My bartop arcade build finally finished!

[RedFarmer]

Just wanted to share my build with you all. I started this project over 2 years ago and after finding 15 minutes here and 20 minutes there i'm finally done. It's hard to find time being a parent and me living in Sweden you don't want to be outside cutting wood during winter. But the inner child remembering the days with the old arcades were strong and conquered. I took lots more pictures than these but can't post 'em all :)

Just getting started cutting MDF

Most of the large pieces (except display panel)

Begun mounting

Time to paint. It doesn't show here but man! Paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand until starting to get crazy :P

Created a Space Invaders -style speaker panel :) Weird cut-out in the middle is for a large volume knob.

Spray painted inner sides in semi-gloss black.

Mounting display in display panel.

Bottom back piece with power and cut-out for USB-ports.

Subwoofer mounted.

LED's in place and soldered. You also see the holes i drilled for the subwoofer :)

LED's are working!

Back of speaker panel laying infront of the arcade.

Testing the hinge with the control panel.

CP graphics draft

In sweden a game usually costed 5 crowns (in the 80's/90's) so i needed that for my coin buttons :)

Applying sideart

Other side

Applying marquee graphics to acrylic.

Using graphics as drilling template for the CP.

Drilling CP and CP acrylics

Knocking down the T-molding

I'm getting there! Can't wait to pull the protective plastic off the T-molding and screen glas :)

Started the wiring

Wiring and electronics done!

Marquee in place.

Bat tops are twisted in place.

I'm finally done! Hurray!!

My oldest having the honor :D

[markyh444]

That's lovely. Well done on finishing such a polished cabinet. Your wiring puts my attempts to shame!

[Clyde]

Kudos for this very professional build. Only the sideart is a bit overladen for my taste, I prefer the clean designs of the classic cabinets. But of course that is purely subjective.

Like @markyh444, I bow to the superiority of your wiring. 😌 Here's a picture of mine:

Since that picture was taken, an hdmi splitter has been added along with its power supply and two additional hdmi cables, all of them only rudimentarily tied up like the rest. 😇

[RedFarmer]

Thanks guys! I understand what you mean about the sideart Clyde. It might be a little cluttered but it was a way to express myself about the games i have special connections with. Also, your wiring isn't too bad :)

As you can see, the CP wiring wasn't as neat after i had finished (on the picture in my original post i had just started out). Still not too messy.

I also just made this little sticker that i put on the back of my cab :)

[Clyde]

@redfarmer said in My bartop arcade build finally finished!:

I also just made this little sticker that i put on the back of my cab :)

Sweet! 😄

[Magnum77]

Awesome build.. I am currently building one myself but when I see this, I don't think I will show anyone my bartop…. ever

[Clyde]

@magnum77 I would very much like to see your cab when it's finished. 😊 Every DIY cab is pretty in its own way, and a testimony to the time and effort (and sweat, and tears, and …) that its creator put into it.

[RedFarmer]

I'd like to see both your cabs :)

Magnus77 -> Yours when it's finished.
Clyde -> Your cab seems to be done already.

And i agree. All builds have their own charm and lots of hours put into them.

[Clyde]

@redfarmer Here you are. :)

https://retropie.org.uk/forum/topic/17268/my-asteroids-themed-diy-upright-cabinet

I mention some obstacles and how I worked around them in the thread.

[robertvb83]

@RedFarmer really cool quality built! impressive. The sticker on the back is really sweet, I like such details a lot.

When I build my arcade cabinet I always had in mind that there will be kids and adults beating this thing with no mercy :-) so I decided to design everything overly stable. So I fixed the control panel from the inside with screws. Of course I thought about it making it removable and all but it still is quite a pain in the a** to disassemble from inside because access is very narrow.

I now wish I would have done the control panel back-foldable like you did. Excellent! I like it a lot. Is the magnets strong enough to hold the panel in place even on heavy joystick back movement (pulling like kids sometimes tend to do)?

