Moon Patrol and Me - DONE!

[Portnoy]

So I have been reading this forum for a couple of years now and drooling over all the nice work that’s been posted. I now browse it with a bib. This bug bit me well before this forum however. It’s seems like only yesterday that I stuck my Atari Jaguar with a hacked controller into a scratch built upright plywood cab. I used one of those early 80’s “turn your 19 inch tv into a 25 inch giant screen” fresnel lenses that you found next to the Flowbee hair cutting vacuum attachment and spray on hair.  I had a 12 inch TV reflecting onto a mirror and when viewed through the lens the picture looked to be about 27” floating behind the back of the cab.  Back then I had no options such as Groovy Game Gear or Ultimarc to mail order my arcade control goodies.  Instead I searched the yellow pages for an arcade vendor.  I found Tony. My Happ joystick and 8 buttons where delivered straight to my door by some Soprano looking character driving a big black Lincoln Continental for $50 and a favor.  But alas, that fun but ugly thing I made is no more. Come to think of it neither is my hair.  Fast forward 15 years later and here I am once again needing to build.  God bless BYOAC!  So I don’t know what the one thing was for most of you that really got you fired up to move forward with the project but for me it was the coin door.  I scored this off of Ebay for $15 total, the “13” sticker thrown in as a bonus….



One wire wheel on a drill, a little navy gel for inside the coin returns, 2 coats of primer, 4 coats of textured rustoleum, and slight concerns on what the collective process did to my health later I got this….




NOTE: Do not wear a baggy long sleeve sweater hunching over a coin door held between your knees whilst stripping paint with wire wheel attachment.   

At this point I was excited….but not as excited after seeing the two 25 cent covers all glowy  from placing 2 penlights behind the red 25 cent covers to get an idea of how it would look.  After this it was on.

As far as the cab choice I really wanted something classic looking that wouldn’t make my 20” PC monitor look lost and still have enough room to upgrade the monitor if I felt the need. I also wanted to be able to squeeze in 2 players with 6 buttons, a spinner, and a trackball.  I used Jakobuds plans for the Moon Patrol and just made adjustments to the width (27.5”) and the depth to accommodate the PC monitor.  I will most likely bump out the control panel for more trackball play room as I love the way Dhansen’s turned out.    All player buttons will be Electric ICE lighted by RGB’s.  Spinner is a Turbo Twist 2, Happs 3” track ball ( although I might use the Electric Ice TB, not sure yet ), and 2 Ultimarc 360’s.  The coin door will register credits through the coin rejects and/or by dropping in coins. Cab will be black with red T-molding and I will most likely use the Moon Patrol art because it makes me warm and fuzzy when I look at it. 

One other thing I want to implement is a small webcam that records players faces.  The cam and software I have let’s you adjust snap intervals so I could get a face capture every 3 seconds or so. The lens wouldn’t need a hole any larger than a dime somewhere above the monitor.  I have friends that make some pretty funny game faces ( a possible title for the cab by the way ).  I then want to use the captures as random background screens when the cab idols too long or maybe have a face of the day somewhere on the FE.  Haven’t quite worked out the details yet. 

I plugged in all the numbers from Jakobud’s plans as best I could in Google Sketchup and for the most part I was able to use all the measurements for my cutting..



Here is the current state of the cab after 3 weekends of inhaling MDF dust and playing with Elmer’s Carpenters glue and those squeezy clamp things…



Updates are sure to be slow, however, my next shot will most likely be the coin door mounted on the front door along with the hardware to swing it open. 

Until then

P

[patrickl]

... that you found next to the Flowbee hair cutting vacuum attachment

Hey, don't make fun of the Flowbee. I love that thing. I dread the day it dies on me. I haven't had to sit and be bored at a hairdressers salon in decades.

Great work on the coindoor. Looks like new.

The Moon Patrol cab is one of my favorites too (shape and art). I don't really "feel" the rounded out CP, but I guess if you need a TB then you might need some extra space.

