Nebraskan Arcade

[bartre]

well, I've had this project underway for a while, but seeing as i finally got a digital camera and an account here, I suppose I should share what I've got thus far.

I'm going with the Lusid design, slightly modified to fit my  needs, mostly just a couple inches wider.
initially, my plan was to build a dedicated Melty Blood machine, but since it would only take 6 more buttons, i decided to make it a full blown MAME cabinet.

please note that I don't have any pictures earlier than these, as my old camera broke, and i lost the pictures last time i messed with my computer.

Well, this is what i started with today, pretty bare bones, the two sides, the monitor shelf, the top and the angled top/back piece.





I do have my control panel cut and assembled as well, 2 player 7 button using happ super joysticks and competition convex pushbuttons, and yes, the joysticks are angled!



I actually got today off, so i decided to work on my cabinet, and after some cutting and drilling and sanding i managed to attach the front panel, just slightly sunk back.



and for good measure one from the inside


By this point i had built up some momentum, so i had to keep going and cut and attached the bottom panel to my cabinet as well.



I don't have any pictures of it, but i cut a bottom for my CP, and I've attached some braces for the monitor as well, but this is about where i stand today:



The computer I'm putting in this is simply my old desktop, a compaq presario pentium 4 with 768 MB of ram and 90 GB of hard drive space, I also purchased a new video card so that it could output RCA video, but that didn't work, it was always in black and white.
I fixed that problem with a simple s-video to RCA cable, since the video card had s-video as well as RCA and i couldn't seem to figure out how to force the RCA signal.

[IG-88]

Nice start on the cab, but what exactly does this have to do with Nebraska?

[bartre]

Nice start on the cab, but what exactly does this have to do with Nebraska?

oh, not much.
All it really has to do with it is the simple fact that that's where i live.

[TOK]

Nice start on the cab, but what exactly does this have to do with Nebraska?

oh, not much.
All it really has to do with it is the simple fact that that's where i live.

I seldom hear about Nebraska on the news. Since news is never good, I wish I lived there!
Nice progress on the cab. 

[Namco]

1/4" panel in the front. I take it you're not putting in a coin door  .

Looking good so far. Are you going to run Melty Blood on PC, PS2 or are you going to try your luck with a Naomi emulator?

[bartre]

1/4" panel in the front. I take it you're not putting in a coin door  .

Looking good so far. Are you going to run Melty Blood on PC, PS2 or are you going to try your luck with a Naomi emulator?

it's just going to have the pc version of act cadenza on it, but hopefully it'll be able to run actress again when that comes out.

I do have a question though, I want to put a plexiglass panel in front of my TV, what's the best way to mount it?

[Namco]

1/4" panel in the front. I take it you're not putting in a coin door  .

Looking good so far. Are you going to run Melty Blood on PC, PS2 or are you going to try your luck with a Naomi emulator?

it's just going to have the pc version of act cadenza on it, but hopefully it'll be able to run actress again when that comes out.

I do have a question though, I want to put a plexiglass panel in front of my TV, what's the best way to mount it?

One of my first posts on this forum after I got my cabinet. My pictures in this post show how the plexi and marquee are mounted in a Dynamo cabinet: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=18049.msg754485#msg754485

Basically it's just some supports glued in at the right place with a channel at the top for a couple inches of the plexi to fit up into and  the Control panel pressing against it at the bottom.

[bartre]

1/4" panel in the front. I take it you're not putting in a coin door  .

Looking good so far. Are you going to run Melty Blood on PC, PS2 or are you going to try your luck with a Naomi emulator?

it's just going to have the pc version of act cadenza on it, but hopefully it'll be able to run actress again when that comes out.

I do have a question though, I want to put a plexiglass panel in front of my TV, what's the best way to mount it?

One of my first posts on this forum after I got my cabinet. My pictures in this post show how the plexi and marquee are mounted in a Dynamo cabinet: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=18049.msg754485#msg754485

Basically it's just some supports glued in at the right place with a channel at the top for a couple inches of the plexi to fit up into and  the Control panel pressing against it at the bottom.

so, if i'm getting you right, you put some supports on the sides and bottom, with a slot for it at the top?

[Fordman]

Great start on the cab!

Nebraska is always in the news each day! I just found this story!

Dateline: June 4,2009 State of Nebraska

In between the corn fields a 'MAME Cab' was born. The strange resemblence to a 1980's video arcade game shape was what made this birth a strange phenomenom. It's look as if it's in its infancy, but the skeletal structure of it looks to be strong! With time, this can only get better. "When something is born out in the corn fields here in Nebraska, we take notice" says Farmer Fred. Folks from far and wide will visit, probably with a six pack in hand. "It didnt create any crop circles but it did leave a imprint on my carpeting" says bartre (MAME Cab Proud Papa).


