Skip to main content

Weekend Workshop: Light up your love for arcade games with a DIY marquee lightbox

Need something to keep you busy this weekend? We’ve got you covered. The Weekend Workshop is our weekly column in which we showcase a badass DIY project that you can complete with minimal skills and expertise. We’ve dug through all the online tutorials and gone the extra mile to pinpoint projects that are equal parts easy, affordable, and fun. So put on your work pants, grab your tool belt, and head to the garage. It’s time to start building!

While Sony and Microsoft continue to dazzle their fans with emotional storytelling, life-like graphics, and engrossing gameplay, there remains a place in everyone’s heart for the old-fashioned nostalgia of systems past. Whether it’s an early arcade or console classic, everyone has a game or two which helped create fond of memories of childhood.

Recommended Videos

Considering how ingrained these games are, there’s no better way to celebrate your affection for them than by constructing a unique marquee lightbox. Thanks to some skillful handiwork by an Instructables user known as MakeItYoutube, building one of these praise-worthy lightboxes requires little else outside of a few power adapters, lengths of wood, an arcade marquee of your choice, and some basic tool skills.

To help you get started on this weekend DIY project, we’ve gone ahead and sifted through the walkthrough to find the exact build list required for construction. As is the case with any Weekend Workshop project, we highly recommend you know how to correctly operate a band saw, soldering iron, and power drill before starting — or employ the services of someone who does. With that said, here’s everything you’ll need to get started:

Tools:

  • Soldering tools
  • Drill
  • Panel saw
  • Band saw
  • Routing table
  • 3/16″ router bit

Materials:

  • Arcade marquee
  • 12V power supply
  • Slide switch
  • DC power plug jack
  • Wire
  • LED light strip (white)
  • 5/8″ wire nails
  • 1 1/2″ wood screws
  • Pine board (6′ x 3.5″ x 3/4″)
  • 1/8″ MDF (medium-density fiberboard)
  • Gorilla Glue

With the necessary tools and materials at the ready, it’s time to start piecing together this creative take on a marquee lightbox. Simply follow MakeItYoutube’s comprehensive walkthrough and in a mere matter of hours, you’ll be showing off your vintage gaming pride in style. Happy building!

The entire walkthrough for building this DIY arcade marquee lightbox can be found over at Instructables.

Rick Stella
Former Associate Editor, Outdoor
Rick became enamored with technology the moment his parents got him an original NES for Christmas in 1991. And as they say…
Sebastian Stan lays out Bucky’s future after Thunderbolts
Sebastian Stan in Thunderbolts.

There are some spoilers ahead for the ending of Marvel's Thunderbolts. Stop reading now if you don't want to be spoiled.

Earlier this year, Captain America: Brave New World briefly introduced a new direction for James "Bucky" Barnes, a character Sebastian Stan has been playing since 2011 in Captain America: The First Avenger. In Brave New World, the former Winter Soldier apparently retired from being a reformed hero and went into politics by running for Congress. Thunderbolts reveals that Bucky won his election to the House of Representatives. But his stay in Congress was short.

Read more
Jeep Compass EV breaks cover—but will it come to the U.S.?
jeep compass ev us newjeepcompassfirsteditionhawaii  4

Jeep just pulled the wraps off the all-new Compass EV, and while it’s an exciting leap into the electric future, there's a catch—it might not make it to the U.S. anytime soon.
This is a brand new electric version of the Jeep Compass, and being built on Stellantis' STLA platform—the same architecture underpinning models like the Peugeot E-3008 and E-5008—it looks much slicker and packs a lot more inside than previous versions of the Compass.
Let’s start with what’s cool: the new Compass EV is packing up to 404 miles of range on a single charge, a 74 kWh battery, and fast-charging that gets you from 20% to 80% in about 30 minutes. Not bad for a compact SUV with Jeep's badge on the nose.
There are two versions: a front-wheel-drive model with 213 horsepower and a beefier all-wheel-drive version with 375 horsepower. That AWD setup isn’t just for looks—it can handle 20% inclines even without front traction, and comes with extra ground clearance and better off-road angles. In short, it’s still a Jeep.
The design's been refreshed too, and inside you’ll find the kind of tech and comfort you’d expect in a modern EV—sleek, smart, and ready for both city streets and dirt trails.
But here’s the thing: even though production starts soon in Italy, Jeep hasn’t said whether the Compass EV is coming to America. And the signs aren’t promising.
Plans to build it in Canada were recently put on hold, with production now delayed until at least early 2026. Some of that might have to do with possible U.S. tariffs on Canadian and Mexican vehicles—adding a layer of uncertainty to the whole rollout.
According to Kelley Blue Book, a Stellantis spokesperson confirmed that the company has “temporarily paused work on the next-generation Jeep Compass, including activities at” the Canadian plant that was originally meant to build the model. They added that Stellantis is “reassessing its product strategy in North America” to better match customer needs and demand for different powertrain options.
So while Europe and other markets are gearing up to get the Compass EV soon, American drivers might be left waiting—or miss out entirely.
That’s a shame, because on paper, this electric Jeep hits a lot of sweet spots. Let’s just hope it finds a way over here.

Read more
Charlie Cox singles out his least favorite Daredevil: Born Again episode
Charlie Cox in Daredevil: Born Again.

Daredevil: Born Again season 1 was largely reconceived after the 2023 actor and writer strikes. Dario Scardapane -- a veteran of The Punisher series on Netflix -- was brought in to be the new showrunner and he made a lot of changes to the series that were well-received. However, there's one episode that Scardapane didn't really change at all, and it happens to be the least favorite episode of Daredevil: Born Again's leading man, Charlie Cox.

During an appearance on The Playlist, Cox noted that he wasn't very fond of the season's fifth episode, "With Interest," which was a largely standalone episode that featured his character, Matt Murdock, in a bank during a hostage crisis.

Read more