Making Progess Slowly but Surely...

Alright, over the last 2 days progess has been slow but steady. I mostly have just been waiting for paint to dry. I painted the front of the cabinet and have been spraying the control board with a couple layers of polyurethane.

After sanding down the front of the cabinet it looked really rough. You could see 20 years of wear and tear taking its toll.


I gotta say though. Once I started painting it really started to transform into something pretty nice looking. It took 3 coats of paint but I think it turned out pretty well. I also plan on giving the coinbox a little black paint but I'm not in too much of hurry to do that.



As I was doing the 3 coats of paint on the cabinet I put the overlay using the spray adhesive onto the new control board and started spraying a few layers of polyurethane just to give it a nice pretty shine and it will also protect it a good bit. After everything has dried I did a test fit on the cabinet and lucky for me everything fit like a glove. I also added that Multigame decal to the front. I think it looks good there.



So, now on to installing my new arcade parts along with the wiring. This wiring can be very confusing. There are wires for the joystick (up, down, left, right), 4 buttons, Player1, Player2, Coinbox, Power, Speaker & video. Ughhhhh. Just to give you a picture check it out. It took me over an hour just to identify all the wires. :(



I went ahead and put the buttons and joystick into the control board as well. I think it turned out pretty well. :)



And, all this wiring and the game circuit board (not shown in pics yet) needs to go somewhere in the back of this cabinet. I'll be figuring this one out as we go... I'll keep you posted.

Okay so now you know what the cabinet looks like I'll show you what I've done so far.

The first step was to take it apart. I had to take the Controller Board off and disconnect all the old buttons and joystick looking thingy. I also removed the Marquee at the top because I will be replacing that with a new "Multicade" marquee. There are also some light bulbs I need to replace up there. I also sanded the front of the cabinet a little just because it's going to get a nice coat of fresh blue paint before this project is done.



Anyway, here is the old Controller Board that I had take off and removed the joystick, buttons etc. As you can see it's in pretty bad shape and someone carved it up a good bit. I have 2 options here. I can try to salvage this piece and use some bondo to fill the holes, sand it down and then cut new holes for my buttons and joystick OR....



Just replace the entire board and start over, and that's what I did. I went to lowe's and had them cut me a piece of wood to the same dimensions and then sanded down one of the edges to a nice rounded shape. I cut my holes and I'm good to go. I also got some paint to match the new overlay (pictured as well) and painted teh new controller board just so the blue looks real blue once I use adhesive to mount the overlay on top of the board. I don't think I explained it too well but I'll post some pics of the finished product once done.



This is the Overlay graphic that will go on top of the new controller board.



And these are just some of my tools. Spray adhesive, sand paper & polyurethane to give the panel I nce smooth glossy finish.



That's all for now. I gotta go finish the board. I think the blue paint should be dry by now. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

My Arcade Machine Project...

Okay, so I guess its my turn to actually post something on this Glog so here it goes....

While I am looking for a job (still don't have one yet) I started up a new project. I am the new proud owner of a vintage 1987 Arkanoid arcade cabinet. Christy helped me pick up this "beauty" last weekend and boy I have a good amount of work in front of me. My goal is to turn this machine into a Multicade Machine that will play all the vintage 1980's arcade games (60 total) such as...

• Donkey Kong, Donkey Jr, Donkey Kong II, Donkey Kong III
• Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Pac Man Jr, Super Pac Man,
• Millipede, Centipede, Gunsmoke, 1942, 1843
  
• and others I can't remember right this second

As you can see from the picture it needs some work but it was working when I bought it so I believe it just needs some good ol' TLC to bring it back to life.

Macgruber turns ONE!!! Aug 31st

I yelled at him for trying to eat the ice cream with the candle lit... that is why he looks scared.


Here are some pics of MacGruber's birthday. I sang him Happy Birthday when we first got up, he got some bones, some stuffed animals that he quickly destroyed and some puppy ice cream with a candle in it (you can buy this at the grocery store - they have plain flavor and peanut butter flavor) Overall he loved it and is one of the best behaved one year old dogs I know - i may be biased!

Macgruber already tore off the ears on his giraffe

Langley AFB

Here are some pics I took of the base one day...

view from the "inn"

the large "inn"

by the bay

circle of flags with some old F15s in front of the hospital

one of the gates

another pic of the flags.

I had a pic on my cell phone of 4 F-22s but I can figure out how to get it on here.

Things I've learned so far in the military

(in no particular order)
1. They are not as strict with your uniform or the rules as they were during training
2. 10 minute school physicals are a part of daily life
3. Introducing a new doc to the military is getting them to do 30 school physicals on a Saturday afternoon.
4. F15's and F22's make a lot of noise when taking off
5. Ophthalmoscopes do not exist in every patient room let alone on a whole entire hospital floor (don't even think about asking for one b/c they don't know what they are)
6. Residents question your reason for admission (possible NAT??? with head bleed??)
7. It is very easy to get ready in the morning when all you do is put on a uniform and put your hair in a bun
8. 730 is really early to have to be at work everyday.
9. 430 is an excellent time to be done in the afternoon
10. Having mandatory workouts 3 days a week is awesome (for me)
11. Never standing in your closet in the morning trying to figure out what to wear is excellent
12. Tricare allows people to book appts if their symptom has been going on for 2 hours or gone after a day (vomiting x1 yesterday-now gone and acting normally)
13. Tricare pays for Tylenol, Motrin, Eucerin, and a slew of other over the counter things
14. Saluting is a part of everyday life - I get saluted every time I come onto base
15. Everyone is really nice to you b/c they all have been separated from their families

Minnesota part 3...

The wedding day!

After 2 days of going out, I wasn't really excited about another night out, especially after I found out the reception lasted til 1AM, but Colleen is well worth it. We had to be up and in the lobby by 1 so that we could get our hair done at the salon. At the salon all the bridesmaid's, bride, mother of the bride, mother of the groom and honorary bridesmaid all had their hair done. It was fun to be pampered. Michelle and I did our nails there as well as our makeup. We finished a little late from there, the cab came late so we had to hail a taxi to get back to the hotel and quickly got dressed for the wedding. (hiding behind a wall so that our hair didn't get windblown)The bride had to get ready at the museum so all she had to do is grab her dress and accessories. We finished at 5 and we had to be on our way to the museum at 530/545. Wow, what a time crunch. (Sharon scarfing down food since they hadn't eaten all day)All went off without a hitch and Colleen and Kevin got married - while Colleen cried the whole time. The reception was beautiful complete with gorgeous center pieces, yummy food, fireworks(provided by the city) and great entertainment.

Overall Greg and I had a blast. We got back to the hotel around 130ish and Greg and I had to get up at 445AM to catch flights at 650AM. Talk about being tired. I slept as much as possible b/c I was driving back to SC to finish off my vacation with the fam.