My New Astro City restoration thread

sammybean

sammybean

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Prompted by kind words from a friend on here, I decided I'm going to start a thread for my current project. This is my first venture into the world of plastic cabs as well as Sega cabs. I'm stealing the initial pic from EG as I didn't take one before dismantling the beast.

13746_1056669873434_1726472609_111014_3529303_n.jpg


Mine's the one on the right. What I've done:

- Thoroughly cleaned the inside of the cabinet. Hot water + orange cleaner + elbow grease = clean
- Cleaned the bezel and top front third. This part is ready to be dyed.
- Soaked all the metal parts in vinegar and salt to remove all the grime and rust.
- Located replacement screws as a large number were destroyed in disassembly.

Next up:
- Using Goof-off finish removing the sticker residue from the Astro City graphics.
- Dye the black bezel and white bezel surround.
- Find replacement graphics.
- Figure out what mounting plate is appropriate for my panel and order it as well as a second joystick (suggestions?)

In the future:
- Figure out why the monitor only stays on for a few minutes.

Well, that's my start :). This is a short project as this one doesn't need as much work as my other two :).
 
sammybean

sammybean

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Piccolo_DBz said:
Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks!!

Anyone know how to take the speaker enclosure/New Aero City sign holder off of the white part? Struggling with this, don't really want to snap it on accident.

Also the 100yen sticker thing on the CP enclosure?

Dyed the bezel, we'll see how it looks tomorrow afternoon :D.
 
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Testocules

Testocules

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Awesome Sam! Sega cabs are the nice - very well constructed. I expect you probably know that after taking it apart already. Looks like you are already pretty well in to the project.

My Super Neo 29 had a slightly textured bezel, and dyeing worked very well with it. The Sega cab bezels are very smooth though. When they are new they have a very slick - almost mirror-like finish. Rather than dyeing the bezel, I would try polishing it first. I just did this with my Blast city bezel and it looks new again. If it doesn't work out, you can always dye it.

As far as I can tell all the Astro cabs use the same side art. Astro side art is not available as NOS anywhere that I know of, but the next best thing is repro artwork by Sean at MCS arcade. Here is a link. Looks pretty spot on to me.

Astro City Side Art at MCS Arcade

astrosa_large.gif


Good luck on the restore! Can't wait to see some pics.
 
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beigemore

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The sign and sign holder are attached with some strong double sided tape. I pried those off with a flat head. you just have to be careful with the back of the sign and scraping it on accident.
 
sammybean

sammybean

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Testocules said:
My Super Neo 29 had a slightly textured bezel, and dyeing worked very well with it. The Sega cab bezels are very smooth though. When they are new they have a very slick - almost mirror-like finish. Rather than dyeing the bezel, I would try polishing it first. I just did this with my Blast city bezel and it looks new again. If it doesn't work out, you can always dye it.

As far as I can tell all the Astro cabs use the same side art. Astro side art is not available as NOS anywhere that I know of, but the next best thing is repro artwork by Sean at MCS arcade. Here is a link. Looks pretty spot on to me.

Astro City Side Art at MCS Arcade

Good luck on the restore! Can't wait to see some pics.
Click to expand...

Thanks! A bit late on the bezel. I tried out the dye last night. Going to go see how it came out now since it's cured. :) The white parts need to be dyed, there're too many parts that are down to the black plastic underneath the white for polishing to be the solution. :(

beigemore said:
The sign and sign holder are attached with some strong double sided tape. I pried those off with a flat head. you just have to be careful with the back of the sign and scraping it on accident.
Click to expand...

I was incredibly unsure. Thanks!!! :)

ReplicaX said:
Seems my pic has become somewhat famous that and pandas. Good luck cleaning that beast up. Looking forward to the progress and finished product.
Click to expand...

Than you! :)

Pic of my apartment torn asunder from this cabinet:

IMG00189-20100901-1742.jpg
 
TheGreenMachine

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Cool, I'm actually in the process of restoring my NAC as well! Dropped my doors and rear panels off at the powder coater earlier this week.

