scratch built cabs

dirt

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ArcadeKO's thread got me wondering. how many of you guys have built your own cabinets? if you have post pictures for all to see or laugh at. i've build some that deserve to be not only laughed at but set on fire. here are a few that were built by me and/or my dad.
 

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The Golden Tee cab looks good. If it had a coin door it would look like an actual MK2/Midway cab. Can't say the same for that one transforming cab. Boy that thing looks really bad. What did you do with that one?
 
that one was for my brother. that is what he wanted so we built it for him. he still has it in his house. it was the only way his wife would let him have a game in the house. yes he is p-whipped.

the golden tee i modeled after a midway cab but i changed it a little. here is the board holder i had in it. it had the gt3d,96,97,98,99,2k, and classic boards.
 

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I was planning to for my MAME cab, but I ended up just building a new cp box for a 4-player konami cab. I liked the cab, so I would have probably built a replica...just didn't seem worth it.

This one already had a 25" monitor and was wired for jamma. I need to run the jamma harness up to my patch panel so I can run jamma pcbs again though.

A friend and I were playing Metal Slug on the Neo Geo cab last weekend. Both of us are significantly oversized, and we were pretty cramped playing it. Really made me appreciate the space on the MAME cab.

BTW, I put the dust washers on top on purpose. My hands are big, and I tend to drag my pinky finger on the cpo. Getting pinched in the hole really hurts. :)

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On my to-build fantasy list:

- Convert my extra and empty Monaco GP cabaret to a mini Road Blasters
- Make a dedicated Teeter Torture (possibly mini), assuming I can get the electronics to work
- Make a custom mini-Spy hunter from scratch, with modified sound hacks and decked-out control panel lights
- Custom, SCI-FI'ish Tempest cab
- Custom multi-jamma cab with rotating monitor for playing both V/H games
 
Not EXACTLY Scratch-built, but I still have my multi-trackball cab that I created from a Virtua Fighter Cab, a TMNT Control Panel Box, and a GT2k CPO. I slanted the monitor back from 5 to 45 degrees, painted and vinyled the whole cab, , added a Jamma boards 6 in 1 switcher and that was that. I never did finish all the details, but with GT2K, WCB Deluxe and Shuffleshot in this behemoth, it easily gets the most play in the game room. Here was the progression:

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I have scratch built a couple. Here's the one I built for my daughter's room and the one I'm currently working on.
 

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I have scratch built a couple. Here's the one I built for my daughter's room and the one I'm currently working on.

That cab you made for your daughter is really nice! I had not thought of scratch building one before, until I saw that. I think that would be great in her room! Do you have any specs you used to create it or any pics that could help guide the build?
 
I've built two, but I used the old crappy original cabs as templates and just made copies. The first was a frogger. It looks 'ok', but seems a little top heavy. The second was for my WWF superstars, which was in a Scramble cab. That one came out pertty good.
 
Love the pink one - my wife and my sons girlfriend both suggested I make a pink one for girls... does she like it?

Awesome, my daughter's room is pink too. She wants me to build her a pink multigame as well. How can I say no?

Thanks guys - she actually does love it. She plays pretty regularly (though not as much since I put a DK in my dining room). There are about 250 games on it (running MAME). Her favorites are Donkey Kong, Galaga 3, Dig Dug, Circus Charlie and Ladybug.
 
That cab you made for your daughter is really nice! I had not thought of scratch building one before, until I saw that. I think that would be great in her room! Do you have any specs you used to create it or any pics that could help guide the build?

Thanks for the kind words. I had a lot of fun building it and I am very happy with the results. If you click the link in my signature there is sort of a step by step guide/blog you can follow. As for the plans, I scaled down a Ms. Pac-man cab to 80%. It is perfect for her to stand at and an adult can sit comfortably and play.
 
Thanks for the kind words. I had a lot of fun building it and I am very happy with the results. If you click the link in my signature there is sort of a step by step guide/blog you can follow. As for the plans, I scaled down a Ms. Pac-man cab to 80%. It is perfect for her to stand at and an adult can sit comfortably and play.



i have a 70% pacman cab in my garage right now. my dad built it 5 years ago. hucklebuck73 had it for awhile now its back with me. i need to do something with it before the kids are too big to play it!
 
Here's my first mame cab - completely scratch built. It has a Rolling Rock beer theme. I still need to design some side art for it, but after I really got into dedicated cabs my interest in mame took a nosedive, lol.
 

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