Film Tron MAME Project

[lostwire]

Hey gang. This is my first post here so I thought what better way to introduce myself then with my first MAME project: a retro-styled Tron-esque cabinet & control panel design. Just this week I rescued a stripped Mortal Kombat cabinet which was headed for the dumpster & I'll be ordering a WG 9200 monitor to drop inside within the next few weeks. I'm still not sure what I'll be doing with the side-art or the marquee until I can produce/ acquire

[Wienerdog]

That looks good, have you checked out Knievel's thread on illuminating your translucent buttons with LEDs?

Your control panel looks like it will be fun, I look forward to seeing it.

[SuperGunGuru]

Interesting. I wouldn't mind having a dedicated MK someday to go along with MK2. It looks like the artwork is damaged pretty good or is that just sunlight?

[AmericanDemon]

It looks sanded down.

[lostwire]

That looks good, have you checked out Knievel's thread on illuminating your translucent buttons with LEDs?

Your control panel looks like it will be fun, I look forward to seeing it.

Thanks man. I have seen Knievel's lighted buttons & was really impressed with how well it turned out. That might be something I'd like to do as well.

It looks sanded down.

Yes, the MK decal was sanded down by a previous owner but since I'm going to cover the sides of the cabinet & the original CP box with Wilsonart Laminate I'm not too concerned about it.

Today I figured I'd get back to work on the side art so I came up with something rather abstract at 100% to scale in Illustrator CS & then placed them on top of the stripped out cabinet in Photoshop. It's based upon some elements found in the Blaster CP & I'm pretty amused with it right now. The marquee is of course based on Tron which I threw together rather quickly just to put something up there for now. The word inside it is "Astrobot".

[lostwire]

Here's another idea I'm considering for the side panels. For the better part of the day I recreated this scene from the film Tron in Illustrator CS.

[dabone]

Now that is cool...



Later,
dabone

[MikeAlex]

WOW! I *REALLY* like your tron sideart!!! I'd go with this one...
I too have a tron-ish cab ( http://users.forthnet.gr/ath/mikefragos/index_files/Page583.htm ) but no sideart yet. I

[Crowquill]

The TRON sideart is definitely the most eye-catching of the two. I'd suggest ordering the light blue t-molding before printing the sideart so that you can make sure the blues match. Very nice job.

The first (yellow) one is really nice too, and could make for a really nice-looking cabinet. I don't really like the yellow with white t-molding though. It definitely doesn't have a TRON feel. The artwork itself is really well-done, but I think it would be better on black or even white background. The white would really make it feel more like some of the Atari sideart that it reminds me of already.

If you don't mind, both of these finished designs would be highly appreciated in the vector art library. You also might want to post a thread to the ARTWORK board.

The CP looks great and pretty functional too. Colors will probably have to be tweaked a bit to match the rest of the finished artwork though.

Here's something to give you an idea of what I'm talking about with the "yellow" sideart. The t-molding samples are from t-molding.com. You seem to be a fan of colored t-molding, but black or white would look very nice too.

[lostwire]

Thanks for the comments. I'll make sure to add them to the library once I actually get my machine built, though right now I'm leaning towards the Tron image & it would be nice to unveil the first one before everyone gets their hands on it.

Oh, nice cab, MikeAlex! Those lighted buttons look sharp!

Crowquill: Yes, I was trying to emulate a sort of Atari-type look with the design on the yellow cabinet, though it does look much better on your white cab. After I came up with the Jeff Bridges drawing I knew I'd have to go back & tweak the colors of the CP. Thanks for the tip about getting a hold of some molding before I have the huge decals created. It would be nice to see how close they are & what I can do about making them match better.

[Stingray]

Here's another idea I'm considering for the side panels. For the better part of the day I recreated this scene from the film Tron in Illustrator CS.

The Tron sideart is incredible, you should definitely go with that!

-S

[lostwire]

Here's another idea I'm considering for the side panels. For the better part of the day I recreated this scene from the film Tron in Illustrator CS.

The Tron sideart is incredible, you should definitely go with that!

-S

That's the one I'm digging right now too. Thanks.

If you want to see it just a bit bigger open the pic in a new window.

[Stingray]

You'll be doing yourself a great disservice if you don't use that sideart.

-S

[Patent Doc]

Love your artwork, but something was throwing me off and I just realized what it was.  The marquee.  If you go wit the tron image for the side art with those blues, the blue molding and the discs of tron environmental based cpo, then you should match the marque with a discs of tron inspired marquee.  I would actually do this even if you go with the atari inspired art with the white background.  IMHO it looks better if there is some continuity between the cpo, the side art, and the marquee.

But I'm not an artist...that is just what is pleasing to my eye.  Go with what you like.

Patent Doc

[lostwire]

Love your artwork, but something was throwing me off and I just realized what it was.

[lostwire]

This should be the marquee design I'll end up using:

[lostwire]

This should be the last mock-up as I'm finally finished with the artwork. My samples came in from t-molding.com & their light blue should like quite nice with the color pallet in my designs. The bondo is finally complete on the cab (bottom left pic) & I finished priming it this evening (bottom right) so I'm just about ready to place an order with Scott at MameMarquees. I've decided to go with mainly lighted transparent blue Wico buttons after seeing Knievel's wonderful work so I'll be ordering those as well as a 3" lighted Happ ball, 360s, & a Tornado.

[quarterback]

Not to get OT, but what's the story with the 3d sunglassed head?   Is it from something or did you create it or... are you rendered? 

Just curious

[lostwire]

Not to get OT, but what's the story with the 3d sunglassed head?

[markrvp]

The Tron Sideart is AWESOME!!!!  I can't wait to see your cab when it is finished.

[quarterback]

That fellow's name is Brains, from the old British TV show "Thunderbirds" which was done entirely with marionettes.

Got it.  I have a Thunderbirds DVD at home but didn't recognize him.  I like the alter-ego concept though.  I just thought it might be some cartoonized/characture of your own head

[lostwire]

Got it.

[lostwire]

Now that the multiple coats of black are complete the next step will be to assemble the freshly painted coin door & order the computer from Dell this Friday. After that I'll be gathering up all the controls to to begin work on the CP.