Started my cabinet redo

I started touching up my cabinet... the wood side near player 1 joystick was broken away, I've successfully built that back up with bondo and just need to sand it smooth and cut in a new groove for t - molding. I also sanded down the paint on the display portion and beneath the control panel since both had flaking paint and repainted them with Rust-O-Leum Latex Flat Black which made them look a lot nicer..

Picture of my Neo before I started the project:

Things I want to accomplish:

New T-Molding. Going black is original, I wonder if anyone has put t-molding.com's Red molding on their big red cab. How did it look? Were you happy with the results? Any pics?

My sides are black laminate, not the original red. I am going to throw some primer on the sides and then use the paint formula I found in the forums to try to get the sides as close to the original red as possible. Then buy some of those repo MVS stickers and slap them on the sides. Has anyone bought the paint? I've got the formula copied down, I just wonder if you used like a Flat, Eggshell or Semi-Gloss. I put flat on the metal parts but I think an eggshell might be more appropriate for the sides.

I'd really like to repaint the red portion in the middle, as you can see in the pic it's a bit faded as it gets closer to the floor (I guess that was exposed to the sun in it's previous life) but I don't know how I would repaint that portion and keep the "Left Player" and "Right Player" wordings and arrows. Anyone have any advice?

Thanks a ton, I'm throwing a little party in early October for some friends, so it'll be my Neo's coming out party. I want her nice and pretty by then...

Matt

Nice start! Good luck on the project. Keep us updated on this!

GAMEFAN

fuerstma said:

My sides are black laminate, not the original red. I am going to throw some primer on the sides and then use the paint formula I found in the forums to try to get the sides as close to the original red as possible.

Click to expand...

Are you removing the laminate or painting over it with primer? If you do the latter, you're going to end up with very poor results. I would remove it first and prep the cabinet for painting by sanding it down and applying the primer coat.

Another small thing you could do that will make the cabinet look a lot better is getting the right colored buttons for the A, B, C, D buttons. Good luck and keep us updated.

3xChaos
Michael

3xChaos said:

Another small thing you could do that will make the cabinet look a lot better is getting the right colored buttons for the A, B, C, D buttons. Good luck and keep us updated.

3xChaos
Michael

Click to expand...

Ok, what ARE the correct colors?

For the buttons do Red Yellow Green & Blue. As for repainting the center portion and keep the "Left Player" and "Right Player" wordings and arrows, masking tape! Just tape over them, paint the wood, then before the paint dries pull off the tape. If you wait for the paint to dry the paint will crack when you pull off the tape. There is some blue "painter's tape" that you could get if you want to, as not all masking tape is created equal.

But where was the paint formula? I'll need that at some point.

Planning on going the easy way

I have to admit I was definetly planning on doing the easy route... priming the laminate and painting. I've done a lot of reading on arcadecontrols.com and a few people seem to say that using a specific primer you can have some success that route...

Any advice on taking off laminate? Do you have to use like an iron or hairdryer to loosen the glue? It sounds like a lot of work <laugh>.

Is button replacement as soon as unscrewing the threaded buttons and dropping new ones in? I see they are connected by two simple "slip on" type clips... is there a recommended button source online?

I don't know, my cab already had the right buttons just in a messed up order. But I am definately sanding mine down for sure, it's been painted at least twice before I got it and it shows. Can you give me the paint formula or post a link to where you found it? I can also tell you what the red molding looks like on a red cab when I do it, but you might have your's done before me.

fuerstma said:

is there a recommended button source online?

Click to expand...

Neo Red Colorant

Here's what I got from the forums...

Colorant OZ 48 96
Kx White 0 2 0
R Exterior RE 3 36 1
U Magenta 0 8 1

The question I had was.. which base to use. The one post said he used Glidden paint, but not which base (usually there are like 3 I think, I'm not really good at this stuff) nor which finish (Flat, Eggshell, etc..). The base is important, you'll be asked when you take the formula up... the finish is more up to you.

If anyone buys some with a random base, PLEASE post your results...

Ordered my T Molding today from t-molding.com. I went with the plain black since I was a wimp...

Thanks!

Matt

I tried to remove my T molding today and it doesn't want to come off. It starts to tear and the little part that goes into the wood stays behind. I there a trick to removing it?

fuerstma said:

Any advice on taking off laminate? Do you have to use like an iron or hairdryer to loosen the glue? It sounds like a lot of work <laugh>.

Click to expand...

If you can just rip parts of it off by hand, then just do that. For the parts you can't take off by hand, you'll need to use a heat gun. A hair dryer works but you'll have much better results with a heat gun. After you remove the laminate use goo gone to clean up all the sticky adhesive residue. This may take several applications and lots of scrubbing. It is a lot of work but you'll appreciate the results.

3xChaos
Michael

Co Attican said:

I tried to remove my T molding today and it doesn't want to come off. It starts to tear and the little part that goes into the wood stays behind. I there a trick to removing it?

Click to expand...

Uh oh! I'm guessing the person who put the T-molding on had glued it to the cabinet. Try using some heavy duty adhesive remover to see if it will budge. You can get it at Home Depot, Lowes, OSH, etc. probably in the paint department.

3xChaos
Michael

fuerstma said:

Is button replacement as soon as unscrewing the threaded buttons and dropping new ones in? I see they are connected by two simple "slip on" type clips... is there a recommended button source online?

