At this point; we'll call the building complete. I've built a front panel for the coin slot, which has a power button and a front USB port built into it. I used a USB port that's supposed to be for a media cabinet, so very in keeping with the retro design of the Arcade, and definitely sturdy as it's all metal construction! The power button isn't linked up yet, but that's because the computer in there is a donor computer, and I don't intend to be destructive about it, so I'm waiting on setting myself up with a "new" (old) computer that I can cannibalise any way I see fit, which means for now at least: building has finished and we're moving over to software! Still having problems with HyperSpin, but have built myself a reasonable front end with MaLa whilst I figure it out, and of course; I do have the older Mame UI's in place if all else fails.

Anyway... For readers, here's a quick pic of the coin door now it's all completed...

Almost Complete...

Hardware is almost done now, keep forgetting to post this update... Artwork has been applied, trouble with T-Molding has been resolved with copious amounts of aradlite glue (which, incidentally is nasty horrible stuff, and if I ever have to use it again, I'm using rubber gloves, as it made my fingers feel as though they were burning for a few days afterwards, and I'd say there was minimal skin contact, but it is nasty and horrible, and I wouldn't have used it if it weren't absolutely necessary) as I found out that this machine has a 2mm slot (I didn't even know there would be different sizes of t-molding when I ordered) and what I ordered is for a 1.6mm slot, so fits easily, but didn't hold, hence the glue, which now holds it nicely.

So, it's now featured on Custom Grafix Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=444156795667805&set=pb.111293578954130.-2207520000.1366796638.&type=3&theater

Have to say; Vlad did an outstanding job on the artwork, and if ever I need anything else, I wouldn't even hesitate to ask him to come up with a design. I think we were pretty much on the same page with what I'd asked for here, and he massively exceeded my hopes for the artwork, and it fits perfectly with what I was going for, I really can't offer enough gratitude for his exceedingly good work.

So, the reason you're here no doubt is for a photo; sadly there is but one at the moment, as the rechargeable batteries have died permanently this time for the camera, so have to get some more, but haven't had chance yet, and my phone just doesn't do pictures justice, so just the one for now...

The last of the tape is now off the bottom of the cab, and with the red glow from underneath (can't be seen on here because of the flash) just really ties the whole thing together.

There are a couple of other less visible things that have been done; I changed the lock in the coin door, so it's now on a key that I have, and I've put a bolt in the back of the main door, so now it can't be opened without the keys, which leaves to do:

Make a power button / usb port for the hole in the coin door, so that the door never needs to be opened, unless I want to open the door.

Make a kettle lead plug socket and back plate for the ethernet cable so that there's no visible wiring (the power board cable) coming out of the back of the cabinet.

For now however; that is all.

Artwork first look...

Well, it's been a journey, but as I knew he would be; Scott & Game on Grafix have been awesome about getting the right artwork out, and it arrived on Monday morning; it's taken until now to get to a photo publishing point, with some glue experiments for the t-molding, and still got the t-molding taped up until the glue has set, but here it is...

First pic, literally had time to unroll this before going to work, and lay it flat for the day... Obviously, impatience got the better of me, and leads us to the below: one side fitted:

... And now, T-molding... It's a nightmare to make it hold, as the groove is slightly to big for the t-molding; apparently there is a different size over here, but sadly; no red, so what I've got from America doesn't brace itself, so a lot of glue, and some tape later to hold it until it's set...

More to follow, but for now... That is all :)

Slow progress...

Been a while since I've updated here; there's not really been much happening, so as a side note, I decided to strip one of my old HDD caddies to find out why it wasn't working... Blown power cap had leaked over the logic board for the drive, so decided not to replace the power cap, and bought a new caddy... old one as been relegated to holder of screws! Obviously nothing to do with project, but nothing is really going on, still waiting on postage for most things. The artwork ordered was received, but it was the wrong one. I just got notification of the new package being posted out, so hopefully, we've got the right one coming. Really appreciative of Game On Grafix customer service now, as it's twice I've had to talk to Scott about things, really great guy to deal with, and that does make the difference between a good and a bad company!!

