Black is the New White

Started on the black painting today. As you can see in the pics it looks very streaky and pretty crap at the moment. Another coat or two should fix that right up though. It looks as though I didn't stir the paint enough, although that's not the case. I also bought some clear varnish which I will put on once I've done another one or two coats of black.




I also found a local source for some perspex, so I just need to make up a template for the pieces I want cut, and then that will be all sorted. I'm actually thinking of using glass rather than perspex though, as it appears its cheaper or at least similarly priced, and should look nicer.

Don't Forget Your Undercoat

I've spent quite a few hours over the last couple days doing some painting. So far I've put on two coats of primer/undercoat, and tomorrow I'm going to start on the proper black paint. It actually looks pretty nice with the white paint, but I'm sure it'll look even better black. I haven't decided what type of finish I want yet, matt or gloss. I'll probably go with the gloss but you never know. Here's a pic, I'd take more but hey its just white paint.


Oh and in case you're wondering why I didn't paint the control panel, that's because I bought some black overlay stuff from the guys at OzStick, which is meant to protect against rubbing from hands near the controls. Which is going to be important as there will be a lot of usage.

Odd Jobs

Today I just did a few little odd jobs which I'd been meaning to get around to, and since the shops aren't open due to the Easter holiday, that was about all I was going to get done. First of all, I attached the remaining two pushbuttons that I bought a while ago. There is one on each side of the machine, for pinball games.


Next, I replaced those ugly hinges on the coin door, with some leftover piano hinge. I have to say I'm much happier with the look now, and I just need to fill in the screw holes with some wood putty and no one will be any the wiser.


Last of all, I changed the shelf for the fluro light thanks to a suggestion from my Dad. I rotated the shelf 90 degrees, and then actually screwed the fluro light into this shelf. This now looks a lot neater. And yes I know no one is actually going to see this, but it makes me feel better inside.


I'm not sure if I can really do much else now until the shops reopen. I was going to wire up the buttons today, but I decided it would actually be best to do this after all the painting has been done. So stay tuned, this project is only going to look cooler from here on in!

Phase 2 Complete

Reached a good stage in the project today - all the wood sections have now been put together! So, I guess you could say we are pretty close to a fully constructed arcade cabinet. I modified the plans a little bit, and put in a shelf for the fluro light, because I didn't really want to attach it using L-brackets, particularly as its not quite as wide as the rest of the cabinet. This way I can probably just tape or chain the fluro to the shelf, and it should be nice and stable. Here's a piccy:


And for completeness, here's a shot of the back - I attached the final panel down the bottom.


There's a few things I want to get done before I start painting. First of all I need to get a hold of some perspex, for the marquee, as well as for placing in front of the TV screen. All of the buttons/joysticks still need to be wired up as well. Also, I'm considering changing the hinges on the coin door, cause I really don't like them all that much. The computer needs to be setup, speakers installed, and artwork found for the sides. Lots to be done!

Behind Closed Doors

Making progress once again. Two main things today - the first is that I attached a handle/lock of sorts, to keep the keyboard door closed. This mechanism turned out to be a lot more expensive than I thought it would be, but I think it looks quite nice. Here's a closeup of it:


If you look carefully, you can see that everything apart from the turny knob is retracted slightly into the wood. I plan to fill this in with some wood putty or something similar, and then paint over it, so that you can only see the handle. Should look quite nice I think. Here's another pic of the whole thing with the door shut:


The second main thing I got done today was attaching the keyboard drawer. It now slides in and out quite nicely. I had to make a few minor adjustments as the drawer slides I bought seem to be a little thinnner than the ones in the plans, so the piece of wood that acts as the keyboard drawer was actually not wide enough. So, I left a slight gap between the drawer slides and the actual drawer, and it seems to have worked out ok. Some more pics for you:






I also bought a fluro light today, but I accidently bought one that is designed to fit into the ceiling - that is, it has no bloody power cord. But this might actually be a good thing, depending on how I end up hooking everything up. What I would ultimately like to do is press the blue button on the front, on the coin door, and have everything turn on - fluro lights, computer, TV and speakers. We'll see about that though. Oh and by the way, for those who dont know what the fluros are for, they are for lighting up the marquee/banner up the top. Stayed tuned if you've got no idea what I'm talking about :)

Basic Monitoring Service

The main thing I did today was attach the monitor base. This is where the TV will sit, and since TVs aren't the lightest things in the world, it needs to be nice and strong. Fortunately the Ultimate Arcade plans provide a very solid support for the monitor base, so I'm not worried about it at all. I'm quite confident that I could sit on it with no problems.

So, first of all I attached two studs underneath where the monitor base will go, for support:




Then, I screwed the monitor base onto the studs:


There was a lot of screws involved with that, and now my arms are quite tired :) Earlier I also attached a piece of the framing, which will surround the outside of the TV (when finished) and provide something to screw a perspex covering onto. This can be seen just above the control panel.

Are you a Control Freak?