[Franco B]

Looking great so far. The coin door looks mint again.

I like the Webcam idea, your sure to get some funny pictures from that 

I know someone else who is building a Moon Patrol cab at the moment, Ill point him in your direction and you may be able to help each other out.

[csa3d]

Awesome coin door restore.. looks like the same condition I found mine in.  You should ping Rich over at ThisOldGame.com to hurry up and bring the Gold Midway Coin Door Plate on the market.  I've been waiting forever!

-csa

[Neilyboy]

Very nice coin door restore man! and I have to agree if you get ahold of Rich and his repro work you will NOT be disappointed!!! His work is absolutely amazing!!
Neil

[Portnoy]

Hey, thanks for the compliments!  Patrick, don't worry about the Flowbee dying on you.  They are still readily available online.  CSA, it was actually your thread that made me decide on a the Midway coin door.  That thing came out mint!  I will be picking up another in the near future for my next build - Midway style cab to play verticals ( although I really want a Q-bert, hmmm).  So I've been checking "This Old Game" periodically but the Midway logo still reads "coming soon".  Any hints on when?

Thanks

P

[Games001]

You did a perfect job on the coin door.  I have never had the desire to suffer through such a thing as restoring parts.. but you inspire me with your dedication.

Well done.

[csa3d]

So I've been checking "This Old Game" periodically but the Midway logo still reads "coming soon".  Any hints on when?

Well, I've emailed Rich on three separate occasions about the coindoor plate, and I think he has no interest in making it a higher priority.  Hell, I'd prepay to have it bumped up.  I think at this time, or best alternative is the one from arcadeshop.com, which.. no offese, I'm sure will be nice... but the repo Midway Manufacturing plate Rich made is a spot on replica.. and I'd want no less for the FRONT of my cab.

Hey Rich.. if you're reading this.. please please please can we get this part?

-csa

[divemaster127]

Awesome job on the coin door

[TOK]

Nice looking machine... If you're doing the Moon Patrol sides, is there a reason you chose the bowed front instead of the Williams styled rounded top and bottom? I always thought that was a great looking design.

[Portnoy]

Thanks TOK! Yeah, the jury is still out on how I'll proceed with the CP. I also love the original design.  I definitely want a track ball and was concerned with the room for spinning it forward, hence the bowed front, but I am considering keeping to the original shape.  The cab is deeper than the original so I can set the monitor further back. I roll with my thumb and fingers any how so I'm fine with it. Some of my friends though like to palm it forward and I fully expect them to go knuckle deep into my screen.  Then they get a time out.

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[RetroACTIVE]

Not sure what your plans are for repro-ing the moon patrol artwork but you can get moon patrol stencils here:

http://www.oleszakcreative.com/store/shop/item.asp?itemid=87

I used his Defender set and they work fantastic!  Made my cabinet look brand new.  Highly recommended.

[DaOld Man]

Great work!!!!
That was the same (type) coin door that I purchased for my first project!
Your restore job turned out better than mine though.
I like the idea of the face cam too...
What sort of program are you using for that?

[Portnoy]

Thanks! The software came with the cam.  It wasn't more then $30 if I remember correctly. It also allows you to record when it senses motion.  I don't remember the brand but I will look when I get home.

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[david656]

Hey ! im making one of these too ! i have just finished my side panels!

how is that holding? does it wabble or is it pritty sturdy?

thanks david

[Portnoy]

Hello David,

The cab at it's current state is already pretty damn stable. MDF as everyone on here knows is HEAVY! Although I really don't think I needed to after using the wood glue I still went ahead and used 2 corner brackets and a few "L" brackets at stress points just in case.  The My 3 year old son already got inside and jumped up and down while bouncing off the sides. By the time the shelves, monitor frame, and marquee / speaker piece go in it will be rock solid.  Good luck on your build!!

