best way to strip paint off Defender

mecha

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I just got a Defender that's got the usual black paint treatment all over it. I tried searching a few different ways and I'm not finding what I'm looking for... what's the best approach to stripping that black spraypaint off and not damaging the stencil art underneath?

also, does anyone have the paint codes for the sideart, cause there's some parts that are gonna need bondo.

I hope the sideart is intact underneath, I can vaguely see the lines going up to where it says DEFENDER at certain angles.
 
I just got a Defender that's got the usual black paint treatment all over it. I tried searching a few different ways and I'm not finding what I'm looking for... what's the best approach to stripping that black spraypaint off and not damaging the stencil art underneath?

also, does anyone have the paint codes for the sideart, cause there's some parts that are gonna need bondo.

I hope the sideart is intact underneath, I can vaguely see the lines going up to where it says DEFENDER at certain angles.

It's really really hard, if my experience with Robotron is any indicator. You can use something like Safest Stripper or Citrustrip or Xylene, but they're all going to take some of the game art off with the overcoat. Some people have been very successful at stripping paint off of paint, but it's never worked well for me.

YMMV.
 
I stripped the paint off my Joust with Citrustrip and it messed up the original stencils below.
 
These old cabinets are as dry as a popcorn fart and always have plenty of surface delamination under the paint so your original artwork probably isn't gonna look that great anyway. Use a stripper that will take it down to the bare wood and start all over
 
that's exactly what I was thinking, that's why I thought I'd get a second opinion on it.

so should I bondo the gouges/split ends and sand it smooth as a baby's bottom and repaint it with primer and black?

I don't know anything about stencil kits either, how difficult are those to apply?

thanks for replies. I'm in the process of PCB cleaning now. stubborn shit, even with the rubbing alcohol.
 
I got a Stargate a couple of months ago that was converted to a Jail Break and painted black on both sides.

When I peeled the sticker I noticed that most of the paint came off with it in. So I tried some duct tape and it worked great at taking off the paint.

So for about $10 of tape and a couple of hours of time I've got a Stargate cab in decent enough shape to convert back to original.

I also have a spare Defender cab that was converted to a Rushin' attack with both sides painted black. Same deal with it, when I peeled the conversion sticker, the paint came with it and revealed the Defender artwork underneath it. It's going to eventually get the same treatment since it's in better shape than my current Defender can.

In both cases they probably used the cheapest paint possible with no prep before brushing it on, so it didn't stick well.

Yours may be different, but if you've got some duct tape around it's worth a try.

-JM
 
My galaga..actually a galaxian cabinet has the same thing.. a bit of strong tape
nd the black that was covering the white paint underneath started coming offr.

The only Time I have seen paint removed easily was on cabs like DK and dig dug
that have a enamel type paint job.. and someone painted it but did not prep.
Turpentine and a scrub sponge get it off.

Malice95
 
if it helps any, I can see some hints of yellow and red where the black paint was scratched. forget if I mentioned that or not. was too preoccupied with Monday Night Football and counter detail today to get to muck around with any of the new acquisitions.

I'll try the duct tape thing though, maybe I'll get lucky.
 
George, you are more than welcome to come by and check mine out, I am just a few steps ahead of you!

Stencils to go on soon! (this weekend or next, time permitting)
call or text me
GD
 
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