Alright, so I got to a fun part today, something I've been waiting to do for ages - attach the control panel! It looks so cool having it in place, I can't wait to be up and running and bashing on those buttons. I also attached a piano hinge for the front foldout section, which reveals a keyboard drawer behind it. The keyboard drawer slides out, so I had to attach some drawer sliders as well. They work really nicely, very smooth and solid.

From the front, keyboard door open:


Close up with the door open, and drawer slides extended:


Another close up, this time showing the piano hinge:


And finally one with the door closed. I had to hold it shut, as I haven't attached anything to keep it closed yet. In fact, I haven't even decided what I'm going to use! The plans use a door lock type thing, with a key, but I don't really think that's necessary for protecting the crap keyboard I'm going to use. Might see what I can find at the hardware store tomorrow, probably just use something like magnetic contacts.

One Panel, Two Panel, Three Panel, Four

Today I screwed on another four panels, and now it's really starting to take shape. I definately need to visit the shops tomorrow as I'll be working on the sliding drawer, so hopefully I'll be able to find what I need fairly easily. Nothing really interesting to report, just lots of drilling, screwing and positioning.

Here's a shot from front on:



And one from the side:



And one from the back:

The Price of Entry is One Coin

I had a totally free afternoon today, so I dedicated it to this project, and it certainly paid off. I decided that I definately needed to have a coin door, as I didn't want to have to move the machine away from the wall everytime I wanted to access the insides, as the plans I am following only have an opening in the back. So, I made some modifications and put in a door at the front, which meant I needed to travel to the hardware store and buy some hinges and some more screws. While I was there, I picked up a nifty keylock to put on the door, which will stop anyone who doesnt have a key (or a sledgehammer) getting inside the machine, thus protecting my valuable 20c coins.

So, here's the result:



To be honest, I'm not really all that keen on the hinges, but I visited three hardware stores and they were the best I could find. The first store only really had gold hinges, which obviously wouldnt match, while the second store was conveniently having a stocktake audit today, and wouldn't you know it, they were counting the hinges, among other things, and so customers weren't allowed in that section...never mind, they work. Take note of the keylock as well...currently locked! Oh, and that blue button is going to act as a power button. Once the machine is on, it should light up a nice bright blue.

Another shot of the front:



And here's one with the door open:



The coin mech sure looks confusing from the back, but hey, as long as it takes coins. Lastly, here's a shot from the back:



So, that took me all afternoon. It was actually quite a lot of work, cutting the door, fitting the hinges and the lock, and then making room for the power button and coin mechanism. It actually took me quite a while to fit the coin mech, as I had to take it apart to attach it, and it took me literally about 5 attempts to make a hole that was big enough to fit it through (but not so big that the hole would show from the outside).

Tomorrow I'll be attaching more pieces to the front, and probably get up to working on the keyboard drawer. This is going to be a drawer that slides out, so I'll need to get a hold of some sliding hinges or something like that. Looks like I'll be going shopping again tomorrow.

Two Become One

I started putting the seperate pieces together today, and although it was quite slow going, it's actually starting to take shape now and look like a real arcade machine! Well, with a bit of imagination that is. I had a bit of trouble with some screws, I couldn't figure out why they weren't screwing in properly, took me about half an hour to realise my screwdriver was pretty much totally stripped. Also had to refit a couple of pieces as I didn't follow the instructions properly, but it's all good now. So, take a look:



And a close-up:


And one from the back:


Tomorrow I'll be attaching some pieces on the front side. Who knows, I might even make it up to attaching the control panel. Don't hold your breath though! I've gotta work out exactly what I'm going to do with the coin slot. I've got an actual coin slot to fit in to the front, but no door to open up and retrieve the coins! So I might have to buy some hinges and cut one out. We shall see...

Drill This

Seems every time I think I have everything I need, I find one little thing missing. Today it was the right sized drill bit, and since all the shops are closed...well, nothing's getting done today. So it's off to the shops tomorrow for some drill bits, then maybe, just maybe, I can finally start piecing this thing together!

More Routing Fun

Ok, so once again I've been a little slow. Life has been keeping me very busy lately, and on top of that, Australia neglects to sell router bits measured in the imperial system. That's right, we use metrics!! Unfortunately this means that our measurements are not always exactly the equivalent of the imperial measurements - the end result being, I had to order a router bit from the fellas at T-Molding.com, and I've been waiting for it to arrive.



So, now that I've finally got my wonderful router bit, I've been able to cut the holes for the t-molding all around the edges of the big side pieces:



Here's a shot with a sample piece of t-molding inserted. Note that the colour didnt come up well, its actually quite a bit darker:



So that's probably all of the routing I'm going to need to do. Pity, I quite enjoy routing - it's pretty effortless, and a very powerful machine.

The rest of today's work was kinda boring - just chopping up some 2"x4" studs to size:



Now that they've been prepared, that means pretty much all the wood cutting has been finished. Which means, next time I get to move onto actually putting this thing together! Should be fun.