First we sticked the adhiesive vinyl bezel onto the toughened glass that I ordered a week or so back. This is to disguse the fact that we are using a PC monitor as a, erm.. monitor(!) and will also display the operational controls for the arcade and its various emulated platforms.
The centre screen area of the bezel was still in tact and was simply a white square. We had to cut this away very slowly and very accurately using a fine blade.
Once cut, we peeled back the paper backing and applied the bezel onto the glass surface. As you can guess, there were air bubbles galore! A flat plastic card (like a credit card) and a sharp pin are your friends in this situation!
The finished glass bezel is place in the glass retainer (glazing strips) and fit tightly in place on the cabinet in front of the monitor. I applied some ultra-strong glue to secure the strips to the MDF surface with an instant bond upon contact. The glass is now firm and cannot be easily disturbed.
Next we move to the Marquee! I sandwiched the marquee artwork in between two clear sheets of stiff plastic. The plastic and marquee art is then retained with Black Plastic 'L' channels which are screwed onto the MDF surface of the arcade on the top, bottom and sides.
The bottom and the side screws would be visible, so once again we use Black plastic screwcaps for asthetic purposes. I think the visible caps compliment the overall design of the cabinet rather well!
Next we apply the vinyl Pacman decal onto the top sides of the cabinet and on the surface of the lower coin door. The idea behind this was largely to disguise traces of screws that recessed above the surface of the MDF prior to painting. Looked and worked a treat!
So, we finally reach the end, and the very last thing to do is to apply the side artwork onto the cabinet. This was relatively easy, as the artwork was printed on a rectangular sturdy vinyl sheet which would simply peel back and could be applied with ease and minimum fuss from airbubbles due to the strong adhiesive.
And voila! We have one FINISHED arcade!
I could not be more proud of this accomplishment, as it far exceeded my expectations being better than anything I thought I was capable of planning and constructing. It looks particularly beautiful when illuminated within its home in the corner of my lounge, and I look forward to both friends and family alike gaining maximum, nostalgic enjoyment from it! Sure it was expensive, hard work and incredibly time consuming - but it was worth it!
Since constuction completed, several of my friends suggested that one day I could sell it on ebay and gain a tidy profit. HELL NO! Too much of my sweat and tears have gone into this project for me to even think about that!!
Now for some Mortal Kombat!.....
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