"Rise from your grave" another aero city restoration

Tango

Tung's Hair Stylist
Joined
Aug 24, 2006
Posts
1,045
Well I'm proud to say that this project is finally complete.....!

Picked up a trashed out aero city without a monitor some months ago and decided to try my hand at restoring it to its former glory. Bought the cabinet sight unseen and really had no idea what state it was going to be in when I picked it up, man was I surprised. Without a doubt the filthiest cabinet I had ever seen....


in the garage


looks like someone deuced in the control panel


First step was stripping it down, sanding it and priming it. Built a ghetto assed spray booth and got to it.


I remembered seeing these pics of multi colored Aero City cabs some time ago and thinking how badass they looked.....

Opted for the same general idea, only decided to do it in pink... partially since I regret ever having sold my minicute but also to make the whole idea of another cabinet in the living room and *little* more appealing to the wife. Stripped the cabinet and primed all of the pieces with no problems. Painting however was a total pain in the ass and I ended up painting, stripping and re-painting some of the pieces 4 and even 5 times as I kept getting some nasty warping when I applied the clear coat at the end. Got the sideart printed up by a local shop who did just an *okay* job.... the color is a little bit off but not really enough to bother me too much.

I wanted to put the original monitor back in the cabinet but hadnt planned on how much of an ass pain it was going to be to find one. Bought an original Nanao MS-26 from Bburger and then got lucky and found another one locally that was in immaculate shape with zero burn and great colors. The cabinet had no keys anymore and the locks were all drilled out and proved to be quite a chore finding the appropriate locks and tangs that fit the various doors on the cabinet. Ultimately had to end up having a piece fabricated from a local metal shop to fit on a cam lock that I ordered from Akihabarashop.

ignore the giant crack in the wall..... california!


http://img32.picoodle.com/data/img32/3/8/18/f_CP2m_95ad09a.jpg
new CP from Riverservice

Seimitsu pearls..!


brrring it!


I never predicted how long this project was going to stretch out for and I am actually quite relieved it is over finally...... I couldnt be happier with the results though and it is indeed a rewarding feeling being able to kick back and play on this after so much thought, time and effort.


Gotta say thanks to Danox574 for the tips and artwork
Grantspain and DaveK. for the monitor wisdom
and Per for the help sourcing parts in Japan
 
Last edited:

poodude

B. Jenet's Firstmate
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Jul 16, 2008
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405
Beautiful piece of work! I'm surprised at how nice the paint turned out. I would have thought you would have to use auto paint to get it looking that nice.
 

OMFG

The Portuguese Chop
15 Year Member
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Nov 20, 2007
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4,704
That's a very good clean up job. Even color wise, it goes well.
 

loegan43

I've served my time in the Dark Army., Have you?,
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Aug 28, 2007
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It looks fantastic. The two/tone color scheme turned out really well. Gotta love the pink.
 

alec

Hardcore Neoholic
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Jul 22, 2003
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5,261
oh man, that side art came out great. Also, I like the monitor.

I clicked on this thread seeing only the title thinking it was about an Altered Beast cabinet.
 

N80G80

Igniz's Servent
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Jun 27, 2006
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Seth that looks amazing!!! Glad to see you finally got it finished...and it came out very nicely..i even like the pink
 

WeinerDogSunglasses

Ghost of Captain Kidd
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Apr 8, 2007
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Seth, that thing looks amazing dude! It would be nice to have the matching orange and blue ones too!
 

BigTinz

VT's Bitch , You can fuck this mouth for a fruit c
Joined
Jul 19, 2007
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4,278
It's gorgeous to say the least.

Nice job.
 

Tango

Tung's Hair Stylist
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Aug 24, 2006
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thanks alot dudes! I really appreciate the positive feedback!

It would be nice to have matching ones eh?
 

Mr.Nemoperson

Bunker Buster
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Jun 9, 2004
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Just out of curiosity what kind of paint did you use for it?
I was going to paint my cab this month but ran out of extra cash. I was going to use automotive paint but was not sure how it would handle on the three or four different surfaces I would be painting (wood, plastic, hard plastic, metal).
My father thinks that spray can paint would do the job.....but I think it would look much better using the gun.
In any case it looks like you did a great job. Pink is certainly........unique:smirk:
 

Tango

Tung's Hair Stylist
Joined
Aug 24, 2006
Posts
1,045
Just out of curiosity what kind of paint did you use for it?
I was going to paint my cab this month but ran out of extra cash. I was going to use automotive paint but was not sure how it would handle on the three or four different surfaces I would be painting (wood, plastic, hard plastic, metal).
My father thinks that spray can paint would do the job.....but I think it would look much better using the gun.
In any case it looks like you did a great job. Pink is certainly........unique:smirk:

after sanding it all down I used a primer that had sealant in it and applied a couple of coats of Rustoleum Painters Touch spray paint. Not even really high quality paint but they dont have many options when you are shopping for various colors. Afterwards I sprayed Rustoleum clear-coat on it thinking it would be less prone to adverse reactions if they were the same brand. Wrong. Applying the Clear-coat was hellish and my only advice is to let the paint dry for at least 2 days before applying it and to apply it in extremely thin coats intermittently.
 

68k

Tung Fu Rue's Prize Student
20 Year Member
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Oct 3, 2006
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6,780
Awesome.

My Aero could use a new paintjob. I was thinking about taking it to an auto paint shop, but I may try your method out.
 

alok331

n00b
Joined
Apr 4, 2007
Posts
31
Seth, thats looks freaking amazing man, good stuff!

Quick questions, i'm local to you and i was wondering who did your side art work. I have the vectored art work for the areo, i just need someone local to print it up on some good vinyl.

If you can help me out, i'll be that much closer to my full resto on my aero.

P1010012-1.jpg


Here's my aero resto, it looked just like yours before (even had rust and some fur stuck inside... >_<) But all i'm looking for is the final touch, white side art on.
 

DeadPixels

Beast Buster
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May 25, 2006
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2,106
Amazing work Seth, that has to be one of the most beautiful restoration jobs I've ever seen. Those Pearls look great with the paint scheme you have going. I love it!
 

Tango

Tung's Hair Stylist
Joined
Aug 24, 2006
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Awesome.

My Aero could use a new paintjob. I was thinking about taking it to an auto paint shop, but I may try your method out.

Totally should give it a shot man.... was certainly alot cheaper so its really only a question of having the time to invest into doing it.

Alok; yours looks sick man! sending you a PM

I wasnt actually sure how I would like to pearl buttons because I wasnt sure how closely they would actually match.... really got lucky with how close they were!

Thanks again for the words duders
 

N80G80

Igniz's Servent
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Jun 27, 2006
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seth i just noticed it...but good use of an Impress yen sticker...the whoel cab looks great..you just need a twin Aero in a different color...im thinking Purple:D
 

Tango

Tung's Hair Stylist
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Aug 24, 2006
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seth i just noticed it...but good use of an Impress yen sticker...the whoel cab looks great..you just need a twin Aero in a different color...im thinking Purple:D

good eye Justin! I had a couple of those kicking around the coin bin of my Impress and the colors were too close to NOT use on it..... twins would rule too!
 

JoshuaMiller

Krauser's Shoe Shiner
Joined
Aug 16, 2007
Posts
241
Dude, looks awesome!

Saw it halfway done, but had no idea how dilapidated that shit was when you got it. Nice work!
 
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