Another Neo Geo MVS 4-25 Restore Project

DackR

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I figure this must happen fairly often, but the NeoGeo was the first arcade game I ever played back in my hometown of Burley, Idaho at the local Pizzahut. Baseball Stars: Professional, and Art of Fighting were in that cabinet. Not my favorite games, but I have had the demo music/voices stuck in my head for the past almost 20 years since then.

I picked up this cab a couple months ago from a guy in Indiana. The CPO was in rough shape visually since one of the previous owners had drilled a couple holes through the CPO, the side art was missing and had long gouges down the sides where someone had taken a box cutter to it to get the red vinyl off.

What I've done so far:
Stripped and repainted the black CPO.
Replaced the CPO Graphics with a pretty authentic looking repro.
Replaced the CPO buttons.
Stripped the damaged black vinyl off of the (top) sides and sanded down the gouges in the wood.

What I need to do:
Replace the t-molding (damaged).
Finish removing the damaged black vinyl from the rest of the cab.
I plan on painting the cab instead of replacing with vinyl. (pointers appreciated)
Re-secure the jimmy-rigged casters that were installed on the bottom by a previous owner. (Perhaps remove completely.)
Replace the headphone/memory card decal


Here are some images of the process so far (sorry bout the size):

Picture of my wife and mom-in-law playing
http://www.hedratek.com/wp/Neo Restore/First Night.JPG

Before I started- gouges visible
http://www.hedratek.com/wp/Neo Restore/Before1.JPG

Holes in CPO
http://www.hedratek.com/wp/Neo Restore/CPO Damage.JPG

Cleaning and stripping 3 layers of paint off the CPO
http://www.hedratek.com/wp/Neo Restore/CleaningCPO.JPG
http://www.hedratek.com/wp/Neo Restore/StrippingCPO.JPG

Painting CPO
http://www.hedratek.com/wp/Neo Restore/Painting.JPG

Finished CPO (can you tell is a repro??)
http://www.hedratek.com/wp/Neo Restore/NewCPO1.JPG
http://www.hedratek.com/wp/Neo Restore/NewCPO3.JPG

And... a picture of sanding... (also gluing the broken bottom corner)
http://www.hedratek.com/wp/Neo Restore/SandingSide.JPG


I'll try to update this as I go-- but there you have it. Only started work on this last week before Thanksgiving and over the weekend.



[UPDATE]
Want vectorized NEO GEO/MVS/SNK side art? Look no further:
Adobe Illustrator CS format EPS file
http://www.hedratek.com/wp/Misc NEO/MVS_Side_v3.zip
 
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I understand that Neo restores are kinda boring, but c'mon! lol...

Anyway. I am working on getting some vinyl decals for the sides of the cab... so... WOOHOO! ;)
 
Very nice. How hard was it to remove the black vinyl from the sides?

I can't say I found it easy... There were lots of little holes in the vinyl that caused it to be quite difficult indeed since instead of pulling it off in strips like I wanted, it kept tearing in random areas. I used a hair dryer to help out a bit.

The places where the wood has swollen (humidity in the gouges) actually helped the removal process a bit since the general area no longer adhered to the cabinet surface.

In all, it was a tedious process and I had to take frequent breaks to cope, lol. Maybe I'm just weird though.
 
Nice! Good job on that CP restore! I'm assuming you went with the overlay from QuarterArcade.com? I was really surprised at how spot on their overlay was when I did mine.

It's good to see an MVS get some love ;). I don't think they're boring at all and an MVS-4-25 was the first cabinet I bought when I got into this hobby earlier this year. They're definitely one of the best buys if you're into 90's games since they can be found cheap and use carts which give you a ton of variety for very little money.

Anyway, I'm impressed that you got the vinyl off the side, that was quite ambitious of you. Keep up the pics as you go!

PS: I have a Baseball Stars Pro with mini marquee I'm selling if you want the nostalgia of it's demo music, LOL! :D
 
I'm assuming you went with the overlay from QuarterArcade.com? I was really surprised at how spot on their overlay was when I did mine.

Yes- Their overlay is amazing. I didnt even mind scraping off the rust, gooey soda spill remains, and stripping 3 layers of paint-- just so I could see it installed. I just stood and stared at it for a bit because it was beautiful. ;)

I'm impressed that you got the vinyl off the side, that was quite ambitious of you.

It would be nice if I didn't have to. If it wasn't so messed up, I might have been able to avoid it. Sadly, I'll have to remove the vinyl from the bottoms as well since there are pieces that have been pulled off near the bottom. :'(

I have a Baseball Stars Pro with mini marquee I'm selling if you want the nostalgia of it's demo music, LOL! :D

I am interested. Whats your price? :D
 
Yes- Their overlay is amazing. I didnt even mind scraping off the rust, gooey soda spill remains, and stripping 3 layers of paint-- just so I could see it installed. I just stood and stared at it for a bit because it was beautiful. ;)
I hear ya :). I have a good pic of the comparison between the original and it in my photobucket MVS album: http://s1013.photobucket.com/albums/af252/allentoliver/Arcade Stuff/MVS/
I ended up getting my CP sandblasted/powder coated although since painting another metal CP and it coming out really good, I probably should have just done that. I'm extremely happy with the powder coating but it was a little pricey.

