Motherboard mounted, control panel ready to drill

The PCB bracket from Happ came on Friday, so I was able to mount the motherboard, as well as the hard drive cage and the risers. I still need to secure the power supply, probably with heavy-duty velcro, and run the video cable to relieve stress on the video card. The cdrom and floppy drives will only be temporarily installed to load software; during normal operation they will not be needed. I am fairly certain that the cooling will be adequate, but I have an auxillary fan that I can install in the event it is needed.

I have finalized the control panel layout, and it is ready for drilling and routing. I had room to use a 12" deep panel instead of 10", so I was able to move the spinner above the trackball - this was my original plan, as it centers both controls, but my initial design used a 10" panel which couldn't accomodate that placement. This new arrangement allows a more symmetrical button arrangement, which will be great for 2 player games such as Raiden and Twin Cobra; it will also allow ambidextrous configuration for games such as Centipede, Tempest, Galaga and others, which is nice since I am right-handed and Paula is left-handed :) However, I will not drill any holes until the final order from Ultimarc is here; I want to confirm that the dimensions on the actual parts match the ones given in the docs. I also have the Lucite cut for the panel, and will cut the holes in it at the same time as the wood.

Tomorrow I will start filling gaps and screw holes with wood filler, and prepping the cabinet for painting. I will paint the interior of the cabinet where the monitor sits first, and then mount the monitor. The rest of the painting can take place once it is mounted, and that will let me fit the monitor bezel and monitor glass while the exterior is drying. I am going to use either smoked glass, or smoked Lexan, whichever I can find at a good price. Also, I am going to start work on the side art and instruction cards tomorrow - I will post examples when I have finalized the design.

I am really trying to hit my target completion date of 31 May, so there is a lot going on now - but it is really going to be worth it!