Control Panel Complete

I installed my Hori buttons into the control panel. Originally I had P1 with three red on top, and three green on bottom. Player 2 (P2) was three green on top, and three red on the bottom. It didn't look good, so now Ive mirrored player one, less P1 button. It seems like a little thing, but cosmetically to me it made a big deal. Ive just finished installing the joysticks, player one is red, player two is black. I'm really happy with the paint job, I think the flat black paint works well. I'm not going to install the plexi or the metal brackets that came on the control panel. I figure they were there more for security, and since the machine is for home use only they aren't needed. Thanks again to the guys @ www.cgcc.ca I figured out how to wire up my Hori buttons. I wasn't sure if it mattered which connection would serve as the common and the normally open. (it doesn't!) Anyway this weekend Id like to start and complete hooking up the buttons to the IPAC.

anyway here are the pics !
PS - Zellers sucks ! see my other blog for why

More Control Panel Pics

PS - Rock band has taken up sooooooooo much of my time! But again, the progress has been decent. Ive got my foosball table moved inside, and would expect to have my two dynamos (tekken 3 & MAME) in the house for next week. Then I can really moved forward with the reamining elemets of the project.

Where Im At With The Control Panel

Not really much to say here, but the control panel is well underway. Its been painted and the buttons are installed. I'm hoping to get it wired to the IPAC this week. I need to find out which connection is for what. Once I solve that mystery things will really be cooking. I'm happy with the overall look, and I think its going to fit well with the overall look of the cabinet. Here are the pics !

Arcade Collection

Cant wait to finish my MAME project, Ive made some good strides. The idea of having everything I ever wanted in one place is so "awesome." But I think even when completed I still wont part with my collection.

The collection :

Neo Geo two slot machine w/ Bust-a-Move, Samurai Showdown II, The Art Of Fighting 2, and Fatal Fury

25" Dynamo cabinet w/ Tekken 3
25" Dynamo cabinet w/ 19" monitor for MAME

Boards :

Marvel vs. Capcom
SNK : SVC Chaos

Work Update

REMAINING WORK

Finish painting cabinet - Done, two coats & spray painted the bottom. Also cleaned overrun from the t moulding.

Clean,prep & paint control panel - A little more work needed. The top is almost done and ready for paint. The bottom needs a little more TLC. It should get done by the weekend, at which point I can begin wiring.

Install joysticks & buttons

Wire up controls & connect to IPAC

Test completed control panel in MAME

Install computer, light fixture, and speakers - Computer speakers have been installed

Remove computer monitor bezel and paint - Taking the bezel off was a little harder then I had thought. So I just tapes it off and painted it. It came out well.

Cut new bezel for monitor

Install computer monitor

Install marquee - I plan on getting the light fixture this weekend

Additional Spending

A little more work and a few more dollars were spent on the MAME project.
As always I like to list the detailed info on my blog.

Marvel vs. Capcom = $75
Cabinet Delivery = $60
IPAC = $66
Buttons = $18 (purchased an extra 6 buttons)
Paint & Rollers = $20
Varsol = $5 (needed this to remove the glue from control panel)
Spray Paint = $5/10 (im yet to decide if I will do a two tone control panel. For now it will be painted in flat black. But I might do the underside in a deep blue.)

Varsol = Satisfaction

When I removed the overlay from my control panel I was shocked by how much glue was left behind. I purchased some goo gone, let it soak for about 10 minutes and began "trying" to remove the glue. It was by no means an easy task. I got smart and grabbed the wife's hair dyer, that seemed to help a bit. But even with the goo gone & hair dryer my progress was slow...real slow ! My brother-in-law suggested I use varsol, so I did.
That with my drywall putty knife (I think that's what it is) made things so much quicker. I made great progress with very little effort, and perhaps most important in very little time. The top half of the control panel is done, I just want to give it a wipe with some more varsol and a clean cloth. The bottom is about done, but towards the lower part it seems they used some different adhesive. Perhaps a contact cement of sorts ? I'm not sure,but even with the varsol it was slow to come off. Tomorrow (Friday) I'm going to take another stab at it using the hair dryer. The heat does wonders, and I think ill be able to have the control panel fully cleaned for the weekend.
It was getting dark so I don't have the newest pictures, but I should post them in about a day or so. You will be able to see I got mostly all the glue off and its ready for paint.

Monitor Painting

I need to work on my patience,but that's another blog.
I decided I would paint my monitor bezel so it would stick out less when used in my MAME cabinet. I tried to take it apart, but it was allot more work then it was worth. I decided to tape it off and use some flat black spray paint. It turned out well, and I got no paint on the screen ! (which was great)
Only issue came when I decided to move it from the front lawn to the backyard. I thought it would cure better in the heat, but ended up making a smudge or two.
In reality you wont see that once its installed anyway, so I'm not sweating it.
The only concern I have now is that a 19" monitor is to small. There is going to be a ton of wasted space around the monitor, I really think Ill need a nice custom bezel.
When I replaced the video card to a card with a TV out the image quality went down. It would have been a huge plus if I could have had video out, as I could have hooked up an old TV. Now I will need to track down a larger CRT monitor. I don't know that ill make finding a new monitor top priority, but its definitely on the list. I'm also hoping that cutting my bezel out of poster board turns out OK. As always Ill post my results and pictures here.

You'll see the paint job is somewhat sloppy in parts. Keep in mind most of that wont be visible once contained in the MAME cabinet.

Painting Complete

I finished painting my cabinet, and I'm quite please with the results. I'm sure it could have been better, I could have taped better, or removed the t-moulding, but all in all its good ! Its a light blue so it doesn't really translate well in the pictures. The t-moulding is black, and the control panel will be painted in a flat black paint. I was able to get a hold of an old supplier and have some Hori buttons getting delivered today. My buttons don't really go with the overall scheme of the cabinet, but I don't think they will stick out like a sore thumb. They will consist of red & green buttons. Each player will have three red & three green. Player one will be red, and player two green. In total 14 buttons are on the control panel. I wanted to add more, as I have some extra yellow Hori buttons. I have instead decided to use the shifted functions on the IPAC and save myself the work. The Hori buttons themselves should save me time as the micro switches are built in. I wont need to dissect my mess of wires that was removed from the cabinet. I think as another time saver Ill be purchasing 8 more micro switches and using them for the joystick installation. Again quite simply this will be better then taking apart the mess of wires I was left with.

If I am able to find some time today Id like to tackle the control panel. Its still a mess, and covered in adhesive. Once that is cleaned and painted I can begin to install the buttons and joysticks. Ive decided to get the control panel fully wired and test it using MAME before installing it back into the cabinet. This will allow me to make any alterations needed.

Ive reinstalled the coin door and installed my old computer speakers. Ill need to add a shelf of sorts in the back of the cabinet to rest the subwoofer. This is also handy if I need to adjust the volume.