MMP Gravitar Mame

The following will detail the conversion/restoration of this cabinet.

Well, pretty dirty, and empty. I hate to say it, but this good looking fella is headed for a glowing future in Mame. I love the artwork (never did care for the game to be perfectly honest though)

PERCENT COMPLETE

	On subsequent research, it turns out that Gravitar was the least popular of all the Atari Vector games. Guess that makes me feel a bit better. Still, this will be as close to reverse convertable as possible, however I just don't ever see it happening. Best to get it out of the filth and being used by happy gamers again.
		Since the panel is in such nice shape, I can't bring myself to destroy it with a drill. I'll be making a new wraparound panel out of wood, and hopefully selling this to someone looking to restore their gravitar. (The cone buttons were rotted and the undersides crumbled to dust, and the leaf buttons were in very bad shape).


	I did a quick mockup of how this cabinet and control panel will look when it's done. I plan to implement some of the artwork from the cabinet into the underlay. The control panel mockup is above, and a shot of the planned cabinet is below. Considering how closely the Dyno and Power cabs matched the original mockup, and the fact that I have the control panel layout from those panels, this probably will be very close to how it will look.

	Construction of the base went quickly, and the finish coat is applied. I'll mount it to the cabinet and give it a quick polish with the hand buffer to give it a nice finish. It was one of the first nice days we have had around here, so I took the parts outside to grab some sunshine :)
	I printed the underlay, drilled all the holes except the trackball, and put it together for a very quick trial run to see how it will look. So far so good! Now to mount the monitor and order some parts for this panel! I got a couple of e-mails asking what the graphic here is: It's a piece of the original artwork from the Gravitar flyer, that was released as promo when the game was new. It just ties the theme and colors all together and make the cab look as original as possible (with a crazy 4 player panel on it!).
	Here is the cab with the wraparound panel attached. The space just above the panel will have some plexi with an instruction sheet. I also think I will do the front of the panel in black, and the sides in white, to match the color-scheme of the cabinet. I've also used a hand sander to round off the edges of the panel, and now I need to route the t-molding slot all the way around. The button/trackball and joystick holes are all drilled, so all I have to do is get that t-molding on and get it all wired together. Next will be the mount for the monitor, and finally the artwork touchups and selecting the computer system. Smooth sailing! PLEASE NOTE: THE PANEL IS NOTCHED, AND MOUNTED TO 2X4's THAT ARE ATTACHED TO THE INSIDE OF THE CABINET, THE CABINET IS NOT CUT IN ANY WAY!
	A little more work and it looks like this. The artwork is all coming together so well. The controls are in place. The wiring is complete. Monitor, computer and debugging are really almost all that's left to do.
	Marquee was going to be a printed one, but this one is in such good shape, and looks so damn good, that I'm going to leave it unless the new owner wants it changed. I'm really starting to regret that I didn't keep this one, as I'd first planned. Ah well, there's always the NEXT one.
	I got the 19" IBM monitor, and stripped off the outer casing for a more authentic look. It was a tight fit, but fit it did. Here is is in place, before the cardboard bezel is set in place. The smoked glass finishes the effect. Below, the Gravitar cabinet sees its first ever game of Galaga: I just need to buy the computer system for this. An AMD 2200+ system with 256meg ram and no onboard crap should play just about anything that's thrown at it. This cabinet features two speakers, one below the control panel, and one above the screen. I might put a subwoofer system in to give it that major OOOMPH, but that decision is up to the new owner. The control panel seems to work flawlessly with the I-pac4 interface, and the trackball and spinner combo will be tested once the computer system is here, since the power for those comes straight from the 5V supply lines I splice into the computer. The next picture I post should be the 'finished' one...so stay tuned!
	Well, there you have it. A cabinet saved from rot and decay in a barn. Still restorable if somebody was determined to do so, but much more fun as it is. I think this one was my best work so far, it just all worked out so well, and I'm sure it will be played by drunken crazy people for years to come!