Jack Burtons Weecade

Jack burton

Right since i dont want to hijack anyone elses thread I'll start my own

Basically Im building a machine based on the Weecade designs

http://www.koenigs.dk/mame/eng/stepweecade.htm

I have a monitor, got some decent speakers today and I got a huge sheet of 12mm MDF.

I just have a few questions that I need to ask and hopefully i can get some help

1. I need and amp for the speakers, anyone know what kind of amp I can get that will be easy to hook up to the PSU?

The speakers are 2 way 10cm, RMS power 40W, MAX power 160W

2. I need a light for behind the marquee aswell, whats the best type to get that i can easily hook up to the psu with as little hastle as possible

Thanks and theres a lot more questions to come Im sure haha

Optimus Prime

not sure about number 1 but number 2 you can just buy one of the lights that you have above mirrors in a bathroom, have a 4 way plug inside the cab and plug that into one of the sockets, thats what im thinking of doing on mine anyways. you can buy led ones off the arcade parts websites but i couldnt be bothered with that.;)

Good luck with the build!

Jack burton

Yeah i suppose that would be the easiest option really.

Is there anyway to hook up a molex power cable to the light? or would that be draining the PSU too much?

MIght see what the LED options are aswell

Optimus Prime

Not sure about the light you would buy from B&Q, but leds can be hooked up to the cable from a floppy drive alright, thats how the lights in my led pushbuttons are going to get power.

CiDeRmAn

What about something like this?
http://cgi.ebay.ie/Mini-Amplifier-Audio-200W-200W-Hi-Fi-Stereo-Car-AMP-New-/200547814081
It needs a 12vDC powersupply.

Jack burton

Yeah I'd say somthing liek that might work, I cold always just just a 4 way plaug for the light, amp and PSU then yeah?

Optimus Prime

Well, thats what im planning, Monitor, PC, Light, and Subwoofer\speakers into a four way with the plug from that coming out a hole in the back.

Jack burton

Yeha that sounds like the best way to do it, cheers buddy!

CiDeRmAn

Jack burton wrote: »

Yeah I'd say somthing liek that might work, I cold always just just a 4 way plaug for the light, amp and PSU then yeah?

The old spell checker switched off by itself again?
Or is that chequer?
Feck off MS!

It's not subsidize, its subsidise!

weeder

whatever you do, use a seperate psu for the amplifier, the pc psu will work but it gives off a lot of electrical noise that will be audible through the speakers.

Jack burton

What do you mean seperate PSU? Like just use a standard plug for it?

weeder

aye, there is no problem using 12v from the pc psu to do it but you will most likely hear noise from the pc coming from the speakers

Jack burton

Well Sure I'll get a 4 plug adaptor and that'll take the Light, Monitor, amp and PC PSU, one lead coming out the back then

Sorted!

Hygro

You're living the dream Jack!!!

weeder

Jack burton wrote: »

Well Sure I'll get a 4 plug adaptor and that'll take the Light, Monitor, amp and PC PSU, one lead coming out the back then

Sorted!

yup basucally what im going to do

Jack burton

Git sorted with a light anyway, With my friends today and we went to get some fish for one of them

Saw the perfect thing there, 2 loose florescent bulb connectors to an standard plug, even a little box i can mount to the outside with the starter and on/off switch with it.

Hygro

Jack burton wrote: »

Git sorted with a light anyway, With my friends today and we went to get some fish for one of them

Saw the perfect thing there, 2 loose florescent bulb connectors to an standard plug, even a little box i can mount to the outside with the starter and on/off switch with it.

Looks like everything's turning up "Milhouse"!!

Jack burton

Just maked out a template for the sides and geting cutting in the morning.

I'm worried that everything mightnt fit now that im looking at it full scale. :P

Only one way to find out

Jack burton

Well I got a good bit of work done on this today



Thinking about the paint job, Think I might go with a red white and black, ala a Neo Geo cab, go with the same button layout and colour aswell. What do ye think?

Have to start working on the electronics of all this soon too.
Need to get a amp for speakers, anyone got any idea what would be a good one to get? somthing with an external power source.

Have to order the arcade parts too, I'll need some help when im ordering those

Ronan|Raven

Looking Good how many sheets of MDF did you need in the end?

Jack burton

Just one sheet of 8 x 4 is all i needed. Half of it is still left over

I dont think its bad for my first attempt at a machine. The marquee is only going to be 80mm high which is kinda think considering the width but overall I think it will be nice

segasega

Looking good so far. Going with the Neo Geo theme is a good idea too. Heres one someone was doing over on arcadecontrols http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=109421.0

Has the CP layout and all there. You making it two player?

Jack burton

No just 1 player, I think 2 players would be kinda cramped and I think having 1 comfortable player is better!

Yeah the Neo Geo cab has this iconic look to it. I'll be doing my own design of it though, wont exactly be like the neo geo, Have to come up with a nice marquee aswell

weeder

lookin good jack, do you plan on going for a steel control panel then??


for speakers i gutted an old pair of very cheap pc speakers and its working very well for me, decent quality from them too but i bought a few sets when buying them for that very reason. had to extend the wires from the speakers to the main board of the speakers but they are working very well.

Jack burton

no no steel control panel, too expensive, I'm not sure what I'll go with, 12mm mdf like everything else will be handy I'd say.

Going to be some job getting everything to fit :P

For the speakers I have a pair of small car speakers that I'm going to use, should give out a right sound.

