Ok this is actually my second project, my first one is pictured down below. It was a whole lot of fun to play with friends and fun to build but it wasn’t very integrated with the X-arcade sitting out, the small 17” computer monitor, and the speakers on top. This was an old Dig Dug cabinet I bought for $30 on craigslist. I don't need it any more so if anyone wants the original glass bezel and is around the Lubbock, TX area let me know.
But this second one is something I’ve been working on since November and is around 70%. I’m naming it Gun’s Up Arcade because its got all this gun artwork and I go to Texas Tech. It’s taking a little longer than I would have hoped and the control panel took a while because I haven’t done woodworking in 8 years. I ended up having my girlfriend’s dad drill everything for the control panel which turned out really good since I would have cracked that plexi-glass so many times if it was me. The inside is actually just guts from the old X-arcade so I can hook this up to consoles. I can’t see the lag everyone is talking about with this stick, in fact I feel like it performs better and faster than my official Dreamcast stick. That ended up being a little of a problem because all of their wires are pretty short but I ended up getting everything to fit.
The whole side of the cabinet is hand painted and is about 70% complete in this picture. Since this was taken I’ve painted a few more layers on the smoke and I still need to outline everything in white. This design is based around an album by the Black Keys called Chulahoma. They have been our favorite band for a while and as soon as we saw this cover we knew what we wanted to do. The marquee will also be based on some of their artwork though I have not gotten to that yet.
Inside the cabinet will be this 23” tv I traded for a crappy 27” off of craigslist (I love this site). I tried so hard to fit the 27” without de-casing it but since I have very little electrical experience I traded for a brand new smaller tv which worked out just fine. There will be a pc for all the classic games, Dreamcast for all the fighting games (Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is pretty much the only reason why I’m building a 2nd cabinet) and some shooting games (stay away from Death Crimson OX! That game will give you seizures!), and also a PS2 just for the Time Crisis series. All of these will be hooked up through this awesome Gamestop switchboard (The only good things I’ve found that has come from there) I found at a record store for $10 which also allowed me to hook up the computer to the tv (This tv does not have s-video but the switchboard does).
The pictures do not show it but the last idea I have that hasn’t been shown on here is that I am going to cut out 3 shelves on the other side of the cabinet: 1 for holding all the games, 1 for holding guitar pedals and cords, and the third bigger one for an amp! I’m also putting a guitar swing on the side so this arcade will be all inclusive to when I move somewhere smaller in May. The shelves will all have plexiglass doors though I am not positive on this. The main thing stopping me right now is that I feel like the amp might make the doors rattle too much and make it sound bad. So the guitar idea might get scrapped but for now it is still in my plans. The shelves will also be painted all white and be lit by blacklights to give it the same purple glow as the gun.
The last things I have to do are finish up a marquee design, buy smoked glass (I guess locally or is there a good place online?), and buy t-molding (I ordered a sample of red, orange, and purple but to match the artwork but we’re already leaning toward the purple color). Also what is a good front-end that can just be controlled with a joystick and buttons? I don’t really want to add a keyboard drawer and it would be nice for it to be all integrated.
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Topic: Gun's Up Arcade (Read 2677 times)
