29 replies to this topic

[elmera]

This is the first post for what will hopefully document my first virtual pinball cabinet build.  I provided a little background in the Introduce Yourself forum, but in a nutshell I've been wanting to build a cabinet for over 10 years and am finally getting around to hopefully realizing that dream.

 

I'm really starting with nothing.  No existing electronics, hardware, cabinets, or experience to go off of... just the information gathered from the vast resources this community has provided.  At this point I don't know if this project will take me two months or two years, but the goal is to document what I can to 1) keep me motivated to continue  2) hopefully be able to solicit advice/recommendations from others along the way and 3) be leveraged by other rookies like myself as a reference if pursuing their own builds.

 

From a budget standpoint I intend to splurge a little since I want it to look like a modern table you'd find in an arcade, have really good performance, and potentially be used for other things as well (like VR stuff).  That said, my goal is to stay under $6,000 USD.  

 

I'll fill in more as I go, but below is hardware I've collected over the last couple days to start the process:

 

PC:  Intel i9 10-core 3.7Ghz CPU, 32GB RAM, Nvidia 3080 GPU, 1TB SSD, and 7.1 audio purchased used off Craigslist.  Just put a fresh install of Windows 10 Pro on.  $1,800

Playfield:  43" ASUS ROG Strix XG43UQ monitor purchased from a discount store.  $815

Backglass:  32" Acer 2K monitor bought new from Microcenter.  $215

DMD:  Still undecided on the direction here so using an old 22" HP monitor I already had for now.  Open to recommendations.  I like the two "screen" DMD and topper on top of one another look I've seen some builders do.

 

 20220211_180437_copy_1024x768.jpg   153.47KB   13 downloads

 20220211_191441_copy_1024x768.jpg   156.48KB   8 downloads

 

Next Steps:  Start installing virtual pinball software, a few tables, and getting some basic functionality going across the three screens.  In general, just start acclimating myself with all the software.  

 

Spent so far:  $2,830 USD

Budget remaining:  $3,170 USD

[wiesshund]

Just personal opinion

 

22" seems too big for DMD?

 

backbox will become pretty tall

 

14" or 15" panel seems to be more in scale

 

but that is just personal opinion.

 

You already got the 32" screen otherwise i'd use the 22 as backglass and grab a 14" panel for the DMD

 

 

 

[mrarcade]

I agree that that DMD monitor sounds a little big. 32 is the perfect size for a back glass monitor though. I'm using an original cabinet and a 32-in fit perfectly inside the head. I picked up a 16-in wide screen PC monitor and I think that is perfect for the dmd. I had to decase it, and I actually don't have it mounted yet. But it is the perfect size for my cabinet.

[elmera]

Thanks for the feedback guys.  Yeah, I agree with you and was fairly certain I wasn't going to go with the 22" monitor for the DMD -- just wanted something there for the mock up and software deployment.  However, after going through Nailbuster's installation Wiki it looks like its recommended to have all final screen hardware in place prior to deploying his Baller Installer.  I was hoping I could install it and just change some resolution settings later on, but sounds like its recommended to re-install if changing any of the screens to avoid issues.

 

For that reason I'm going to hold off on the software installation until I get my final DMD screen in place.  I used Sketch up to model some different screen options to get an idea of what they'd look like for comparison.

 

 Screenshot (68).png   345.62KB   12 downloads

 

From left to right shows a 22" screen, 17", 15.6", 14", and standard DMD.  Each has a 32" monitor for the backglass.  The far right cab (with standard DMD) should represent the actual Williams widebody cabinet dimensions.  For the others I adjusted the backbox height to accommodate 1" clearance on both the top and bottom of the DMD screen. 

 

Its a little hard to tell, but the 15.6" is pretty much the same height, while the 17" requires about 1 3/4" more height.  I'm leaning towards the 17" though since I'm building the cab myself and like the idea of more video real-estate without looking too obnoxious (to me anyway).  That said, it will come down to what LCD screens I can find and making sure I can get a controller for it.  It will either be a 17" or 15.6" though.  

