Tron restoration photo bonanza

[driph]

After several solid weeks of work (taking advantage of some time off while waiting for the new dev studio to open), I'm finally finished with the Tron restoration. Huge thanks to everyone from klov that's gone out of their way to help out and answer questions, and especially to Jeff Waldron and Peter Hirschberg, whose own restoration projects inspired me to do this in the first place.

Anyway, pictures, from the beginning. If you want words with that, here's the full progress account:
http://driph.com/words/tag/tron/

The beginning...
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3011/2754561331_baf6c085a5_b.jpg



http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3173/2791380446_a722c4d8b5.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3250/2790535381_a026fb472b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3073/2798504339_a30d162830.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3228/2807759024_1302f288b1.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3211/2812011884_73c1e78d1e.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/2827233600_8d5bc1d92b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3264/2827230708_be4a2d99e8.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3085/2826393569_1976939952.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3154/2826394083_97d108ec22.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2783718196_837e2fb781.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3267/2799353586_9e52d8e23e.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3216/2827231296_37eb65ed31.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3247/2784522063_e468906c22.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3001/2827234726_209c104f35.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3059/2827236770_3d3d36057f.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3047/2834168144_3c6b643dbc.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/2839043064_eccd0277de.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3207/2839043702_7c02c1299c.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3201/2834169258_742bb58d39.jpg

[driph]

Whew.

Okay, here's the finale:


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3183/2834170058_216001e19c_b.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3102/2838212251_4d879e11d3_b.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3039/2838211705_db0c7c052c_b.jpg


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3235/2839045788_53cb147b65_b.jpg

[driph]

And here's what'll be going in it:


http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/2841394249_b9b92f8448.jpg

[FrizzleFried]

Let me be the first to say "kickass job"!

[2084]

yep, looks great! nice work!

[arcadejunkie]

looks great! i hope i get to do a tron resto soon

[JeffC]

wow! A W E S O M E.

Its like every single square centimeter was redone. Excellent restoration. Please let me know how you do the coin lights. Those, and the battery conversion are all that remain for my Tron.

[Michael Roma]

Very Nice!!!

[amr]

Looks really nice. You're right about the Phoenix inner side art - for some reason he didn't cut it to fit (odd)

[MIKE96]

wow! very nice, great job, the only thing I would change is the coin door it doesn't look like the original

[mudmantim]

Wow, nice!!

I've read that Tron restorations are the worst, would you do it again?

Was all the money you had to put into it worth it?

Why did you opt for an old monitor with 'a slightly noticeable bit of burn-in' instead of a new one?

-Tim

[slac]

sweet!! great job. Never played the game but I can appreciate the hard work that went into it.

[danthepup]

Brilliant job! Where did you get that CPO, it looks superb.

[metahugh]

Looks excellent!

Why did you paint the inside of the cab? Was it smelly? I probably would have painted the inside black but that is a really minor, extremely picky observation http://forums.lymphoma.com/forums.arcade-museum.com/images/ubbgraemlins/smile.gif

[More Cowbell]

I'm calling you out. FAKE! That looks way too good to be real. Nice Photoshop job. http://forums.lymphoma.com/forums.arcade-museum.com/images/ubbgraemlins/wink.gif

[SeanMcL]

Mucho Good-o.

What is your estimate of how much time it took you?

[descrentl]

Absolutely awesome. Great job man!

[yukonblaze]

AWESOME!!!! If I could get time to myself (3 kids, wife, building pool) I could join you in restoration. I have 2 to finish, can I send them to you while you have the time?? http://forums.lymphoma.com/forums.arcade-museum.com/images/ubbgraemlins/grin.gif

[Spyridon]

Now you just need Rich at This Old Game to finish the metal logo plate for your coin door.

Excellent work!

[tgnmonster]

After priming, what method did you use to paint the cab black?

[jeffsgames]

That looks fantastic! I thought mine was beat up. Yours was much worse. Takes a ton of patience working on one of these. I still want to pick up a Phoenix Arcade CPO. After seeing yours, I MUST do it. Yours looks great! I still want to drop in a cap kit too. Great Job!

[amr]

If you're getting the CPO you'll need to get the upper CP and low CP plastics too. Once you replace the CPO it just highlights how beat up the plastics are in comparison.

[chris25810]

The final compliment to these machines would be new upper and lower control panel bezels from Phoenix. They make all the difference and you won't be disappointed after shelling out the cash.

[Paladin]

Looks like it just rolled off the assembly line!

