MORTAL (pinball) KOMBAT a build thread.

[Luckydogg420]

This build is going to be done as cheaply as possible, without cheaping out on the build.

I plan to edit this 1st post as the build advances. This will be my material list and most completed pics.

CABINET

Old and new parts

$100.00 2pc 4x8 plywood (good one side) sandpaper, filler, screws

$ 60.00 Old Panthera cabinet. Keeping Lockdown bar, side rails, glass(plastic channels), coin door.

$ 65.00 new leg brackets, backbox hinge set (with hardware), PF rear plastic channel

$ 65.00 wires, fuses, terminal blocks, power switch

$ 45.00 power wire, electrical bits

$ 0.00 Used legs donated form local pinball guy

$ 15.00 paint

$ 55.00 2 x 120mm and 1 x 200mm Specter pro red led cooling fans

AUDIO

$ 40.00 cheap "200 watts" backbox speakers. (Clifford design)

$ 50.00 cheap "450 watts" 10" subwoofer. (Clifford design)

$140.00 2.1 Plate amp https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-mca2250e-21-channel-class-d-plate-amplifier--300-771

PC

$320.00 acer aspire M5811: i5-650 3.20Ghz, 6GB DDR3-1066, GeForce GT 610 2GB, Wifi card

$100.00 acer P7P55D - e Pro motherboard.

$250.00 acer GeForce GTX 660 2gb. http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=43_1200_557_559&item_id=053246

$ 50.00 USB - VGA for 3rd screen http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=44_563&item_id=057646

SCREENS

$600.00 46" Sony LED http://store.sony.ca/46-r450-series-led-hdtv-zid31-KDL46R450A/cat-31-catid-All-Sony-HD-TVs

$100.00 32" used RCA for backbox

$20.00 17" used no name LCD monitor, found through local buy/sell site

TOYS

$165.00 virtuapin plunger/nudge http://virtuapin.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=105

$450.00 virtual output kit, ledwiz, lights, ect. http://zebsboards.com

GRAPHICS

My theme will be MORTAL KOMBAT. Custom work

[Luckydogg420]

My first purchase was through kijiji (a local buy/sell, like Craig's list) for a busted up old old panthera cabinet.

I bought this for $100.00 there are many parts that I wanted from this. The glass, side rails, lockdown bar and coindoor were all going to be useful to me. The mechanical pieces were stripped off the playfield and resold for $40.00 to another pinball guy with his own project. The remaining playfield and plastics will be used for another project of mine, I plan to light it up with led's frame it and hang it on the wall as art.

[Luckydogg420]

Since the tv is the most important part of the build I wanted to go with a 46" led. I hummed and hawed over this for a while finally deciding to go with a sony.

My decision boiled down to this tv because of a couple reasons. 1st, GAME MODE. To play your game as fast as possible, you want a tv with game mode. After some research I found that in order to achieve a fast response time 120hz tvs will drop to 60hz so there's less processing needed to display the image. 2nd BEZEL SIZE. To fit a big tv in your cabinet you will need to find one that's real thin. Years ago samsung was the only one that worked, but now most led's will be thin enough.

3rd, FAN BOY. Not as important, but what can I say, I think Sony make a good product, and I've yet to have a complaint about one of their tvs. 4th, PRICE. Again not my biggest concern, but bang for your buck, a local independent tv shop had a price better then best buy

[Luckydogg420]

I've connected my tv to my old pc to play a game or two. My current pc is a quad core 3.2ghz 4gb ram and 500mb nvidea card. My dedicated pc will have a 2gb graphics card. Needless to say I was impressed, so was my dog (scooter)

The flippers had a delay of almost .25sec. It was totally do-able but very difficult to hit the "off the tip" shots. I mean most of the time it was great, but the odd quick ball down the inlane would just get past me. I did some more looking through the forums and found some info on changing settings on the graphics card.

http://pinballarcadefans.com/showthread.php/6365-If-you-re-experiencing-flipper-delay-in-TPA-PC-version-please-read-this

THIS WORKED AMAZINGLY... The flippers are 100%. I'm coming from the world of real pinball, making my first virtual machine. It's just great. The improvement was no more then a blink of the eyes.... But that's a world of change in pinball

[RenegadeFred]

Nice.. getting a cab at that price and selling some of the parts to lower it.. very cool. Was the pin in working condition or did it have major issues / missing parts? Not asking to be an arse.. just wondering why the price of it was so low?

