Kim Possible themed arcade cabinet (just finshed cpo)

[MacGyver]

I am making my daughter an arcade cabinet, after about 3 different themes she finally decided on Kim Possible.  It took about 3 days to do the artwork in AI, and about 1 while day to do the control panel.  I still have some things to add, like a trackball, and two spinners, but it's enough to play right now.   The Plexiglas took me 4 hours to grind holes for the buttons with a Dremel but it didn't crack (like it did when I tried to drill it).  As soon as I order the vinyl, I'll start building the cabinet, but I can't even start it until I get it, as the order it has to be assembled in requires some panels to be vinyled before others can be attached.

I'll post better pictures as I build it.

Here's what the panel looks like, as the plexi distorts the picture.
And the marquee I'm going to get printed.

[Timstuff]

Nice! Kim Possible is awesome. 

[MacGyver]

Thanks.
I thought my construction details might be helpful for people in my position, i.e. no workshop, not any tools. 
So first thing, it's 12"x29"x3/4", I borrowed a jig saw to cut the board down, but that's only because Praktiker could just never cut it to inches (They are German, and only are used to cutting things in centimeters), I'm sure a Home Depot or Lowes would be able to make the cuts for anyone, no problem.
I could not find a proper 1 1/16" hole saw, or a 28 mm, so I used a 1" and a Dremel with a barrel sander attachment, and a 1 1/16 circle drawn around the 1" hole.

I cheated with measuring by making the artwork overlay exact in it's placement, and put a cross in the middle of everywhere I needed a hole drilled.  I made sure it was in the correct place by using a standard  button template as a layer (attached below), and then hiding it after it wasn't needed anymore. 
After the artwork was printed and the board was cut, I used the board as a template and scored the plexi (I did this to keep cracks from running).

I tried to cut the plexi with a jigsaw near an unneeded edge, it cracked.
I tried to score it multiple times really deep and snap it, it cracked.
So I bought a router attachment for my Dremel and a bit, clamped a board arcross it for a guide, and set the router (my tiny dremel in a Frankenstein mount) to about half the depth, and ran it across at 1/4" inch forward, then 1/2" back, over and over again, lowered the router, then did it again.  It took forever, but it didn't crack. I then block sanded the edges.

I then took my artwork, aligned it to my board, and stuck thumbtacks deep into each of the crosses.  After I removed the tacks and the artwork, I had a whole bunch of holes to drill out my holes, now if I only had the correct sized bit. 

I laid out the the joystick mounting plate on the panel, traced it, then set the router/dremel to 1/4" and routed out the material needed to countersink the joysticks.  I then mounted the plates.

After grinding all 16 holes to the correct size, I clamped the plexi onto it, and with a very sharp nail, I scored all the button and joystick holes into the plexi.

I tried drilling with a forestner bit, blade bit, normal bit, cordless drill, plug-in drill, and a drill press,  it cracked, every time (in the extra stock left over from above).  So out came the dremel, I took the metal bit that looks like bunch of Chinese stars stacked on top of each other, and started grinding the middle of each hole at a real low angle.  I did this to make the initial hole all the way through.  Then I slowly ground away the remaining material.  It took about 10 minutes per hole, I did this 16 more times.

I then clamped the artwork between the plexi and wood, and used an exact-o knife to cut out all the holes, put all the buttons in and was done.

This is not the best way to do this, but it was the only way to do it with the tools I had.

I would recommend to anybody ordering buttons for a cabinet, prior to ordering to buttons, or at the same time, buy a 1 1/16" or 28mm drill bit.  My life would have been SOOOO much easier with it.  I you can find the same that is made to cut plexi, then do it.  Plexi costs 27 euro for the correct sheet in Germany, and I did not want to pay 40 dollars for every mistake.

http://groovygamegear.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=72&products_id=253

I hope this helps somebody, if only by showing that you need to be better prepared.  Or by showing that with a Dremel and some duct-tape, you can build anything. 

[Ond]

Cool artwork!  This should be a fun cab to play - great theme.

