the actual dimensions?

Sorry I took so long to reply.  The dimensions are as follows:

Cabinet:

Height - 75"
Outside width - 29.5" (inside width 28")
Depth at base - 19"
Depth including control panel base - 26 3/4"
Depth including control panel top - 29 5/8"
Depth of "ledge" control panel base sits on - 10"

Control Panel Top:

Width - 34"
Depth - 18"
Thickness - 3/4"

Control Panel Base:

Outside Width - 32"
Outside Depth - 14 3/4"
Height back -  4 7/8"
Height front - 4 1/8"

This gives a total slope for the control panel top of about one inch as the front of the control panel top overhangs the base by about 2 7/8".

Hope that helps.

Rich

[RetroBorg]

Awesome cab, theme and graphics!