Home Built MAME Arcade Machine Project – Part 6
Building Your Own DIY Arcade Machine - Pictures
Hey guys. Sorry for the delay in my latest post. A lot has been happening in real life lately so I have been a little behind. We got some work done of the system this past Friday but then on Sunday my friend text messaged me with some big news…
His son was born!
I want to congratulate him on his first kid, and I know he’ll be a great dad. That kid is going to know how to build the hell outta stuff!
Anyway, because he is preoccupied with his first child, we are going to be taking a week or two off of building the Arcade Machine. It’s ironic because the timing couldn’t be better.
The last time we worked on the system we did surface work, priming and painting. Short of a little paint here and there, and a few small drill holes and additions that need to be added the system is almost completely done.
In the interim I will be using the extra time to start working on designing the Arcade Artwork for the system. I had been procrastinating about doing this, and now with the kid being born I will have some extra time to get this done right without feeling rushed.
With that being said I will be writing some follow-up articles soon about doing Artwork for an Arcade Machine from the Marquee and Side Panel Artwork to the Arcade Control panel artwork.
But before we do all that, let’s take another look at where we are with the Arcade Machine.
Below I have shots of a latest progress on my home made Arcade Machine along with captions for each picture with information and building tips I have been learning from the project. As always if you would like to see all my pictures for the project you can find them on my Flickr account here: DIY ROM Arcade on Flickr
[Sorry the latest pictures are a little grainy. I had to use my camera phone to take them.]
Home Built Arcade Machine Pictures & Guide - Part 6
We picked up where we left off last week and finished up Priming the system in any spots we are going to paint. We used Auto-body Primer and Filler since it goes on pretty thick and does a nice job of leveling any imperfections in the surface of your Arcade Machine.
You can see in the picture that we also started priming the Arcade Controls. Make sure you do surface work and sanding prior to priming and painting so that you get as smooth a surface as possible.
While the Primer was drying we did some work on the Arcade Controls. In previous week we drilled out holes for where the Arcade Buttons and Joystick will go. Now we needed to start soldering the wires to the USB gamepad we are using so it can be connected to the Arcade Controls.
It helps to have a device like the one we are using in the picture. It holds your circuit board (PCB) in place and makes it easier for soldering connections to it.
We didn’t do the best job of sanding the Arcade Controls down before we Primed the piece and it showed. Once we noticed this we waited for the Primer to dry and went back and sanded down the Arcade Control panel.
As I mentioned before make sure you do a job of sanding and filling any gaps or cracks on the surface of your Arcade Machine before Priming. Using Grey Primer is good because it can be painted white, or black very easily but also does a great job of exposing areas that need work. These areas are much harder to spot if you are using a black primer.
Once the Primer has dried it gets pretty hard and can be sanded down to correct problems without gumming up your sandpaper. (Unlike paint, which is much more of a mess to sand.)
Here my friend is filling some of the gaps and cracks we noticed on the Arcade Controls after we applied the primer. We had used Bondo to fill a lot of gaps on the surface prior to priming but there were still some spots that needed work.
We were trying a couple things out to see how different surface fillers would work on the system. Here we are using a very light weight spackle to fill in very small holes along the beveled edge. Adding the bevel to the MDF resulted in small holes along the rounded edge.
This is a shot of the rear grill we will be using on the system. We are adding a top or rear fan (Haven’t decided on placement yet.) to exhaust any heat that may build up in the Arcade Machine.
We cut this piece out of the PC Case we cut apart to use for mounts inside the system. As you can see we are priming and painting any parts that will be used on the outside of the system.
Here you can see we have Painted the outside of the system and I took a picture of some of the areas inside the Arcade Machine. Once the parts are reinstalled into the system many of the unpainted areas you can see in this picture will be covered.
Once they have dried and we are completely done with the Artwork and Plexiglass we will reinstall the Arcade Joystick and Buttons and wire them up to the gamepad we have been getting ready for the controls.
Here is the final shot of were we left off last Friday. As you can see the system has been completely Primed and Painted. We wanted to make sure it was completely dry before we handled the system so we did not leave finger prints in the paint.
The next time we work on it we will be applying the clear coat to protect the paint job. Eventually I will be applying custom designed Arcade Artwork to the side of the system. But this is still in the planning phase at the moment.
Overall I am very happy with how well the paint job came out and how smooth and polished the system feels.
Building Your Own MAME Arcade Machine Summary
As you can see from the pictures above the project is really coming along. I am very happy with the progress we have made so far and now that the construction part is almost finished I am moving into more of the difficult parts of the project.
