DIY Vewlix Arcade Cabinet (picture heavy)

[ThereIs0nly0ne]

Having seen some other arcade machine builds in this forum, I figured I'd post some details on my project. This has been built in a number of stages and was originally started in 2009 but finally completed a few months ago. As it's progressed, various sections have been re-done to make it look more like the original.

The design itself is based on a real world cabinet call the Vewlix. I'm always looking to accommodate new projects and have limited space so I elected to go for a 24 inch screen rather than a 32 inch like the original. I'm not usually fond of more modern arcade cabinet designs but the styling on the Vewlix is an exception to that. Given the reduced width, I have called this the Vewlix 'Slim'. It sports a single player panel like many of the originals. I may build another at some point for 2 player action but to be honest, my kids / friends aren't overly interested in the arcade games I play on this cabinet so it's not really an issue.

Some of the earlier pictures in this log are not great and were taken some time ago so apologies for that.

Completed project video tour:

Commercially available Vewlix cabinet:




I'll cover off a few details around the materials and tools used for the project. These were as follows:

Materials:

MDF
Wood strips
Screws
Cast acrylic (clear and opal)
Artwork (paper and vinyl
Leveling feet
4.1 sound system running in dual stereo
Sanwa stick and buttons
Hacked XBOX fightpad
High impact polystyrene
Blackboard vinyl
Speaker grilles
Paint and varnish
Aluminium strip

Tools:

Small B&D Workbench
Clamps
Router (flush trim and router bits)
Jigsaw
Power drill / driver
Foam roller

Base unit construction:

The main base unit was constructed to be the same width as the monitor with the front shaped to include a bevelled front piece. Lite the original, it's not just a box and has a more interesting profile:





Side pieces:

The sides were measured and cut. Each side comprises a 12mm and 18mm section and are glued / screwed together. A chamfer bit was used to create the deep bevels on the sides.



Top / Marquee section:

A lot of time was spent getting the curves as accurate as possible for the original piece. I'm a particularly great woodworker and have relatively little experience with it in general. After the original cuts, lots of sanding was required to get things as consistent as possible:



These were then cloned to make a stack:



Various other cuts were made to these pieces to shape the front-most section and to allow for artwork to be inserted:



Basic cabinet assembly:

The top of the side pieces and the bottom of the marquee stac were cut at an angle to ensure the beveled edges on each lined up correctly. Piecs for the cabinet legs were also cut:



The legs were then shaped and self leveling feet screwed into them using threaded inserts. The main base unit sides were re-cut to ensure the side pieces lined up correctly with them. Bracing was used to join each if the sides together for stability purposes:



A Vesa mount was made for the monitor and screwed in place using simple wood batons:

 

[ThereIs0nly0ne]

Control Panel:

Sections were cut for the base unit with the front pieces being beveled to create the sharp, angled profile.



Using some plans of the original I'd found on the net as a reference, I worked out the shapes required to create as accurate a profile as possible. The side and rear pieces were cut and the lid section fabricated:



Internal support pieces were made to ensure stability of the lid section:





Side pieces were cut. Again, 18mm and 12mm sections were used to create a chunky/subtantial pieces. Beveled edges all the way:



6 large bolts were used to mount the panel to the main base section:



Painting and finishing:

Finishing MDF can be a real challenge, particularly when it comes to cut areas. Typically I will use Isopon P38 car body filler to seal beforehand. This is a time consuming process but resutls in the most

consistent and smooth finish. This is generally sanded down, examined for pits, refilled and sanded again as necessary. Several layers of undercoat are applied and sandeed back before the flat black base paint.

Several coats of polyurethane varshish are used for protection. All paint and varnish was applied with a small, foam roller:





Sanding, filling and base preparation was the same for the white sides and top. The difference here was that these were sprayed with several coats os white automotive paint for the final finish:



The control panel side pieces were also sprayed white and a hole cut in the lid to allow a light bar to be inserted:



A hacked control pad was used to provide the control interface and allow the cabined to be run from a PC. I had designed the artwork for the control panel and marquee section in Photoshop and had them printed

on matte paper which turned out to be a mistake as the black really wasn't deep enough:



Basic assembly of the sections (note, the front of this was later completely re-styled to align with the original layout):

 

[ThereIs0nly0ne]

Phase 2:

After living with the cabinet for a while, I figured I would make the necessary modifications to the machine to make it more like the original. The maine focus here wat to recreate the black side pieces and reconfigure the front section. After the back had been built out slightly to support a new profile, high impact polystyrene sheet was purchased and sections cut and applied:





A lot of time was spent ensuring everything lined up correctly with appropriate spacing between the sections.

An artwork topper was made for the top of the cabinet to hold some artwork. Several sections of L profile plastic and an acrylic document holder were used with the completed unit mounted to the top of the cabinet:





The front panels (above and below the monitor) were redesigend and recovered, along with the control panel, with blackboard vinyl. The speakers were broken down and bolted onto the new panels:





New speaker covers were sourced for a better alignment with the original machine:




Phase 3:

Still not happy with the overall design of the cabinet, I wanted to really finish it off to as high a standard as I could which included addressing/re-doing the artwork. I also wanted to replace the 6 button layout with an 8 button one.

The artwork was re-created in Photoshop:



An 8 button fight pad was sourced and hacked:



A new section for the control panel was cut along with the caset acrylic overlay:



This included some aluminium trim applied to the front and back of the panel:



At this point the panel was just the way I wanted it:



Aluminium retainers had been cut for the light bar artwork retainers:



A 100 Yen insert coint sticker designed in Photoshop, covered with a matte phone screen protector and coin slot fitted to the control panel lid:



A 'Tournament Edition' badge was designed and sent off to be made:





Arcade frontend software:

Because of the modern look and feel of the machine, I wanted to use a suitable interface. Using the Maximus Arcade frontend software, I redesigned the graphics and layout in photoshop. A video is played for the currently selected game:





Completed cabinet:





Happy with it at last!

 

[ThereIs0nly0ne]

Thanks for the comments This was probably my first real/significant project and I learned an awful lot from it.

 

[ThereIs0nly0ne]

Thanks for for that @cheesyboy Build Your Own Arcade Controls is the place to go if you're not already aware of the site. I can (and do) spend hours looking at the fantastic projects there.

 

[ThereIs0nly0ne]

Thanks @Valo. Give making one a go! I had zero skills when I started out and borrowed some tools for my first project. It's a really satisfying hobby.