Stern cocktail tribute - getting close to the finish line

cpu.slave

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Stern cocktail tribute - getting close to the finish line

A little back story - I went to pick up a converted Roadblasters to use for parts on my own RB and Ross asks me if I had any interest in a gutted out cocktail cab, or else it was destined for flames. I said "sure" and threw it in the truck and thought about maybe doing a 60-1 build. Several months (and several parts later) here is the almost finished product.

Now, this cab was gutted - no wiring, coin door, wood base, control panels, cp wood brackets, etc. - nothing but a wood box, top, and the hinge holding them together. After much thought, I decided to pay tribute to it's former glory while at the same time modernizing it - a 'best of both worlds' so to speak and my quest began.

Since I work with and on computers for a day job, I went with what I know and what parts I had around. It has a 20" Viewsonic monitor for the display, running all power off of an AT computer power supply with the speakers powered off a 12v lead. The lighting behind the control panels are blacklight computer mod tubes. I went with the AT supply because of the aux power port to power the display directly and the ease of a on\off switch. All of this interfaced nicely with the 60-1 I bought from nixs. The plexi on the control panels is actually lexan sanded with a power sander to give it a frosted look - my wife suggested it as a solution to the lexan scratch-prone tendencies as well as to diffuse the lighting a bit.

The base was constructed from photos I found on line, and I caught a lucky break when klov member Keroppi (Justin) had a very molested, very sea-green stern cocktail that he was selling. We reached a deal for him to strip off the parts I needed and ship them to me. After much sanding, stripping, bondo, painting, and other obvious work the journey is almost complete. All that remains is constructing a custom fitting bezel, glass top, fabricating a credit switch to place in the hole where the coin eject button once was, and to replace the t-molding on the control panels as that damn green refuses to come completely off!

I'm not sure I'm completely in love with the underlay on the top, but it was really cheap and better then nothing. Someday I may design and print a custom underlay and control panel overlays somewhat more fitting but I have other projects calling me so those will have to wait for now.

So, considering what I started with, what's the opinion? Somewhat tasteful tribute or horrible abomination deserving of smiting from the arcade gods?
 

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Nice! I'm in the exact same position, I came across an old Scramble cocktail thats been converted to Mr. Do. I think I may go the 60-1 route with it and I like your idea of the computer mod lights for the control panels, although since I like the vintage look I may just put regular bulbs back there.

Whats a good way to clean up a rusty Stern coin door - will steel wool ruin it?
 
Whats a good way to clean up a rusty Stern coin door - will steel wool ruin it?
As I did with all the metal parts, after disassembling I sanded down to bare metal, primed and repainted. The chrome parts I took out and used navel jelly and steel wool to clean off the rust. After reassembly I applied a reproduction Stern decal from Phoenix Arcade on the front of the door to replace the original.

Since I started with an empty shell it gave me the opportunity to try a few different things that I have thought about over the years. I really liked the look of the old Stern cocktails and wanted to keep it so pretty much all my modifications were kept inside. The only real visible changes are the cp lighting and the larger the normal display - aside from the underlay and overlays. My thought was always that if someone wanted to, they could easily de-convert it and restore it to an original if they had all the necessary parts.

On my future project list is a similar endeavor, restoring a converted upright centipede cab that currently houses my mame setup into something that pays tribute to it's once proud past. I've been slowly gathering parts and ideas, now it's just actually starting.

Good luck on whatever you decide to do with your cocktail.
 
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