It would be nice if I didn't have to. If it wasn't so messed up, I might have been able to avoid it. Sadly, I'll have to remove the vinyl from the bottoms as well since there are pieces that have been pulled off near the bottom. :'(
Bummer :(. But, just think how good you'll feel when it's done!

I am interested. Whats your price? :D
PM Sent :D
 
Thanks man! :)

Anybody else? I just want to make sure we didn't miss anything.
It looks really good! There are a couple very minor differences but it took me looking at both side by side for a minute or two to notice them.

1) The "M" in "multi" and "system" is different
2) "MULTI VIDEO SYSTEM" might look a little closer if it was bolded (would have to see to be sure though)
3) The "S" in "MVS" is different (mostly the lower left corner and vertical thickness).
4) The dot between NEO and GEO is a little small (I have to admit I like it better this way though).
4) The registered trademark R's might be a little big but it's hard to tell
5) The point where the "K" in "SNK" comes together is a little different.

Please note that these observations are me being VERY picky about every last detail because you asked. Personally, I'd probably feel fine with it as-is. I highly doubt anyone not reading this thread would be able to see the difference (especially without an original right next to it and them purposely looking for differences).
 
It looks really good! There are a couple very minor differences but it took me looking at both side by side for a minute or two to notice them.

1) The "M" in "multi" and "system" is different
2) "MULTI VIDEO SYSTEM" might look a little closer if it was bolded (would have to see to be sure though)
3) The "S" in "MVS" is different (mostly the lower left corner and vertical thickness).
4) The dot between NEO and GEO is a little small (I have to admit I like it better this way though).
4) The registered trademark R's might be a little big but it's hard to tell
5) The point where the "K" in "SNK" comes together is a little different.

Please note that these observations are me being VERY picky about every last detail because you asked. Personally, I'd probably feel fine with it as-is. I highly doubt anyone not reading this thread would be able to see the difference (especially without an original right next to it and them purposely looking for differences).

Oh great scott~! You are quite correct, when i zoom in on the vector, these issues become more apparent.... hmm... What to do...

EDIT: not "do do" lol
 
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Oh great scott~! You are quite correct, when i zoom in on the vector, these issues become more apparent.... hmm... What do do...
Sorry :(. I only noticed the dot at first and then kept seeing tiny things, I kinda feel like a jerk, lol.

PS - the line around the SNK logo is a little thick... Crap, now I really am a jerk!
 
Sorry :(. I only noticed the dot at first and then kept seeing tiny things, I kinda feel like a jerk, lol.

PS - the line around the SNK logo is a little thick... Crap, now I really am a jerk!

LOL! I'm glad to have the help. I wish I were better at Illustrator, or I'd take on some of these changes. I'll see if needhelp thinks it will be an easy fix. If not, I'm fine with just cutting some for myself as-is. :)

I don't wanna be too picky... though the Rounded corners on the mvs may bother me, and the K on the SNK would be nice to have closer to perfect....... We'll see...
 
Okay... How's this look? I made some changes... should be a bit closer.
 

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Okay... How's this look? I made some changes... should be a bit closer.
Impressive! After looking again REALLY close the only thing I could find was that "multi video system" isn't quite as wide compared to the "MVS" above it, which should be pretty simple. Other than that, I think you're spot on which is saying something for a recreation! I may have to order a set ;). Thanks for taking the time and putting all this effort into such minute details. I have a feeling your work will help out a decent amount of people looking to restore their MVS lettering (myself included :D).
 
Impressive! After looking again REALLY close the only thing I could find was that "multi video system" isn't quite as wide compared to the "MVS" above it, which should be pretty simple. Other than that, I think you're spot on which is saying something for a recreation! I may have to order a set ;). Thanks for taking the time and putting all this effort into such minute details. I have a feeling your work will help out a decent amount of people looking to restore their MVS lettering (myself included :D).

Hey Thanks! You've been a great help!

The "multi video system" sizing has been adjusted accordingly. needhelp sent me a new version of the MVS logo that he vectorized himself and it looks damn near flawless to me. I replaced the previous logo with the new one.

Take a look! O.O
 

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Hey Thanks! You've been a great help!

The "multi video system" sizing has been adjusted accordingly. needhelp sent me a new version of the MVS logo that he vectorized himself and it looks damn near flawless to me. I replaced the previous logo with the new one.

Take a look! O.O
Wow! The "MVS" looks perfect now too! I think this is the one, I can't see anything else ;).
 
Thanks again for your help, man!! Your feedback was invaluable to the cause.

I'll be posting the final vector file at the top of the thread later today or tomorrow.

If you are able to cut your own (or stencil it), more power to ya! ;)

If anyone wants a set of these cut in white vinyl, you can contact forum member: needhelp for pricing!! He did an excellent job, yeah?
 
Thanks again for your help, man!! Your feedback was invaluable to the cause.

I'll be posting the final vector file at the top of the thread later today or tomorrow.

If you are able to cut your own (or stencil it), more power to ya! ;)

If anyone wants a set of these cut in white vinyl, you can contact forum member: needhelp for pricing!! He did an excellent job, yeah?
No need to thank me, you did all the work! All I did was be a picky bastard :D. I might look into what it would cost to print it into a one-piece side since some of the red vinyl is damaged on my cab.
 
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