On the progress front, I have done one more thing; which is take the side of the case off the computer so I can run power out of the case (I wasn't going to do this initially; hence changing the electrics on the track ball to have a USB powered light) to adopt an idea I had seen someone else use on their cabinet; given the red blue and black my cab will eventually show on the outside; I decided to give it a "tron like" glow from underneath, and have wired in some computer LED rope light to brighten things up; sadly my camera doesn't do it justice, I really should charge up my decent camera rather than keeping on using my phone, but anyway, a quick snap of the new lighting solution...

T-molding is in the post too, and since I couldn't get a reasonable postage price on a coin slot, I'm making a custom solution for the hole in the coin door; I've got a button and switch left spare, so going to run power to that, and I've ordered the USB port from Arcadeshop.de so that the door on the front will never need to be opened, I also ordered a new lock, plug with filter (to plate the back up rather than just having cables coming out), and I may then put a latch on the inside so that when the cabinet is closed, there's no access unless you have the keys, thus making it a real machine!!

Almost finished now

This week saw the arrival of more vinyl, so I've covered the coin door now, I'm still looking for a coin reject button and cover, so if anyone has one of these going, and wants to post to NZ (for a reasonable price) please let me know :)

The end is in site (which makes me both happy and sad; happy because I get to invite everybody over and have a games night, sad because it means no more project for a while) with Side Art on order, and I was persuaded by (of all people) my wife to order new t-molding as what's on the arcade presently could probably do with a tidy up. In keeping with the rest of the arcade (red / blue / black colours) I've ordered the bright red, which is supposed to match the HAPP buttons, so I can but hope, as postage costs dictated that I couldn't realistically order a sampler pack and then choose, so hopefully I'm right out of the box, otherwise it's a costly mistake!!

So, only one new photo; I have covered the door on the front, and everything is looking much more like a real arcade again! I think next time; I will build my own from scratch (using plans I have found on the interweb) rather than restoring one, it's been a mission trying to figure out how the builder has put certain things together, (the U-Nails debacle still comes to mind at this point) and as this seems to be pretty much his own design, (based on a Neo-Geo by the looks of it) I've literally had to reverse engineer everything to figure out how it's put together, and of course; my own design flair has been added here and there to put the new stuff in, like the new control panel and the monitor mount, which is strong as houses! I reckon I could sit on it and not break it, which is definitely a good thing! Anyway, today's photo...

Computer fitted, and test run...

Artwork is on order, so we're on hold until that arrives now, then hopefully more or less finished so I can have people over for "game night" ... Winner stays on of course ... Best I get practicing!!

Anyway, computer has been requisitioned and fitted, and I've play tested it, and it is playing supremely well with the newly bolted down control panel, unfortunately; some of the filler came loose while I was drilling new guide holes, so back to filling a couple of screw holes tomorrow, but that aside... New Marquee also arrived and got fitted, so this is where we're at so far...

Obviously we have to have a look at the marquee first, as we've been waiting a while for that; this is with the lights out so fully back lit; looking very good methinks! Mucho thanks go out to Scott at Game on Grafix for this, he's been awesome about the whole thing after the first read Mr Draco's; a little disheartening at the time, but as Scott is such an awesome person to deal with, he made everything right in quick time, and I'm now loving the newly fitted artwork; if anything Game On Grafix are BETTER than everyone says! The Vinyl work is just amazing; even with the backlight turned off it looks awesome.

Then there's the computer, I must again thank my good friend for the donation; I can't with all honesty say I've double checked the spec, but I do know it's running Hyperspin well, and playing MAME games with ease now it's up and running.

Test run:

And now; to paraphrase The Emperor; we witness the power of this fully operational MAME arcade!

Should probably have opened the blinds to take that one, but hey; we live; we learn!!

The Side Art is going to remain a closely guarded secret until it's fitted, so everyone will have to wait for that!!

That is all.

ready for finishing...

Okay, so another landmark weekend this weekend... This saturday saw the migration into the house for finishing, as the shed is just to damp and rubbish. I've filled in all the screw holes, and any bumps I can find ready for artwork (will need a final sand down). I've sprayed the grill and the rear vent (just a gloss black... works for me) and I've carbon fibre'd (just to keep on my theme with the inner bezel) the metalwork, as it looked like it had been dipped in plastic before, and whilst I did try cleansing the metalwork; it didn't really go so well, so I've smoothed it and the put the carbon fibre over the top, as you'll see; it's actually not to bad.

