Progress at Last!!!

I was finally able to finish the exterior of my cab. I used a Minwax water-based stain (blue, obviously) and a Minwax Polyacrylic finish. I applied 2 coats of the stain to get the color I wanted and 4 coats of the finish to seal it up. I applied the stain with a rag and rubbed it in (OK, it was 1/2 of a white t-shirt) and I applied the sealant with a foam brush. In between each coat of sealant I sanded the entire thing down by hand with a sanding block (a rubber thing with sandpaper on the bottom) and then wiped it clean with a damp rag (the other 1/2 of the white t-shirt). The reason for sanding in between each coat of sealant is so the next coat will have a rough surface to adhere to. The final coat does not get sanded.


There is a very smooth glass-like surface over the wood now. When this thing is (finally) in operation and I am in a heated game of Tetris, Puzzle Bobble 4 or some Mortal Kombat 2 and I spill my beer everywhere it should wipe up very easily. One thing I did notice as I was staining the cabinet is that if I could do it over I think I would finish the pieces individually prior to assembly. I think gravity combined with not being able to get into the corners as well as I wanted to with the brush made the thing come out a little uneven. I stress a little though because I do think it looks quite nice. You can't really tell from these pictures but the stain shows off the wood grain very nicely even though it looks like I painted the thing blue. Notice the Atari 5200 box in the background of the picture to the left. I'm soooo old school!

This shot is a close-up of the Player 2 side of the thing. You can see the t-molding on the edges - this will eventually cover all of the exposed edges of the plywood. It wasn't easy to cut the t-molding to the proper length because of the curved surface I had to apply it to. Also, getting a 90 degree cut on the edge of the t-molding is pretty difficult even though it sounds easy. I used a straight razor knife and eyeballed it. I think it came out OK but I'm sure there is a more precise way to make the cuts. I also sliced my thumb in the process and got a little blood on there (not pictured). Thank god for the smooth finish - it wiped right up!

To the right is a shot of the cabinet with the top on (not attached) and the coin door closed. If you look closely you can see the groove routed out around the top piece - this is for the 1" t-molding that will eventually go around the outside. I am waiting to get the piece of glass made and the artwork applied before I install it though. That will be one of the last pieces of construction. You can also see the difference t-molding makes by comparing the unfinished sides of the control panel to the finished ones in the picture above. I sure do talk about t-molding a lot, eh? Well, it does look nice... This is basically how it will look when it is finished minus the artwork and the controls. The hole in the middle is for the wiring of the buttons, joysticks and trackball and will not be visible once everything is installed.

In this picture you can see the inside of the coin door. I've never wired anything up before but I don't think it is too hard to figure out (I'll probably be saying something different when I actually start though). The coin door will be set to accept quarters and tokens. The coins trip a microswitch (I'll explain that later when I start talking about wiring more in-depth) that sends a signal to the computer and the MAME program will know that a coin has been inserted and will allow you to press start and play whatever game you have loaded. It is a true arcade experience - you've got to put a quarter in to be able to play! I am also planning including a "coin" button on the face of each control panel and wiring them all to the same place so that you won't actually have to insert a coin every time you want to play but you can if you want to make it more authentic. There are also 2 lights for the "coin return" buttons that need power from the computer to light up. I'm not sure how these things work yet because I haven't come across a "coin return" button in MAME but I'm sure it's in there somewhere.

This final picture of my arcade cabinet for today is just a shot of what will eventually be the top. As mentioned previously, there will be a piece of tempered smoked glass that will go on top and be held down by some clips. The glass will go over the monitor cut out as well as the cutouts on the left and right so it will basically be rectangular in shape (with rounded corners). The most important part of this project (other than the games actually working) is the artwork which will cover the top entirely. Click on the Ms. Pac-man example I posted below to see exactly what I mean. If the artist I've asked agrees to draw me some custom Star Wars art for the top like I described in my last post, this thing will totally kick ass.

Click for an example of a cocktail overlay graphic.

Stay tuned - I hope to post more pictures soon!!