Building the system has been a challenge but I have had my friends help and he is very knowledgeable when it comes to building things. Some of the next parts of the project I will be figuring out as I go.
I know there are a lot of guides and resources online that can help with this type of stuff but I wanted my first Arcade Machine to be built through trial and error before I started reading through all the information online.
For some of the next steps in this project I will be doing the following:
- Designing a coin plate for the Arcade System.
- Designing Arcade Artwork for the Cabinet.
- Designing the Marquee for the Arcade Machine
I will be documenting each of these projects just as I have done with the rest of this project, so people can follow along and see what I have done through trial and error.
As always thanks for checking out my site, I really appreciate it! Please feel free to leave any comments, feedback or questions below and I will do my best to answer them.
For now, keep checking back to see what develops with the system in the coming days. Thanks!
Build Your Own Arcade Machine Construction Images – Part 4
Pictures of my DIY Arcade Machine Project
Hey all! We got a lot of work done on the Arcade Machine this weekend. We came up with a “To Do” list last week so we knew exactly what we needed to get started with this time around. This helped keep us on track and we got a lot of misc. additions installed.
During the construction we cut out the Arcade Controller panel piece, and created a nice beveled edge for it. We also did the modified wiring for the Power LEDs and Power Switch in the system. In addition to that we installed the plexiglass for the monitor and the Arcade Marquee, and also mounted the White Cold Cathode for the marquee into place.
Once all that was complete we installed the modified wiring, hooked up the light kit, uncovered the LCD display and POST tested the system for the first time. Everything went great with the exception of me forgetting to plug in the data cable for the SATA hard drive, and some problems with an inconsistent power supply (PSU).
So overall we got a lot done and we got the first look at the POST screen on the system. It was late but we wanted to see some semblance of an OS running on the system so we booted it with a Linux Live disk of Kubuntu Linux KDE 4. I will be installing Windows XP Home as the primary OS on the system, but I have set aside a 10gb partition for Kubuntu Linux so I can write up some articles on using Emulators in Linux and add them to the site.
As always, all of the pictures for the construction can be found on my Flickr account but I have featured the highlights of the construction here with details and tips for Building your own Arcade Machine.
Home Built Arcade Machine Images - Part 4
Here is a picture of where we finished up last time. As you can see we have most of the external parts of the Arcade Machine complete with the exception of Arcade Controller.
The first thing we did was cut out the Arcade Control Panel piece according to the PDF Arcade Machine Plans I have posted on the site.
Once we had the Arcade Control panel cut out we mounted it into the Arcade Machine to make sure everything fit correctly. It was a perfect fit. We went ahead and added a 45 degree cut sloping towards the monitor for aesthetics and so we would have access to the controls on the LCD monitor if needed.
Once we knew the Arcade Controller piece would fit into the system properly we added a second layer of MDF along the bottom so we could create a beveled front edge for the Control Panel. I traced a line along the bottom of where the Arcade Controller rested on the system so we would know where our second piece of MDF needed to stop.
We traced out the shapes we needed and got them as close to the right size as possible. You want a little bit of overlap on your original piece and then you can use a router to even up the edges.
Once this was done we used a beveled edge bit on the router to round the top and bottom edge on the front of the Arcade Control Panel. This gave the piece a very nice rounded look and feel.
Here is a close up shot of the beveled edge on the bottom of the Arcade Control panel. Once we were finished, both the top and the bottom of Arcade Controls had a nice beveled edge like this.
Next I prepped the wiring for the Arcade Cabinet. Because we are running the power switch to the top of the Arcade Machine (like you would find in many Commercial Arcade Machines) I needed to use the wiring from another power switch to create an extra long one.
I also needed to splice together two Red Power LEDs to illuminate the coin plate I will be crafting for the system. The red LEDs will provide the glow from behind the coin clot that is so trademark of most modern Arcade Machines.
Here you can see the dual red LEDs I have wired up. I spliced the two LEDs into one set of wires so both lights will be powered by the Power LED lead on the motherboard. This way I will have two constant red LEDs glowing in the system. I just need to solder the points where I connected the wires and they will be good to go.
Next we had to cut the plexiglass for our Arcade Machine. There are a lot of suggestions online on the proper way to do this. After reading some forum posts to get a little background we decided using the back of our razor blade (the dull side) to score the plexiglass was the best way to go.
