How do you keep control panels laying flat?

I've noticed my plastic MVS control panel that sits under the buttons and joystick has started to bubble up/warp in at least 3 sections. What's the proper way to remedy this so that you can get the plastic is sit extremely flat? I've thought of using some kind of glue to hold it in place but figured I would ask here first before I do something that may not be reversable.

Has anyone experienced this? How have you fixed it?

In this pic you might be able to see that my bubbles occur near the P1 and P2 credit counters and directly in the middle of the MVS logo.

The overlay probably is set perfectly from when sanded down the CP. Make a clear overlay to set over the current CPO. Won't bubble up anymore and protects the overlay from future wear and tear.

No, I never sanded down underneath the CPO. I only did it on the front edge where it's only metal. I actually just left the CPO in place while I was sanding around it.

Onto your suggestion...

So you mean I should go buy a clear plastic piece, cut it to fit perfectly overtop of the original CPO and then tighten everything down again? Sounds like that would work.

Yeah. Just go to Lowes, Home Depot, or any place that sells thin sheets of acrylic or plastic and cut to order. I'm not really sure on the dimensions atm. If you haven't already and you're going through the trouble anyway, clean under the CPO just in case maybe spilled or something. It may look clean on top, but it might look ugly underneath.

Good job ruell, you beat me to it.

A word of advice use Lexan if you aren't handy with acrilics such as plexy and cristalite.

Is Lexan a bit more flexible?

What's the cost comparison between Lexan and Plexyglass?

Lexan cost more, but it hadles almost like wood as far as cutting, in other words very little risk of breaking unlike the other 2 which are much cheaper. Also Lexan is darker and has a dark edge unlike plexi or cristalyte, so keep that in mind.

Oh! BTW, Lexan does scratch easier.

Mmm thanks for the info. I'm not excited about the possiblity of this new cover getting scratches on it. Even the exisiting ones on the original CPO bother me.

What's involved with cutting Plexiglass to shape? I assume you need something more than just an Exacto Knife.

I made an extensive post about this...use the search under lexan or plexy and you'll find some good info.

I have the same bubbling problem with my new cab, although I believe my overlay may just be in need of replacement as there are a couple of stains to go along with the bubbling. Thanks for the advice though guys!

I used to have this problem with my old MVS cab sometimes. It was definitely caused by heat and humidity, as the CP was perfectly flat in the winter and seemed to warp a bit in the hotter parts of the summer. I just turned the AC up.

electricgrave cut me this plexy piece. total pro. i would say the only down side on the gold cab, is that the CP area is smaller then a big red, so your palms end up resting right on the corners of the sharp plexy edge. fashion before comfort though.

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That's pretty sexy. Did you paint those blots that hold it in place black as well? Is so, nice touch.

Creating a new CP overlay is my next project once I get some free time.

thanks; yeah sanded down everything and re-painted the bolts and the CP.

Just slighty off topic but still inline with your last comment Ukyo, what did you use to repaint your CP? The front edge of mine has some nice scratches and scrapes on it and I may want to repaint it sometime in the near future.

Hey Valke.

Valke said:

Just slighty off topic but still inline with your last comment Ukyo, what did you use to repaint your CP? The front edge of mine has some nice scratches and scrapes on it and I may want to repaint it sometime in the near future.

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Sand it down nice, then when you're done cleaning the surface add a few nice coats of Rust-Oleum black gloss paint.

As you can see here mine was pretty rough when I got it.



But after a few coats it looks a lot better.



I could still use a coat or two more, but that'll give you a pretty good idea of how it'll look in the end.

I don't think folks are listening to Ukyo very well. THe CP needs to be completely sanded, down to a bare metal look like our friend zerminator here, it needs to look nice when sanded in order to get a nice finish on the paint.

Spray paint reproduces the slightest mark faithfully, so in order to have no marks the best thing to do is to sand everything throughly. Also primer is of the highest importance when it comes to paint to have a nice thick lasting finish.

I like Rust-Oleum 'cause it stops rust and I believe these MVS cp's are made out of a very cheap steel that has more iron I care to think of, thus rust comes back easily. The best primer I have found for common folk like us is the Rust Oleum stop rust white primer, the Brown primer is also great if you have tons of rust, and If you're not sure then you haven't sand enough.

When painting remember you can allways coat again, but is hard to take paint off, so don;t be way too generous with your coats, is better to have lots of light coats than fewer heavy coats as the excess turns to powder and looks dull. Semi-Gloss is the only way to fly for me, I like the look of it, all my MVS cabs have being painted this way and for the most part all the MVS cabs I have restored have gotten the same treatment.

When it comes to overlays; all the artwork is ready to print all you need to do is click below my sig and it will take you to Neo Geo MVS which is hosted by a mamber of the same name, he's kind enough to host a few things for me, so if you use this files don't thank me, thank him for taking the time, as I can't be bothered emailing files day in and day out.

This files can easily be porinted at Kinko's, you're best bet is to have them printed in a heavy stock paper, gloss is not necessary as the plexi that you will covered the artwork with will provide a nice glossy look, in other words is allways gonna look like new.

Busted highlited a post I made of the 3 specific materials available in any home depot or lowes for clear overlay material, if you're not sure of what you want to do simply go in there and check it out. My suggestion to everyone new to this is to use Lexan. Lexan is the most expensive choice out of the 3, but it's easy to cut and allows for cheap drill bits to do a nice finish and cheap saws to do a nice cut, so keep this in mind as well.

OK, I think that covers it all pretty nicely, so have fun nancies!

In the recent humidity the CP has lifted a bit, I thought about trying to address it but think I'll just leave it for when the AC gets installed next week.

dark penguin said:

I used to have this problem with my old MVS cab sometimes. It was definitely caused by heat and humidity, as the CP was perfectly flat in the winter and seemed to warp a bit in the hotter parts of the summer. I just turned the AC up.

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Well I finally had time to work on my CPO. I went to Home Depot and bought a piece of Plexiglass. As far as tools I really didn't have much to work with. I basically did all my button cut-outs using a Dremel tool. The end results actually turned out pretty good! And you're right, with plexiglass overtop it actually does hide a lot of the scratches and imperfections on the original CPO underneath.

Thanks for the tips guys

That looks ace, congrats! A piece if advice; if you use some spacers for the joystick bolts you can place the washer underneath the overlay just like the originals joysticks which need no spacers. Man the difference is incredible it looks top ace when you do that.

nice job; very classy. yeah the washers look nice underneath the cp; electricgrave convinced me to do it that way on mine.

My washers hide the "not so perfect" hand dremel job