[ArcadeBliss]

Hi MacGyver,

I'm living in Germany as well and I am in the process of building my second cab (the first was put to rest). What will you be using for a monitor?

[MacGyver]

I finally found a TV that remembers the state it was turned off in, so I'll be using that.  It's 27", and has s-video input, but it has the speakers on the sides, so I'll have to de-case it.  I would love to switch to an actual 27" arcade monitor later, so I might have to wait on the light guns until then.

I live in Heidelberg, it is very beautiful here most of the time, but it's been kind of gloomy recently.  I used to live in Kitzingen near Würzburg, so the winter here in Heidelberg is nothing compared to there.

[ArcadeBliss]

Funny I left HD 6 years ago to live in Ingolstadt. If you are using a PAL TV, I would suggest using the SCART connection by making a vga2scart cable and then use soft15hz. The picture quality is a worlds better than s-video. I was using a tv solution and then my tv died  I bought a new one, however, the resolutions I was using were not registiering as a signal to the TV and it would turn off on it's own after 5 mins unless I pressed a button on the remote 

That finally motivated me to seek out what I always wanted to begin with, an arcade monitor. I currently have written suzo regarding a Wells Gardner 9800. If that doesn't work, I just import one from Xgaming. If you know anyone in the military with access to an APO address, it would cut the price of arcade monitor in half.

[MacGyver]

Sadly the TV I got is not SCART:( The problem with APOs is that anything mailed to it has to go through NY first, assuming the company shipping it knows what one is, my joysticks from Ultimarc (they use DHL) went from the UK to the states, then DHL tried to ship them to APO, MN Minnesota then DHL lost them, but Ultimarc was great, they found them, and had them shipped to a family member in the states, and from them to me in Germany. Ultimarc=Great , DHL=Sucks .  Plus APOs have soldiers moving boxes, I shipped a TV back from Iraq, in it's original box with it's original packing, when I opened it, they had managed to break the tube from it's mount and it bounced around on the electronics.  It had to have been dropped from at least 4 meters to do the damage that was done to it.  I hope to find a UK source and have it shipped to my home address.

[ArcadeBliss]

Ja. Sending to APO is sometimes a risky matter. I hear you on Ultimarc. Andy is great. Many establishments could learn from his customer service skills. I sent you a PM let me know what you think. BTW, the link to the monitor I'm planning on using is here www.xgaming.com/htm/wells-gardner-mame-arcade-cabinet-machine-monitor.shtml

[MacGyver]

I just finished the plans in sketch up, all of it's measurements are correct, and it has all the internal support structures.  I skinned it so my daughter could see what it would like like.  (Sort of, i can't figure out how to round some of the corners and angles, but she got the idea)  Should be able to start it soon.  I have most of the trimmings, bezel surround, t-molding, coin door, and the vinyl is coming.  Need to order the slot cutter though. 

I kind of blended a couple cab styles together, and modified that to accommodate the control panel size, and monitor depth.

Side art is still needed, hopefully something comes to me.

What do you guys think?

[ArcadeBliss]

Looks cool. I'm sure your daugther is excited. For my current cab projekt, I created some sketchup parts for the cp. Just have a look here: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=b36a598f88e2f0731f2d17228ff9160d&prevstart=0

[MacGyver]

Wow, you are really good with Sketch-up!  I did mine for measurements, but figured I'd have to improvise a lot of the details,  your objects are manufacturing level, the kind of things you would expect see in a 3-D manual from the future.

Makes mine look sad by comparison.   
I can't imagine how one would go about making screw threads.  It took me hours to do the crappy models I made, and I can't even make rounded corners. 

[ArcadeBliss]

Thanks for the praise. I have no idea how to make screw threads either; I just used them from someone elses project from the 3D warehouse. I had to stop myself from making to much detail, the perfectionist in me was going crazy.

I however do not find you models crappy. I have no idea how you integrated the marquee and cp art. My feeble attempts with pictures never turned out right.

So have you ordered all you parts already?