A Lot Of Small Progress

I've made a lot of small progress on the cab. I've done a lot of little things. I have no pictures to post, they're all sitting on the memory card so here goes:

• Tore apart my old control panel to get out the iPac
• Installed the iPac into a project box
• Wired iPac box to two female DB25 connectors
• Built two wiring harnesses that will connect to the buttons
• Wired the marquee light to a power plug (it works and passed the smoke test!)
• Removed old speaker
• Installed Creative PC speakers over speaker holes
• Installed a 12VDC / 10 amp DPDT relay in a powerstrip. (also passed smoke test, so far)
• Removed old power toggle pushbutton from mounting plate
• Installed a cheapo momentary contact button in its place
• Filled control panel with wood filler to level it out and sanded it
• Cleaned up control panel holes a bit
  
• Primered control panel
• Test fitted computer, subwoofer, powerstrip, and coinbox

I'll figure out what to write up next. I'm stalling until I actually finish something. I guess I can write up the relay switch installation, speaker installation, and lighting installation. But for now, my vacation is over. I made a ton of progress and I'm in the home stretch now. Just need to spray paint a few things black, get some plexiglass, resurface some bolts, and square out some round holes. After I do all that, I just need to sit around and wait for my shipments When I get the Control Panel Overlay, I'll finally finish the damn control panel then I can go ahead and put the computer in and strap everything down and fire her up!

Street Fighter 2 Artwork Ordered

I placed the order for the Street Fighter 2 artwork today. The stuff is pretty pricey because of the quality of the artwork and the vinyl on which it's printed. I used the best guys in the business at reproduction video game artwork: Mamemarquees.com The total came out to about $160 bucks, YIKES! Anyway, it's great stuff and I can't wait until it gets here. It's just the finishing touch that I'll need. I got a 10% discount using a coupon code I found by being a member of the the ArcadeControls forum.

Here's what I got:

A Polycarbonate Control Panel Overlay $49:



The Marquee $19:



The Bezel that surrounds the monitor $39:



The Sideart $59:



I spent a lot, but it really ties the room together :D .

Painting

Here's the results of the painting. When we left off I had the original paint sanded smooth, holes filled with wood putty, and gouges filled with spackle.





After I had everything knocked level, I wiped down the dust from the surface of the cab and started painting. I used a quart of Rust Oleum American Accents black Semi-Gloss Latex paint and a fine sponge roller.


I grabbed a nearby small child and had her slave away on the hard painting duties.... until her arm got tired. :)

I did the two sides differently. On my daughter's side, I let it dry and applied a second and third coat. No sanding in between. On the right side, I sanded between coats first using 150 grit (big mistake) and 400 grit. The stupid 150 grit left a few big long deep scratches that only came out after another coat of paint and more sanding with 400 grit. After the third coat, the left side where I didn't sand looks a lot like the right side where I slaved away with 400 grit sandpaper. The only blemishes I can see is on the front panel around the security bar hole where I didn't properly level the wood putty further lending proof to my theory that all this priming and sanding business is a bunch of hooey. In these pics the big round white spots are specks of dust between the lens and the flash.


There was some orange peel when the paint was wet, but it really goes away as the paint dries.








A few unsitely blemishes can be seen in this pic thanks to the wood putty. I should have sanded it better.

All in all, I'm thrilled with the results. I placed an order for Street Fighter 2 artwork, made an enclosure for my iPac, and am awaiting my T-molding and buttons any day now. SF2 artwork was an expensive proposition at around $160 dollars (after using the BYOAC coupon code of course!).

Cutting The Control Panel

To patch up the swiss-cheese control panel, I decided to get a piece of sheet metal and cut it in the shape of the current control panel and bolt it in from behind. I decided against cutting the whole front of the current CP out because I wanted the added support of what was left of the of the current 16ga metal CP on top of the 22ga sheet of steel that I was using.

I used the old plexi as a template and started cutting away.



Once I had the sheet, I affixed it behind the old control panel and drilled out the bolt holes (and P1 P2 buttons), so I could bolt it down and plan out the button holes.


I used a premade template I got off of Pleasuredome and taped it down using MK3fan's pictures as a guide. I realized that when I put the templates where I wanted them, the fierce punch buttons perfectly aligned with one of the original buttons. Once the templates were taped down and the sheet metal was bolted behind the CP, I started adding more holes.


If it looked like swiss cheese before, well it looks like a sponge now!


With buttons and a stick in place, I can see that things are lined up okay. Except I need to file down some of the round holes so I can fit the square pegs (joystick's carriage bolts which weren't fitting right).



Also, because of some gint holes in the CP, two of the buttons are only supported by the underlying 22ga sheetmetal thus making them shorter than the others. This isn't a problem if I'm using plexi (which I plan to), but I'd kind of like to fill in that extra metal. The extra mass will make it stronger and dampen some sound when hitting those buttons


To make some pieces to fill in the gap, I slide in a blank piece of sheet metal and mark out the areas that I need to fill.



Cutting out the pieces I need



Two pieces of the filler sheet metal I need are stacked behind the button and line up level with the old CP. I was way off with my measurements and cutting, but it's close. All it really has to do is raise up the button and support the plexiglass area surrounding the button. I'may fill in the small gaps with wood filler, but then again, I may not. Once the Control Panel Overlay and plexiglass is in place, it will be impossible to tell that there's a mess under there.