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[danny_galaga]

dont forget to remove the 3 year year old when you put on the front panel 

[Portnoy]

Although the top portion is for playing games the bottom portion, with swinging front door and mounted water bottle, will be for child management 

[DaOld Man]

You could put a big wheel in there, then hook the wheel to a generator and let the 3 yr old have at it.
He could power it for you.
 

[Portnoy]

Not much of an update but it is progress none the less. Had some time to mount the hinges for the front door and route out the coin door opening.



I made micro slices on the door’s edge until it closed with out scraping the edge of the cab. 



For those of you that love all things hinges…




See you in a week!

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[david656]

!Portnoy, would love to see a update of how your cabs coming along..

[Portnoy]

So It’s been awhile since I had time to make with the MDF dust but this past week I was able to get a couple of things done. Easiest part of this so far was mounting the height of the monitor. I also decided that I would go with the rounded out control panel to accommodate a roomier play field concerning the track ball. 

My issue I had for a while was what material to use to round out the control panel front. I didn’t want to just bend a thin, pliable piece of something around the front with out having something stronger behind it.  I decided to stack and glue a series of cutouts that I routed out.  This will either get painted or laminated.



Nothing revolutionary but I just used the CP top as a guide and slid the piece I was cutting forward for each pass of the router.  Note to all, OIL BEARING FREQUENTLY!! Last pass put this bit in the trash.   



Once I had the pieces I needed I spent a couple of days gluing them together.  Trying to glue them all at once was just asking for trouble.   



This is pretty much how it will look once mounted.  I’m actually not crazy about the profile it gives off but I think that’s just me not quite letting go of the authentic look of a Moon Patrol.  It looks great from the front and is very comfortable height wise ( I “air played” a round of robotron ). Can’t wait to track and field it with someone!   



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[ablizno]

Just thought i would note that i have the same coin door. Also looking nice.

[DrumAnBass]

Awesome work! From a fellow "rounded out" control panel owner, who was also inspired by dhansen's design, I think yours is going to turn out really sweet...!

By the way, for those who aren't familiar with your inspiration - here is dhansen's Moon Patrol: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=17350.msg137582#msg137582

I went with flexible fiberboard for the drop under my CP but there have been a few close calls with my 3 years olds where I wished I had something more solid there. Routing out those curved ribs is a great solution.

 

[Portnoy]

Thanks guys. D&B, your control panel was another I was eyeing for the past year or so when I was talking about but not actually building my cab.  Love the artwork! My son turns 4 today and was a big part of my need to beef up the CP.  He likes to stress test stuff. 

[Paladin]

Oil the bearing on the router bit?  Um... yea, I knew I should do that... 

Seriously, thanks for the tip.  I'm still new to using my router, and it didn't even cross my mind that I should do that.  You most likely saved me from trashing my flush trimming bit!

[Portnoy]

It is  amazing how long each step takes me.  I spent more time staring and planning in my head then I have building.  Occasionally I even have my morning coffee out in the garage with the cab…staring…planning…hugging….I mean, um…never mind. The good news with that is I have yet to regret a cut except for 2 but they were easily hidden.  So, taking advantage of this holiday weekend  I was able to so far get my control panel mounted and Lexan cut. The Lexan took most of my day and was the most nerve racking to date.  I purchased a hole saw because I didn’t want to take any chances on cracking the Lexan and / or screwing up my button holes in the MDF since they came out so purty.  What a waste of $20.  The Lexan cut very easily but 2 bad things happen, 1. the Lexan heats up creating a melted lip around the cut that would need attention in order to get the buttons to sit flush and  2. I would have to pry out the Lexan disc and remove the melted Lexan from the teeth after each cut. Basically looked like this…



 I ended up using the spade drill bit originally used for the button holes and quickly realized my early concerns were unfounded.  Lexan is also more flexible than I had originally thought. 



The bottom of the control panel is mounted by brackets up top


And down below. 


Now my issue was how to have the control panel easily removed for maintenance. I decided to use these.



