35 replies to this topic

[Shooby Doo]

ShoobyDoo! Great weekend to look forward too!! (And I'm not talking about the crate of Heineken - the country where I come from they drink it like tap water )

Your MALA-themed frontend looks amazing! Is it sharable/downloadable for others?

Also, do you have the pricize sizes available (mal/visio) of your Mame cabinet?

Thanks again for sharing the progress with us!

I got my frontend layout here: http://malafe.net/in...hp?page=layouts
but it doesn't seem to have any there right now. ???

I attached the final build plans we used for it. I designed it using Corel Draw 11, because that's what I use at work and I'm most familiar with. I got some of the dimensions like joystick height and overall height from a Centipede machine, but came up with the rest myself.

I also attached a marquee graphic I'm working on. I think I'll put some arcade characters like SFII & Pac-Man to the left and right of the words. Keep in mind that it will be shiny silver aluminum where the white is now.

I'm still under $400 and may be able keep it there. I don't think there is anything left to buy.

Attached Files

•  Arcade_dimensions.jpg   138.62KB   30 downloads
•  Marquee.jpg   89.05KB   48 downloads

[Flying Dutchman]

Thanks ShoobyDoo. much appreciated!

[Shooby Doo]

Thanks for showing interest Flying Dutchman

It's fully painted now. Once again, I have pics but can't upload them now. To me, it's a very professional looking machine - definitely doesn't look homemade. The matte for the monitor and speaker frames are done, and we'll bring it over to my house and put everything it it tomorrow morning.

I think I might be done with my marquee design (see attached). Once again, suggestions on marquee artwork are appreciated. I have to keep it in three sections as it is, because of the length I can't print the entire thing at once. I'll probably press it to aluminum next monday or tuesday.

It's awesome to be on this side of the project now. It's taken a lot longer (waiting) than I would have liked, but well worth it, and it provided me time to really deck-out the computer with a nice frontend and games.

Once I get it all together I'll provide a final $$$ tally and pictures of it finished.

Attached Files

•  Marquee.jpg   143.53KB   40 downloads

[kruge99]

I can't wait to see the pics! I've been toying with a "Mini-MAME" cabinet or a cocktail myself. I just have to find the funds!!!


Kruge99.

[Shooby Doo]

Started last Sunday, ended Saturday, with 2 days off, and only worked 2-3 hours a day. Last night I played until my back hurt from standing, then went and got a bar stool and played some more.

$120 for the refurbished computer
$140 for the controller
$10 for used 19" monitor
$57 for 2 sheets 3/4 MDF
$3.50 for 2 8ft studs
$3.50 for magnet door latch
$9 for screws
$7.50 for the door hinge
$13 for paint
$0 for speakers (from closet)
$0 for monitor matte & speaker frames (scrap plastic from work)

$363.50 !!!


I'll add more pictures when I get some of the artwork on it.

Attached Files

•  01r.jpg   82.7KB   69 downloads
•  _005.jpg   240.82KB   60 downloads
•  03r.jpg   75.75KB   64 downloads

Edited by Shooby Doo, 05 April 2009 - 02:06 PM.

[Flying Dutchman]

Shooby Doo .. Wooooooh!!!!!

Edited by Flying Dutchman, 05 April 2009 - 09:24 PM.

[kruge99]

Wow! How did you get such a good price on the x-arcade controller? Everywhere I've looked (in Canada) the Tank Stick with trackball is well over $200.00 in Canadian funds plus shipping costs.

Great looking Cab btw!

Kruge99

[Shooby Doo]

Wow! How did you get such a good price on the x-arcade controller? Everywhere I've looked (in Canada) the Tank Stick with trackball is well over $200.00 in Canadian funds plus shipping costs.

Great looking Cab btw!

Kruge99

Mine's the one without the trackball. I ordered it from the company that makes them (x-gaming) through Amazon. The price was $130.00 +$10 shipping, which is what they still sell for now.

I had so much fun with it this weekend. I haven't had a Street Fighter fix like this since I was a teenager. So far, everyone who's seen it asks the same question: "What game is it?" hehehehe!

[sallen0710]

Hi

Great work with the cabinet.

I've just finished building my third one, well second upright, the first was a cocktail. Take a look here on Flickr MAME Cabinets

The cocktail is a stripped 17" CRT monitor and seperate PC components mounted in a handbuilt plywood cabinet using an I-PAC keyboard interface and Ultrasticks and buttons from Ultimarc quite an authentic feel with two player controls. It's currently running MAME via Ubantu, found it to be more robust than Windows for gaming.

Next up was a upright, PC and 21" CRT monitor mounted in a handbuilt MDF cabinet. Two player controls plus pinball buttons, pull out draw for keyboard and mouse, speakers mounted in cabinet with volume control. I used a different keyboard interface for this one a KE72 from Hagstrom Electronics a lot more reliable running under Windows XP.

I have nearly finished building a cabinet for a friend, this one is based round the same system as above but with a trackball included from Ultimarc. Just waiting for the glass to finish.

