Info needed about printing CP overlays, side art, etc

[Lemony Vengeance]

Hey all, I'm thinking about having a CP overlay printed locally and I'd like to pick your brains on what material, thickness, printing methods are best for the most accurate overlay possible.

Thanks in advance!

 

[skinny503]

Adhesive backed vinyl printed on a solvent based printer and 3 or 5mm cold rolled lamanate on the top is what I would start with.

 

[Lemony Vengeance]

Adhesive backed vinyl printed on a solvent based printer and 3 or 5mm cold rolled lamanate on the top is what I would start with.

the CP overlay would need to be back-printed, correct?

 

[skinny503]

I wouldn't think so, it all depends on preference. The top side printing will be protected by the laminate and then what ever else will be on top of it. You could even ditch the adhesive back depending on the machine you plan on putting it in! If you wanna shoot me over your source file I can run it by the print shop I use and see what they recommend. I could even have them print you up one and see how you like it, then you can take it to your local shop and tell them it has to be as good as this one lol.

The only thing I will say is do not let them talk you out of the solvent based printing!

 

[Lemony Vengeance]

how about Marquees and side art? anything special about them?

 

[skinny503]

I do marquees on a clear vinyl. They are printed with a solvent based printer on the top side and have 3mm cold rolled laminate over the top to protect the solvent and will make them last 10+ years easily.

Side art I have found is tricky. Some people want glossy, some dont, some want laminated, others dont. Me personally, I do the same material I use for the color and B&W cart labels. Adhesive backed vinyl, printed on a solvent printer, 3mm laminate cold rolled on top. Sold some side art to a kinda local arcade and the guy called me up needing another set as he didnt heed my warning about how strong the adhesive was and screwed up both sides lol!

I wish I could find the color negatives that SNK had and "develop" them on dura-trans like the OG minis are. Sadly, they are probably buried in a warehouse somewhere if they are even still around!

 

[codecrank]

whatever you do , don't use vinyl for CPOs, you will be utterly disappointed. It works great for side art though.

candy CPOS are backprinted , 20 mil thick , laminated with adhesive and die cut. I've used smooth lexan in the past with good result but 1) it's not easy to trim 2) it scratches too easily. I would really like to know what top coat material sega used...

 

[skinny503]

whatever you do , don't use vinyl for CPOs, you will be utterly disappointed.

Please explain why

 

[codecrank]

because it's not design to take a beating. it's great for large stickers but that's it.

1. it's thin and shows all the welds and stud mounts on the panel
2. it gets scratched just looking at it.
3. you'll actually wear through it after a while.

 

[skinny503]

1. Can't a thicker vinyl be used?

2.a laminate top should fix that

3.refer to answer 2 please.

Maybe someone hasn't taken the time to find out the right combination of what to use. There is also other materials that can be used such as Polycarbonate, Polyester (more durable, more chemical resistant, more crack resistant, allowing for many more actuations than polycarbonate), Vinyl ,Various hard-coat, scratch-resistant materials ect ect. With these alternative materials cost and complexity can and will go up. If anyone has a stock overlay they would like to sell me so I can make a side by side comparison of a stock and one I make and do some torture testing.

 

[codecrank]

you might be able to find a vinyl combination that will allow for backprinting, thickness & abrasive resistance. Finding print shop that will do it is another story. I called around quite a bit when I did this http://forums.arcade-museum.com/showthread.php?t=299488 . I couldn't find someone who had printable stuff that was abrasive resistant. People usually settle for velvet polycarb when they want that.

Lem is asking for the most accurate possible CPO repro. I came pretty close, but I was still missing the die cutting process ( the custom die was 400$ ) and abrasion resistant treatment like GR-653LP-P. you'll probably have to get 100 made to keep YOUR cost under 50$/piece.

Lately I've just been getting my CPOs though gameongrafix. his Velvet poly does not look/feel authentic, but it's thick enough, durable, and only costs 25$...

 

[Lemony Vengeance]

thanks, Cody.

What about marquees? Is skinny accurate in the printing process?

 

[codecrank]

seems right, I don't know much about printing marquees. I had kinko print some before with decent result.