Monster Arcade
Multiple controlpanels and changable magnetic artwork...
Client
Howard
Project Duration
6 months
I get a lot of requests for custom builds — many of them from the United States.
But when this email came in… I was instantly hooked.
It was from Howard, a visual artist who worked on some of the biggest Hollywood blockbusters ever made — movies like The Matrix, Harry Potter, and Starship Troopers.
Howard was a true arcade lover and already owned several machines. But none of them came close to meeting his extremely high expectations.
This build would need to have everything…
Howard asked for multiple control panels that could be swapped out easily using aluminium rails.
He also wanted the cabinet to be built in several separate parts, making it much easier to move.
And on top of that, he wanted custom magnetic artwork — so whenever he felt like changing the look of the machine, he could simply swap the artwork and the control panel to create a completely different arcade setup.
To make the magnetic artwork possible, the cabinet itself needed to be made out of metal.
So I designed custom metal plates for every part of the machine. These plates were water-cut and then glued on with epoxy — covering not only the main cabinet, but also all the drawers, doors, and control panels.
And this was a lot of work.
I tested several thicknesses of magnetic artwork to find the perfect match for an arcade cabinet: strong enough to stay in place, but still easy to remove and swap whenever Howard wanted.
The COB neon LEDs were routed inside all of the outer edges. That left only 1.5 millimetres of material on each side. Normally, that would be cutting it very close — but thanks to the steel plating, it should be strong enough.
Getting a gun and controller drawer and a separate keyboard and mouse drawer into the cabinet without making the arcade too large was also a serious challenge…
Watch part 1 (behind the scenes) of the Monster Arcade Cabinet on YOUTUBE video here:
The end result was exactly how we imagined it.
Over the top — but still really pleasing to the eye.
The entire cabinet has a premium look, with full RGB lighting, different shapes of control panels, custom drawers, removable panels, and lots of storage space.
The main control panel is built for four players, which makes it perfect for playing together with friends. It is big, bold, and maybe a little excessive…
But that is exactly what this build needed to be.
Watch part 2 (End Result) of the Monster Arcade Cabinet on YOUTUBE video here:
