Softdrink
Professional
Overview
Front view of the marquee holder installed on a New Astro City cabinet.
A few years ago I created a DIY lasercut marquee holder for the SEGA Astro City and New Astro City arcade cabinet. This design wasn't perfectly accurate - I didn't have reference to an original holder at the time, so I did my best using dimensions and photos scrounged from the internet and helpful friends. But it worked well enough, and I've been quite satisfied with it for a long time. The cutfiles and dimensional drawings got shuffled away in my files, but I stumbled on them again recently and finally put together a repo for them.
I also recently purchased an original marquee holder, so I'm planning on putting together plans for an updated design that's more accurate to the original. My design ended up being quite close in terms of external dimensions, but the construction and internal geometry is very different from the original holder. With that said, I've found that being able to mount substantially larger artwork is a nice feature that makes for a more impressive presentation. The Dodonpachi Saidaioujou themed art installed for these photos is a reproduction I printed myself; you can find more photos and info about that in my Restore Log thread here.
You can find the full documentation, including cutfiles, material recommendations, and installation instructions, on Github here.
Front and back panel dimensional drawings.
Comparison with the Original
I don't have photos directly comparing my design to the original (yet), but here's a quick reference table:
*Technically, the largest supported size with the original holder design is approx. 360mm x 270mm. This is larger than ISO A4 or ISO B4, but not as large as JP B4 or ISO B3.
**Using different types of acrylic with known properties, it would be possible to make UV-safe marquee holders, to better protect original game artwork.
Additional Photos
Comparison of the Version 1 marquee holder design with ISO A3 (left) and ISO A4 (right) artwork installed.
Version 1 marquee holder installed on a New Astro City cabinet, with ISO A3 art mounted. Side angle view.
Closeup of the connections between the marquee holder and the cabinet.
I hope others enjoy this project; it's a quick and easy one if you have access to a laser cutter and a decent hardware store (for the metric screws), but it can make a big impact.
Front view of the marquee holder installed on a New Astro City cabinet.
A few years ago I created a DIY lasercut marquee holder for the SEGA Astro City and New Astro City arcade cabinet. This design wasn't perfectly accurate - I didn't have reference to an original holder at the time, so I did my best using dimensions and photos scrounged from the internet and helpful friends. But it worked well enough, and I've been quite satisfied with it for a long time. The cutfiles and dimensional drawings got shuffled away in my files, but I stumbled on them again recently and finally put together a repo for them.
I also recently purchased an original marquee holder, so I'm planning on putting together plans for an updated design that's more accurate to the original. My design ended up being quite close in terms of external dimensions, but the construction and internal geometry is very different from the original holder. With that said, I've found that being able to mount substantially larger artwork is a nice feature that makes for a more impressive presentation. The Dodonpachi Saidaioujou themed art installed for these photos is a reproduction I printed myself; you can find more photos and info about that in my Restore Log thread here.
You can find the full documentation, including cutfiles, material recommendations, and installation instructions, on Github here.
Front and back panel dimensional drawings.
Comparison with the Original
I don't have photos directly comparing my design to the original (yet), but here's a quick reference table:
| Original SEGA | Softdrink Version 1 |
Max. Marquee Size | ISO B4* | ISO A3 |
Construction | Cast plastic | Layered acrylic |
UV Properties | Unknown | Controllable** |
Dimensions | 469 x 345mm | 472 x 346mm |
Tapered Width | 433mm | 432mm |
Bottom Corner Radii | Approx. 10mm | 10mm |
Top Corner Radii | Approx. 15mm | 10mm |
Cabinet Clearance | 5mm | Approx. 3mm |
*Technically, the largest supported size with the original holder design is approx. 360mm x 270mm. This is larger than ISO A4 or ISO B4, but not as large as JP B4 or ISO B3.
**Using different types of acrylic with known properties, it would be possible to make UV-safe marquee holders, to better protect original game artwork.
Additional Photos
Comparison of the Version 1 marquee holder design with ISO A3 (left) and ISO A4 (right) artwork installed.
Version 1 marquee holder installed on a New Astro City cabinet, with ISO A3 art mounted. Side angle view.
Closeup of the connections between the marquee holder and the cabinet.
I hope others enjoy this project; it's a quick and easy one if you have access to a laser cutter and a decent hardware store (for the metric screws), but it can make a big impact.