Once this line had been scored into the plexi we used the sharp side of the blade to create a nice line where we would break to the plexi-glass. After that was done you just give it a light whack and it should break perfectly along the line you have made. Worked like a charm!
Next I got the White Cold Cathode light kit ready to be installed into the Arcade Machine. This will be mounted behind the plexiglass for the marquee to provide illumination for the Arcade Marquee.
Here we have installed the plexiglass for the Display and Marquee in the Arcade Machine. We tacked in cleats on the side of the LCD monitor so we would have a place to attach the plexiglass.
In the top you can see the Marquee piece still has the protective film on it. If you look closely you can see the White Cold Cathode mounted inside the system behind the Marquee plexiglass.
Once we had the additional wiring in place we fired up the system to make sure everything was working properly.
Here you can see the White Cold Cathode behind the Marquee is turned on and working properly along with a faint POST screen that can be made out from behind the protective cover for the LCD Monitor in the Arcade Machine.
Since I opted not to install a CD/DVD ROM drive into the system (to save on space and budget) I am using an external DVD-RW drive that I borrowed from work to install Windows XP Home and Kubuntu Linux KDE 4 onto the system.
This way I can just plug the drive into the USB ports on the motherboard, set the BIOS to boot from a USB device and I am ready to go.
This is the final shot from this week’s construction. It was about 1:30am and we had just POST tested the system for the first time. All the hardware worked great with the exception of the power supply which is experiencing an inconsistent POST on hard reboots (Shutdowns).
We used a Micro ATX 200w Power Supply to test the system and rule out problems with the one we had installed. (An AGI 350w PSU). This cleared up the problems with the inconsistent POST so I will need to exchange the PSU before next Friday so we can get this bad boy up and running.
Building Your Own Arcade Machine Follow-Up
Overall I am very happy with the way things are progressing. We have been taking our time and thinking things through while we construct the system. I think this is one of the most important pieces of advice I could offer to people who want to build their own Arcade Machine.
“Take your time. Plan things out. Have fun, and be Creative!”
After all that's what makes a project like this worth doing. If you're not having fun, or don't like the way things are turning out, take a breather and come back with a fresh perspective on your project.
If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below. I will respond to any and all comments people leave on the site regarding the project.
As always thanks for visiting my site and keep coming back to check for updates! Next week we will be working on the construction of the Arcade Controller so be sure to check back and see how things turn out!
DIY ROM Arcade Machine Construction Pictures – Part 3
More Pictures of My Home Built Arcade Machine
Well it has been a long time since I have posted! Sorry for the delay in my updates. I actually had a pretty rough couple weeks. I don’t want to bore anyone with the details so a brief recap of what happened to me in the last 3 to 4 weeks.
02/23 – 02/27 – Got the Flu and a Fever of 102 degrees.
02/23 – 03/10 – Contracted a Bronchial infection and cough from a coworker.
03/05 – 03/08 – Stomach bug with flu like symptoms that I caught from my boss.
03/11 – Had all four of my Wisdom Teeth removed.
03/11 – 03/18 – Contracted a case of “Persistent Hiccups” that lasted about 156 hours straight (almost 7 days) and ended up in the Emergency Room on Friday night and Urgent Care on Monday, and Tuesday. I was so doped up on Thorazine when they finally fixed me I couldn’t think straight until Friday. (03/20)
Needless to say, it has been an eventful month. >.<
Now that I have got all that off my chest (no pun intended.) I would like to give an update on the status of the project.
We finally had a chance to work more on the Arcade Machine I am building this weekend. Since our last round of work consisted of dry fitting all the parts into the system we needed to actually mount all the PC Hardware into place inside the Arcade Machine.
Below are pictures from the latest round of the construction of the DIY ROM Arcade Machine. Please feel free to ask questions or leave comments below if you are interested in the project.
DIY Arcade Machine Construction Pictures
Since we did a dry fit of all the PC Hardware inside the Arcade Machine last time we needed to finally mount all parts into place. We decided to glue in a layer of plywood over the MDF we built the system with so we would have a more solid surface that is better for holding screws.
We simply used wood glue to mount the plywood into the bottom of the system and let it set. We now had a great surface to screw into for mounting our PC hardware into the Arcade System.
Once the plywood was in place we started mounting the PC hardware into the system. Here is a shot of the motherboard mounting plate and hard drive mounting enclosure mounted into the system. We were able to screw directly into the plywood to hold all the parts in place.
To mount the Surge Protector and Speakers into the system we attached the hardware to smaller plywood panels we cut out. This way we could screw the panels directly into the plywood we installed into the bottom of the Arcade Machine.