I'm curious to see how dying the monitor hood turns out. I wouldn't expect it to work properly since that isn't a plastic piece that was once some shade of white, but black gel coated fiberglass piece that was painted white.

Though I would expect that you should have good luck using the dye on the control panel bezel and the speaker shroud since they are both plastic. Well the speaker shroud is styrene and the panel bezel seems like some sort of funky plastic fiber composite, but regardless they were both originally white throughout.

Sadly my monitor hood needs to be completely refinished. Because of its age the fiberglass was reacting with the paint and it was completely flaking/peeling off. So it needs to be sealed and completely repainted.

- TGM
 
sammybean

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I had no idea it was fiberglass... that makes the whole rest of the cabinet fiberglass too then, huh? Any ideas on what to use to paint it? Guess I'll be returning the white dye xD. The bezel came out great though, just needs a little polishing up.
 
TheGreenMachine

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The monitor hood and the primary front and rear shell halves are fiberglass. Either gelcoat or painted to give it the smooth glossy finish. Kind of like a fiberglass boat hull.

The monitor bezel, speaker bezel, and the control panel bezel are plastic. The speaker bezel is straight up vacuformed styrene. The control panel bezel and monitor bezel appear to be some sort of injection molded plastic composite.

I think your white dye is still worth trying on the speaker and control panel bezels.

If you wanted to paint it I would recommend some sort of automotive or appliance paint. I know many here are taken with the Fusion paints. But they are really designed to work best when applied directly to plastics. So unless you are painting a bare plastic piece they aren't really bringing anything to the party.

Good luck trying to remove the marquee in the speaker bezel. My bezel was too brittle for me to try and remove the marquee by force. I ended up just masking off the marquee and then painting the bezel.
 
sammybean

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All GREAT info TGM. My speaker bezel and both Astro marquees are in top-notch shape, I don't see any reason at all to paint the speaker bezel, it looks fantastic.

The fiberglass body *needs* a paintjob. She looks meh. The monitor hood is questionable, it has like 2 scratches down to black and that's all. I have a friend who works on boats actually, so maybe I'll give him a call and see what he thinks of it :).

Bezel is dyed, needs a sanding to get it really glossy, but it looks sweet as-is, may just leave it :).
 
Testocules

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TGM has some great points. As far as painting goes - checking with your friend that works on boats sounds like a good idea. Akuma over at arcadeotaku took his to be sprayed at an auto body shop - here is the link Astro City 2 restore at arcadeotaku

You mentioned that there are some places where the gel coating is worn away and you can see black underneath. For spots that need filling, you might use Superfine White Milliput Epoxy Its used for boat repair so probably would work great if you do end up painting the cab.
 
TheGreenMachine

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Testocules said:
Akuma over at arcadeotaku took his to be sprayed at an auto body shop - here is the link Astro City 2 restore at arcadeotaku
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I want to get done with mine. I'm currently looking for a local place that will do it. While I already repainted the control bezel and speaker bezel, I think I might get both repainted when I find a place. So they will all be an exact match with the monitor hood.

The body of mine isn't too shabby. While it isn't perfect it isn't anywhere nears bad enough to warrant re-painting. As mentioned earlier I am getting the doors and panels powder coated... because they were kind of nasty.
 
Testocules

Testocules

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Yeah, that paint job really makes a difference. Sometimes it takes some effort to find someone willing to spray a candy. I had a several guys turn me down without any discussion of money. I guess some body shops are only interested in large jobs. Maybe that has changed with the economic slowdown....just seems like it can be tough if you don't know someone that can help you get it done.

Powder coating is definitely the way to go for the metal parts.:buttrock:
 
Electric Grave

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That needs a real nice clean up with a sand sponge and then Krylon Fusion, what more needs to be said? It really is that simple. I explained it to the fellas when they were here picking up the cab. I did it to my NAC and it looks great. The speaker shroud needs repainting, everything in that cab does, it would be silly not to paint everything as it won't match when you put it back together.