If the filler has set and spot on when I check it out tonight, and I get the filler that's on the inside where the controller will sit painted, I should be able to mount the control panel tomorrow in its final resting place (for now anyway, I am discovering that it's very tempting to do more every time I do something, however until I have a big workshop (AKA re-purposed garage) this is it)

So, in the house, all fillered up... The bezel is all in place, and whilst it's not the final; I've placed the marquee in position to get an idea (at this point, it's not stuck yet, as the replacement is en-route from GameOnGrafix hence chopping off the top):

Finished mountings, all screwed down...

Tonight, since I had a couple of hours to spare, I decided to finish up a few of the little jobs before the arcade comes into the house... Mounted the 6 point extension, and since the mounting for the monitor has all been finalised (for a long time now, just haven't gotten around to screwing it down) I've screwed it down, so now you could literally turn the arcade upside down and nothing would move! I've also painted the little bits that can be seen through the bezel, all that remains is artwork (in progress) and the actual computer that's going in it, which my friend will be bringing over soon with any luck.

Not very interesting pics, but just to show how things are mounted:

So, as you can see the monitor mount is now screwed down; same in all four corners. I've used the existing mounts that the former CRT went into when I built the mount for the monitor, it's basically an upside down U so I have access to everything from underneath if required, but it's as secure as the former monitor. I've also put two bars each side for the inner bezel to rest on just to make sure everything stays in place, these have now been painted black, as the edges could be seen through the smoked glass (can't even see them anymore!).

I've also done the plug sockets:

This means all that will be seen out of the back is the one white cable from the power box to the wall; at the moment as it's in the shed, I've blocked it up to stop any "critters" getting into the arcade, as I did find when I stripped it that some kind of critter (either a mouse or a rat) had been living in it; unfortunately the hole was quite big formerly, but I'll be fixing that this weekend and blanking it out to stop anything getting in since all the electronics are going in bit by bit now.

That's all for now, hopefully in the house this weekend... woo hoo!

Control Panel Final 2...

Not got as far as I'd have wanted this weekend, however some hard yards and a hard decision has been made. I view this as a work of art as much as a project, so I've decided to commission artwork for the sides. Based on numerous recommendations; I've spoken to Vlad who does the custom work for Game on Grafix, and he's now working on turning my ideas into a workable side art ... Excited!

Also; as the title suggests we finished re-covering the control panel. I didn't get to spray the grills yet, but that can be this weekends work, and filling all the little holes and imperfections in the side ready for artwork now. Speakers still sound great, and waiting on parts again now. Few bits to fill on the inside of the cab too, just to make things perfect. But, of course; as always the proof is in the pudding, so pictures:

Mini Amp - Now fitted...

Ten minute job for tonight, as I'd prepped everything ready to accept this little amp, and wow did it turn out to be a powerful little beastie for something that claims to be only 20w RMS! Nearly blew the side off the shed when I first tested it, very nice, works very well with the 4" x-plod (sony) speakers I picked up from JB Hi Fi the other week. Anyway, since you can't appreciate how good it sounds; thought I'd post a photo of it sitting proudly inside the cab...

Also, as an aside; some more meddling with Hyperspin, and an untested theory on my part ended in a working version of Hyperspin; I need to put some time into figuring out how to build an accurate games list that applies in Hyperspin now though; I keep ending up with the default list, and I A: don't have half of those games, or B: want them! To many to scroll through!! But Yay to making Hyperspin work!!

Just in case you're struggling with Hyperspin (given that it's meant to be really easy, but I can find very little supporting documentation for it) easiest way I found to get things working was to make hyperspin on the C:\ so you don't have to worry about changing paths later, (especially important if you're going to migrate between machines, which I will be doing) and install a COMMAND LINE version of MAME into the Emulators folder in Hyperspin (e.g.: C:\HyperSpin\Emulators\Mame). The important thing to remember there is Command Line version! Not one of the GUI versions; at present, I'm using 136 as most of my ROM's work well with that from the last time I updated my list. My main mistake was thinking Hyperspin could use the GUI version of MAME. Clearly; it cannot.

