How long to properly prep and paint a cab?

orion3311

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Can it be done in a weekend? I have a Commando cab I'm converting to horizontal, and man if its not an almost exact replacement for Ghost N Goblins. This cab needs a little work and before I actually just throw the guts in and call it a day for now, I'm considering actually painting it the GnG blue. This may be my first all out restoration/build.

I have just about every tool imaginable (between me, my dad, and my brother) - orbital pneumatic sander, nice air compressor (or 2 or 3), and home depot is 3 blocks away. Is prepping/painting a cab something that can be done in a couple days?

And on the same topic - anyone have recommendations for the proper color blue for GnG?
 
Can it be done in a weekend? I have a Commando cab I'm converting to horizontal, and man if its not an almost exact replacement for Ghost N Goblins. This cab needs a little work and before I actually just throw the guts in and call it a day for now, I'm considering actually painting it the GnG blue. This may be my first all out restoration/build.

I have just about every tool imaginable (between me, my dad, and my brother) - orbital pneumatic sander, nice air compressor (or 2 or 3), and home depot is 3 blocks away. Is prepping/painting a cab something that can be done in a couple days?

And on the same topic - anyone have recommendations for the proper color blue for GnG?

Yeah, you can do it. Time is the only factor here...Meaning, do you have all weekend. Couple coats primer, couple coats paint. You're good. Really depends on how much sanding, filling, sanding, filling x 1000 the cab needs...

As a rule, I usually give myself a month or so to fix up/paint a cab! I'm a little slow though and my time is really limited! 15 minutes here, 15 minutes there.
 
Previous owner already did a little bondo work to it, the only issue I'm not sure about is on the front corners at the bottom, the wood is swollen a little maybe from a hand truck. I can get a pic later but if anyone has some tricks to fixing that up it'd be appreciated. T-Molding is already removed and the cabinet is stripped for the most part.
 
Can it be done in a weekend? I have a Commando cab I'm converting to horizontal, and man if its not an almost exact replacement for Ghost N Goblins. This cab needs a little work and before I actually just throw the guts in and call it a day for now, I'm considering actually painting it the GnG blue. This may be my first all out restoration/build.

I have just about every tool imaginable (between me, my dad, and my brother) - orbital pneumatic sander, nice air compressor (or 2 or 3), and home depot is 3 blocks away. Is prepping/painting a cab something that can be done in a couple days?

And on the same topic - anyone have recommendations for the proper color blue for GnG?

Is it a GnG cab?

Anyways IMO there are 2 types of restorations...FULL and partial. Full means EVERYTHING is new or refurbished. No skimping anywhere.

Partial is just that. For instance, Im doing a Centipede where i have full sideart however the current sideart is probably an 8.5 out of 10. Some coming off near edges but other then the fact it will be sandwhiched anyways, i am skipping this step completely and restoring the rest. I have new everything else except CP which will get a baring rebuild kit and a new overlay.

My biggest hurdle is getting the cat piss smell out of the electronic and wood which i think im about 80% successful on that however to get it completely gone i will have to use KILLS since im too cheap to buy the $50 enzyme stuff.

I think its all about how much time u want to put into it. I have a DK that has been refurbed but there are alot of shortcuts. Im fine with it the way it is and it will get a wipe down and put into arcade. It looks very nice from the front!

Also it's addicting if your buying NEW parts, u will want a NEW machine. If you buy used off guys off here then some things are ok if you dont completely refurb them.
 
Its not a GnG cab, but I got a used original kit from someone here, and both the bezel and marquee fit the cab like it was made for it. The control panel looks identical to pics I've seen. I know this is NOT a GnG cab because the monitor area is setup for a vertical monitor, I'm just going to use a router/rotozip to widen the hole to accept a horizontal monitor.

The internal configuration of the cab is also identical to pics I've seen of a GnG cab. Both games were made by Capcom so its possible this is identical except for the monitor mount. I didn't actually plan for it to happen I just looked at some GnG cab pics and though "man that really looks like the cab I have sitting here - sure enough the parts fit!

As far as the restore/build - I'm not terribly picky. My games are in a crappy rented garage so its almost better that they're not mint until I get a better place, but since the weather's going to be nice and this cab is already stripped and bondoed, why not. The control panel will hopefully get a repro CPO, and if I'm really nuts maybe even get repro sideart for it. Coin door will be a used one from the same cab thats in nice condition as it is.

My biggest hurdle is my ADD - I lose interest in things quickly. That and storage/time - I'd have to move the cabinet in and out of a box truck if I want to fix it up at home. No garage to store it in.
 

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Minor successes...what was vertical...is now horizontal.
 

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Yeah...attention to detail is the killer here, so ADD won't help much. However, as has already been mentioned, a lot of time is spent working for 10-15 min, and then being patient enough to leave it alone and let it set/dry/cure, so yes, it can be done in a weekend. Also, take 5 minutes and plan it out...you don't want to plan on working on "something" while waiting for paint to dry, only to realize that "something" just got painted over! Time management is key!
 
Yeah I might see if I can plow out a corner of our overloaded garage so I can temporarily stash the thing in there and just move it out to sand/paint. I don't think the neighbors would like me too much at the rented garage if I did it there.

Just cutting those slots was a 2 hour ordeal in the fading daylight, I did the right side and then realized I couldn't do the left side since the little battery powered saw wouldn't fit, the the @#$@# battery died. I used a rotozip and thankfully found a piece of wood to use as a guide so I didn't completely butcher it on the left side. Once I got the front piece cut out, I realized I was just able to cut a slot using what was left of the saw, then just use a wood hand saw to complete the cuts nice and clean.

Actually what was supposed to be an old fashioned wood hand saw was actually some new fangled saw that looked like a steak knife on steroids. Sharp as shit and cut awesome. I'll see if I can find it.
 
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Found it - figured I'd post it up here as this thing was awesome (and have no idea where it came from)

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Its a Japanese pull-saw (cuts when you pull, not push). There's a course side and a fine side - I used the fine side. I also accidentally "touched" it and instantly put a knick in my thumb.
 
I just want to say that this is a horrible idea. It is going to look terrible and you will hate it. Save yourself the trouble and frustration and sell me the G&G kit! Just kidding BTW, it looks good so far and I'm so jealous of you for having a G&G. G&G is probably my favorite arcade artwork setup.
 
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