The screw inserts would go into blocks that the rear of the panel will rest on and glue to once everything lined up correctly.  Rather than measure and cut a block of wood and be off by a 16th which is always the case for me (I need laser guided tools) I just stacked MDF blocks the same height as I did the front ribs. I can glue, been doing it since kindergarten, I even know how it tastes. 




Screw knobs underneath…





Now the top removes very easily and surprisingly enough is pretty stable if one was to pull up on the panel.  Just to be safe I will make a catch out of MDF for each side that looks like this,



One half attached to the bottom of the CP and the other to the side of the cab. This way, once I slide the CP forward and screw the knobs down ( or up in this case ) you won’t be able to pull up the part of the panel that’s closest to the player.  I’m sure my local hardware store has some simple pin and catch thingy but if not this will do fine. 

[blueznl]

Any images of the finished cab?

[ChadTower]

Looks great.  Love the fresnel story... man I should try and find a couple of those to play around with.

[Portnoy]

I keep hoping the next stage will go faster than the last.  It just doesn’t work that way for me.  I spend more time looking for tools that I just put down than I do using them.  So, I ran into in an issue with the car speakers I wanted to use. The magnets were too strong for the screen and I really can’t mount them anywhere else due to the design.  I decided to research shielding.  I read about bucking magnets and then I remembered, it just so happened that I had a pair of old and broken HK bookshelf speakers I was saving for parts.  I held one of them up to the monitor and what do you know?  No warping of he picture.  Inside I found a very large bucking magnet. I also was able to pop the metal grill off the front and cut it down to size for my needs. 
I wanted to make sure that the speaker section of the cab was easily removed in case I needed to change a blown speaker or just change to a different pair, etc.  The box is one piece with separate sections to isolate the left and right channel.  All glued with the exception of the back.



The back piece has the bucking magnets attached with Velcro.
 


To attach the back and keep it tight I once again used the brass inserts…man I think I’m in love with these things!  The vice grips were used to keep the half inch MDF from splitting whilst I screwed.  That’s right, I said whilst. 





Now, I must say, after seeing what Mountain did with his speaker grills on the last cab he left off with, I drooled a little, perhaps allot.  I wasn’t laminating my cab but I knew then I had to have something like it.  It’s not nearly as slick but for me I’m quite proud! 





Here is the box sitting right over the speaker grills. 



The L brackets on the underside will not be visible once the Bezel goes in,  my next project in which I will loose my tools.



Untill then...

[Timstuff]

Looking good! Where'd you get the purforated metal for the speaker grills, BTW? I've been thinking about covering my speaker area with a bit sheet of perforated metal, since both the original speaker hole and the new ones are visible, and the holes for the new speakers leave them exposed to potential abuse. Not that I'm worried about abuse from my friends and family, but to be "arcade authentic" i feel like they shouldn't be accessible.

[Franco B]

Good work with the speakers. Im having similar issues with mine. Ive made some mild steel enclosure shields and they are an improvement but they are not stopping the whole field. I have found a company that sells bucking magnets, i just need to find out what size I need.

Keep up the good work 

[Portnoy]

Thanks guys! Chad, I still have my Fresnel and mostly use it to chase my son around the house when I become "The Giant Head Montser".  I plan on implementing it again on another project....or burn ants, not sure yet.  I actually found my my 12 year old poloroids and even though against my better judgement...shield your eyes children, it may take on different forms.....



It was fun while it lasted!

Timstuff, the speaker grills were salvaged off the same speaker i got the bucking magnets from.  I'm sure you can find something similiar on the internet.