[JeffC]

The final compliment to these machines would be new upper and lower control panel bezels from Phoenix. They make all the difference and you won't be disappointed after shelling out the cash.


Agreed. Those peices are expensive, but worth every penny. No picture can do justice to how these look over your blacklight. In installed these, and some new reflective backing that Peter sent, and was really happy with how it looked.
I never made an official thread, but my restoration is here. (http://www.geocities.com/civitat/Tron/tron.html)
http://www.geocities.com/civitat/Tron/Images/Tron079_Medium.jpg

[driph]

wow! A W E S O M E.

Its like every single square centimeter was redone. Excellent restoration. Please let me know how you do the coin lights. Those, and the battery conversion are all that remain for my Tron.



Will do.

The battery conversion was super simple, and the kits are cheap. Lemme know if you have any questions when you do yours.

[driph]

Looks excellent!

Why did you paint the inside of the cab? Was it smelly? I probably would have painted the inside black but that is a really minor, extremely picky observation http://forums.lymphoma.com/forums.arcade-museum.com/images/ubbgraemlins/smile.gif



Painting the full cab soothed the OCD parts of my brain. The grey is the tinted primer I used (I went with oil, satin black for the final coats)... I'd originally intended to paint the inside black as well, but stayed with the grey as that made things a bit easier to see internally.

[driph]

Now you just need Rich at This Old Game to finish the metal logo plate for your coin door.

Excellent work!




Done! I don't have a picture up of it yet, but his door plate just arrived in the mail yesterday. :]

[driph]

Brilliant job! Where did you get that CPO, it looks superb.



http://phoenixarcade.com/

I'm really pleased with how all the artwork I purchased from Phoenix turned out.

[driph]

After priming, what method did you use to paint the cab black?



I used a roller with a smooth/semi-smooth surface cover, and a brush where needed, followed by sanding. I think I ultimately went with three coats of the satin black before I was satisfied with how it looked.

[driph]

Mucho Good-o.

What is your estimate of how much time it took you?



Oh man... ~60 hours total? I'm not sure, I have a horrible sense of time so tracking that is really difficult for me. I've been on vacation while waiting for the new job to start, so I was basically able to work on it full time over the last few weeks.

[driph]

Wow, nice!!

I've read that Tron restorations are the worst, would you do it again?

Was all the money you had to put into it worth it?

Why did you opt for an old monitor with 'a slightly noticeable bit of burn-in' instead of a new one?

-Tim



I would do it again, the project was a great crash course in restoration for me. Aside from the obvious nostalgia benefits, restoring it taught me quite a bit within a range of skills, and now that I've finished the Tron any other cabinet won't look so daunting. :]

The most expensive part was the reproduction artwork, by far. Beyond that, it was mostly a time commitment and problem solving exercise... As far as the cost being worth it, I think so. It's a great showpiece cabinet, and it'll be visible to the public at the game studio (I'm thinking about putting together a folder to go alongside it, containing the original design documents, arcade flyer, etc), and most importantly, it's a game I've wanted to own every since I saw the row of Tron cabinets at the arcade in Tomorrowland as a kid.

Yeah, I kept the monitor that was in the cabinet (including the board that came with the hacked repair work above)... burn-in was only visible when the monitor was out of the machine, installed and with the smoked plexi over it, I can't see it anywhere, and I know where to look, so I'm satisfied with it for now.

[Spyridon]

Now you just need Rich at This Old Game to finish the metal logo plate for your coin door.

Excellent work!




Done! I don't have a picture up of it yet, but his door plate just arrived in the mail yesterday. :]



You got me excited there as I thought the gold ones were now available. Your before picture had the gold logo plate, but looking at some Tron photos, the silver one seems to be correct. I'm assuming that's the one you got.

[driph]

Now you just need Rich at This Old Game to finish the metal logo plate for your coin door.

Excellent work!



Done! I don't have a picture up of it yet, but his door plate just arrived in the mail yesterday. :]



You got me excited there as I thought the gold ones were now available. Your before picture had the gold logo plate, but looking at some Tron photos, the silver one seems to be correct. I'm assuming that's the one you got.



Yeah, went with the silver version:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3252/2843037981_cb71d312f9.jpg

[audiomidiman]

Looks great. You used Rustoleum Hammer Finish "BLACK" on your coin door? That's what I use and yes, they look 98% gray personally I think in the game room you never notice.

[Roadrunner000]

Beautiful job....How hard or easy was it to install the sideart...I haven't ordered any tron art from Darin but intend to for future project and didn't know how thick or thin that stuff was to work with..

