Like sands through the hourglass ...
...so are the dollars from my bank account. Plunked down some cash for some items on my need list tonight. I ordered the official NOS Capcom control panel overlay and overlay decals from QuarterArcade for my existing cab ($62). Luckily this conversion shouldn't take much time, effort, or cash to complete. All that's left now is to find the marquee art (NOS or repro), order the side decals (NOS), print bezel cards (repro), and fabricate a new control panel. Once everything is in hand, it should only take a couple hours to put together. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the Dragon's Lair cabinet. I did, however, order the repro maquee brackets tonight as well. They're being shipped raw (need to be painted), because I really need to curb my spending at this point. Nothing a $9 can of spraypaint can't fix.
Of course I still need wood. I'm pretty sold on the idea of using 3/4" plywood for this project, as opposed to 3/4" MDF like my first cab. While MDF is super structurally sound, smooth as a baby's ass, almost impervious to warping, and easy to cut, it's just too damn heavy to work with. When I constructed the first cab, I screwed both side panels together before cutting to ensure uniformity. My bro-in-law and I struggled to move the piece outside to cut and back into the basement for assembly. I think plywood is a relatively safe substitution and should be a lot easier to manipulate.
I'm really trying to hold out for a friend with a truck to transport the materials I so desperately need. I've tried other methods in the past, such as home delivery and truck rentals. Home delivery is a screw job because you don't get to select your materials in advance. I think they purposely throw on the truck the most warped wood in stock, knowing you're going to sign off on and unload your material before noticing exactly how ripped off you just got. After this experience, I'd much rather prefer hand selecting my materials and transporting them myself. For big jobs, I have no issue with renting a truck form the supplier. (I've done this a couple times with Lowes.) Unfortunately I can't justify renting a truck this time around for only a few sheets of plywood. As anxious as I am on starting the Dragon's Lair cab, I really do believe I'm better off not pissing away money that might come in handy later in the process.
Just waiting for a few more items to arrive before I snap some pics to post. As usual, I picked the perfect time to start another massive undertaking - winter ... and right at the holidays, to boot! Yay me!
