My mini vertical candy cab (Updated!)

[mako72]

Well its not really a candy cab but it has some design influences from one. Its a mini sit down cab. Its going to be a dedicated vertical cabinet. Someone built one like this a while back but I have not been able to find his project page. Im still working on the design and color scheme. I dont really have any artwork ideas yet. I did get some ideas from the new Vewlix cab. Anyways, after looking at my digital mock-up for like a week now, I started construction today on the frame. The cab has to be rock solid because the monitor weighs an absolute ton and the design doesent allow for much support. I got the monitor from the garbage dump. Heres a tip for everyone. If you need a monitor, go to the local garbage dump. The ones here have a seperate area just for televisions and monitors. Just unload something and then throw in whatever monitor you want. I actually grabbed 4 monitors in case one didnt work. Well they all work. Turns out people just throw these things out when they get a new flat panel.

[TOK]

That looks cool, but its just screaming for an LCD.

[mako72]

I agree, an LCD would be great. I used 22 inch LCD on my last cab and it made things much easier. But this way is free and its more of a test of my wood working skills (which are amature at best)

[Franco B]

Is this the mini candy you were looking for?





I love this cab 

Those pics were in a thread over at SRK [Linky]

There are some build pictures that may help you [here]

Good luck, ill be keeping my eye on this one.

[mako72]

Thank you very much for those links. Thats exactly what I was looking for.

[Franco B]

Your welcome. 

I knew as soon as I saw your model which project you were talking about. I had it bookmarked so it was an easy find.

Its actually (another  ) project that I would like to do myself. Make sure you take plenty of photos etc along the way.

One of my favourite parts of that project is that he built it so that the monitor can be changed from horizontal to vertical. Ok you have to physically lift it out and change it yourself but it keeps the whole package nice and compact. Its a shame you are not using a LCD in yours, I wouldn't like to attempt the same thing with a CRT. Then again if you are happy with a single orientation set up then thats fine although an LCD would be more aesthetically pleasing. 

[Singapura]

Btw, before anyone starts ordering stuff for this cab, read this

[mako72]

looks like some crappy service. I will be ordering from lizard lick. Ive had great service from them in the past.

[javeryh]

I love that cab - it looks like you are off to a good start.  Definitely take lots of pictures!   

[mako72]

Little update.

[DantheApe]

looks good so far, im going to be following this one kinda close

from the bushes
/voyuer style
//with binocs
///and a sketch pad

[Pinguy]

On the stength of this design just bought me a 19" Dell monitor, for use in  a cab 
Your project looks really good,
All the best
Pinguy

[mako72]

I spent most of my time today trying to figure out how to make this thing level all around. It was leaning to the left bad. I learned an important lesson. Cut out pieces to the size that you want and then make the othe pieces line up. Dont cut out a peice by tracing it out. Eveything gets more and more off. Lerning as I go. Using a level was helpful but the uneven garge floor wasnt.

[Gatsu]

I love the candy style cabs. I cannot WAIT to see this project finished!

Seeing all these badass new cabs here and in other forums....I dont think Im gonna make it to next summer before I can start building my own. 

[mako72]

Ok so here as an update. Its been a while. So I mounted my monitor a few days ago and I was really happy with how well it fit and how level it was. So I go to turn it on and it frys instantly. You take your chances with these garbage dump monitors. So I didnt really learn my lesson because I went to the garbage dump again today and I couldnt believe it. Right there was two of the same exact monitor I blew. So I took it home and it works great. I realy like this one because its got a glossy screen and I think it just makes it look much better when its turned off.  I think this model is made by Sony cause it says Trinitron and I think thats their brand. I spent a lot of time making a control panel out of layered mdf and it sucked. So now im going with some red oak and im building it the same way I have made control boxes before. I got a logitech speaker system for $25 (2 speakers and 1 sub) from Tiger direct and they sound really good.

I had this idea to make the control panel out of plexiglass, spray paint the underside with frosted glass spray paint and then put neon under it so the whole panel would glow instead of having artwork. I think I could get enough support for the buttons but I dont think I would have enough support to make the joystick sturdy. I might figure out a way to do it.

The plan is to use a dreamcast but I would really like to use a sega saturn but the saturn doesnt put out the right frequency and isnt compatable with vga.