Control Panel Stripping

I have my supplies ready. Some GoofOff and an old metal control panel. I have some sheet metal, blades, and a hole saw for later.







Here's the panel and the Control Panel Overlay (CPO) that I need to remove



Look at the underside, it's swiss cheese down there! But it looks like it's some kind of stardard hole pattern for JAMMA though. Just not Street Fighter 2



Okay, getting started. I hit the panel up with a hot hair dryer and work a corner loose. I grabbed it with some pliers and started tugging on it. As long as you keep heat on it, it comes off in large sections. If you do it cold, it's extremely hard to pull and chips off in very small pieces. As you heat it, it smells like a new inflatable raft.


The back was really easy and came out in a few sections




The curved edge didn't strip very easily and took a lot of scraping with the putty knife to get all the vinyl off.


Once all the vinyl is off, I'm left with a metal CP covered with a tacky residue. It's pretty darn thick and will require some GoofOff to remove... this is where it gets really hard and annoying!



What you do is squirt some GoofOff on the panel, scrub it in a bit with a brush, let it soak in for a few seconds, then scrape off as much as you can and do it again. The directions make it seem like you squirt it on and hose or wipe it right off. That's BS. First off wiping didn't do much because the residue was too thick. You have to scrape it with a putty knife. The GoofOff just turns the residue soft and you can scrape it off. You end up with gobs of the stuff, and it evaporates quickly so you have to work fast before it congeals back to a thick residue again.


The back was easier because it is such a large flat surface, but the front was really hard thanks to all the holes. It took HOURS of squirting, scraping, and rubbing. Only if the residue is really thin can you rub the stuff off effectively. The fumes were pretty thick and dizzying without good ventilation.



When I started running out of GoofOff, I switched to lighter fluid with does work to an extent, but not as well as GoofOff and evaporates too quickly. Plus lighter fluid turns your skin white because it dries it out like crazy. In the end, I finally got a mostly stripped control panel, ready for the new sheet metal.

It's still tacky in places, but I don't care, I got most of it off, my fingers are black and sticky, and I'm out of GoofOff.

Filling And Sanding

Today I hit the store and spent $50 more bucks on supplies including paint, wood filler, sandpaper, and stuff to do the control panel later. I spent this evening filling and sanding. It was my first time using wood filler putty. For some reason, I was expecting something like wood colored spackle, but the stuff really is putty. You use your fingers and pack it into the holes like Play-Dough.

Next I gave the cab a looksie and filled any dings and gouges with spackle. After it dried, I hit the right side with some 100 grit sandpaper. After finishing with it I noticed my sinuses acting up. I realized I sanded the whole side without lung protection. Oops! ;D


I did the rest of the sanding with an old Metallica shirt wrapped around my nose and mouth with a clamp holding it behind my head. The makeshift mask worked well, but I know I should've used a respirator.


My plan is to rough up and smooth all the paint and repaint over it with black semi-gloss latex paint. I have a fine foam roller ready to go. I'm reading constantly how everyone strips, sands, primers, sands, primers, sands, paints, sands, paints, sands, and paints... and I think they're nuts. If it's bare wood, sure throw a coat or two of primer, maybe sand to level it out, then paint. I'll do my painting with my daughter on Wednesday, to get her involved in the project. Tomorrow I'll work on the control panel. Can't wait to get GooGone and metal shavings all over my hands tomorrow. ;D

The only question I have is, do I clean all the dust off before I paint? The thing is covered with black dust from all the sanding.

Fixing Cabinet Damage

I've got the clamps from Home Depot. They're 36" clamps at $16 dollars each. I totally needed them to do this cabinet repair. What I did was I drenched the exploded parts in wood glue and sandwiched them down with the clamps between two pieces of wood for about 30 hours. One of the corners was only slightly exploded, but it got the same treatment with the glue and its own clamp. The part whith some missing chunks of particle board also got some spackle filler to fill in the gaps. I know it's not strong enough, but it's seemed to do the job so far.



Also while I was waiting for the glue and spackle to dry, I fixed the bottom. I added some reinforcement on the sides and a ton of screws. This bottom ain't caving in and ripping the particle board again, ever!

Cabinet Stripping Done

After I finished my monitor reinforcement work, I started stripping more stuff. I got the control panel off the cabinet and pulled the sticks and buttons off. Man the thing is like swiss cheese, so many damn button holes, there's not enough metal to support the new layout. I also removed the Carrier Air Wing board, the electrical board with parts attached, and vacuumed the whole cab out. I also bought some caster wheels for the cab, but I still have to figure out where the hell I'm going to mount them.

Today I finished stripping more stuff and got everything out of there. Removed the Jamma wiring harness, coin box, coin door, and security bar. With everything off, the cab is lightened up pretty well. I tipped it over and had a look at the underside.

The right front is a mess. It's smashed and looks like crap. Also thanks to shoddy construction, the thing leans forward. I had a close look and it looks like the bottom board is just screwed into the side panel's nail strips by a couple screws. All the weight on the leg levelers and this board has forced the nail strip and board to be driven upwards in the front. For some reason, in the back it's been driven downwards and the whole bottom board is extremely warped. It's a mess and looks to me like I need to replace the bottom board and the bottom nail strips in order to straighten it all out. It's good that I'll be removing that crap because I'll need the bottom off before I can fix the smashed corner. No other way to get glue and clamps on there with the bottom board in the way.