Optimus Prime

what way are you going to paint it? Im at the painting stage now on mine and im a bit nervous about what way to do it, from what ive been reading online its recommeded to prime with an oil based primer then paint a couple of coats with light sanding in between. just curious what way others have painted their cabs.

Jack burton

Well I'm going to prime it, about 4 or 5 coats then of whatever colour, number of coats depends on the colour really, but just do each coat nice and light. Then I always like to finish off with a ncie clear coat

I'm painting a snes at the moment, and if you plan on ever painting anything white, make sure you have a lot of patience :P

Optimus Prime

Ill be going with black myself, as like everything in this cab its the first time im doing this, ive never painted anything other than a ceiling before. so you recomend a few coats of primer?

Jack burton

Well yeah a good primer base would be a good idea i think, considering mdf is a sponge for paint the primer will create a better base to paint on rather than straight onto the mdf

weeder

whatever you do, DO NOT use standard acrylic primer to prime it, it will go on like a sponge and require loads of coats. i did and i know all about it

Optimus Prime

I was reading you can get MDF specific primer? and that oil based was probably the best way to go.. sound right?

o1s1n

Simple white oil paint always worked as a good primer for me. It's a bit stinky and takes a while to try, but I never thought there was any point wasting money on expensive primers when you can use that instead.

Optimus Prime

Stupid question as i know nothing about this but is white primer ok to use if you using black paint? and how did you paint with a roller or spray or brush? thanks!

o1s1n

White is grand for any colour. Think of it this way - do you have issues drawing with black paint on a white page? It's pretty much the same thing. You're getting rid of the colour of the MDF (and the absorbency) and giving whatever the top colour is more vibrancy as it's on white.

If you're not a regular painter then oil paint and a roller is just a bad idea. You won't be familar with the consistancy and will end up with oil paint all over the place. I don't know if you've tried to clean oils out of stuff, but it's a nightmare.

Also same goes with a spray, it'll probably get clogged up on you.

Stick with a brush..just make sure the paint is thin enough not to leave any brush marks. If you can see marks then the paint is too thick - add some white spirits.

Optimus Prime

I think ill do the back panels first in case i make a balls of it! cheers!

o1s1n

Good luck! Make sure to get a decent brand too like Dulux. It does make a big difference.

DARK-KNIGHT

hey guys this is something i would love to do....

i hope u dont mind me asking a ball park figure for how much this would cost to build? all in i mean?

also when building what options have you got games wise?

o1s1n

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

i hope u dont mind me asking a ball park figure for how much this would cost to build? all in i mean?

Projects like this are one of those things that can be as cheap or expensive as you want. If you already have a screen, old pc, then it'll just be the cost of some MDF and the buttons and stick. If you don't have a PC to use, then that'll bring the price up a bit.

DARK-KNIGHT wrote: »

also when building what options have you got games wise?

The only limitation is the power of the PC you put in it.

Jack burton

More of less have the building part of this

just finished a mockup of the control panel, what does everyone think?

o1s1n

Oooh, very Neo Geo-esque. Nice!

If I was doing that myself, I'd change the button layout to four button Neo geo - have them the Neo Geo colours.

Then stick a couple of extra buttons in the middle underneath in black. So they're there if you need them but you can't really see them if you know what I mean?

Jack burton

Yeah I was thinking that, but I went for this instead, since a lot of the games I have are 3 and 6 button. The button colours match the Neo geo though with 2 red buttons for the coin and start.

Need to make a marquee now aswell, not sure what type of one I'll go for, has to be neo geo anyway, mabye the marquee for the 1 game



Its a lot thinner that that though

o1s1n

There was always one reason I don't like that marquee - the 'Now Featuring' bit. Looks quite naff.

My own favourite is the one I have up for sale at the moment that takes four mini marquees. Might look cool shrunk down.

Also, on your CP where you have 'MAME' written (or anywhere else you're putting the word MAME)...why not come up with something interesting to involve the whole Neo Geo vibe you have going on?

The arcade system is 'Neo Geo -MVS'...so why not substitute the word 'MVS' with 'MAME'? Something like 'Neo Geo -MAME' instead but in the same arcade writing?

Like the MVS logo on this cab -

Jack burton

Something like this maybe?



I'm not sure what to do with the marquee at all yet, its only 485mm x 100mm, very wierd size

o1s1n

Cool stuff!

See the font of the MVS letters in this photo - would it be possible to write MAME like that? With the same chunky inward sloping letters? -



Could even have 'multi arcade machine emulator' written underneath the same way 'multi video system' is written.

Jack burton

Right heres a few more variations, what do you think

I think I like the last one the best

o1s1n

Jack burton wrote: »

Right heres a few more variations, what do you think

I think I like the last one the best

The last one is EXACTLY what I had in my head. Great work!

Jack burton

Yeah I think I'll go with the last one, I'll be putting the same logo on the sides aswell

segasega

Ye, that last one is best. Never liked that little neo geo sign anyway. You getting this printed up somewhere?

Jack burton

Yeah I'll get a good vinyl sticker of it printed up someplace

Jack burton

Right, just finished a mockup of the marquee. I wasnt sure at all what games to use in it so i just put in Killer instinct and AVP, 2 good games so why not.

Which one does everyone else would be better

o1s1n

They both look really great!

At first I was going to say the bottom one..but I really like the offset logo of the first too. Either would look fantastic.

Maybe get them both printed out and see which looks best in the cab?

As a matter of interest, did you see the LCD mini marquee project over on neo-geo.com? Someone got those LCD picture frames and set them in where the mini marquees go..so you can alternate the pictures. Thought it was a good idea.