Day 7 – Marquee holder and plexiglass, bought paint and that’s about it!

I didn’t get a lot done today. I wasn’t sure how I was going to do the marquee area at the top just yet. I read some around on the internet and looked at what others had done. Most bought the marquee retainer from Happs controls. It was $13.35 for 10 feet. So I added it to my cart on their website and went to check out. Well, they have a $25 minimum and I didn’t have anything else I needed right away. So, I thought well, I’ll just see if I can find something here that’ll work.

I went to Home Depot and wandered around until I found these 36″ aluminum L shaped brackets. They worked perfectly and only cost $2.99 each! Since it’s aluminum they cut fairly easily with a hack saw blade.

I drilled three holes in the L brackets and the upper and lower marquee support area while holding 2 pieces of plexiglass against the cabinet so I would get the spacing correct.

The plexiglass came in 24″ x 18″ sheet for about $7.00. I had no clue how to cut it so I just grabbed my utility knife and scored it until it came apart. That doesn’t make for very clean edges, but you won’t see the edges I cut since they’ll be resting behind the L brackets. If you have to cut a side of the plexiglass that will show you’ll want to find a different way to cut it.

Here is the plexiglass installed with the L brackets. I have a piece of blank paper between 2 sheets of 24″x 7″ plexiglass. I’ll work on the artwork and have it printed at Kinko’s later.

Like I said earlier, I didn’t get alot done today. Mostly because while the primer was drying the other day I took some of the scraps from the arcade cabinet and made my wife this little writing desk. It’s 31″ tall, 18″ deep and 40″ wide. She saw a picture in a magazine and asked me if I could make it. I wasn’t sure, but I figured I’d give it a try. It turned out pretty good and should score some brownie points for all the hours I’ve spent (and will be spent) working on the arcade cabinet!

Oh, I also managed to buy the black paint!

Day 7 hours: 2 1/2
Next :: Goto Mame Arcade Cabinet – Day 8