[mrarcade]

both the 17 and 15.6 look nice.

[gps]

I'm considering something like this as an alternative for the DMD.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FJ33247
Also, a 14.9" version in a monitor case:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FJ21RNW

[elmera]

I'm considering something like this as an alternative for the DMD.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FJ33247
Also, a 14.9" version in a monitor case:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FJ21RNW

 

Yeah, that would work well.  I'm probably going to be doing something similar except using a 15.6" laptop screen that I got from Ebay for about $30.  Before ordering I had found a compatible controller board on Amazon for around $30 as well.  I'm going for a taller laptop screen because I want to also take advantage of those PuP-packs that use some of the other screen real-estate.  While I originally was hoping to get a 17" screen, the only controllers I could find would have to be shipped from China and I didn't want to wait.

 

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 20220216_220145_copy_756x1008.jpg   118.29KB   8 downloads

[elmera]

Figured I'd posted an update to the current status of my cabinet build.

 

Since I started this project about 3 months ago most of the time spent so far has been on the software side.  Things like getting familiar with the emulator software and its options, adding tables and getting them setup in Pinup Popper, customizing the tables or the pup pack configurations available with some of them.  Its definitely time consuming, but enjoyable at the same time... almost addicting.  While there is still a lot that I'm learning, I feel like I've graduated vpin high school and am now in my freshman year of vpin college.

 

Anyway, about 3 weeks ago I started building the cabinet when I have free time.  Below are some pictures of my progress and direction I'm going.

 

Starting to break down a 4x8 sheet of UV treated 3/4" plywood.

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In order to ensure both side cabinet and back box panels were exactly the same, I clamped two pieces of plywood together and cut them using a track saw.

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Sanding down the corners of the back box sides.

 20220424_171118.jpg   156.13KB   9 downloads

 

Started cutting the dados in the different pieces. 

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Cutting the slots in the back box pieces for T-molding

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Cutting the 45 degree mitered corners for the front of the cabinet using the track saw.

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[elmera]

Doing a dry clamp up of the cabinet to fit the rails, lock down bar, and receiver so I can start taking measurements on where to cut the coin door holes. 

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Dry clamp up of the back box.  The metal bezel I had custom made.  It is secured to the back box by screwing to t-nuts inserted into the plywood, which you can see the recesses I cut out so they were flush.  I guess I'll point out most of the metal parts I got are raw steel and plan to powder coat.

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Fitting the back box on the cabinet so I can get measurements on where to cut the holes for the back box hinges and bolts to secure it to the cabinet.

 20220507_203327.jpg   99.73KB   6 downloads

 

Finally, after cutting out the coin door opening and some of the button holes, I had a friend come over with his Festool Domino and added some dominos.  This will add rigidity to the mitered corners.

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That's all for now.  Some things weren't pictured but at this point I've completed most of the cabinet cuts.  I still have to cut out an access opening in the back of the cabinet, drill the holes for the legs, and route route some ventilations slots, but everything else is pretty much done.  Next steps is to finish the things I just mentioned and them start doing the glue up.  I'll cut the openings for fans, switches, and plunger after I get my layout finalized and know where the playfield monitor will be sitting exactly.

 

Stay tuned. 

Edited by elmera, 09 May 2022 - 02:09 AM.

[elmera]

Just wanted to posted some updates on my pincab build log since its been a little over a month.  During that time I've mostly been wrapping up the cabinet build in my spare time.

 

Here is a picture of the first mockup I made of the cabinet with all cabinet hardware attached.  The hardware is still raw steel and will get powder coated black.

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Here I'm playing around with the layout of the internal components.  Not the final configuration, but pretty close.  I decided to keep the computer in its case for simplicity.  There will be plenty of ventilation, especially after I take off the front of the case.

 20220529_133648.jpg   189.87KB   7 downloads

 

For the controller boards I choose to go with Arnoz Pinscape boards.  These will get mounted in the front of the cab, on top of the amps and shaker.