[Luckydogg420]

The playfield looked ok there was paint missing in a couple spots, 8/10. The mechs under the cabinet were 70% there, some of them were just good for parts. It looked like at one time the power transformer had caught on fire. The cabinet/wooden box was held together with two metal brackets in one corner and the back piece was falling off; also it didn't have legs. There was no backbox, I have no idea what happened to that.

All of the stuff that I wanted (glass, rails, door, and lockdown bar) looked good. Well worth the price.

I've been collecting parts for a couple months, so if you want to save cash, take your time and hunt around.

[Luckydogg420]

I decided to start my build thread today because, on Friday I was delivered a package from virtuapin. I ordered their plunger/nudge kit (because it looks awesome) and some other metal parts that I would have had to order new anyways.

Backbox hinges, leg brackets and plunger. The plunger unit has connections for 15 buttons. That should be enough

Sorry for crappy iPad pic

I plan to (hopefully) modify the plunger plate to look like one of these p2k ones

I have a handful buttons from previous mame cabinet build projects. The rest of the buttons I'm going to rob from a previous project (I doubt I'll be using) that I made a couple months ago for fun. This is a mini virtual cabinet for my iPad, that I played The Pinball Arcade on. It's guts are made from an icade core. There's real pinball flipper buttons with leaf switches that I'm taking too

Follow that build here http://www.pinballrevolution.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1561

I figure with a full sized virtual cab; not much use for a mini one.

[Luckydogg420]

Artwork.... Not my strong suit, but I've got a vision.

For the side of the cabinet I want to put the dragon logo toward the back of the machine. Then have the MORTAL KOMBAT logo in large letters with a "V" between the two words, with a spray painted PINBALL added in.

The front will have a battle scene with the two guys charging up their power (rather then after the shot). Kinda a cross between these two ideas

And then for the side of the backbox I was thinking something with the "rope?" Shooting out of scorpions hand. Maybe with the hand at the bottom shooting up. And having the rope do some winding or slithering design up the cabinet with the point at the top.

I plan to contact dfwArcade once I'm closer to that part of the build.

Please give feedback on this. Any ideas will be helpful.

[Luckydogg420]

So here I am. Just about to cut some wood. Time to dig in and start having fun. I plan to do this project over the next couple months.

Thanks in advance... I'm sure that I'll have some questions along the way.

[Luckydogg420]

Last night I had a bit of time to work on ideas. I think that I've figured out the side of the cabinet along with tv placement. The side rails that I have, have holes in them for flipper buttons so this limits the button placement and screen placement. I don't think there will be enough room to have the bottom edge of the tv touch the lockdown bar like I wanted. I'm thinking about having the tv 5" from the front of the machine. This will leave plenty of room for the tv at the back of the cabinet. I plan to install the tv at a small angle instead of having it perfectly level. The "width" of the tv is 24 1/2" wih the case on. So I will be slotting the inside of the cabinet. The inside dimension is 24" so I won't have to go deep with the channels, just enough for some wiggle room.

Hopefully tonight I will be able to finish the front of the cabinet drawing. I have to be aware of plunger placement so it doesn't interfere with the tv or flipper buttons.

[kizam33]

Nice start so far. I love Mortal Kombat, can't wait to see how it turns out.

[kizam33]

As far as the artwork goes you should have Goro holding someones head in his hand or couple heads!!! lol.. I like a fire and ice idea too, fire on one side with scorpion and ice on the other with sub zero. Then on the front of the cab they meet together. But i also like trying to get as many characters on there as possible. So many ideas and just throwing mine out there. Good Luck, Josh is awesome to work with and he will be a big help as well!

