Arcade Machines

[jman]

Got the monitor mounted in the correct position at last!  Decided to put the plexiglass on to see what the gap was between the screen and monitor.. a gnat's chuff basically.. so I've reversed my cardboard idea, and back to the spray painting idea.. should be easier.. but more dangerous as I'm likely to fuck something up.

Basically need to use wet sandpaper to rough up the plexiglass very lightly.. so the paint has something to bond too.. that's the scary part.  Then paint it - probably need to use a primer first.

Got my adapter plug today.. so I should be able to test the amp out tonight.. I hope it works lol.  Got the Fibre Carbon Wrap being delievered tomorrow.. and the marquee should be delivered this weekend.  Might have some time free on Sunday to get the next steps done.. although I'm missing the wiring for two of the buttons and the only supplier I know that does singular button wires (already harnessed) is out of stock.. I could do it myself.. but since I don't have a crimping tool or the actual components.. that would be a ballsache too.

[jman]

Well I completely fucked up the Carbon Fibre Wrap - got bubbles running throughout it.. need to order some more now lol.

Got the amp delivered yesterday and got that working - didn't realise I had to set the audio to go through the speakers on the pi though - so spent about an hour thinking I'd fucked something up.  Slight buzz to the speakers, but I guess the amp is cheap.

Apparently my marquee was delivered today, and I've ordered another HDMI cable.  Got in touch with ArcadeWorldUK to see if they had any more button cables.. they had 10 left, so managed to snag them, and another 5 foot of T-Molding (to be on the safe side).  Spray painting is happening on Sunday hopefully so should have some more pictures then.

[jman]

Didn't get much done this weekend unfortunately, I managed to spray paint the plexiglass, looks good but left jagged edges when I took the masking tape off, and it scratched (bottom right) when I attempted to put it in



I'll probably get it installed as is and then buy some real acrylic paint to touch it up.

Got my marquee posted, the quality looks good but I'm going to come up with my own design I think and get some other artwork done.

This is the current progress..



You can't see it too well but the carbon fibre wrap on the front is bubbled to shit, I've got some replacement though.  The cables I got sent this week have got the wrong crimp on which was annoying, but that is why two of the buttons isn't illuminated.

[jman]

Got the plexiglass mounted, I tried to add more paint to the scratched bits, but unfortunately it didn't really help - but the lines are a lot straighter than they were.  From a distance it looks great though lol.  Got the monitor mounted, fits perfectly, got those other buttons hooked up, mounted the volume control..

...everything is pretty much done apart from the speaker grilles (the ones they sent are too large), the artwork (I know what I want) - and I need to notch out a few holes in the back of the cabinet for plugs/wires before I put the back on.  Also still need to sort out the fibre carbon wrap - I'll do that this weekend though.

[jman]

Haven't really touched the machine since the last update - although am ordering in some graphics after christmas.  I don't go back to work until the 7th so I should have some time to design something custom for the machine.

I need to have another look at my joysticks though, I've noticed in many games that if you are holding the joystick either vertically/horizontally i.e. going up,down,left or right.. and then circle around to the diagonal.. that the diagonal input doesn't work.  If you go diagonal when the joystick is not already in position then it works.  Really strange that.. don't know if the joysticks are cheap shit, if theres a config option in retropie or if I've messed something up.


I really really want to practice WindJammers, but pretty impossible to play when the diagonals are fucked up.   I pretty much play that game everyday in the office with a few other people - its not a game I ever played growing up.. but it really is the dogs bollocks in terms of a quick arcade fun - it's been released on the PS4/PSV but not the X1 which is also fucking annoying.  There is a sequel lined up for next year for the Switch/PC lol

[jman]

Sorted the joysticks out, there was two restrictors on the bottom of the joysticks which I ended up taking off - I don't think they worked right because they were set in 8 way mode - I resorted to hooking my joysticks up to the laptop and could see it was barely hitting diagonals.  With the restrictors taken off, everything works perfectly now and I can even do the combos in Streetfighter

Also re-did my 3d Carbon Fibre Wrap on the cabinet front, all the way up to the control panel... no bubbles this time, I haven't started on any artwork for the sides, bezel or control panel - I AM going to do that soon though.

Also need to order some speaker grilles with gold trim, the ones I got with my speaker system are a fraction too large to install.  Am still a bit annoyed that they buzz a tiny bit, might invest in something better in the future.

I'll get some updated pictures when I finally get the artwork done.

[jman]

Managed to get some of my artwork done - the sides and the marquee.. and got them applied over the weekend - took a while but happy with the result.. all Windjammer themed - pretty much play that game every day at work still - its so addictive.  Got my speaker grills mounted too but annoyingly split the right one in because I wasn't careful enough with the screws - I will order some replacements but they came from China so might take a while.  The sides are based on the limited edition graphics of the original Windjammers game - but completely touched up and modified by me.  Working on the control panel graphics at the moment, and will probably get a bezel done too.

[harv]

Looks very cool!

[jman]

Got my control panel graphics done - they are good.. but unfortunately I fucked up slightly when applying it and the joysticks are not aligned in the center of the discs... it was quite tough getting this done as I had to unwire bloody everything... still - they look good, just annoyed at the centering...




After I wired it all up, I dug out a little hole at the back for the plug to go in and completed the full case (for the first time) - so this is now completed!!





It was a fun - but frustrating project to do in parts - if i was to do it again, there would be a lot I would do differently... namely getting the graphics sorted a long time before I put everything together.. also the black bezel I did for the screen wasn't the best... taking a bit more time on that would have sorted that (or buying graphics for the bezel).  I wish I had thought of a theme before I bought the gold trim too - as I wouldn't have picked gold had I known what graphics I was getting. 

Overall.. pretty pleased... the graphics cost about £95 all in - so I reckon it cost about £650-£700 for everything - a 2 player cabinet pre-made would cost around £950-£1000 - so saved a fair bit.

[harv]

Looks great! Bit expensive though!

[Late]

Looks fantastic, mate!