As I draw closer to cutting up some wood to begin the actual cab itself, I have been reconsidering a few of the original decisions I had made regarding the cab shape, size and placement of the internals. One of the original inspirations I had was a cab by Homepin. It’s a lowboy multiboard, and I loved the internal design. Here is a link. (Note: For those of you looking for good write up on building a cab, this link should prove useful! There is a good parts list and price break down, clear photos of the build process and some cool ideas for the internals).

What I loved most about this cab was how everything was built into the door. Open the front door and everything is right there. Great for construction and maintenance. My original goal was to do a similar thing, but with the Centipede cabinet. But lately I have been leaning more towards a Galaga cabinet. The reason being is I grew up playing Galaga. It’s one of the driving forces behind building this cab. I think I would love and appreciate the final result more if the cab closer resembled an actual Galaga cab.

A link I came across a few days back was a Galaga cab restoration. I was very impressed by how clean the internals were and the final result of the cab. I remember saying “I’d love to sit down and play on that!”. And that’s what I want with my cab. So it’s got me rethinking a few things 🙂

So this changes a few things – but mostly, I cannot have a front door with everything right there. It will have to be a rear door, like the actual Galaga cab. I still plan on having a secondary game button, and MIGHT try and find room for a trackball on the control panel so I can play the trackball games on the multiboard (if a choose). The coin door on the front I think will be modified for my cab. It will exist, although in a cut down version. I would like to hook up the test/services switches just inside this door for easy access (instead of having to go via the back). But otherwise it should remain about the same.

The multi board is quite small, so will required much less space than the original Galaga PCB. What I am thinking is attaching everything to a removable board at the base, and allow for a vertical board on the side, should I choose to install an original PCB in the future. The front panel will contain the coin mech, coin counter and test switches.

I still have about 2 weeks before I get the wood and being cutting, so there is still time to clear my thoughts. But the more I think about the final result, the more I lean towards a Galaga Cab…