[thegreatiandi]

I will be watching this one close. I am trying to get around to starting mine as well, and im not to sure where to start. I have a 42inch Panasonic plasma that i have decided to go with ( the color is just NICE ). Whats the sizes of wood panels your starting with? Like...how much to accommodate the sides, back, and back panel ( the pnp i think it's called....where the smaller monitor will live )?

I have to many questions i know lol...but seeing you'r has got me ready again.

[Luckydogg420]

Kizam33; thanks for he idea. I sketched up my original design and wasn't 100% happy, so I'll had to come up with something. I'm undecided wether to have both sides of the cabinet the same, or do like you said and put in as many people as possible and have different art work on each side. I love the bigbangpin artwork with all the different char. Jammed in. But also thought it might be cool to do "generic" classic Mortal Kombat design. The same on both sides.

Thegreatiandi; I've read before that it is unwise to use a plasma screen because of the glass screen sitting horizontal, and also because of heat build up...although I've never came across an actual horror story where a tv broke. I plan to cut all the pieces out of 3/4 plywood and miter the corners. I don't know how big backbox will be until I purchase that tv, but the DMD display will be a 17" LCD screen.

[Luckydogg420]

Here's the same picture showing where the screen will sit inside the machine. I'm planning on having the glass at an 8deg angle and the screen at a 4deg angle. This will give the illusion of depth without having the playfield sit flat. I hope it works well.

[Luckydogg420]

A while ago i saw these shooter rod face plates for $100 online. Their used in p2k games.

Immediately I thought this would be cool for my virtual machine, but didn't want to pay their price...so I made one.

I took the regular shooter rod plate,

Used a combination of power tools to put a hole in it,

And then added a light up button that I had laying around.

And that's how you save $100 on a shooter rod plate.

[mikekim]

nice work

[kizam33]

custom, it that really going to be your start button or a launch button for games with out a plunger?

[Luckydogg420]

Today I was able to finish the button for the shooter plate. It easily comes apart, I then made a "launch" insert for it, and put it back together. It's just powered by a couple batteries for now. My cell phone doesn't take great pics, it looks nicer in person.

[Luckydogg420]

I'm having a tough time deciding on how many buttons to put on the front of the machine. I'd like as few as possible.

The virtuapin plunger has connections for 15 buttons.

1. Digital plunger Got it

2. Right flipper. Got it

3. Right flipper #2. Got it

4. Change camera ---- is it required in a cabinet?

5. Toggle HUD ---- possibly for instruction card?

6. Look at backbox ---- pretty sure not required in a cabinet

7. Pause ---- WTF? There's no pause in pinball. No way!

8. Exit table. I will need this for sure.

9. Start game I will need this for sure.

10. Left flipper. Got it

11. Left flipper #2. Got it

12. Insert coin #1. I will need this for sure

13. Insert coin #2. Do I really need two?

14. Test This will be inside the coin door

15. Service This will be inside the coin door

So I'm thinking at minimum I will need 3 buttons. Insert coin, start and exit. My coin door has one button that I'd like to use. Probably insert coin will go there. Then I'm thinking of adding the start and exit buttons in the top left of the front

I would also like to have volume controls inside the coin door, but that will come later.

What do you guys think? Should I include other buttons? Possibly hidden buttons under the front of the cab

[xagesz]

Looking good.

[Luckydogg420]

I was able to begin cutting wood yesterday. I took a 4'x8' sheet of plywood and cut it down to manageable pieces with the table saw then used a circular saw to cut the top angle of the cabinet. With the side piece rough cut, I decided to dry fit the side rails to ensure their length and button placement were correct.

So far so good.

The next step was the coin door. I measured out its location and drilled holes in each corner of the square that I will be cutting out. Then I used my circular saw to connect the holes, and cut out the piece. If your not confident with power tools then I'd suggest to do these cuts with a jig saw, it's safer. The circular saw has a higher chance of binding and kicking back if you don't get it just right.

