No real progress but I'll update anyway...

Wow, where does the time go? I started thinking about this project over a year ago and construction began way back in April and here we are and I'm barely 1/2 way finished. There's still a TON of work left to do.

I haven't been able to find the time to physically work on my arcade in the past few weeks but I have managed to order a few more parts that I need including the artwork! I'm hoping to get started on the interior construction on Sunday. The New York Football Giants don't play until 8 p.m. so the entire day should be free. I recently contacted an artist named Tom Hodges (www.tomhodges.com) who has graciously agreed to draw me a custom Star Wars theme for my cab in the same style as the pictures below with "Knights of the Arcade Table" in a large font to go along the sides of the monitor (for a price of course but it's well worth it). It should take a few weeks at least before the artwork is finished but if it comes out 1/2 as good as these pictures he has drawn it will look unbelievable. Go check out his website and order some art from him!



Pretty cool looking, eh? Tom has agreed to send me the drawing as a photoshop file so I can have it printed by the people over at www.mamemarquees.com. I've never used them before but from what I've heard they do an outstanding job and the customer service is top notch. I will post a mini-review when I reveive the final vinyl overlay from them but it will probably not be for quite some time. First, Tom has to draw the picture and send it to me. Once the file has arrived, I will have to position it on a template (against a black background) in the opposite corners of the table top and it will be ready to print. The file size I requested from Tom is 300DPI (dots per inch), which is a very high resolution so the printed result should have a photographic look to it - very smooth lines and no jagged or pixelated edges. This will be the most important part of the cabinet from a visual standpoint because it is what your eye will be drawn to upon seeing it.

Check out the SWEET layout I drew. Anyone should be able to tell exactly what I'm going for, right? Hahaha... yeah, I don't really have any artistic talent as far as drawing is concerned but you get the idea... I actually sent this to Tom!!! I hope he can figure it out - I didn't really specify a design other than wanting a drawing of jedi knights with their lightsabers out and ready to kick some ass...

More to come later!