Second coat of paint applied, graphics, the story of ZEN

Painting is really going well - I got the second coat on tonight, and should be done tomorrow night with the third coat. Friday night I will mount the graphics and do the polyurethane. I was really pleased with the job that Diane did at Kinko's; it cost about $75 (at $10 / sq. foot) for the control panel overlay, and 2 18" sideart logos - I increased the size at the last minute, and I am glad I did - they will really look good, and will be the only graphics on the side. I am going to test the polyurethane on a piece of scrap I have been painting, to see what it looks like over a test logo I printed up. If all goes well, I may not put plexiglas over the control panel, but just coat it in poly - ill just have to see.

I was cleaning the brushes when the thought occured to me to sign the cabinet... I decided to do it where it wouldn't be obvious - the only way you'll see it is if the monitor is removed, or you use a flashlight and mirror - a kind of easter egg. I have been putting ZEN on high score tables since 1986; my roommate at Cameron Univ., Greg Ellis, and I used to play 1942 in the snack bar of the Shepler Center (The Aggie Barn, for those who remember)... anyway, one night we were taking over the high scores, and I goofed putting my initials, entering a Z as the first letter... after a few seconds of thought, I completed the entry as ZEN, the only 3-letter word I could think of at the time. Then, Greg came up with the idea that we could use the high score display to leave messages (did I mention we spent a *lot* of time in the Aggie Barn? :) ) So we kept playing, tailoring our scores and entries so that, hours later when we left, the high score table had the following entries (no, I don't remember the scores :) ):

1. ZEN
2. I S
3. THE
4. WAY
5. M Y
6. SON

Goofy, I know, but it was the best we could come up with, and ever since then I have been putting ZEN on the boards.

Sanding started, new marquee light

I didn't have a lot of time to work on the cabinet this weekend due to an impromptu trip to Oklahoma to see my folks, but I did manage to get some things done. I finished the initial sanding and started applying the primer, installed a new marquee light, and reworked the wiring harness. The 12v power supply is gone - since the new light uses 110v AC, I'm pretty confident that I can run the coin door lamp on the 12v line from the motherboard power supply. I also used some spare molex connectors from old pc parts to make a wiring harness for the coin door. I had to be diligent in labeling the lines, since the coin door uses yellow/black for the coin switch wiring, and the power supply uses yellow/black for 12v DC :) I just connected the yellow/black at the PS end to red/black in my harness by swapping the yellow and red pins in the molex connector, and labeled them accordingly - the molex connector will make sure I don't put 12v where doesn't belong :)

prep for sanding, preparing side art

Today I covered the screw heads and filled the gaps and dings with wood filler, so it will have a good 2 days to dry before I start sanding the cabinet in preparation for painting. I have also chosen a control panel layout, one that I found on Eric Devaud's site that matches the rest of the cabinet. I am going to take it to Kinko's to have it printed, since it is 12" x 27" and I don't want to spend time matching edges for at least 6 sheets :) I am also going to have the main side graphic printed there. Other graphics and the instruction cards will be printed here on my Canon i560 color photo printer.

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!

Coin door installed, marquee created

The major woodwork is done - woo hoo! It has only taken a month to get to this point - I am rather amazed; I expected it to take longer. Tonight I re-assembled the rear panel, connected the coin door light to the 12v power supply, and created and installed the new marquee. I used a vector image from Eric Devaud's library, opened it in Adobe Illustrator, and printed it on Office Depot Window Decals for ink jet printers (#212-881, about $10 for 10 sheets). These are like static stickers, so it was easy to position the different pieces on the lucite. I printed the image in reverse, and backed it with 24# inkjet papaer. These are sandwiched between 2 layers of Lucite. The biggest problem is that you end up with bubbles, but they are not too bad - I think for the next version I will use transparencies instead. Next on the agenda is mounting the PC, creating the monitor bezel and ordering the rest of the controllers. Estimated time of completion is the end of May.

Controls have (mostly) arrived; wired for light and sound

I got the spinner, the marquee retainer and most of my buttons over the last 2 days. By the end of the week I should have the PCB holder and the rest of the Happ order. Note to me: next time, tell them to hold and ship everything at once if there is any backorder... I got the speaker enclosure finished, and the wiring for the marquee light and the sound system is finished. The subwoofer has been mounted, as well as the amplifier and the 12v power supply for the marquee light and the coin door lamp. The cabinet really rocks now - I tested it with our portable CD player!

Yesterday I got the cam lock installed in the rear door, and I found the best thing to cover the vent holes - Lowes had a roll of plastic gutter screen (to keep the leaves out) for a bit over $2! It is black, and is just the right width - I just cut with shears and tacked it down. Now I don't have to worry about things getting in thru the vents :)

Wal-Mart had black foam board (for art projects) that looks like it will be perfect for a monitor bezel - I will post pics when I have it finished.

Almost ready to sand & prime the cabinet

The woodwork is mostly finished - the monitor shelf and bracket are done, the kick-panel and rear doors have been hung, and the top vent holes have been cut. The only major woodwork left is the control panel, which will wait until all the parts are here. The next phase is to fill all the screw holes and gaps with wood filler, sand it smooth, and prime the cabinet; that will begin this week. Once it is primed, I can begin installing the PC and wiring the cabinet for sound. Also, I will begin producing the artwork for the control panel, side art and marquee. You can see the new pics in the Project Pics section.