SACRELICIOUS PROJECT!

jerryspaghetti

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Here's one to p!$$ off the purists but bear with me!

I have been hoarding a bunch of ratty parts from Sega Naomi Universal cabs that have seen better days i.e chopped legs, yellow/cracked plastics etc.

A good friend of mine would love a machine but doesn't have the access for a traditional woody type cab to get up the stairs to his loft room (the only place his Mrs would even entertain it!), so....

He's been a solid mate over the years so I was thinking of throwing together something for him to play on as a gift. Call it a Frankenstein project but it would basically be the frame of a Naomi Universal cab with a full jamma set up inside and an LCD. He has a mister FPGA which he's going to get a mistercade for at some point so it would be a great way for him to have a (sort of) original hardware set up at home.

I've told him we can just address the cosmetics over time by doing a respray/tidy up on the various bits whenever is convenient.

My biggest problem is going to be sourcing an LCD screen the correct size. I've already dismissed the idea of being able to get any kind of 4:3 LCD 26" or larger to work so i'm thinking a de-cased bog standard wide screen LCD TV set to 4:3 aspect with the overscan areas hidden behind the grey mask bezel.

My main question is has anyone done this and know what size widescreen TV i'd need to work with the 29" opening?

I'm thinking 37" at 16:9 would be ideal but interested to see if anyone has experience.

Cheers!

jerryspaghetti2022-12-09 13:30:25
 

Fantazia2

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I think a 32" LCD gives close to the same screen area as a 29" CRT when you take into account it only really gives a little over 27" of visible picture on the CRT, and just over 26" on a 4:3 picture on the LCD.

But your really going to struggle to even get a 32" screen between the legs unless you cut holes in them, but you could also mount a larger screen vertically and rotate the picture to give the horizontal screen, so you would need a screen whos height is the same as the width of the mask.

I used to have a pair a couple of years ago with LCDs in for Mame and I used some 27" LCDs, and now thinking about it I had to chop a bit out of one of the original screen mount brackets for the vertical monitor and I think the horzontal one only just fit between the legs.
 

jerryspaghetti

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Thanks, all good points. I wonder if i'd be better just clamping an LCD in its case onto the front of the legs? And do away with the bezel altogether. Would have more of a Lindbergh type aesthetic but he wouldn't mind that.

Only problem i see there is there'd be a gap at back of control panel as the screen bezel covers that part.

I'll probably go with the 32 inch then anyway and see what works.jerryspaghetti2022-12-09 14:13:30
 

jerryspaghetti

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Fantazia2

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That first video I reckon is a 32" screen, so you can see its a lot wider that the bezel and the cabinet, Net city is a 27" like I did, but I didnt use the original bexel cut down and extended.

What I did was bolt an MDF board on the back where the big monitor cover used to be and then use a standard flat screen mount to attach the monitor to that with a spacer to get it in front of the legs, then instead of using the normal monitor mask I used a piece of plexi that attached to the captive bolts normally used for the CRT to mount to and I made a mask to go between the plexi and monitor to mask the rest of the area off that was also held in place by the captive bolts, but I wasnt bothered about it being in a 4:3 format.

I dont really have a good picture of it but this might give you an idea of what I did.

IMG_20200616_133522.jpg
 

jerryspaghetti

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Fantazia2 said:
That first video I reckon is a 32" screen, so you can see its a lot wider that the bezel and the cabinet, Net city is a 27" like I did, but I didnt use the original bexel cut down and extended.

What I did was bolt an MDF board on the back where the big monitor cover used to be and then use a standard flat screen mount to attach the monitor to that with a spacer to get it in front of the legs, then instead of using the normal monitor mask I used a piece of plexi that attached to the captive bolts normally used for the CRT to mount to and I made a mask to go between the plexi and monitor to mask the rest of the area off that was also held in place by the captive bolts, but I wasnt bothered about it being in a 4:3 format.

I dont really have a good picture of it but this might give you an idea of what I did.

IMG_20200616_133522.jpg

Hey yeah thats more like it!

Looks nice and tidy too!

What did you use to make the mask and did you need to de case the 27" lcd?
 

Fantazia2

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Didnt need to decase the monitors, the mask was just a piece of cardboard with a hole cut out for the monitor screen and then covered with carbon effect black vinyl, as I had some lying around.

To mount the mask I put some nuts on the threaded bolts that are on the monitor mounts and then put the mask over them then used some of these as risers between the mask and plexi.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/easyfix-carbon-steel-threaded-rod-connecting-nuts-m6-10-pack/728gx

The pieces of Plexi I got were 616mm x 616mm but I would probably get 615mm x 615mm as they only just fit in the monitor surround.

Fantazia22022-12-09 15:51:43
 

John Bennett

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The LG dual-up is 28" 16:18, but you'd have to rotate it and also fork out a fair wodge for it.

But yes, there's no 4:3 mass-market LCDs above 21". People keep trying to start group buys to get some panels made, but it never gets off the ground.
 
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