 20220529_232433.jpg   116.59KB   6 downloads

One of the most challenging parts was creating some custom blades that the addressable LED's will be mounted on.  They needed to easily removeable due to the playfield monitors size requiring me to put some recesses in the blades in order to fit, yet still be wide enough to mount the addressable LED's.  Two bolts screwed into some T-nuts on the cabinet side walls is what will secure the blades.

 

Getting the shape of the blades figured out.

 20220530_202806.jpg   114.38KB   8 downloads

 

The blades after a bunch of customizing

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This is what they look like installed

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Prepping the cabinet with primer for paint.  Only painting the wood parts that will be exposed.

 20220611_105917.jpg   230.84KB   9 downloads

 

Here is the backbox with paint applied

 20220611_205226.jpg   151.78KB   8 downloads

 

Next was applying the artwork.  A big shout out to @Stuzza for the commissioned artwork he did for me.  I was very particular with what I wanted and he knocked it out of the park. From this photo you can probably get a sense of the theme I was going for.

 20220615_181527.jpg   165.09KB   10 downloads

 

Getting the artwork applied to the other sides and getting it trimmed up.

 20220615_194222.jpg   107.63KB   11 downloads    20220615_201919.jpg   154.87KB   6 downloads

 

And here's how the cabinet currently stands, with the hardware now powder coated black and all artwork applied.  Yep, as a big F1 fan I wanted a Red Bull vs Mercedes theme.  Very happy with the look.

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I'm currently in the process of getting everything installed and wired up.  More to follow soon.

[tomlousberg]

Nice job!! like your left cabside the most  

[elmera]

Nice job!! like your left cabside the most

Ha -- Red Bull and Max are my favorite Team / driver as well. 

Anyone reading this have any recommendations for mounting a microswitch on the coin return buttons of a Data East coin door like the one found on Virtuapin.net?  I found some 3D printed mounts like this but they appear to be for the non-functional coin doors.  

[wiesshund]

 

Nice job!! like your left cabside the most

Ha -- Red Bull and Max are my favorite Team / driver as well. 

Anyone reading this have any recommendations for mounting a microswitch on the coin return buttons of a Data East coin door like the one found on Virtuapin.net?  I found some 3D printed mounts like this but they appear to be for the non-functional coin doors.  

 

 

Coat Hanger
Works flawless
stronger than 3d print

 

ask @Conehead

[elmera]

 

 

Nice job!! like your left cabside the most

Ha -- Red Bull and Max are my favorite Team / driver as well. 

Anyone reading this have any recommendations for mounting a microswitch on the coin return buttons of a Data East coin door like the one found on Virtuapin.net?  I found some 3D printed mounts like this but they appear to be for the non-functional coin doors.  

 

 

Coat Hanger
Works flawless
stronger than 3d print

 

ask @Conehead

 

 

Interesting.  I guess I'm not exactly sure how that would be done.  Do you have a diagram or any pictures?

[wiesshund]

 

 

 

Nice job!! like your left cabside the most

Ha -- Red Bull and Max are my favorite Team / driver as well. 

Anyone reading this have any recommendations for mounting a microswitch on the coin return buttons of a Data East coin door like the one found on Virtuapin.net?  I found some 3D printed mounts like this but they appear to be for the non-functional coin doors.  

 

 

Coat Hanger
Works flawless
stronger than 3d print

 

ask @Conehead

 

 

Interesting.  I guess I'm not exactly sure how that would be done.  Do you have a diagram or any pictures?

 

 

Ask Conehead
His cab, he has pics

[elmera]

Continuing my pincab build log.

 

For the backboard behind my playfield I didn't know if I wanted to have a LED matrix or a video topper screen... so I decided to build both and make them (hopefully) easily interchangeable.  I decided to try out this screen for the backboard topper.  