About the side art, It is a little crowded and I understand what @Clyde is saying but still it is very well made with these clean black borders, so I still like it. Maybe the Asteroids title being cut at 97% disturbs me a little :-)

If I ever build a bartop I will definitely have a look here to see how you did things technically. Thanks for sharing! BTW did you have any kind of template for your cabinet that is available for use or did you do the drawings as well?

Now I whish you a lot of fun with your great work. I am sure everyone will love it and be very jealous of you :-)

[Dipkid]

Snyggt! :)

[RedFarmer]

I like your upright Clyde! At first i also wanted LED action buttons with something like the Ultimarc Pac-Drive to animate them, but found it too hard to get hold of concave LED buttons. Really wanted concaves for the classic feel so in the end, with tears in my eyes i skipped the Pac-Drive. My next project might be building a stand to put the bartop on for simulating the true upright experience.

robertvb83>>
Thank you :) I have 2 young kids that play Dynamite Dux and some other games at times but haven't had any problems with the CP flipping up or moving as of yet. I only have one magnet to the left but it still feels very stable and robust. Actually, at first i had two magnets, one on each side, but i ended up removing the one to the right because it got in the way with the rightmost player 2 button fixing rings.

I had some slight problems fitting some of the side graphics, like the Asteroids one. The same with Wrestlemania actually. As these are originally marquee graphics some of them didn't fill the space that needed to be filled. For a few i needed to be creative and add to them. Asteroids for example i added more stars at the top to make it vertically larger. Golden Axe needed more red etc.

I actually started out with the Starcade build by Rolfebox from Instructables as a template:
https://www.instructables.com/id/2-Player-Bartop-Arcade-Machine-Powered-by-Pi/

In the end i made my cab 1cm wider and 2cm higher, along with other modifications. The CP isn't exactly the same for example. For instance the action buttons are much tighter comparing to the reference sheet. I think some put their buttons too far apart which can make it uncomfortable to play. I also wanted to maximise the space between player one and two. I put alot of time trying to get as good button placement as possible. In the end i wish i'd made the CP/cab even 2-3cm wider :)

Dipkid>>
Tack så mycket :D

[Magnum77]

@dipkid
Grymt jäkla snyggt.. Undra var han beställt vinylen

[robertvb83]

@redfarmer said in My bartop arcade build finally finished!:

For instance the action buttons are much tighter comparing to the reference sheet. I think some put their buttons too far apart which can make it uncomfortable to play. I also wanted to maximise the space between player one and two. I put alot of time trying to get as good button placement as possible. In the end i wish i'd made the CP/cab even 2-3cm wider :)

Dipkid>>
Tack så mycket :D

i can highly recommend the very informative pages of slagcoin
I used the standard japanes arcade layout as presented at slagcoin and am very happy with that

[Clyde]

@redfarmer Glad that you like my cab. :) As you might have read in my thread, I happen to have the Pac-Drive, but only in a static mode so far with all buttons lit. I might experiment with programming some blinking sequences someday in the mid to far future.

The space between the players is a bit of a flaw of my cab's DIY kit. With two adults playing it can become a little crowded, especially if one or both have a sturdy build, as some of my friends do. ;)

[RedFarmer]

@Magnum77
Tack! rockstarprint.co.uk did my printing :) I can highly recommend them. Good contact and high quality prints.

@robertvb83
Good find!

[RedFarmer]

Uploaded a video of the cabinet if anyones interested :)

[angel1682]

@RedFarmer bel cabinato, avrei da chiederti un aiuto per il mio,se puoi.

[RedFarmer]

@angel1682 said in My bartop arcade build finally finished!:

@RedFarmer bel cabinato, avrei da chiederti un aiuto per il mio,se puoi.

My Italian isn't that good unfortunately :D

[Clyde]

@RedFarmer Out of pure curiosity, I asked the web about it:

Nice cab, I’d like to ask you for some help with mine, if you can.