Sammy, did you look at the link with all the pics?, aside from keeping the decals intact (which was a mistake, I should have peeled them off and buy new ones but that's 'cause I had a brain fart) the cab looks superb. Use masking tape to preserve the 100Y sticker and everything else you want to preserve like the sega stickers on the back.

A word of advice, you have now 3 projects that need a lot of elbow grease that I know of, you're best bet is to be practical.
 
sammybean

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Lots of different opinions on how to do the paint, and everyone's end results look fantastic. I've got a hook-up for powder-coating as long as I've got it sanded first. Borrowed an air compressor and tube-fed spray gun and am sandblasting tonight and tomorrow, all the Aero Table parts and all the metals parts on the NAC. Once those all come back, the Aero Table will be finished sans the monitor and CP. The NAC *should* be painted by then, if I can figure out what method to use since everyone's work great, and every one is so varied. Boat guy suggests an appliance paint as they use something exceedingly similar on hulls.
 
gutsman004

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sammybean said:
Lots of different opinions on how to do the paint, and everyone's end results look fantastic. I've got a hook-up for powder-coating as long as I've got it sanded first. Borrowed an air compressor and tube-fed spray gun and am sandblasting tonight and tomorrow, all the Aero Table parts and all the metals parts on the NAC. Once those all come back, the Aero Table will be finished sans the monitor and CP. The NAC *should* be painted by then, if I can figure out what method to use since everyone's work great, and every one is so varied. Boat guy suggests an appliance paint as they use something exceedingly similar on hulls.
Click to expand...

+1 for appliance paint.
 
sammybean

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Appliance paint has been bought! Sandblasting has been completed! Time to sand the plastic bits a little and we'll go from there!
 
sammybean

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Sandblasting: Messy yet effective.

IMG00192-20100904-1338.jpg


Today's plan: get at least 1 of the 3 fiberglass parts thoroughly cleaned, sanded, and prepped for painting!

Labor Day plans: PAINT!

To-do list:
-Order NAC sideart
-Figure out which joysticks to buy and what mounting plates I need and order them
-Locate new hardware as I busted a few screws, and some just aren't salvageable
-Buy new locks (haven't counted how many I need yet)
-Rewiring
 
Testocules

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Good progress! Are those Aero table parts in the background? Just wondering if you sand blasted both projects at the same time. Never sand blasted before myself - do you just rinse the pieces off after blasting and they are ready to paint, or is there something else involved with the prep work?
 
sammybean

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Those *are* Aero Table parts! There's one part that's still not done thanks to running out of sand xD. I sandblasted, then you just knock them against the heel of your shoe or something and all the sand just falls off! :) Not sure just *how* scored up to make the plastic before painting... I'm going to try it out tonight though and see how it works. If successful, on to the next pieces tomorrow :)

And FFS someone suggest a damned joystick!!!! And maybe point me to mounting plates? I know lizardlick sells them, but don't know which for my cabinet? :mr_t:
 
Electric Grave

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Sanwa JLF-TP-8T Joystick
Sanwa JLF-P1-S "S" Mounting Plate

There you go, links and everything you need. Talk to chad he's great.

My two cents.

Although I can appreciate all teh effort that you are doing, I sincerely think you're going overkill for a project that could be easily done in simple steps. One way or another is gonna end up great so that's what counts, all I'm saying is that you can get some great results without sandblasting the stuff, I mean that's like cutting cheese with a lightsaber.

Good luck!
 
sammybean

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No no no EG, all I sandblasted for the NAC was the doors. :) It would have pitted the plastic to hell and back. I'm only getting those powdercoated because I can toss it in with the Aero Table parts for the same price :).

Thanks so so so much! I'll toss in that order along with the ONE pink button I'm missing >.< and the two yellow ones.

Yellow start buttons are 24mm right?

New issue: At some point the monitor remote board got fucked... I must've knocked it off of where it was setting.. :( Gotta find a new one.
 
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