Click to expand...

Yep it's that easy. Some places sell the buttons w/o the micro-switches. You'll have to snap those on too. Not really a big deal. Make sure you label all the wires with masking tape prior to removing them. It saves you time when rewiring. For buttons search eBay or try Happ Controls.

3xChaos
Michael

3xChaos said:

Yep it's that easy. Some places sell the buttons w/o the micro-switches. You'll have to snap those on too. Not really a big deal. Make sure you label all the wires with masking tape prior to removing them. It saves you time when rewiring. For buttons search eBay or try Happ Controls.

3xChaos
Michael

Click to expand...

Excellent thanks for the tip on the Button replacement. While I am pretty happy with the springiness of the existing button, a replacement would be nice to give it all that crisp new feel...

As a general update to the cab, I just received my t molding. I took off the old stuff no problems. I am going to try painting the laminate, I figure worst case if it turns out bad I can still remove the laminate and then sand down and paint the wood behind. I ordered 2 SNK/MVS stickers from Arcade Shock, so I am planning on taking those to Home Depot and getting them color matched... I will post the formula ALONG with the base tint and paint type (and of course eventually pics of the results) so people can duplicate my process. Hopefully it works out, I am not much of a handyman at all...

Try going to a smaller speciality paint store instead of Home Depot. I've known many people who tried to color match at Home Depot and the colors were off. They normally just punch it in a computer and have the computer color match it. Some of the smaller paint stores have guys that will do the matching by hand plus you can buy smaller amounts instead of a full gallon.

3xChaos
Michael

Hey guys, glad to see others working on their cabs! Thanks for the paint scheme, i'm going to give that formula too and see how it works. Also the bondo, both my sides had chips. I sanded down and repainted my black under the controls, and used a brush too small. **make sure all your painting is done super evenly, i've redone the white left and right player marks, and they look like ass. Also, if your buttons are not springy, unscrew them, remove them, and pop the center out (part w/spring) and see in any plastic is causing unnessicary friction in the tube, if so carve it out. Works like a wonder. Other than that, do all your lights work too? maruee and all?

Quick Update Sept 27 2005

Hello all thought I'd drop in on the thread and do some quick catch up....

I decided to try to prime over the laminate. I followed some advice I read on Arcade Controls and tried to do as thin of layers as possible, not to lay it on too thick. I used Kilz 2 Latex and put 4 coats of primer on. It seemed to go on real well and I am pleased with the results. (I ripped off the t molding along the top portion of the cab before priming).

So I am all primed up and ready for paint. My MVS logos arrived from Arcade Shock (the large red ones that say SNK and whatnot). I took those to Home Depot to have them paint match them. I had my first snag here, the guy said that the color of the logos was so bright that it would require too much dye for even a gallon, and they couldn't make it. He suggested we try to pick a close color from the paint chips.

I ended up with a Disney color.. it's the following color code:

COLORANT OZ 48 96
--------------------------------------
KX WHITE 0 5 1
R EXTERIOR RE 3 0 0
V MAGENTA 0 14 0

This is Behr Premium Blus Deep Base No. 2300 Interior Eggshell Enamel. The label on top also says Code Red (DC2B-70-5) which I think is the Behr specific code for the above dye combinations.

This color was really close to the SNK Decals so I think it will look good. However I am wondering about my finish selection, eggshell. I thought that would give it a pretty authetic feel, a little more depth than just a flat. However the SNK decals are *very* shiny so I don't know how much they are going to stick out when applied.

I figure I will do up 2 or 3 coats of the paint and hold the decals up and see how they look. If they look ridiculous I may try another paint store to try to match the color and/or go with a shinier finish than the Eggshell (maybe all the way to gloss) depending on what looks bad (the color or the finish).

About to go apply my first coat.. wish my luck!

Great.

I REALLY would have gone to a specialty paint store instead of home depot... Much liklier to get someone who REALLY knows what the hell they are doing.

Custom Paint Store

At the time I thought: "I should really keep shopping around, I am SURE someone can match this"... but between work, Muay Thai training (I have a fight in two weeks) and school the earliest I get home is 9 PM. Bless Home Depot for being open until 10 PM... so it was the best of a bad situation I guess.

I have 4 coats on and I have to say, when I look at the red in my marquee and control panel, I am very happy with the color. I haven't brought in the SNK logos yet to compare them against the red, so we'll see.

Oh yeah, the bad news is the cheap non-Bondo bondo I used started to wiggle and give way when I was scoring it with a razor to cut a groove for the t molding.. so I might just cut away the notch part on the molding for the part around the control panel and snug it up better in the wood... that's a temporary fix I guess until I rip out the non-Bondo Bondo, redo it, and then repaint... which is a maybe, I'll see how it turns out...

I asked my friend to borrow her camera tomorrow so I'll take some shots and update the thread. It definetly looks better. I even broke down and bought the "right color" buttons off eBay due to social/Neo-Geo.com forum pressure... ( CONFORM! CONFORM!)

Thanks,

Matt

ROTFL!!

Resistance is futile!

Continued



Sorry for the largeish pic. I'll resize shortly.

It looks pretty nice. Of course the part I built up with the cheap spakle and not Bondo flakey up and fell apart today but thats fine. I gutted it with a knife and am grunning out now to buy real Bondo, build it u. I'll sand it down, prime it and try to do the painting and make it match. I think I can get it looking OK.