[Pac-Fan]

Looks great. You used Rustoleum Hammer Finish "BLACK" on your coin door? That's what I use and yes, they look 98% gray personally I think in the game room you never notice.



The gray matches Galaxian and older 70's Midway coin door color very closely (of which this door is--it has the start button knock-out in the center--this is not the correct door for the game).

Anyway, simply overcoat it with a light coat of satin black and you'll keep the hammering (without the tint changes) and then have a pure black surface.

[driph]

Looks great. You used Rustoleum Hammer Finish "BLACK" on your coin door? That's what I use and yes, they look 98% gray personally I think in the game room you never notice.



Yeah, that's what I figured as well.



Beautiful job....How hard or easy was it to install the sideart...I haven't ordered any tron art from Darin but intend to for future project and didn't know how thick or thin that stuff was to work with..




Sideart was somewhat tedious, but not difficult... I went with a wet application, started from the top and worked my way down. There are a bunch of threads on applying art wet vs dry, I liked wet because it let me make minor positioning adjustments on the fly, although there's more work involved making sure you're not left with bubbles, squeegeeing out excess water, etc.

[Roadrunner000]

Having applied lots of art myself I figured the wet method with the tron would be a must...very hard to get that stuff completely straight on first try... http://forums.lymphoma.com/forums.arcade-museum.com/images/ubbgraemlins/grin.gif

[audiomidiman]

Looks great. You used Rustoleum Hammer Finish "BLACK" on your coin door? That's what I use and yes, they look 98% gray personally I think in the game room you never notice.



The gray matches Galaxian and older 70's Midway coin door color very closely (of which this door is--it has the start button knock-out in the center--this is not the correct door for the game).

Anyway, simply overcoat it with a light coat of satin black and you'll keep the hammering (without the tint changes) and then have a pure black surface.



I think it's much darker than Galaxian IMO. In fact, I was working on a Galaxian not to long ago and its much lighter.

[JeffC]

I did my Tron art application recently too. I went with wet for the large outside peices, and dry for the smaller inner art. The large outside art actually seemed very thin to me. I was glad I ultimately went with the wet method; and still had to take care not to let it stick to itself.

Like any art application, the key seems to be go very slooooww. http://forums.lymphoma.com/forums.arcade-museum.com/images/ubbgraemlins/smile.gif

My few games are in my garage. Last weekend I was pulling my ladder by the Tron and put two small dings/rips in the side. They're like half the size of your pinky fingernail...but still: http://forums.lymphoma.com/forums.arcade-museum.com/images/ubbgraemlins/frown.gif

[WadeLanham]

Wow, looks great! Tron is such a work of art. I often think it will be my last game purchase. This is a game that I'd much rather buy already fully restored. I don't think I have another game restoration of that magnitude left in me!

Wade

[mudmantim]

I would do it again, the project was a great crash course in restoration for me. Aside from the obvious nostalgia benefits, restoring it taught me quite a bit within a range of skills, and now that I've finished the Tron any other cabinet won't look so daunting. :]

The most expensive part was the reproduction artwork, by far. Beyond that, it was mostly a time commitment and problem solving exercise... As far as the cost being worth it, I think so. It's a great showpiece cabinet, and it'll be visible to the public at the game studio (I'm thinking about putting together a folder to go alongside it, containing the original design documents, arcade flyer, etc), and most importantly, it's a game I've wanted to own every since I saw the row of Tron cabinets at the arcade in Tomorrowland as a kid.

Yeah, I kept the monitor that was in the cabinet (including the board that came with the hacked repair work above)... burn-in was only visible when the monitor was out of the machine, installed and with the smoked plexi over it, I can't see it anywhere, and I know where to look, so I'm satisfied with it for now.


That is really cool. I know where I can get a Tron cabinet without a back door for $5, maybe I'll get it now. Of course, I think this one is stripped of any useful parts.

Really good job there, what's next?

-Tim

[jeffsgames]

I agree that the sideart seemed thin. I was planning to do it dry, but after I saw how difficult it would be because of the art's thickness, I went with the wet method. It was really tough to do, even slow. Had to have my son hold some of it up just to help straighten it up. I've done full sideart before dry with no issue, but there was no way I could have pulled it off with this game.

Also, this game is a bear to restore, but it is worth doing. There are a ton of parts which makes the project even more fun than other restorations. The cabinet is a work of art when done, and will be one of your prize restorations if you put in the work!