Swaffar's untitled All-In-One arcade in a box

[swaffar]

ok so i wanted to build a cab, but i'm in the air force so i move around a lot.  a cab wouldn't exactly be something i'd want to tear down and reassemble every few years.  plus it would look a little unsightly.  so i decided to make a control panel that housed a pc and be compatible with any tv or monitor.  i began construction only three weeks ago and here's what i've got... i live in germany and usually work on this outside (the basement is so cramped) so the rain has put my work on hold more than a few times. anyway, here's what i have so far.  please bare in mind that i am an aircraft avionics specialist and by no means a carpenter...

here's my layout and artwork i photoshopped...  i like to whole red/blue theme but didn't want my panel to borrow from any game, emulator, or frontend.  althought i will be running arcade maximus.  hyper spin looks cool on the first use, but it's tooo busy for my taste.

[swaffar]

received my components over the course of a few weeks... i'd love a 4-player setup but i just can't imagine lugging around a 48 inch monster.  i opted to go 2-player with two joysticks each.

30 happ translucent red and blue buttons
6   happ translucent clear buttons for admin buttons
3   white buttons
3   black buttons (front panel)
2   UltraStick 360's with hard springs and octagonal re restrictor plates
2   happ comp 8-way joysticks (smash tv!!!) 
1   U-Track trackball  (failed to specify white ball)  if anyone wants to trade a white for my red, email me!
1   TurboTwist 2 spinner with 7" wheel (front panel)
1 MiniPac with wire harness

CPU parts
ULTRA LS350 350W ATX POWER SUPPLY
XFX MG-610i-7059 GeForce 7050 Socket 775 Motherboard
Intel Celeron Dual Core E1200 1.6Ghz 512K 800Mhz
Patriot 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz
WD Caviar 160GB Serial ATA HD 7200/8MB/SATA 3G
Ultra X-Wind CPU Fan Aluminum Socket 775 w/ PWM

i also found red and blue LED case fans at the local pc store that i'll use to move some air through my panel.

i did manage to save $20 by making my own interface cables for my U360's.  i simply took an old IDE cable and dremeled it into a fitting 10-pin plug.  then i just hooked it up to my PC, went to the control stick properties and shorted out the 8 wires to the ground to figure out which pins were which buttons.  the ribbon looks like it would easily fall off the pins, but it's actually on there pretty good.  i'm still gonna cover it with epoxy, just to make sure.

[swaffar]

ok so it rained for a few days and i got bored so i mounted the pc to an MDF panel and loaded windows.  i also measured all my components and made a mock up of everything in photoshop.  everything should be accurate to the millimeter.  i want to make this as compact as possible.  i could have just thrown a laptop in but that wouldn't have been any fun would it?  this ended up being rather time-consuming but i don't know autoCAD, so shoot me.

my computer room ended up in a mess and it hasn't got much better 

[swaffar]

as you can see i decided to mount my spinner on the front along with 3 buttons all of which will emulate mouse clicks.  i don't believe this should pose any problems. 

once i started cutting the panels i opted to simple make the bottom deeper.  this eliminated making oddly-shaped pieces to support the front, especially around the spinner.  i'm putting some braces in to the left and right to hold the front down when swapping the steering wheel in and out... i'm not sure how many of you have turbotwist 2's but the wheel sticks pretty good.  anyway, i should have just enough clearance between the wheel and the top panel for knuckles to not scrape.

here is a pic of my proto... needed to make sure all the components actually WOULD fit without anything rubbing inside.

i simply cut holes in a circular pattern on the sides and mounted my case fans on the inside.  i cut some metal screen to shape and placed in front of the fans.  as you can see i've already spray painted the inside a matte black.  i'm gonna give the outside a gloss black after my putty dries.

[swaffar]

now to cut the center hole.  i ended up waiting on my panel art to arrive before cutting this one as the trackball is the center of the design.  it'll stick out like a sore thumb if it's even a little off.  thankfully the printout looks great and everything is spot on.  i was expecting one side to be too long or too short or something, who knows.  anyway i really thought i could get away with wedging my art between the plexi and the wood.  i knew in the back of my mind that i'd probably rip, mangle or stretch the art by going this route but i wanted to make sure the hole was centered to the art.  my skills aren't good enough to ensure proper alignment without the overlay as a guide (i went the cheap route and didn't have a full size diagram printed from mame marquees)
anyway, the cutting went slowly and without incident, except for one small spot.  i did, in fact, end up tearing my artwork, but i have to widen the hole 1/8 inch anyway and i have the bezel, so the tear will get covered.  maybe i got lucky

so this is where i'm at so far... holes cut, art layed down, plexi on top.  tomorrow i'll countersink the bottom so my trackball is flush with the bezel.  i also need to countersink my joysticks up top to save room inside the box for my pc components.  it's gonna be a close call for the player one right hand joystick.... it's hovering close over my cpu fan!

[stephenp1983]

Looks good, I like the panel art.

[swaffar]

thanks... it's all original.  made it all by hand in photoshop in about 90 minutes.  actually, i lied.  i used a photo of a fire at night with little sparks and cinders flying out of it.  i bleached the image and mirrored it.  that's the white coming out from the center.  but all the smoke was done by hand.