Having owned a real pinball machine since more than 15 years, over the years I occasionally stumbled over the topic of virtual pinball machines; I found it certainly intriguing but wasn’t impressed by the pre-built minicab offers on the market (like Atgames Legends Micro, Gameroom Solutions, Proyector Barato)
So after getting into the software side about one year ago and starting to build a collection of table and learning to set up all parts of the software, I first developed a rotating 2-screen setup with a custom 3-d printed controller attached to the sides of the playfield monitor. Reasonably reassured by the success of this proof of concept, I decided about 6 months ago to go all the way and build my own custom 2:3 scale minicab. Since I’m neither experienced in electronics or woodworking, from the get-go the intention was to create a build using only the simplest and most plug-and-play type of solutions. This build guide is intended to highlight some of the challenges I encountered and the solutions I came up with on that journey to maybe inspire others to go the same route.
First of all I would like to emphasize: everyone can build this! Even if you have no woodworking experience, hardly any tools and/or work space and little time (all of which applies to me) I assure you that you can overcome all challenges by reading the forums, using Youtube and (possibly) this guide and simply starting off.
The key of this build was to reduce all components to the least complex method. Everything in this build is plug-and-play, no soldering, no woodworking techniques that require anything but a manual wood saw and a drill and drill stand. For the same reason I opted against DOF (which sounds intimidating and complicated to set up) and installed powerful SSF instead. All power for individual components comes from USB or dedicated power adapters, no secondary power supplies besides the computer’s PSU are needed. The cab has a working plunger and nudge function but this was a breeze to set up by using Arnoz’s Dudecab. And having a fully working and 95% assembled machine took me less than 10 weeks, much less than anticipated. I put off the final step (sanding and painting) for a good while after that, so my total build time was nearly 6 months but I could have finished it in half of that time.
A few more noteworthy features of this build:
- Measurements taken from original machine and sized to 2:3, then built a cardboard mockup with nearly all parts installed for fine-tuning; no 3d CAD mockup needed
- Most woodworking done only with a hand saw and cordless hand drill, no special tools
- Cabinet built with metal dowels and cam locking nuts
- Authentic 1980ies WPC11-style folding backbox
- 1080p / 100Hz 27’’ playfield fed by a GeForce 1660 SUPER, runs 98% of the tables on medium settings (1080p) at 100fps. Including demanding PuPpack tables like Die Hard and the latest 2025 releases like The Walking Dead and Creature from the Black Lagoon.
- 19’’ backglass in 5:4 ratio that can display pre-DMD translites authentically and newer DMD or PuPpack based tables with Virtual DMD
- Full SSF with 4 exciters and 2 subs only for mechanical sounds, and dedicated volume controls via Pinvol for each channel pair (backglass / front SSF / back SSF)
- 3,5” speakers built into the apron and protected by a metal grille plus 4” at the bottom
- Custom “lockbar” mechanism made with ball corners and 4 thumb screws
- originally intended as tabletop build so no fixed legs, for playing position sitting on a foldable keyboard stand secured by thumb screws
Materials (except PC) added up to around 1400€, adding a second hand PC with the quoted specs would probably add around 3-400€ to the equation. Plus around 2-300€ for tools.
Time invested: I would say around 15 hours for backbox and cabinet construction each, then another 20 hours for fine-tuning the build (especially the folding mechanism). Adding all components plus wiring another 20 hours, and then the final fine-tuning plus sanding and painting another 30 hours. 100 hours all in all is probably a good estimate. Setting up the software plus adding and tweaking tables in the software and frontend is probably a lot more than that!
You can view the full build guide here.
All in all a demanding but very fun project. The build quality of the completed cab is very high, it looks and works impeccably. Every day I'm a little impressed myself that I was able to build something by myself on this level 
Hit me up anytime for any questions or clarifications!
Edited by deadmanworking, 25 June 2025 - 12:48 PM.
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