Donkey Kong Bartop Scratch Build - FINISHED

frothmeister

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Top work there buddy. I think this is going to be another top quality UKVAC home build.
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Mr20to5

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Quick update with this morning’s progress, not a whole lot but worthy of an update I think.

Decided to get the monitor dry fitted, mainly to see how it fitted inside the cab and to ensure that it was going to be the right model for the job.

First up and after working out the angle I wanted, I fitted some more batoning to the sides.

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From here I simply used the mounting holes already on the back of the monitor to a piece of spare MDF and fitted this onto the batons. Voila. ( I know it looks off centre, but it is an optical illusion based on the screen being off set within the monitor casing. The actual screen is bang on centre, trust me, I measured it 6 times !!!)

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But of course I couldn’t leave it without checking how it might look with the bezel and assorted other graphics in place. So a quick 20 minutes resizing some very low quality art files, grabbed from the first site I found and …………………..

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Now that I am happy with!!! Really comes alive with just some crappy printouts selloptaped on. And yes, my printer did indeed run out of ink halfway through!! He he.

The next things on the list are ordering the internals (pay day almost here), then it will be time to start the less than pleasant but necessary job of sanding, filling, sanding, filling, sanding, sanding, sanding, priming, sanding, filling, sanding, priming and painting!! Really want to achieve the best finish I possibly can on this.

Next update might be a while away with being back to work tomorrow, but I’ll keep you updated whenever I can.

Neil
 

Mr20to5

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Hi guys, back with a little bit of an update.
It’s been a bit longer than I had hoped but work and other stuff has got in the way. Back on track again now hopefully, thanks go out to Mr Postman and some friends for their knowledge and wares.

So, first up, some more woodwork, little bits now that the main carcass is assembled, but still important. Firstly added a square of batons to the base, this will lift the cab up off from the t-molding once that goes on.

20150908_144903_zps9vxjv0br.jpg~original


Next up, I cut a hole out of the back panel which will house the fan. It looked a little stark when I first cut just the circle, so I routed a nice scalloped edge to it to soften it a bit. Also cut a hole out for the cam lock to fit into, and then carved out a slight recess to allow the cam to turn through. Obviously this will secure against the upper panel which I had removed for this photo.

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Talking of the upper panel, here it is now, with some vents routed out some aluminium mesh fitted on the inside.

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Then it was time to leave the woodwork behind and swap to some metal. B ought some stock aluminium angles, etc and cut to width to form the upper and lower marquee and bezel brackets. I was properly stumped on the lower marquee/upper bezel bracket, so a big thank you to Superfrog over on another forum who helped me out with this one. In the end, as per the second photo, the simplest solutions are often the best…

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The solution.

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Next up and time to cut some acrylic. I have loads of this lying around also, but I hate cutting it, use a saw and it is prone to cracking or chipping, use a router table and unless you get the speed spot on it’s likely to either pull and chip, or melt !! But today was a good day with the sun shining on me and it all came out spot on, first time! Woo hoo. Here’s the proof.

20150908_144447_zpsy0sizkmb.jpg~original


With the tools all set up, I quickly ran a slot through the centre of the control panel. The wood is 12mm thick, the acrylic is 3mm, so the plan is to put the same standard 18mm t-mold on which will match the edge of the acrylic perfectly, then just flush cut the extra 3mm from the bottom on the router table.

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And whilst I’m talking about the CP, I have finally, finally made my mind up about which layout/button combo I am going to use. Much to the relief of Muddy Music, who is sorting this for me. As I said at the start, I will be putting in a 60in1 jamma board, big thanks to Frothmeister for supplying this and the advice that went with it. From this I have chosen the games that I will actually play, as with all things there are some that just don’t interest me and from this list, I worked out what controls I needed.

First up, a 4 way stick setup, with two action buttons. No more needed. This allowed me then to work out the CPO layout and after reading lots of other peeps layouts, I have decided to keep the original 3 button Donkey Kong layout, but realign the buttons slightly on the horizontal, so that they are closer together, which suits the smaller CP anyway. This way I can wire the P1 button as the credit, the P2 player as Fire 2 and the Jump button as Fire 1.

Which, excusing the rather crude printout, will look something like this, once the graphics are manipulated to fit where I have placed the buttons.

20150907_101606_zpstr08occf.jpg~original


And talking of buttons, where did those lovely buttons come from, well they came in the post with all this lot, courtesy of Arcade Japan, Arcade World and Ebay. (plus those already mentioned above!)

20150907_105959_zpsqjernqom.jpg~original


Hoping to spend the weekend testing the kit, out of the cab, getting the voltages set up right and a few connectors to make and wire up to switches, etc.

After that, it’s all going to be about, the preparation before paint.

Until next time.

Neil
 
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Guests

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This is a superb little cab, I love it!

I may just have to have a go at one of these myself

Keep it going Neil, It's awesome!!!
 

Mr20to5

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terminator2k2 said:
nice job so far , you should knock a few up and sell them, I’m sure they would be very popular

Possibly they would, and I have thought about it as I’ve been going along, after all the hard part is done, with the planning and woodcutting templates etc, however there is one reason why I most likely won’t, which is………ah Vic, you beat me to it….

virtvic said:
I think it would take quite a while to 'knock up' a few of these...

And this is why not. Even with the planning done, I am an absolute perfectionist, which is great, yet somewhat hindering !!!! I have allowed myself 1mm tolerance on this build and have redone several parts there were out by more than this, some even as far as 2mm !!!!!!!!!!!! Marry this with a full time job, full time family and nowhere near enough days off and it would very soon become a burden. That said I’m already planning my second scratch build……..

frothmeister said:
Out of interest, where did you get your DK 4 way stick from? I quite fancy one of those.

Danny, not quite as seems really, although I did do a bit of research into getting a repro stick authentic to DK, which are available here for example, at $79.95 plus shipping, it was more than I wanted to pay for this project. So I opted for a Seimitsu LS32 instead which comes with a 2way, 4way 8way restrictor plate on the bottom. Sorry to disappoint.

PAC-MAN said:
I may just have to have a go at one of these myself

Al, don’t do it, sourcing a paint sample is a nightmare !!!!!!
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silverfox0786 said:
if you need DK paint Al is your man#

Not anymore Sarj.

I didn't know this until recently after offering to get Neil's paint on my order. You can no longer send Aerosols through the post if they have the ' Hazardous ' warning which these have. Some couriers will take them only if they're not Hazardous but few. This was confirmed by my paint guys. They now have a driver who delivers within a certain radius, failing that it has to be collected.

Apparently Royal Mail started the ball rolling?
 

mathj

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yes that is correct about the aerosols but I think there is still one or two that will deliver them

I think DPD is one, I got some stuff delivered to me by them recently

math
 

silverfox0786

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PAC-MAN said:
silverfox0786 said:
if you need DK paint Al is your man#

Not anymore Sarj.

I didn't know this until recently after offering to get Neil's paint on my order. You can no longer send Aerosols through the post if they have the ' Hazardous ' warning which these have. Some couriers will take them only if they're not Hazardous but few. This was confirmed by my paint guys. They now have a driver who delivers within a certain radius, failing that it has to be collected.

Apparently Royal Mail started the ball rolling?

oh boy thats annoying
 
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