Anyway that's all for tonight, and probably until the weekend again.

mini amp...

Mini amp has arrived a week early! Excellent; tested as working, not sure about the outputs yet, as I'm at work now, but will test this later when I get home :) ... Looking swish, almost a shame it's going to be hidden inside the cab:

Artwork / Software...

Another quick update...

Today I've dealt with Steve from gameongrafix and they'll be sending the new marquee out this Wednesday or Thursday (their US time, so Thursday or Friday NZ time). Unfortunately that means it won't be here for the weekend, but that's okay; have a few slight repairs to do to get the cab ready for artwork, still need to spray the grill and the vent to make sure everything's ready and paint the innards that might be visible from the outside after everything is finalised.

Software wise; I've not been having much luck with HyperSpin which a lot of people swear by, and it does look like a piece of software I'd really like to use, just have to figure out if it's going to be viable. I've also been testing a few of the others to see if I like any better. I actually quite like the built in listing with Mame 0.84. Works very well, and easy to select a game, obviously not perfect otherwise I wouldn't be experimenting, but unless I can get something spot on; that may be the one for MAME, and I have no problems setting up folders / shortcuts and building my own in VB if necessary.

That's all for now; no more actual work being done on the cab right now, still waiting for the amp to arrive (has it been three weeks yet?) so I can install and test, and a friend of a friend is working on sideart I think, though if all else fails; at the moment favourite is the Missile Command sideart, looks very retro and funky, and think it would go well, but of course; there are other options. Both Gameongrafix (http://gameongrafix.com) and digdug (ebay seller) have some excellent products, and get excellent feedback. Suggestions welcome.

That is all.

Saturday... Construction day again; not so much of a big one today, more details than anything. Marquee and Outer Bezel have arrived, unfortunately the Marquee is incorrect, so I'll be waiting on a reprint; companies mistake, but from all of their awesome feedback, I'm sure they'll be sorting it out for me soonest :)

To start the day, I decided it was time to get a bracket to hold the bottom of the glass in place should the arcade be tipped; so off to Mitre 10 we went... A 600mm metal rule, metal saw, and a 20mm by 20mm by 1000mm L plate later and we're headed home again! I still have enough vinyl to cover brackets and the like, so I made the 600mm bracket from the 1000mm sheet, having 400mm left over to do whatever with. Test fit is good, covered in vinyl, as are other detail parts now.

The big part of today's project was removing that front plate from the old control panel, this proved to be much more difficult than I had envisioned, as I could only see two screws that had been filled over, and I had assumed (given the overall construction) that this would be all there was and maybe some glue along the bottom; oh how wrong I was! I don't think I have ever been so wrong before!!

For starters the filler may as well have been cement, and in the first side, when I managed to cut away enough to see if I could unscrew it; nope, not a chance! Screw was cemented in there good. Next effort = let's just drill the screws out, so away we go in true gung ho style, one broken drill bit later; I learned a valuable lesson not to try and go to hard straight away! Eventually, I managed to drill out the old broken useless screws, but still no movement. Frustration sets in, as there are no other visible attachments, so I broke out the chisel to see if I could just knock out the piece of wood; about 10 minutes later, and surpringly little damage, I had the right hand side free, and found to my disgust 4 u nails were holding it down, and the same had been used all along the bottom to hold it in place! So a lot of levering later; it was now free. Unfortunately the left side didn't fair as well, and that will require some filler to fix, the rest just needs a sand down and is ready to take the controller.

So a quick recap on today: Fitted the outer bezel, created a new L bracket to make sure glass doesn't fall out if machine is tipped, removed front panel from old controller (at least now I know why arcade selling guy didn't take that with him... I think it needs to be burnt in some kind of ritual to cleanse the arcade of filth as that was the last remaining remnant of the "old" before starting fully on making over the graphics.