P

[Portnoy]

I decided to use a better monitor I had laying around and also decided to de-case it and trash the “ leave it in the case and put it on a shelf” method.   The back plastic case came off easily but the front almost toasted this project. The front plastic frame was actually  suspending the monitor with in the metal chassis. Usually the plastic shell is nothing more than that and the monitor is attached to the metal cage with in. When I removed the front plastic the tube crashed down on all the electronics inside and the back of the tube pulled out of the, what ever you call that thing, yoke plug?  I don’t know how but I managed to frame it out and connect all the parts again with out killing me or the monitor.  The Monitor now sits in an independent frame the slides into the cab and attaches to angled cuts of mdf that are screwed to the sides of the cab.   I had to lay the cab down to get it in. I almost could not get it back up with the added weight but after sacrificing a couple of blood vessels in my head and lifting with my legs it went. 


I picked up aluminum “L” bars for the marquee retainer which I will paint black


I had a tough time trying to figure out the best way to hold in the bezel and plexi.  The monitor came out further than I anticipated so the plexi is actually resting on the center of the monitor.  The outsides though were not and need something to keep it in place.  I bought this…


I cut one for the top and bottom. The plexi, artwork and black poster board fit snuggly into the opening.  I used left over “L” pieces and a straight piece that the top “U” piece slide up and into and attached them to the underside of the speaker panel..




The lower “U” bracket sits right above the control panel and is attached with an L bracket that I epoxied to the bottom and screwed into the side of the cab.


I should be ready for painting this weekend. I’m dying to get to the wiring. I still have to work out the mount for the speakers and marquee lighting.  I also have to place my order for the T-molding, a Nova Matrix, and now one of those beautiful new electric ice balls to replace the one I have. 



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[Franco B]

Good work, its looking like a very clean build, me likeys!

Im glad to see you have some cab builders lube on hand whilst your at it   

[Portnoy]

LOL!! I like to call it "Idea Juice"

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[neverbeder]

Keep the idea juice flowin', this is going to be a beautiful machine, GREAT WORK!!

The whole Bloom County gang would be proud of you... 

[Portnoy]

Very small update.  I painted the cab with semi-gloss black. 2 coats of primer, and..well I lost count on the semi-gloss.  I thought this would be the easiest part of the whole process but nooooo.  I must have sanded down the sides of the cab 3 times to finally get something I was satisfied with.  Roller marks..uneven shining in the coat...large moths stuck to the paint.  Me not leaving well enough alone! The funny part is the back of the cab I painted once and it is easily the best looking side.  Of course this will be backed against a wall where no one will see it.  The bottom looks fabulous as well.   Considering I can only work on this every other weekend each bad coat cost me quite a bit of time.  Next cab is sooo getting laminated!  Anyway, it looks great now and I was actually able to apply the Tmolding.  Tmolding=sexy....but then again I don't get out much so take that with a grain of salt.   

[YoGaBaR]

Tmolding=sexy

I thought it was looking sexy bare, but when you dressed it up it was just HOT!!!

[DrumAnBass]

Schweet!!!   

[Portnoy]

3rd time posting. First, it disappeared. Second, I timed out..ugh.  Anywayz, I was able to get to the power and monitor controls.  I wanted the power to have a clean look and also to keep my 4 year old from discovering high voltage. I was able to get this out of some old equipment and wired it for an inside outlet...



Mounted to the back dead center..



I built a housing for a one outlet plug which will have a Craftsman Auto Switch plugged in..




The monitor needed the controls relocated.  I was dreading this step due to the extremely short ribbon cable I had to work with.



I cut out the face plate from the monitor housing. Why not? It was already a perfect fit for the buttons and gave them the support they needed.  I accidentally sent one of the buttons across my garage floor with my knee.  It happened to be the one that let you choose between the BNC or VGA input.  I had to solder two points together on the back of the board to get the VGA to work again..



The control board came out like so ( yes those ARE Legos )




I wrapped the wire in spiral wrap.  I now have enough slack to make adjustments to the screen comfortably and this will tuck away with velcro up in the cab when not in use..



I hope to be posting completed picks of the cab in 2 weeks.  Until then.