Keep us up to date! Enjoy!

 

Fordman

[bartre]

oh, i've been meaning to ask
do i really need to worry about heat?
the pc and TV both seem to run fairly cool, but i really don't want to have any problems down the road.

[bartre]

well, I'm seriously about to give up.
there was a storm last night, and a little water got into my basement.
my cabinet was sitting near the wall, and well, this is the result





in the areas where there's water damage, the wood's about 2x as thick as anywhere else, very noticable.
what should i do?

[IG-88]

Don't give up yet! Just a set back! What were your plans for covering it? If it were mine I would draw a straight line just above the wet area and cut it off. You could then add a new piece by gluing or bis-quiting the edges together. (the thin stuff just replace)  Add a piece to the inside to reinforce it too. You can get a pretty good filler (bondo or even sheetrock mud) to fill in and smooth out the joint. A good paint job and you would hardly see it. Or covering it with laminate and you wouldn't see it at all. 

If you are set on destroying it tho, let me know. I maybe able to take it off your hands. I'm in Lincoln. I'd rather you fix it and enjoy it but as a last resort....

[Gatsu]

yeah don't give up homey. just put caster wheels on it next time to prevent water nasty.

should be easy enough to repair...just eats up some time is all.

[bartre]

well, since i've got some scrap mdf left, i checked the size, and luckily enough it's a perfect fit.
so, this is my plan for fixing it:
1. cut the damaged area out.
2. fit the scrap to the area.
3. bind them together with some 2X2's behind.
4. use some bondo auto body filler to fill the cracks and hide the seams.
5. casters.

the bottom piece, i'm not worried about, i'm probably just gonna take some spare 2X2's and brace it, and anyways, the water damage on the bottom is only like 8 inches long by 3 inches wide.

[IG-88]

Good. I'm glad you decided to press on. This just adds more "character" to the cab. Remember this sucker will be around for years and you can say This baby survived the flood of June '09 or something to that affect 

[bartre]

well, I got a chance to work on the repairs today.
Things are starting to look up!
I amputated the damaged area, and cut some new MDF from some leftovers i had.
from there, i fit it in using a straightedge and backed it with some fresh wood, screws, and liquid nails.







I also finished my marquee and CPO, here're some samples:




And something i found laying around in my basement that i think a certain member of this forum will like:

[IG-88]

Awesome! I used to have one just like that when I was a kid! Wouldn't want to part with it would ya....

Anyway, I love the marquee. The CP I'm on the fence about. Not a big Anime fan, but it goes with the marquee nicely. And it looks like the repairs are well on the way. A little bondo/woodfiller and you'll be good to go.   

[bartre]

bondo is my friend.
i got some pimp slapped in the crack, and i bet after some paint it won't be recognizable.



I also got the control panel mounted today.
used some L brackets, but that's about it





After all this, I've got the speaker panel, and the back panel to do, then construction is done!

unfortunately, I noticed that my art that i was going to have printed was only at 72 dpi, i've since had to remake all of it.  I didn't really change anything, but it was just a pain in the butt.

I also decided on the speakers I'm going to be putting in my cab, it's these from boss audio
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J1DAAC/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

i've got an amp on order, and then i'll have the audio ready to go, And i've already finished setting up the PC for use in my cab.

On to Mamemarquees.com!

[bartre]

Holy Lack of updates Batman!

been a while since i was able to get any work done on this thing, been working 10-12 hour days lately.
anyway, here's a few pics of my progress:

first off, i opened my monitor in order to extend the power button.
in retrospect, i probably should've discharged it first, but it was like 4 AM when i did it, and i'm honestly surprised that i was able to solder the switch.



next, i got the speakers working via an amp i ordered off ebay, they actually sound great!
i think they even sound better than the stereo in my bedroom.





Finally, i wired and set up my ipac to be the controller for MAME.
for some reason though, my computer didn't like it, so i had to kinda candoodle my way around all the crap to get it working.
oh, those buttons on the side are mapped to esc, that way they're out of the way, but i don't have to remember some stupid multi button combo to quit a game.
all in all though, i really like how my cp came out.





feeling pretty good about my progress so far, got my marquee and my plexi for it, but i can't really get a good picture of it, it always gets some massive shine on it.  it looks great though!

can't get any real time off this next week, and on top of that, i've got a 360 coming in the mail next week, so i doubt i'll get anything done on it for another while, but let me know what you think.
but i do have 2 questions:
what's the best way to mount a marquee?
should i shield the monitor from the speaker magnets?