That meant we got to quickly test fit the control panel; somewhere along the lines, I measured an extra inch, even with all my careful maths, but that's okay, because it actually looked really good when it was all in, and it holds the L bracket perfectly like this, so the perfect mistake! It's a little over sized, but I like it so it stays! Glad I over engineered it now, and only a couple of modifications left until the control panel finds a permanent home... So, the real reason why you're here... Pictures of the day:

Looks really good, but spot the mistake, hopefully should get a reprint shortly:

It's a bit of a shame, as we could have had complete bezel / marquee installation today, but not to worry, Scott from GameonGraphix is on the job hopefully.

Bezel looks spectactular though, as did the test fit...

As you can see, slight modification needed in that I wasn't expecting the CP to be visible at all, so hadn't done complete side coverage (just that 10mm or so, shocking, should have just covered it!) so now I have to recover the whole thing. Might take the opportunity to get a heavier grade vinyl to be honest, but you can see in the photo how well it holds the glass in place, and the outer Bezel just looks so good, with the grid just focusing the attention into the monitor from the control panel! Just need to do some minor repairs to make it ready to take the CP permanetly, and prep the sides for art now, then once I have a computer in there; it's all systems go!

That is all.

Electronics...

So, the easy bit (for me) ... All the hard work to date has led me to this bit, which is the moment of truth really... Will it work, will it function as planned, have I configured everything correctly... Well, test fit number 1:

Believe it or not, this "mess" of cabling tested as working 5/5; time to tidy and add lighting...

 Now a final rig up before it goes into the arcade itself, just to double check that nothing came loose while I was tidying up the cable run...

Okay, working as planned! All systems go, now to play a game... Just to make sure of course!

Yep, Metal Slug works a treat, as does Batman, Discs of Tron, and Pacman, that's all I've played on it thus far, just enough to test the configuration... Brilliant! So, possibly onto installing into the actual cabinet soon, have to wait on postage for a few things, and will need to screw everything down into final locations once sideart is on; don't really want to put this in just yet, as the arcade machine is living in the shed until such time as it's completed.

Control Panel Construction...

What have you been up to so far this weekend? Well, today I had to go shopping, which lasted much longer than any party involved would have liked! Meaning for lunch we ended up at the chip shop, which is fine by me! Then after lunch... Construction time!

I even enlisted the help of she who must not be named ((my wife) who has requested not to be anyway) with further construction, as she is a self proclaimed expert at adding vinyl! More on that later though; so, with a bit more drilling out, and a few screws, we now have a constructed control panel, that just needed a slight bit of filling to bring it up to useable standards...

So, some filler, some sanding and a spot of paint at the corners of the inner bezel for inside the glass (to hide where the monitor will sit) and we're left with...

While waiting for the filler to harden, it's time to test fit the speakers and wire up (can't test yet, sadly, mini amp has yet to arrive... up to THREE weeks! Can you believe that rubbish? Shipping from HK, and up to THREE weeks to get here, now that's just slack, wonder who's flying that plane!):

NOTE: as This is MDF, always make sure you drill pilot holes for screws otherwise you risk splitting it, which is A: Costly, and B: Time consuming if you've already cut to size

Speakers are as far along as they can be, don't worry about that front panel, there is a grill that will be covering it, which is why it's a bit scruffy looking (almost like a Nerf Herder?)

Anyway, back to the real work of the day; Vinyl has arrived for the inner bezel and the Control Panel, so onwards I hear you cry... Well yes, only, my wife is a self proclaimed expert at this, so in an excited voice, I got the "can I help" (by the end it was more like "just let me get it finished") so, here we go, bezel and CP fitout with a lot of help from the lovely lady...

Is it me, or does she already look tense? Don't think she liked me helping with my project at this point! At least she's got the hang of the X-Acto knife, treat it with respect, or it will cut you, and make your life unhappy at best! These are sharp craft blades, and highly dangerous if you're not very careful, I can't emphasise enough here; be careful with it, treat it with the same respect you'd give any power tool! Or any other tool for that matter.

Anyway, enough talk; how did it turn out, what does it look like fitted... Well, here it is sans glass and front bezel (hasn't arrived yet) as the glass was to reflective for a good photo in the sun today:

Now onto the hard part... Control panel:

Okay, Not as bad as we thought; just time consuming to say the least, and there's that great big trackball hole that really isn't a square, oh no it's not, that just keeps coming back to annoy me!!!! Now to button / trackball / joystick fit out... Back to me...