P

[cmoses]

Very small update.  I painted the cab with semi-gloss black. 2 coats of primer, and..well I lost count on the semi-gloss.  I thought this would be the easiest part of the whole process but nooooo.  I must have sanded down the sides of the cab 3 times to finally get something I was satisfied with.  Roller marks..uneven shining in the coat...large moths stuck to the paint.  Me not leaving well enough alone! The funny part is the back of the cab I painted once and it is easily the best looking side.  Of course this will be backed against a wall where no one will see it.  The bottom looks fabulous as well.   Considering I can only work on this every other weekend each bad coat cost me quite a bit of time.  Next cab is sooo getting laminated!  Anyway, it looks great now and I was actually able to apply the Tmolding.  Tmolding=sexy....but then again I don't get out much so take that with a grain of salt.   

Can you tell me what kind of primer and paint you used?  Did you get the primer tinted gray for the black paint?

[Portnoy]

The primer was white, Benjamin Moore Fresh Start -  Alkyd- #024 00 and the finish was Benjamin Moore Regal Acrylic semi-gloss black, # N333 80.  The finish looks much better in person. The flash on the camera tends to show what you wouldn't see with the naked eye. 

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[Portnoy]

It was September 24th at 9:45pm when I stepped back and stared in amazement that this project was finally completed! This project that started with this forum and a rusty coin door acquired off Ebay. As it is far from a moon patrol cab anymore aside from the profile, I have renamed with the front end that makes me drool. I should have renamed it "Where the summer of '08 went". I have new respect for those that put these things out in 2 months time.
I started to slack on documenting the progress, but at most you don't get to see 35 zip ties running wires around the inside of the cab. Here are a few shots of the remaining construction.

I have two 12volt fans taking the monitor heat up and out.


Here is a shot of the wiring under the control panel. If you look towards the bottom on either side of the TB you can see two brass inserts. These recieve 2 long screws/bolts that come up through the bottom of the control panel. I originally thought the front two blocks would be enough to secure the panel down...hardly.


This was a really tight fit for everything. I actually sat the GPwiz higher than the Ledwiz to have room for getting the wires in.


Lighting the coin door was done with 2 12v car lights and attached with a wire tie and a bracket I fashioned out of spare PCI slot covers.



The marquee light from Groovey, the fans, the LED's, and the coin icons
are all ran off a spare PC power supply that I have wired to barrier strips. 

AND NOW......THE THING THAT MAKES ME SMILE....









Friends breaking her in....




It's been fun!  Now....what to build next?

[NipRing]

Great job, amazingly colorful! What type of sticks did you use? And is it MAME only?

[Portnoy]

Thanks NipRing! For right now it is only MAME.  I do have NES, SNES, N64, and Atari 2600 roms as well.  I plan on loading those up and to also get Dragon's Lair running...eventually. I'm taking a gaming break for a while.  The Joys are Ultimarc Ultrasticks.

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[Ummon]

I think the CP is awesome. Whole cabinet is great of course. Very nice wiring.

[Martijn]

why did you not connect the buttons to the u360?

[Franco B]

I just wanted to say great work

I missed your last couple of updates some how. I like how you havent scrimped on any of the build/wiring etc. Going that extra mile really finishes it off nicely. 

[DaOld Man]

I somehow missed the finished work in this thread..

Great work Portnoy!
You got yourself one heck of a beauty there!

 

[Portnoy]

Thanks for the compliments! I thought it would never get done at one point.  Martijn, when I originally purchased the U360 ( almost two years before finishing this thing ) I forgot to order the wire harness.  Fast forward to this past August and I figure while I'm ordering my new EI trackball ball I might as well pick up the encoder solution for all my buttons. It wasn't until I tried to configure Project64 that I realized the corner I painted myself in.  I now had the choice of using a joysick OR buttons  but not both at the same time since the emu only allows you to specify A joystick per player.  If there were a way to mix one joy in windows with another I would be fine. Anywho,  I just received the wire harness for each 360 and will be removing the GPwiz for a later project.   

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