Best way to mask off Star Wars sideart?

JC Arcade

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I'm going to be painting the non-artwork vinyl black on the sides of my Star Wars cabinet this weekend, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to mask it off. I just saw Audiomidiman's awesome job on his Berzerk, and getting the masking that Rich sells at ThisOldGame would be perfect, but I obviously can't get it by this weekend.

Any suggestions? The plan is to just use painters tape and an Exacto knife around the edges, with newspapers or what-have-you filling in the rest.
 
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I believe what you meant to say is you'll be painting the sides - repainting implies that the cabinet has already been painted before. These cabinets weren't originally painted. I say if you really like the game and plan on keeping it then restore it properly and re-vinyl the sides. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
I'm going to be re-painting the black on the sides of my Star Wars cabinet this weekend, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to mask it off. I just saw Audiomidiman's awesome job on his Berzerk, and getting the masking that Rich sells at ThisOldGame would be perfect, but I obviously can't get it by this weekend.

Any suggestions? The plan is to just use painters tape and an Exacto knife around the edges, with newspapers or what-have-you filling in the rest.

I agree with Deadly. The mask method works best when painting cab sides around a decal. Painting onto vinyl, around such intricate artwork will be tough. You'll be dealing with level and sheen changes for sure. If you insist on doing this, used Krylon fusion semi-gloss or satin black and apply it in thin coats. Fusion is designed to stick to plastics *and* vinyls better than standard spray paint.
 
I did something very similar on my quantum, repainting the white edges up to the blue artwork. I used frisket paper for the masking because its clear, then we very slowly..painfully..around the edges with the exacto knife. From 1 foot away it looks perfect, but up very close, or by touch, you can tell there is a seam.

There are several pictures about half way through the slideshow here: http://www.720zone.com/Quantum.html
 
Thanks everyone. Retro, your thread over at BYOAC is what made me think of doing this in the first place. :)
 
Mask off the edge and paint it.. painters tape and newspaper works fine for this purpose.

'revinyl' really isn't an option unless you can get a set of darin's sideart repros. The right paint on a properly prepped cab will look just fine, the printed area is glossy while the unprinted black is satin so the sheen difference is there either way.

/b
 
Satin Black will match perfect. I repainted the very bottom of an star wars upright and it looks great. Just make sure you clean surface first and very light coats with a minute or two to dry...two to three light coats should be good.
 
Check the link for my write-up and more pics...

http://home.comcast.net/~mtpacifico/_arcades/starwars/starwars.htm

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- Mike
 
Looks like I won't get to the painting this weekend, so I just might try Rich's masking.

Now, that said, I have a question about the vinyl. On the edges, the vinyl is starting to peel away from the cab. Here is a pic of one of the worst spots. I'm definitely going the paint route vs re-vinyling, so what's my best option here?

1) Flatten down the vinyl with a light adhesive and paint over it with the satin black?
or
2) Trim the black vinyl off the cab completely and paint the bare wood/particle board/whatever? I kinda like this idea, but am nervous about leaving a thin, unpainted line between the artwork and the paint.

.
 

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Now, that said, I have a question about the vinyl. On the edges, the vinyl is starting to peel away from the cab. Here is a pic of one of the worst spots. I'm definitely going the paint route vs re-vinyling, so what's my best option here?

I would sand it flat with an orbital sander, prime, then sand (using high grit to get it even and smooth), mask and then paint.

- Mike
 
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