Since it was nearly dinner time, and I have (quite clearly) invaded the dinner table; I only had time to quickly wire up and test the trackball as below, but there we have it... A constructive shopping day for my wife, followed by a constructive day of construction for me after that! Haven't wired the buttons up yet, but I'll get to that in good time... Test run of trackball...

... And goodnight! No more project work today :)

Control Panel, Test fitout...

Completely forgot that I didn't put a test fit picture up for the control panel; hopefully vinyl will arrive soon and I can do this properly... According to the post company it was delivered to the wrong delivery branch, so with that in mind; hopefully will arrive tomorrow. Anyway, the control panel test fit, just to make sure everything lined up and fit as I wanted...

That's all for now. Still waiting on parts; obviously want to be getting on, but have run out of things to do until more stuff arrives.

Trackball lighting solution...

A nice quick post this evening, I completely forgot to add details about the HAPP trackball lighting; it comes with a 12v light attached, but no cabling! Annoying to say the least; not the fault of the supplier though, this is just how they are supplied from the HAPP factory.

So, initially; I decided to use 2x USB cables to try and power it, figuring 10v would be close enough (wrong) however, in my haste to build a lighting solution, forgot completely about other factors, and of course it didn't work, thus killing a couple of USB cables without any real need, DOH!

Anyway, onto the mk. 2 solution... I decided that buying adapters and cabling wasn't really the way I wanted to go, and it would also mean the Trackball would be on even if the computer wasn't if I did it that way, so, I mulled over my potential solutions for a couple of days, and decided that a USB light would do the trick nicely (tested with the LED light in my phone first, as that's pretty similar in luminance ratings), and bought one off Trademe for $3... Job done! It arrived today, and with the help of a USB extension will reach the computer in the arcade, and allow perfect positioning... Example image below (pre fitting of course):

Build Time...

Today; my awesome neighbour has dedicated some of his own hard hours to this build with me, no doubt he'll also get to rack up a few hours play time to make up for this, and probably a bottle of something alcoholic enough to strip paint!!

Which leads us to today's progress; well I'm sure you remember my control panel design from yesterday. Today we got to test whether it will work (yes, thank goodness, wasn't looking forward to having to do that again!) and how everything would fit, so I now have a speaker shelf, an actual shelf for in the arcade, squared up the rear fan hole, as that had been roughly routed out prior to my getting the cab (the only thing I forgot to take a photo of!)

After today; unless you are highly competent with a router, I would very much recommend getting someone who is to do your routing, and any jigsaw work you need doing. I did have a go, but it takes me far longer than my neighbour and my workmanship is nowhere near as good as he is a master builder, so the majority of the credit for this has to go to him without a shadow of a doubt, so to photo's:

This is my neighbour using probably the most awesome tool I never knew even existed (a router) until a few days ago when I started researching how to lower the face of the wood so that the joysticks would sit higher in the cab! Definitely a credit to his trade, and if you have a construction project, you should hire him!

This is the finished control panel, even has the trackball mount in it already! That was the hard part, as you can see; the trackball isn't quite a simple square shape to fit in, as I had assumed in my measurements, that probably took us the longest out of everything we've done. Extra holes by the trackball L + R button keys are: P (pause) Esc (exit game) and Enter (Enter)... A must if you're going to hide the keyboard, which I am doing.

This is a test fit of the Sanwa joystick, looking very good, I was still a little worried about the height, but this is spot on for playing, definitely no need for a top mount, which makes me happy as the closest to seeing anything from the top will be the trackball panel, which unfortunately has to be there as to route out the required area would make the wood to thin to support the weight.

And finally; a test fit of the monitor bracket, monitor and monitor cover, yes, I took this whilst the arcade was in the shed, I forgot to take it prior to packing up for the day, and there was no way I was going to be pulling it back out of the shed for one photo! The project has already cost me a very bruised shin this morning just getting it out of the shed! Weighs a tonne, and is getting heavier now things are being added! Still not long until it can take up residence methinks.

that's all for now, possibly for a little while, as next weekend is a construction free weekend, and I need to order more bits (namely vinyl to cover this MDF).