Topic: Arcade 1up 3/4 scale retro coin op cabinets

[Clonehead]

Here is a couple shots of the new lineup on that one wall.
I had moved Big Blue street fighter over by the racetrack because it was so much taller than the others where it was. I put Killer Instinct where it was next to Ridge Racer.
And, to try to squeeze out some more room, I shifted that whole line 10 inches to the right so I could squeeze in Dig Dug on the left end next to the ALP.
  One aspect of owning your own arcade”ish” is that while it is a pain in the butt when you have so many, re arranging the arcade is great fun.
I have everything working again in that side but need to sync some lights up.
KI needs lights behind its coin doors but I’m itching to work on T2 again.

See how washed out Dig Dug and Pac-Man’s marquees are? That is going to change real quick.
See how the lcd screens on those two also look washed out? Cheap side lit monitors. You want a nice led backlit lcd.  May look into changing those out one of these days also.

[Tamer]

That is so awesome to see. And running out of room!

[Clonehead]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=irIJX_vWiok

Finally getting back to this hurdle of the lower lighting array. It has progressed some with the light placement and I’m within 5 lights I think, from calling it done.

[Clonehead]

Somewhere or another, I came across this box of battery operated wire. This pack was to be worn with the battery pack at a party or rave. The wire requires an alternating current to work so a controller of some type is always included. I have seen 5 volt and 12 volt versions.
  I had been sitting on this set for a while but think it would work with this project.  Some el wire comes with a side tab that can be stuffed into a crack but not this version so, I’m supergluing it on. Where the two tails end at the bottom, they should sweep to meet each other over the marquee.

[Clonehead]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mDc92uhOmGA

Oh yeah, I’m liking this idea. Check the quick video

[Starchaser]

Yeah, that's cool! I really liked the video, too.

[Tamer]

Man, awesome stuff Clint. Off to share.

[Clonehead]

Thanks Shawn, this project has been taking too long. It’s like I’m dragging my feet.
 I had decided before yesterday that I wanted the E L wire to wrap the top of the marquee on the cab side and knew I didn’t quite have enough to complete the distance so, some kind of little filler widget will be needed. It would be great to have a little piece with like a die-cut terminator logo that I could light from behind or something.
  So if I had another piece of E L  wire the same length and color, where should I put it? 2 choices, wrap the riser top including to sweep down in front and below the lower marquee and turn the corner to head back down the sides. That length would end about at the riser back corner in each side. This was my initial thought. It is warned that glare on the screen could effect the light guns so I probably shouldn’t wrap the screen but, I think I could wrap all the way around the control deck, front sides and back, without it hurting and think it would be pretty cool.
  If things get wacky? I guess I could do both.

I used the poster frame that came with the plexi that I have been using and cut some pieces to fit the marquee where it met the riser for the upper part and glued them in place.
  For the lower part, I just wanted kind of a trim piece with a lip to contain the plexi bottom. I ended up using two pieces of right angle styrene and glued them together in a T. Top side to contain and bottom side to trim the top of that wood I threw under the marquee.
   I’ll get a shot of the package. That led sound activated spectrum analyzer I have taken apart on my lap in the next post, if I de-case these carefully, they will fit, indicator screen up, at a right angle to the marquee to hit the console body right under where I swept they E L  wire. The fit is tight and sharp looking and the programmable display is pretty cool. The two of them will be set to red, and analyze as a power bar, facing either direction, powered by USB also, I’m incorporating a non powered hub for these two and the first set of E L wire

With eBay sets, I have a 12 volt E L controller or two. The other one”or two possibly” E L  wires on this cab will be powered by the 12 volts coming into the Light Genie,or main cab power, or factory marquee power…my choice.

[Clonehead]

You can see where I fit in the face of this spectrum analyzer on the right between the marquee top and the cabinet body, face up.  I will have one on both sides with the gap in the middle covered by more of the same facing. I’ll glue em to the cab and allow the marquee to still be removable for servicing of the lights and to get to the mode buttons on the bottom of the spectrum analyzer units

This is going to be a brain melter.
I think my brain is partially melted from working on it.

Looking at the pics, I got to wondering if it would look cool to just have the length on the right end where the bottom of the “T” ends? The other side stops where the 2 ends. Could look either wonky or kind of cool and you can trim the dead ends of the E L wires to fit without hurting their function.

I may throw a piece of black tape up there to see what it would look like trimmed as such.
Or, I could have them end where the active lights of the spectrum analyzer start on each side. I suppose I should face them so the inside of the display represents the beginning of the display arc. I could face them either way and have several different sound displays to cycle through

[Tamer]

Looks like you are figuring it out. I would be a mess at this point if it were me.

[Clonehead]

So I did get busy at work this week and as a result didn’t get much done.

Waiting for a few parts and some more patients for T2, I adopted a little side project.
   I had accumulated so many RGB light tape sets that I wanted to incorporate some of them in a light array that hangs from the ceiling.

I had two 6 foot flooring trim transition pieces that I affixed light tape to, using enough to have 1 on each side.  I positioned and suspended these pieces from the ceiling, over where the neon rope light is on the floor below.
I then cut some foam board pieces to mount on the bottom of the floor joists above the light array to reflect some more light.

[Clonehead]

I then cut and mounted more foam board behind, to reflect more light and a short strip in front to hide the individual LEDs from the observers eye and also to make the light brighter still.
  These suspended sets have several colors available, all of which match the colors offered by the neon tube in the floor.

And here is a couple shots of terminator. I’m wrapping up instal on another piece of E L wire

Please forgive the mess, I’m making magic here.

[Clonehead]

So I thought that lower E L wire placement looked hokey and I re worked it this morning. It pays to mock-up this stuff with tape or something to decide, especially when I get into running a longer string of this stuff, like 12-16 foot worth, into one cab. It will take some planning to use and route the length right.
I had a different longer red piece I could of used but the hue of the red didn’t match the other wire so I went with this one.

[Clonehead]

I have too many arcade projects going on.
   I have been picking up full sized arcade marquee translite pieces off of Etsy and eBay for display in the beam pockets of my basement overhead.
  I had been wanting to make a stand-alone lit sign using one of these with a store bought shadow box. I found one marked down at Hobby Lobby for $15 and although the size wasn’t perfect for the most common marquee translite “8”x26””, it was close enough to work. The box’s glass insert measured 28”x7” so, I needed to choose the right artwork, something with a black border that I could extend to the sides without looking bad. The top and bottom would have to be trimmed to fit.
  I had a menaurds tape light string that was 12
Volt with a splitter and extra patch cord to just patch in the power to one of the games’ power in jacks. The string itself was warm white and a touch short for my needs. I would have to add some more lights.

[Clonehead]

These things always look more washed out using a digital camera.

I still see a couple of cool spots but think it looks pretty cool.
I can’t wait to do another one like this. I believe Tron will be the next victim