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sebastian_bailey
10-16-2009, 10:45 AM
So I designed and built an arcade cabinet, the case construction is mainly ultralight m.d.f. with plywood, in a dado construction with support cleats, No exposed fasteners, and No sharp corners. It houses a 32" sony flatscreen tube television off craigslist, and 4 players functionality. The treatment for the paintjob on the wood was first a penetrating wood epoxy, (mdf is like a sponge, this makes it tough and not soft), then assembly,
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/wood2.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/wood1.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/wood3.jpg

then bondo for the curved back and front,
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/bondo.jpg

high build primer,
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/primer.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/primer1.jpg

sealer,
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/sealer.jpg

silver base, colored base, pearlcoat,
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/basecoat.jpg

clearcoat. After it was all cleared the first time I was not happy so I added some graphics to it.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/paintdetail.jpg

Tried to go a little retro, but still somewhat presentable today, as to not make it a horrid 80's paintjob. Overall I think it turned out pretty good. I will try to update when more finished.......
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/mockup1.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/mockup2.jpg
sebastian_bailey
10-16-2009, 10:46 AM
Thought I would also add a picture of the sample of the material that will make up the top, its a 2" thick clear resin.....
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/topmaterial.jpg
daautiger10
10-16-2009, 10:53 AM
That's good stuff!! I wish I would have built my own cabinet, but I actually got an old Tekken 3 showcase cabinet for a great price so all i had to do was add the computer.

You have a nice garage there! I think that's the key to a lot of this stuff....having the proper tools and workspace so you can focus one getting your work done.

Great job...be sure to post some more picks once it's finished!!
Tricky
10-16-2009, 11:22 AM
The paint and MAME cutout sells it for me. Awesome work!
BadBoyBill
10-16-2009, 01:41 PM
Man you got some great skills, I love it, and it looks very polished.
shimoda
10-16-2009, 08:04 PM
Damn! I mean Damn! That is smooth! Nice work and I'd love to know more about the resin, are you pouring? buying? where is it cut? Just plain nice!
shimoda
10-17-2009, 02:13 PM
Also, what method did you use for the rounded back? I've thought about this for my cabinet and am interested in how you worked that out.
sebastian_bailey
10-17-2009, 09:43 PM
The resin top is a product called 3form, I work in a cabinet/store fixture shop as a cad drafter, we had this scrap laying around for about 2 years, me and my co-worker always wanted to do something with it and finally I had an idea.

http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/P1013662.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/P1013663.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/P1013664.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/P1013668.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f70/s10boy/arcade/P1013672.jpg

Anyhow that scrap prolly cost around 700$ It was free to me, I then sent it down to the cnc shop and had him bore out the back to a respectable thickness, You wouldn't want to cut this stuff with a handheld router, Then I backpainted the material, (it already was backpainted white), then used a roundover around the controls and backpainted those areas to match the controller color. His cnc does not do any roundovers, just square cuts.
sebastian_bailey
10-17-2009, 09:48 PM
As far as the curved back that was done with 1/8" masonite.... it was hard and I only got about 2-3 layers on, the radius was to short, about 6", then I cut the masonite into 3/4" strips and filled in the low spots I had, then used fibertech, then bodyfiller to block out the surface. The really simple way however is to buy from the lumberyard Italian bending poplar (wuapop)sp? that stuff is super bendable, to about 6" diameter and comes in 1/8" thickness, it was just too much money for me, I tried to stay on a budget, but either method will standup to time and look great.
Rawd
10-17-2009, 10:57 PM
I have never seen a control panel like it, it's excellent! It looks like ice. Great work man.
Mungeste
10-21-2009, 06:09 PM
vvn love the curved top and that CP really looks awesome!
IrishKrush
10-21-2009, 08:48 PM
It looks great! Any plans to illuminate the cutouts on the side of the cab?
FatNasty
10-22-2009, 01:19 PM
One of the best control panel I have ever seen. Few will be be able to top this.