 

Cutting out the screen opening and then routing out wood on the inside so there is a recess for the screen to fit into

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Here are the two backboards I created, one for the topper screen, the other for a 48 x 8 dot matrix screen. 

 20220624_210807.jpg   87.68KB   8 downloads

Spray painted and installed both the topper screen and LED matrix.  Here is the front and back.

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[elmera]

Next came the electrical wiring.  This was definitely the most time consuming and tedious part of building the cab.  Not to mention, messy

 20220619_105727.jpg   193.07KB   7 downloads

 

While I took a lot of pictures while going through the process of all the wiring and testing, these are some of the final shots.

 

A view of the front of the cab without the Arnoz controller boards and Teensy installed.  The cab has 10 solenoids, Stern Shaker, plunger, tilt bob, launch button, lighted flipper & magnasave buttons, RGB fire button, knocker, two beacons, three pushbuttons (start, coin, exit), two amplifiers, and four Dayton exciters.  The Teensy controls 2x side playfield LED strips, and 48x8 matrix, and both some undercab and behind the backglass LED strips.  The 5V power supply is dedicated to just the LED strips.  The 12V power supply is used for controller boards and all the 12V toys.  Anything else using 5V or 12V (basically the coin and button LED's) is being supplied from the computers ATX power supply.  You'll see I left some room in the middle for potentially a Dayton bass shaker in the future if I determine necessary.  

 20220630_183926.jpg   122.49KB   8 downloads

 

Here is the same view, except with the Arnoz controllers boards (including KL25Z running pinscape) and Teensy installed on top.

 20220630_234638.jpg   131.8KB   8 downloads

Here's a view looking in the coin door.  I mounted Arnoz's "Brain" board so its easily accessible inside the door opening.

 20220630_183951.jpg   80.99KB   8 downloads

 

Next was wiring the backbox.  First installed some foam around the areas the screens will get mounted, and then mounted the screens, knocker, 48V power supply for the knocker, and Logitech speakers.  I hot glued some fabric over the grill cutouts so you can't see the speakers.  I may add some LED's to the speakers grills in the future, but passed up on it for now. 

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Last was installing the beacons.  Since the ones I purchased had magnetic feet, I decided to glue some magnets in recessed holes I drilled to secure the beacons to the top and still be easy to remove.  The magnets hold very well.  I can tip down the backbox without the beacons falling off.

 20220625_111901.jpg   139.54KB   7 downloads

Edited by elmera, 10 July 2022 - 05:04 AM.

[elmera]

Here's the guts of the cab with everything now installed (except the side blades with the LED strips).  You'll see my Logitech subwoofer and PC are now installed and connected.  I used the Logitech z533 PC speakers, and they sound great.

 20220701_211431.jpg   194.07KB   10 downloads

 

Finally, here are some pictures of how the cabinet sits today.  I'm still waiting for the top glass to arrive and still need to button up some of the power cabling inside as well.  Once those two things are done I'll take some final pictures of the finished product, and probably post a video as well.  I'll point out that while the topper backboard screen does work, I really like the LED matrix and will likely keep that there permanently and move the topper to the top of the backbox in the future.  For right now, everything is working great.  Have Pinup Popper installed as my frontend.  DOF is running, so all the toys and LED's work perfect.  Its been a lot of time and work getting to this point but can't tell you how much enjoyment I've been having since making it this far!

 20220702_172029.jpg   71.01KB   12 downloads    20220702_172043.jpg   124.19KB   10 downloads    20220702_172100.jpg   80.47KB   9 downloads

 

I plan to wrap up my final thoughts and thanks on my next post when everything is completely finished.  Stay tuned.

Edited by elmera, 10 July 2022 - 05:10 AM.

[VicScott]

LQQKS amazing - I see you didn't forget the pringles chip holder on the left pin leg. 

[elmera]

LQQKS amazing - I see you didn't forget the pringles chip holder on the left pin leg. 

Thank you sir!  Ha --  Pringles can, Big Gulp, hat holder..   lots of uses.