When its done im goint to paint it all with glossy white paint.
 ok ok the pics..

[ark_ader]

Looks nice.

Looks like my skinny cab I'm still scratching my head with the finished design.

I was wondering about the base, but later the pics showed the CRT.

I'm using a LCD, is there a chance you will swap it out for a 32" LCD?

Oh did you change anything in the monitor to make it vertical from the DC?

Nice Job. 

[mako72]

Thanks, I thought about bigger screens but a 32 inch. Thats crazy big. Crazy but awesome. I dont think that would even fit. No I didnt change the monitor. The games are turned verticle from the in game menu. But I think most verticle games on the DC will boot up verticle after you save the settings.

[DantheApe]

wow very cool

keep up the amazing work 

[Franco B]

I must have missed your update the other day, its looking good!! 

Yeah those Dell monitors are nice, Im using the 21" version in my cocktail. They sure are heavy though aren't they? I think the 21" are about 30kg (65lbs) so imagine the 19" isn't far off.

How are you supporting the monitor? From the pictures it looks as if the top and bottom bars are 'clamping' the monitor. I presume you are going to add extra support?

[mako72]

Yes the 19" monitor is very heavy. I actually have 2 2x4s on the top and bottom. The ones in the front are mounted flat. Then there are two on the back side that are angled and follow the shape of the monitor. They keep it from falling backwards. Even if the arcade was laid down backwards it would not fall out. Its kinda like a cradle.  Still I might add a little support on the bottom because im afraid the strain on the front end might hurt the screen in the long run.
I would like to get a bigger screen but I dont think I would be able to center it because I have it pushed all the way to the right now just to make it centered.

[mako72]

[Franco B]

Its really coming together nicely now

Are you just going for a single player setup or dual? What controls are you using? I guess you are using hacked DC pads?

Any ideas for colourscheme/graphics etc?

[Gatsu]

dude thats looking pretty good. can't wait to see it finished.

I say white and orange for the colors. hehe.

[mako72]

Well at first I was going to just hack a dc pad but now im thinking I will do a playstation pad. That way I can use a ucb adapter if I want to hook it up to my laptop for some MAME. Or I could use a PS to DC converter if I want to use the dreeamcast. For now Im just going to make it a single player with semitsu parts. Its going to be painted white for sure but the other colors are up in the air. I like the red and white of the Vewlix cab. Ive got some design pieces for the sides that are really going to set it all off. Hopefully I will get time to put them on today.

[Pinguy]

Looking good Mako,
I have been inspired by your work, and took the plunge with my rotatable Candy cab Design.
Just posting some shots in new post.
Keep up the good work 

Cheers Pinguy.

[mako72]

Here are some new pics. I painted it yesterday. I still have to sand it smooth and then spray it with a clear coat. I mounted the speakers in the top and made a bezel  covered in speaker material. It just pops right into the speaker hole. Its getting close.

[Pinguy]

Looking good - just wondered how things are going,
Cheers Pinguy.

[mako72]

So Here it is. my completed mini candy cab and it came out better than I thought it would. The thing that I like about this one is that it has no visible seams where pieces meet. I did this cause I was trying to make it look like it was not made out of wood. I ran Mame off of my laptop in it for a while and got tired of how much of a hassle it was. so i hooked up my dreamcast to it and love it. I bought some very cheap yellow neon tubes for it but they suck. I plan on replacing them with pink LEDs to match the color of the buttons and joystick. All the parts are sanwa. Anyway its mostly done for now. I might add some artwork under the plexiglass but I kinda like the baby blue I painted it. 

[Gatsu]

looks really good man. though a little naked. Plan on putting any decals or other artwork on it?

[SNAAKE]

hey thats a nice cabinet

[gonzo90017]

Can you explain your dreamcast setup? How do you launch games? How are your controls hooked up?

[mako72]

the Dreamcast is hooked up through a vga box into the monitor. The controller is a hacked Dreamcast controller. This site has a how-to on hacking one to arcade controls on the main page. Everything boots up from the flip of one switch under the control panel and the game loads automatically. You can find compilation discs of Dreamcast shmups from underground gamer so you dont have to switch out discs to play a different game. The memory card saves your settings for vertical shooters so you dont have to rotate the game image to vertical every time. I just like the simplicity of it all.