Design

I started the design process by deciding on the basic shape I wanted the cabinet to take.  There is the Tempest look, the Pac-Man type, the Defender style, but I was always attracted to the Neo-Geo cabinets so I decided to make mine similar to that.  The width of the cabinet was predetermined by my monitor choice.  I downloaded some pictures of different Neo-Geo cabinets and started drawing the basic cabinet shape with 3D geometry in Design CAD 2000.  I then completed the design by turning the 3D geometry into a solid-modeled representation as seen below.  This helped me determine if everything would fit and work before I built it.  I added texture mapped representations of the marquee, control panel, and laminate to give me a good feel as to what the completed arcade would look like.  If anyone is interested, I can make the Design CAD 2000 file available.  

Shown below are three views of  the side panels and control box with dimensions.  These are the views I used during construction to cut out the side panels.

I designed the monitor for a tilt of seventy-five degrees so the frame was designed to fit the monitor at this angle and to transfer its weight to the casters (yes, it's heavy).  There is also bracing for the control panel box to provide firm support.  Below is a dimensioned picture of the frame.

The inside panels are the width of the monitor bezel or 27".  They are offset into the side panels by 1/2".  The cutouts for the coin door and vents were measured during construction to exactly fit them   The speaker cutouts were placed to have as much stereo separation as possible.

I laid out all of the controls where I wanted them and designed the control box around them.  I incorporated a small door in the front of the control box and enough height to accommodate a mini-keyboard on a keyboard shelf.  The control panel turned out to be 33 1/2" wide, which is too wide to fit through most doors so I  designed the whole box to be detachable in case I had to move the cabinet into a room  Below is a side view of the control box and a top view of the control panel.