Painting All Done

Last weekend a push was made to complete all the body work and painting on both cabinets. They both came out really good and I had to test all my plastics and control panels. LOVING THESE ! This weekend I'll be wiring both cabinets for JAMMA. One horizontal, one vertical. These will be a sweet pair ! Full project gallery to date : http://s286.photobucket.com/albums/ll85/vibefxdesign/Popeye%20and%20Donkey%20Kong%20Restoration/

I'll have some more detailed entries later focusing on specific areas of the build.

My GRILLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't like the holes that were drilled for a speaker grill.
Have no way of recreating the Nintendo original look.
Don't feel like having one shipped and adding that expense to the project.
So in the end I decided on this look.

I'll need to sand it tomorrow, add a skim coat, I should be able to paint it in 48 hours. It should be an easy fix that will not show any sings of repair when done.

Coming Together

Had a get an idea for how it was going to look.

A Few More Pics

Just a few shots of the cabinets all patched up, then painted.

Popeye Progress

Got some time over the weekend to paint my Popeye cabinet.
It's coming along well.
I'm still waiting on my t-molding and side art which I do expect this week.
I decided to today that I'd rather add a speaker grill as opposed to the "custom" look of drilled holes to let the sound escape. I think it's a step in the right direction.
Cabinet is looking good, I'm excited to wrap this up shortly.

A Few More Panel Pics

Working with the vinyl was really easy.
I mad sure to soften the edges of my panel so that when I pulled the vinyl tight I would not damage it. I used a squeegee to bond the vinyl tight to the wood. On the underside I am thinking of running a bead of hot glue to make sure the vinyl remains in place. I paid $7 for linear foot of the vinyl which made my buddies laugh because the MDF I "wasted" was only $2. But for what it's worth the panel looks amazing and I know now I'd work with this vinyl all the time. Sometimes I don't like the easy simple "paint it black" fix, but black is so universal and works for so many things. Not sure if locally I could have found this product in different colors, but for my Popeye cabinet the black works. I used the buttons and balltop's to pop the panel with color.

Take Control !

I had some MDF cut down to size so I could have some extra Nintendo panels around.
Was a good thing I did that as I ended up messing one of my panels up.
Not wanting it to go to waste and wanting to work with new materials I decided I would try and cover it in vinyl. I had decided I would mount the joysticks from above, which in reality was a bad idea. While drilling the holes out on the already painted and clear coated panel I had done more damage than anticipated.

I used some wood filler to patch the holes, sanded it smooth, rounded the edges, and then applied the vinyl. I'm really happy with the results.