First time patch/touchup job. Need Advice.

dethfactor

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So I picked up a Pac-Man converted into a Vs. Unisystem a few weeks ago and finally got around to start working on it. Pulled the sides off and uncovered mostly intact and pretty good looking side art. There is a few sections though where the tact pulled the paint off and there were holes made in the sides where they bolted the monitor mounts.

So I just need advice as to how to touch up the spots I need to. I pretty much need all the colors to match the original paint and if anyone has info on whats the best paint/application method to make theses touch ups. I also need to paint the front/insides as they were painted black.

Thanks ahead of time.

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Have you considered trying to strip the black paint? Try something like citri-strip or 3M safest stripper, you might be able to recover the original artwork underneath.

- James
 
Have you considered trying to strip the black paint? Try something like citri-strip or 3M safest stripper, you might be able to recover the original artwork underneath.

- James

Thanks James,
I went ahead and used some goof off and stripped the front.
Unfortunately some of the blacks from the art and the blue ghost got a little smeared.

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Anyone have any good advice on touching up the paint? I'm thinking it's oil based. I know a lot of people have latex codes for matching pigments but is there someplace/someone who has oil codes? I think I'd like to touch up the few blurry areas and try to balance the yellow out a bit and leave it at that.
 
Here's my advice. Take it with a grain of salt. I HATE cabinet work. I have fully restored a few games and won't do it again. My recommendation is to NOT touch that up. It looks amazing like it is. Yes, there are a couple of holes on each side that weren't there from factory, but I'm the kind of guy who can live with that. As far as Pac's go, that is super nice. I do not see any hand wear at all. I have a very above average Pac and it has a hint of hand wear. So, if it were me, I'd source all the parts for a restoration, but leave the battle scars alone. Congrats on uncovering a gem.
 
+1

I'd replace the t-molding, repaint the black areas and shine it with some pledge. It's already one of the best looking Pac's just like it is.
 
+1

I'd replace the t-molding, repaint the black areas and shine it with some pledge. It's already one of the best looking Pac's just like it is.

Any advice on the black paint/method I should use?

I already bought a cp and will finish having it fully resto'd by tonight.

Took the coin door off and sanded/repainted that and took the shiny bits to a metal wheel to clean the rust off. Probably end up putting new casters on it as I don't have the lock nuts for it. I think perhaps your right.. there a few spots I still want to clean up a little more, the yellow on the front is a little dingy but perhaps I'll just take it as is. Part of me wants to just fill/touch the holes up but I'm worried about getting the pigment right and I think it'd be an atrocity to sand/repaint the cab just so it matches.
 
WOW, result! That looks great.

I'm in the camp above, leave it as-is.

Re-doing the whole cab will be a chore. Note that the whole cab is covered in blue flecks, this is how they came from the factory. To add to that, the Pac stencils that I've seen around in the public domain are inaccurate and aren't that great, so to repaint that sucker you'd have to make your own stencils from what's there by scanning the cab.

If you do decide you really want to touch up some areas, then you'll have to get the colours on your cab matched by taking paint chips (or the whole cabinet!) to the paint store. Because Pac cabs fade, this is the only way you'll get a good match for your cab's colour. Even then there's no guarantee of an exact match, and each side of the cab may have faded at a different rate (having the woodgrain over the original art would have protected it from a lot of fading).

You could mask and brush-touch it if the areas of repair are small, this would look acceptable for the black areas. Ideally to touch it up you'd do your filler work, sand it flat then mask and spray the affected areas of repair with an airbrush. But this is very time intensive.

- James
 
WOW, result! That looks great.

I'm in the camp above, leave it as-is.

Re-doing the whole cab will be a chore. Note that the whole cab is covered in blue flecks, this is how they came from the factory. To add to that, the Pac stencils that I've seen around in the public domain are inaccurate and aren't that great, so to repaint that sucker you'd have to make your own stencils from what's there by scanning the cab.

If you do decide you really want to touch up some areas, then you'll have to get the colours on your cab matched by taking paint chips (or the whole cabinet!) to the paint store. Because Pac cabs fade, this is the only way you'll get a good match for your cab's colour. Even then there's no guarantee of an exact match, and each side of the cab may have faded at a different rate (having the woodgrain over the original art would have protected it from a lot of fading).

You could mask and brush-touch it if the areas of repair are small, this would look acceptable for the black areas. Ideally to touch it up you'd do your filler work, sand it flat then mask and spray the affected areas of repair with an airbrush. But this is very time intensive.

- James

Hey James thanks for the vote of confidence and the info. I'm leaning towards a few touchups at this point but was wondering what type of paint I would use? A lot of people use latex house paint but I'd like something that closely resembles what is on the cab currently. I' going to try to do it in a way where if the color is bad I can pull out and I might paint some samples of wood to get the color right. I'm not in any hurry but I think I'd like to try it at least once so I can say I tried it and hated it.
 
I agree that re-doing the entire cab would be a waste of an amazing looking original Pac. You could take a small sample of your yellow and try to have it color matched in an oil base. I use Sherwin Williams myself, but you can go to whoever you want that will color match and sells oil based paints. For the other colors, you could always try the model paint section at a hobby store to see if you can find a close enough match.
 
As far as the black, I've had good experience with the basic satin finish brush on paint from Lowes. Mask off, and use a foam roller. It's a very forgiving paint to use, mine usually turns out smooth, even when I use a brush.

Have you tried using a magic eraser on that front section? Maybe a little elbo grease will take off just enough paint to brighten it up.

I think you'll be surprised how good the game looks once you begin bolting the restored parts back on.
 
As the replies to "just leave it" pile in I'm starting to sway that way but I think maybe my camera work might be influencing opinion so here a few more pics:
Also I'm a little concerned/possibly annoyed with the idea of light bleed/reflections on the bezel glass from light coming through those holes in the sides of the cab. I'm thinking of possibly just filling the holes in on the black side and painting them in to seal the monitor area out. I'll have to put it together and see if that's the case though.

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I would definitely fill the holes and touchup those areas just don't repaint the entire game. Also I would mask off and repaint the black that surrounds the monitor but overall I would leave the sides original, looks like a nice cab.
 
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