Side Art Question

[sku_u]

Hey all,

 

I'm starting the floorplans for my basement gameroom and was wondering how much I should expect to spend on side panels for cabinets that have good artwork and are in good condition. I plan on mounting them onto the wall. I'm also wondering if anyone could point me to a good source or two for acquiring them. I'm in no particular rush.

 

Thanks,

 

John

[video game addict]

You may come out better making them yourself.

 

You can still purchase NOS sideart stickers for some stuff, then all you would need is cut out a side panel and paint and then apply artwork and your done!

 

Would be like new.

 

Whole cabinets can be bought cheaply, but alot of times they are not in good condition. And it would be a shame to break a cab just for one or two sides. To find a cab cheap with good sideart could get pricy. Maybe a good cab, that needs alot of work, could be hacked up, salvage both sides, and then refinished with NOS stickers from whatever you choose?

 

And what about marquees?

Those are cool and don't take up alot of space.

[sku_u]

You may come out better making them yourself.    

 

You can still purchase NOS sideart stickers for some stuff, then all you would need is cut out a side panel and paint and then apply artwork and your done!

 

Would be like new.

 

That's a great idea! I'm pretty good when it comes to carpentry, so cutting wouldn't be a problem.

 

And what about marquees?  

Those are cool and don't take up alot of space.

 

I have a few of those already. I'm thinking of building boxes around them and backlighting them. Don't know how it will look, though.

[video game addict]

That's a great idea!  I'm pretty good when it comes to carpentry, so cutting wouldn't be a problem.

 

I don't think it would be hard at all to make your own side panel. And there are numerious sites since MAME came about, lots of people build their own cabinets from scratch.

 

Here's one site I found that's got measurements from what he built. One thing to consider thou, is if you do go this route, make sure you know what type of side art you're going to put on it before you do any cutting! Probably wouldn't hurt to have the side art on hand before you start the project.

 

There are many different styles of cabinets, You wouldn't put a Tempest on the panel above. But lots of side art is small enough that it wouldn't matter. Like a DK or Mario Bros.

 

For smaller art, you could make something totally custom, like just a large square, rounded corners, with T-molding, and the color of the original cab, with brand new artwork in the center. I'm thinking of Mario Bros right now, but any of the smaller ones would work. Kind of like a custom poster/picture on the wall, but with a vintage feel to it. Like you cut up a arcade machine and made it smaller.

 

Heres a couple sites with side art forsale:

 

http://www.dragons-lair-project.com/dave/

http://www.arcadeshop.com/parts.htm

 

There are others, these are two I've seen before thou. Kind of gives you an idea. Some of those prices are for a set thou, you probably only want one of each game, for more variety. I've seen unused side art on ebay before too. You can get NOS and repo stuff so price maybe higher/lower on some.

 

For a full side panel thou, I'd recommend something with full artwork, that takes up the majority of the space, like Crystal Castles or Centipede.

 

But making a side panel & painting, and applying side art, might come out a little cheaper than dealing in the real thing. It'd be a whole lot cheaper to ship the artwork than a full cabinet if you're searching online that's for sure! And you have more to choose from if you do look online.

 

 

 

I have a few of those already.  I'm thinking of building boxes around them and backlighting them.  Don't know how it will look, though.

 

PDF has some lit up in his gameroom pics:

http://www.thelogbook.com/phosphor/about/room/

 

I like the box idea, although I think it'd work better if it was long enough for 2-4 marquees. Might work out better than separate boxes for each one.