To determine where we need to install screws into the panel for the Surge Proctor we did a rubbing of the bottom to determine where the screw holes were. Once this was done we could cut out the paper and tape it down to our panel so we had a perfect template for where the screws needed to go.
Once we had the plywood panel mounted onto the Surge Protector we were able to mount it into the system. We are going to do the same thing with the speakers which will go on both sides of the hard drive enclosure we have installed into the Arcade Machine.
Once the Surge Protector was in place we mounted the speakers into the Arcade System. We did the same thing as before and mounted plywood panels to the bottom of the PC hardware so the panels could be screwed into the plywood base we installed in the Arcade Machine.
Next I mounted the Motherboard and Video Card onto the motherboard mounting plate we installed onto our wooden panel. We cut slots in the cleats on the back of the system so the wooden panel can be slid into place once the motherboard has been installed. This gives us easy access to the parts incase we need to modify or repair the Arcade Machine.
In this picture you can see that all the PC hardware has been installed into the system, and is mounted in place. Every has been securely screwed down so the system can be easily transported without having to worry about the hardware shifting back and forth inside the Arcade System. This is the lower level of the Arcade Machine that houses the Power Supply, Hard Disk Drive, Surge Protector and Speakers.
Here is the second level inside the Arcade Machine that houses the Motherboard and Video Card in the system. The plywood panel for this sits directly above the Power Supply and Surge protector giving me easy access for wiring up the system. At this point all the basic wiring has been done and I have started to zip tie cables to clean up the inside of the Arcade Machine and keep it nice and organized.
This is a shot of the Power Cable from the Surge Protector running out of the back of the system. The Surge Protector serves two main purposed in the Arcade Machine. First it protects all the computer hardware in the event of an electrical issue, and it makes it so we can plug in our monitor and PC and still utilize just one cable from the Arcade Machine.
These are the buttons and joysticks I ordered from Xgaming.com. I decided to bring them even though we were not working on the Arcade Controller this time so that we could experiment with the idea I have for the controller. We will be using a USB controller and soldering on to the existing points in the controller to add the Arcade Sticks and Buttons.
Here you can see the first Button for the Arcade Controller attached to the USB joystick. The USB joystick in the picture is one that I had from a while back that was just being used for testing purposes incase we messed something up.
You can see in the picture the wires have been connected to the controller and the button has been wired up. The initial tests worked great with good response from the button in an NES Emulator.
I will be posting more information on this topic once we move into the construction phase of the Arcade Controller for the system.
Build Your Own Arcade Machine “To Do” List
So there you have it. That’s the third week’s progress on our Home Built Arcade Machine. As you probably guessed from my health update above things have been going a little slow but now that I am feeling better I want to get back to more regular updates on the side which means more regular work on the Arcade Machine.
The pictures above of just a few of the massive stockpile I have been adding to my Flickr account along with extended details on each picture and the project. If you are interested in more information or would like to see more of what’s going on with my DIY Arcade Machine check my Flickr profile at the link below.
Due to the fact that I was unable to drink beer during our last construction phase we actually got a lot more done than normal so I was looking the system over and planning out what needs to be done next time we have a chance to work on it.
TO DO
- We need to install cleats on the sides of the display so we can attach a piece of plexi glass over the monitor to protect it from finger prints and dust.
- Attach a cleat in the top of the system behind where the marquee will go. Drill holes in the sides of the cleat so we can mount the White cold cathode into the system.
- Run a power button up the side of the system into the top so we can install the power switch into the top of the system like in many authentic Arcade Machines.
- Splice together two Red LEDs for the PWR Lead on the motherboard. (Power Light) so they can be installed behind the faux coin plate I will be building for the system.
- Build a faux coin plate for the system.
- Drill holes in front of the speakers to improve system sound. These holes will need to be covered by some sort of front plate for aesthetic purposes.
- Get front plates for the speakers.
- Cut the plexi glass for in front of the display and the marquee section of the Arcade Machine.
- Come up with a way to mount the Marquee into the system.
- Cut the panel for the Arcade Controller.
- Bring a keyboard, mouse, and CD-Rom to start installing the operating system onto the Arcade Machine.
These are just a few of things that come to mind for next week’s project. As always I expect some things will come up as we go, but we have been taking our time with things and I am very happy with how the system is turning out.
I will post more updates next week after we have another chance to work on the system. As always Thanks for checking out my site, and please feel free to leave and comments or feedback on the article below.