jonathan1138
Active member
Hey all - Got a Frontline on Monday that had seen better days - very rusty, filthy. Fortunately the cab was in good shape. I took this one on since i couldnt find another... Glad i did.
I stripped it down completely, washed all large parts in the dishwasher (boards, metal parts, coin door, etc). Rock tumbled all screws and hardware - came out with a wonderful shine. Nothing better than polished screws everywhere.
When i removed the brackets holding the machine together, I was worried that the cabinet would fall apart, but it held up pretty well. Stuck a spare bolt in a hole on both sides to keep it together. One time while sanding, a slot holding the sides came undone, thought she was going to fall apart!
Used a Harbor Frieght HVLP gun. There is "tiger striping" or uneven spray pattern - I tried to correct it - I knew the fan (left to right spread) was too narrow - maybe 3 inches, which causes this - the gun wouldnt spray wider. I could have switched the needle in hindsight to a 1.8mm to see if i could of gotton a wider fan, but its ok, since it came out alright. Very smooth finish - little to no orange peel.
New control panel overlay installed, touch up work to the bezel (until i can find a new one since this one is pretty flaked up). New tmolding too.
The front panel i hit a snag on the stencil. I "forgot" to put the primer over the brown (the orange paint needs a Ben Moore primer underneath). After i sprayed the orange and it dried, damn stuff bubbled / peeled right off! Fortunately, the stencil marks were maintained from the peeled off paint, so i retaped them off and got it near right, not perfect.
Finished the job by Thursday. Here are some pics - i didnt take as many as i would have liked, i usually hate to stop to take pics.....
http://s663.photobucket.com/albums/uu352/jonathan1138/Frontline/
Pretty happy with the results - not perfect, but it will do, and a lot better than it was before. The one area i was MOST happy with - the prior owner had rebuilt the base. I added 6 plastic tap in slider legs, and the game is perfectly level and stable. I hear the bases on Taitos originally were MDF and weak, so again, happy to have a good and level foundation that i didnt have to spend eternity on getting level (unless i screwed and added leg levelers which i didnt want to do).
Most guests dont seem to take to this game - its not a universally loved classic. For me, this is my grail - i love the gameplay, the genius control, and the goal of the game itself is rare for the time it was made (get to the base and blow it up - the game actually has an ending). I also have fond memories of it when i was a 7 year old kid.
Let me know about your thoughts on Frontline, and, if you have one, how it has held up. Thanks for looking.
I stripped it down completely, washed all large parts in the dishwasher (boards, metal parts, coin door, etc). Rock tumbled all screws and hardware - came out with a wonderful shine. Nothing better than polished screws everywhere.
When i removed the brackets holding the machine together, I was worried that the cabinet would fall apart, but it held up pretty well. Stuck a spare bolt in a hole on both sides to keep it together. One time while sanding, a slot holding the sides came undone, thought she was going to fall apart!
Used a Harbor Frieght HVLP gun. There is "tiger striping" or uneven spray pattern - I tried to correct it - I knew the fan (left to right spread) was too narrow - maybe 3 inches, which causes this - the gun wouldnt spray wider. I could have switched the needle in hindsight to a 1.8mm to see if i could of gotton a wider fan, but its ok, since it came out alright. Very smooth finish - little to no orange peel.
New control panel overlay installed, touch up work to the bezel (until i can find a new one since this one is pretty flaked up). New tmolding too.
The front panel i hit a snag on the stencil. I "forgot" to put the primer over the brown (the orange paint needs a Ben Moore primer underneath). After i sprayed the orange and it dried, damn stuff bubbled / peeled right off! Fortunately, the stencil marks were maintained from the peeled off paint, so i retaped them off and got it near right, not perfect.
Finished the job by Thursday. Here are some pics - i didnt take as many as i would have liked, i usually hate to stop to take pics.....
http://s663.photobucket.com/albums/uu352/jonathan1138/Frontline/
Pretty happy with the results - not perfect, but it will do, and a lot better than it was before. The one area i was MOST happy with - the prior owner had rebuilt the base. I added 6 plastic tap in slider legs, and the game is perfectly level and stable. I hear the bases on Taitos originally were MDF and weak, so again, happy to have a good and level foundation that i didnt have to spend eternity on getting level (unless i screwed and added leg levelers which i didnt want to do).
Most guests dont seem to take to this game - its not a universally loved classic. For me, this is my grail - i love the gameplay, the genius control, and the goal of the game itself is rare for the time it was made (get to the base and blow it up - the game actually has an ending). I also have fond memories of it when i was a 7 year old kid.
Let me know about your thoughts on Frontline, and, if you have one, how it has held up. Thanks for looking.