I have a friend that lost the top of two fingers from a circular saw. BE SAFE.

The next step is placement of the plunger. I measured out the location. And drilled a hole for the plunger rod and button. The hole was a little small so I used a wood file to round it out and make a perfect fit.

This is just a dry fit. I will be cleaning up the coindoor before final installation.

The next step is to take this apart, finish cutting the miter joints on the edges and the dado joint for the bottom panel. Hopefully I will find time to finish the lower cabinet this weekend.

[Carny_Priest]

I'm having a tough time deciding on how many buttons to put on the front of the machine. I'd like as few as possible.

The virtuapin plunger has connections for 15 buttons.

1. Digital plunger Got it

2. Right flipper. Got it

3. Right flipper #2. Got it

4. Change camera ---- is it required in a cabinet?

5. Toggle HUD ---- possibly for instruction card?

6. Look at backbox ---- pretty sure not required in a cabinet

7. Pause ---- WTF? There's no pause in pinball. No way!

8. Exit table. I will need this for sure.

9. Start game I will need this for sure.

10. Left flipper. Got it

11. Left flipper #2. Got it

12. Insert coin #1. I will need this for sure

13. Insert coin #2. Do I really need two?

14. Test This will be inside the coin door

15. Service This will be inside the coin door

So I'm thinking at minimum I will need 3 buttons. Insert coin, start and exit. My coin door has one button that I'd like to use. Probably insert coin will go there. Then I'm thinking of adding the start and exit buttons in the top left of the front

[ATTACH=CONFIG]35949[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]35950[/ATTACH]

I would also like to have volume controls inside the coin door, but that will come later.

What do you guys think? Should I include other buttons? Possibly hidden buttons under the front of the cab

I'm just putting a Start button, Extra ball, Digital launch ball, and plunger on the front panel of the cabinet. Exit and Add Credit, I have under the front of the cab.

http://www.vpforums.org/index.php?showtopic=26008#entry246958

I still have to wire the button switches, but given that you can do a custom mapping of buttons I'm considering something like this:

1. Digital plunger

2. Right flipper.

3. Right flipper #2.

4. Insert coin ---- Add credit button, Coin mech 1, Coin mech 2 wired in parallel

5. Coin door open ---- Memory interlock switch

6. Tilt ---- plumb bob switch, slam tilt switch 1, slam tilt switch 2, tilt ball trough switch wired in parallel

7. Extra Ball

8. Exit table.

9. Start game

10. Left flipper.

11. Left flipper #2.

12. Service menu step down Service button 2

13. Service menu step up Service button 3

14. Test Service button 1

15. Menu select Service button 4

I can't think of anything else I would need . I've got a wireless keyboard, I'd just assume use that to handle pause, master volume control, etc.

[Luckydogg420]

Thanks carny_priest, that's a better combination of buttons. I'm probably going to use something close to your layout. I guess I didn't really think about the tilt switches, thats going to be included. I don't know if I want an "extra ball" button, kinda seems like cheating. Lol.

[Luckydogg420]

Today I put some more time into the bottom cabinet build. The front of the box is mitered together on either side. The bottom of the cabinet slides into a dodo joint, and for the back I used a rabbet joint so that the back door will be recessed once closed. The top piece is sitting on top with rabbet joints to secure it in place, it sits 3/8" above the sides so that it will be inline with the side rails and glass once installed.

45deg cut on front. The dado is 3/8" from the bottom and 5/8" wide (thick enough for the bottom)

Same dado on bottom. 3/4" rabbet on back

Here's the box clamped together. Notice the dado for the bottom board.

The front corner with bottom installed

Here's a detail of the rear top

Again the back, with the door in place. This is a "dry fit" so the hinge hasn't been installed.

And one of the whole cabinet, with side rails and lock down bar.

Now it's time to take it all apart again to cut the slot for the tv, a slot in the top edge for the plastic glass channel, and drill holes for flipper buttons.