I am waiting for the front glass and I am done. Already playing a ton of games everyday

Took 4 years to build! hehehe but was left of for months at a time. Still, I finished it!

I am very satisfied with every choices I have made to build it. Good thing in taking years to build is that I was able to spend more then I originally thought I could. I didnt write down everything I spent for it but it should hit the 2k mark. I could have spent less though since I changed my mind about some parts I had already bought (supers to competition, different bezel sizes etc)

Happy to be gaming on it now. Just need to set up visual pinball now. Seems complicated...

Nice work !

Congratulations, hope you enjoy playing it for years !

That is real nice work. What front end did you end up using??

Thanks guys!

I am using AtomicFE and love it. You can really do whatever you want with it. It does require quite a bit of configuration but once you're in it all the possibilities opens. I just modified the theme that came with it to fit my cab. Here is a low quality video I made on youtube that shows the frontend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOJGJ_23HEc

doesnt show much but gives a small idea.

great looking and like that you have a trackball.  mine is a countertop with no trackball.  would like to try and hook up a couple guns to mine

I am looking to add guns in the future too. I have seen this thing recently and it looks good. Cheap and can be adapted to any gun housing and compatible with all games unlike many other guns.

http://www.ultimarc.com/aimtrak.html

Guncons 2 guns seems to be a popular choice for housing. I dont really know those. I have seen one for PS3.

looks good, any plans for side art in the future?

Where did you get those cup holders? they look like pin gulp holders without the brackets for leg mounting.

Where are you located?? I need someone to teach me the "how to's" of a front end like that....looks GR8!

Looks sweet, nice job.  What size trackball did you use, and is it USB?  

Yes I plan to add side art later on. No more money for now.

For the cup holders:
http://www.happcontrols.com/accessories/27142200.htm

They are great in my opinion. Really sturdy and offer spaces for small to large cup/bottles. Also convenient for a mug handle that I use in the morning with my coffee

For the frontend, it's really not that hard. If you want it easy like I did, load up AtomicFE. It comes with a default theme. Then go to the AtomicFE folder and then just change the pictures in the pictures folder. That is all I did for my cab and love the result.

Trackball is 3" if I remember correctly:
http://www.happcontrols.com/trackballs/565600xx2.htm
Obviously less is showing on the top. Also usb. Cant be easier to setup, just plug and play! No need for any interface at all. It maybe cost more but worth every penny for hassle free.

any pictures of the trackball mounting process? I like the way it looks/is mounted.

Mmm unfortunatly I dont have any. I should have taken more when building but this thing took so much time to do based on a 4 year long construction (I did left it alone for months at a time) that I just wanted to finish it quickly in the end.

For the trackball I routed the top of the control panel so the trackball mounting plate would be flush with it. Then I used a smaller bit to drill the hole on the lexan. I had then to sand the bottom of the lexan at an angle so the ball dont have any fristion with the lexan. It is approximatly at an 45 degree but dont know for sure, I did that hands free. If you look very closely (cant see on pictures) you can see imperfections but I am still very satisfied with it. As for the black circle surrounding the trackball this is purely a mistake! I cutted the hole with the lexan on before sanding the lexan... the black part is actually the mounting plate, not a part of the artwork. Best part is that doesnt show at all and looks to be made on purpose since there is a lot of big black stroke on the artwork. Good for me that I didnt had to reprint...

I made a better quality video showing the cab. You can find it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oGS902DgWs

I am speaking french on it so sorry for english folks!

Ho and you will probably notice that a glass is now in front of the monitor and the speaker grills are now on. I can finally say its finish for good! (in fact, I will probably always update this and that again...)