Cheers

Stuart

Attached Files

•  2005.10.13_211712.jpg   505.82KB   45 downloads
•  IMG_0225_2.jpg   503KB   40 downloads

[kingb33]

im curious what kind of wood you used to build it? and what type of paint did you use? that corel drawing you posted is that the only thing you used for measurements? or do you have more you can share please? thanks! very nice cab!


thx

[Shooby Doo]

Thanks for sharing sallen0710! I really like the cocktail cabinet. It very unique. Now that I've built one I can see whats really possible with the right imagination... and budget.

im curious what kind of wood you used to build it? and what type of paint did you use? that corel drawing you posted is that the only thing you used for measurements? or do you have more you can share please? thanks! very nice cab!


thx

I guess I didn't go into too much detail...

Instead of wood we used 3/4" MDF (medium-density fiberboard), which was $27 for a 4'x8' sheet at Lowes. It's super flat, sturdy, and paints easily, BUT it will soak up water so you don't want to get it wet. I used the corel drawing for cutting out the sides. We basically drew an exact copy of it on a sheet MDF and cut it out, then used that to route the 2nd sheet. I brought my joystick and dry-fit it, but everything was perfect - no adjustments were ever needed with it or the monitor. I had the dimensions of the monitor drawn on the back of my corel drawing.

I didn't think to take pictures of the base, which was basically two 20" 2x4's and two 25" 2x4's nailed together in a rectangle with a 20x25" piece of MDF on the top. The monitor shelf consists of a 2x4 screwed to the inside of each side, then we screwed a piece of MDF to the tops of the 2x4's. We counter-sunk every screw into the MDF, then spackled it before painting.

All the panels in the front of the cabinet were measured and cut as we went. The sides pretty much dictated the exact sizes, so it was measure/cut, measure/cut, etc. Same with the door on the front. It was all very easy, especially with a small air-nailer. Plus, it was designed where the inside width was exactly 20", which made cutting even easier. I think the sides are where the most precise cuts are needed so the whole thing works. I purposely designed it with straight cuts so we would spend too much time cutting the sides out. Maybe on the next one I'll get more creative.

I used Valspar high-gloss enamel to paint it. Just a quick 2 coats with a small foam roller. The MDF holds paints really good.

One thing I'm really happy I did is made it with some relief on the sides, with the monitor angling back into the cabinet further. It really makes playing it a little more immersive and captures some of the sound from the speakers.

Our printer at work is on the fritz so I still haven't printed any graphics for it. I'm not complaining though, as I've been having a blast! I've already been offered some cash to make one for someone else, but it's not gonna happen real soon. This one was so custom, using random & cheap parts, I'd have to do something completely different next time around. I don't know if I could hit the same budget. It'd be fun to try though.

[MPTech]

How'd your cabinet turn out? Looks great in the previous PICs. Any recent updates?
Here's a couple pics of mine, that I built about 3 years ago. I also installed an X-Arcade and I'm relatively happy with it (although I still haven't come up with a good way to map the ESC key!) I changed the Marquee earlier this year (Matrix kinda out-dated), but haven't taken any recent photos.
I added the flippers to the sides of the cabinet (lighted buttons) and another set of buttons (black) just beyond them and mapped them to the L & R nudges.
I setup MAMEWAH as my front-end (but I'm considering replacing it) and run MAME, Visual Pinball, Future Pinball, Nintendo, SNES, N64, Atari, and Sega.
My favorites are the Pinballs and I've considered doing a dedicated Pinball Cab.

[Shooby Doo]

Man, that looks good MPTech. I'm pretty sure I came across it when I was researching mine. You've got all the nice little things I skipped on to save money.

I added the flippers to the sides of the cabinet (lighted buttons) and another set of buttons (black) just beyond them and mapped them to the L & R nudges.

That was an excellent idea. I don't use the flipper buttons for VP because there's nothing close by to nudge with. I have to use buttons on the top.

If I did it again, I would definitely have done a lit marquee. I'm still planning on doing it, but it'll be more difficult now.

I still don't have any artwork on it, and it's a shame because I had all summer to do it. My main reason is I still haven't come up with a good, original idea. One thing I've got in my head now are some atari-type stripes/ribbons going around the edges, but not sure about the other graphics. Something early-80's I think. I'm a pretty good artist and will hand paint it.

It's as fun as I always hoped having an arcade machine at home would be and gets a lot of play. Probably one of my best entertainment investments. I may eventually sell it and do a nicer one now that I've had some experience. After a pin-cab.

[subzero1970]

Nice work shooby doo, kinda reminds me of the mame/pinball x-arcade cab i made years ago.

[ValamirCleaver]

Here's a couple pics of mine, that I built about 3 years ago.

That looks really nice! Is that huge monitor a TV?

[MPTech]

That looks really nice! Is that huge monitor a TV?

yes, a 25" TV with S-Video, it's pretty good for most Arcade games, but loses a lot of detail on the good Pinball games, but hey, it works and it's a blast! I actually bought a 25" monitor off of Craigslist with much better resolution, but a friend has it in Atlanta and we haven't figured out how to get it up here yet. (shipping was well over $100, more than I paid for it).

I'm pretty pleased with it, but I'd like to build another (better one). Everyone that's seen it is amazed! "You BUILT that?!?!" "it plays HOW MANY GAMES?!?!"