The Final Few Touches....

Managed to find some  time for myself today to get outside and do some of the final little things on my cabinets. I installed the t-molding on both cabinets and got the cold cathode tube installed on Bad Dudes.
This is such a cool modification for $10, really gives it a cool look.
I'm kinda pi$$ed I broke one of the tubes during the install. Now just the front glows....either way it's neat.

I blacked out the monitor surround on Bad Dudes and with the backdoor on it makes the monitor pop.
I was a little concerned that the monitor looked dim on Bad Dudes, but it was the smoked plexi and light getting through that gave that appearance.

I still need to secure the monitor in Final Fight from the back and cover the monitor logo and power LED.
I tried doing it without removing the shroud, that was stupid, I can't get my fat paws in that small space.
I'll get those two small things done tomorrow, perhaps even adding RGB LED lights to the base of Final Fight.

The cold cathode tubes run you about $10 on eBay shipped for 2 x 12" tubes.
The RGB LED lights with adapter and remote run you about the same thing.
Both plug into your switching power supply.
You can pick up a power adapter for the RGB LED lights.
I think in some way the LED lights are better as you can have them fade from color to color, or just use a solid color. They are flexible with is really cool and self adhesive.

Project Updates

With little baby girl now in my life "me time" is few and far between.
Since in reality I don't play my games very much I figure there really is no point to hang onto this excess inventory. I've started to sell off extra parts, decide what are "must do" changes I'd like to make to my machines, and what are "not such big deal" changes.

I've pretty much finished my Bad Dudes project, it just needs minor cosmetic things done.
Add the t-molding, a bezel (or blackout) around the monitor, and I think that's all.

I've also got my Final Fight 98% done, needs a little more trim added around the monitor and the t-molding installed. I'll add the mini-SLG (scanline generator) to give it a retro look and it will be done.

I'll keep these for a bit I'm sure, but since they will never make it into the house they will get sold.
Such is this hobby I guess.

Primed And Ready!

I'm not sure if this cabinet had been painted with oil based paint. And being me I didn't look online to see of any tests I could do prior to painting. Instead I just primed it with some extra paint I had kicking around.
The paint seems to have taken will, all be it when I scraped off some highs spots they came off perhaps a lil too easy! So I decided I' leave it for a week so the paint could really cure. Depending on the weather here just east of Toronto, Ontario Canada I may or may not paint this weekend.
I'm actually confident I'll make the deadline I set for this project!

TO DO :

• Finish painting cabinet sides (front, coin door, and plastics all done)
• Clean up the base area, either adding a base, or modifying the feet on the cabinet.
• Install base cold cathode lighting
• Install coin doors, board, jamma harness

Painting Prep

July 1st long weekend here in Canada.
A time for celebration, family, BBQ, and for me arcades.
Today was a busy day for me, however I was lucky enough to get out to Home Depot and pick up some paint and my marquee fixture.

I picked out a nice bright red called "Chilli Pepper." I think it will look great with the reds, oranges, and yellows in the Final Fight art work.

Today I managed to install the marquee fixture and start to spray on the black paint. I'll need to do a second, even third coat tomorrow. It's not covering the drywall patching compound very well to be honest.
If I can get a couple coats in early in the morning I'll leave the cabinet outside in the sun for awhile, letting it bake on. Returning later that day to roll on the red paint.

Once painted I think it will come together quite well...and fast. My VGA adapter I expect in about 10 to 14 days. However I'll do the Jamma wiring, even installing the monitor early if needed.

I'm going to use the existing marquee and even the monitor shroud, I'm hoping it works out well with the LCD. My concern is part of the image cut off when finally put into place.

Final Fight.......not quite the Final Push !

I won't complain about the heat here just east of Toronto, Ontario Canada.
It does make it hard to get outside and work in the sauna.........I mean garrage.
None the less I do what little I can when I find the time.
As I said I've set a deadline to complete this project, all be it in the past deadlines  didn't mean much to me!

Over the weekend I managed to get some patching and sanding done. All metal and plastics were given an extra coat of paint if needed. I also painted my coin door bolts in the same hammered finish. They look quite good! The Final Fight had a make shift marquee fixture for 2 standard light bulbs, I'll replace it with an under the counter version from Home Depot. (I use these in all my cabinets)
Found here : http://www.homedepot.ca/product/f15t8-plug-in-fluorescent-undercabinet-fixture-18-inches/980574

The cabinet was cleaned internally and a piece of 1"x3" was picked up to use as a base. As is the cabinet sits on the floor, I don't know if I should simply add feet or add the base. I'm unsure if the base will make the cabinet sit to high. As I had mentioned prior I'd like to add some lighting modifications to the cabinet. The base would allow me to mount either the cold cathode tubes or the RGB LED.

One thing about the Final Fight is that it has quite a gap in the back where the back door is. This is great to allow animals to come inside to nest and release heat. One of these things I welcome, the other I don't! I'm sure you can guess which. If I go with the cold cathode tubes on the base I'm unsure how I'll incorporate the RGB LED lights. I need to make sure that when powered on they don't bleed through and interfere with the picture during play.

That's all for now.

Final Fight Progress

Today when I got home the plan was to work on the Final Fight project.
I'm proud to say I did just that !
I've got the cabinet gutted and waiting to be cleaned....the cleaning I'll do tomorrow.
All the metal and plastic has been removed and first coat of black/hammered paint has been applied.
I decided I'd do the speaker grill in red, not sure I like this. I'll need to see how it will look all together.
I guess the beauty of paint is I can easily redo it.

I still havent picked a color for the cabinet or molding, but I'm not sweating that for now.
I also havent decided if I'd paint the bolts in black or the same matching hammered finish paint.
These little details will really depend on how it all looks when coming together.
Lastly for today I polished up the marquee, there is some flaking and I can't decide if I should use a black paint marker on the back to color in these areas. I might do a test to see how it will look.

I'm also proud to report that I've finally got smart when it comes to these projects.
Let me explain............I'm forever losing parts, be it bolts, monitor connections, etc.
So with Final Fight I grabbed an empty box, labeled the box Final Fight and all the parts go into it.
I also bagged all the bolts, washers,screws,etc together.
I'm sure I wont lose any now !

If I make progress tomorrow in addition to the cleaning I'll begin the body work and sanding.

Final Fight

So this is a Final Fight I got last summer.
I knew I wouldn't start it last year, a few other projects were "scheduled" to get done first.
One of which I completed and sold, the other I stalled at 90%. I managed to get a second set of hands and complete my Bad Dudes a few weeks ago. So now my partially gutted Final Fight takes center stage and will be my latest refurb.

I've taken the monitor out from this cabinet, but I'm yet to remove the remaining internals.
This weekend I plan on gutting, cleaning, and starting to paint the black metal.
I picked up three cans of semigloss black and I'm going to use the hammered finish paint I've used in the past for the coin doors. It gives a nice contrast as the front of Final Fight will remain black.

Projects Update

Proud to say that next month, around July 23rd if all goes to plan I'll be a father.
I'm very much looking forward to this new chapter of my life.
I'm by no means done with the arcade/coin-op hobby, all be it I don't see many more projects in my future.

I'm working on an Android tablet based project that I plan on housing in an iCade.
I've wrapped up my Bad Dudes project and this weekend I'll be moving onto my Final Fight cabinet.
I actually picked up some paint today for this !

In terms of items in the house all cabinets are in  great shape and some of the minor tweaks done.
From securing (or better securing) the control panels to changing micro switches, and cleaning up the wiring all is done.

It's a good feeling and I'll get some pics up ASAP!