Krull Restoration: Definitely Not a Q*bert

kryptronic

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Donor 3 years: 2021, 2024-2025
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Earlier this year my youngest son, who is 12 years old, asked about getting a Q*bert for the arcade. I've been trying to promote this hobby to both my boys for years now, and if they say they'd like a game, that's all I need to hear. So I started the hunt, and contacted @IndianaBrooks, who uses the same shipper I do. That makes getting games back and forth between NC and PA pretty cheap and easy. He had a really, really nice Q*Bbert well out of my price range, and cheap one running a Game Elf that he didn't know much about. I was into picking up a minor project, and the game is not one of my favorites and a kid request, so I was OK with it not being 100% original, so I went with the cheap one.

Everything worked out, and the game was delivered in April. It looked good enough, so I put it right in the arcade and my son started having some fun with it. Although, he did give me some grief at first about it running a Game Elf. I think his exact words were "What is this menu BS? Puckman? Galaga? This isn't right. This needs to be fixed, Dad. This isn't even FPGA like the JROK." Yes, he's only 12. What a proud dad moment... He played the hell out of Q*Bert on it, though.

It looked to have been restored (poorly), and was running the original Gotleib power supply, the original Wells Gardner K4900 monitor, and a hacked AC harness with a switching power supply. It was JAMMA wired into a Game Elf which was running a handful of games on it. If this was a Q*bert, it was missing a bunch of stuff.

Day One Pics

I know, this is a Krull restoration thread, and we've only talked about a Q*bert. Here are a few day one pics.

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Bringing Q*bert Back

I mentioned in my initial post that the machine had been restored, and noted it was poorly done. I'm not sure who did the restore, but they used some of the worst materials possible to pull it off. The marquee was cut in a shoddy fashion, and was basically clear plexi with some kind of paper sticker stuck to the back of it. The side art had tears in it where it was damaged - sort of like the way cardboard tears when you puncture it. The side art, CPO and lower CP overlay were all made of wallpaper-like material.

The cabinet itself was in good shape without too much damage to it. Minor damage, really, and very little if any water exposure. It was separated a bit at the top near the back under the speaker enclosure, and was missing the top horizontal mount for the bezel. I planned to address those areas at some point.

I picked up a better marquee from @Jb1215 and a bare/rusty Takeman Q*bert repro control panel for it from @DPtwiz. I also ordered a new screen printed CPO from Phoenix. I was all set to get this Q*bert looking better. Here are some pics of the new marquee, and how it compares to the one that came with it.

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Wait a Minute, This Isn't a Q*bert

Something bothered me about this cabinet from the get-go. I've always understood these cabinets were on the small side, and this one doesn't look small enough to call it small. Something just didn't look right about it, either. Beyond that, when I pulled the control panel I found that not only was it running a cheap ass 8-way joystick, the panel had been converted at least twice.

Up until this point I've only ever had Atari and Nintendo cabinets, so the Gotleib stuff was foreign to me. I knew something wasn't right with it, but didn't know enough to know what that was. The control panel looked like it originally had two joysticks and two centered start buttons on it. It looks like somebody drilled action button holes during one conversion, then during the Q*bert conversion they covered all that up and added a center joystick and start buttons on the side.

I did some digging and found that Krull was the game that most resembled what I was looking at here. The cabinet height and profile were correct for Krull, as was the original control panel configuration. Then I spotted some Krull inner artwork peaking through on the left side. At this point, I knew I had a Krull and was thrilled about it. I said earlier that Q*bert really isn't my thing. This is.

Here's some pics of uncovering the inner art, stripping off the lower control panel overlay, and side art. I used CitruStrip to remove the paint and leftover adhesives. I went slow, used thin coats, worked small areas, and only let it sit a maximum of ten minutes on any spot. After a couple of applications everything was clean and the inner art and lower CP were in great shape.

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So.... upon its birth, it was a.... Qbert? You title the last post:

Bringing Q*bert Back

But the title of the thread is:

Krull Restoration: Definitely Not a Q*bert

Can someone please call Vanna? I think I need to buy a vowel 😕
 
Control Panel Restoration

As I said earlier, the control panel had been converted twice. Two buttons were added at one time, and later two more buttons and a center joystick were added. The joker that did the Q*bert conversion literally filled holes with cut out plexi and duct taped the patches to the bottom of the panel. The CPO was supposed to covert it all up, I guess. The plexi top helped a bit with that, I guess. This is what I was looking at:

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So I had a joystick hole, four holes to mount the joystick, two extra start button holes, and two action button holes to fill. The only way to do this right, as far as I know, is to weld in new metal. I used my MIG welder with thicker wire and a copper backer to fill the joystick mounting holes, then switched to thin wire and copper backers for the patches. Slow and steady wins the race here. Excess heat will cause warpage, so I kept wire speed moderate, and used a lower heat setting.

I did all the welding on the underside of the panel so as to reduce the amount of grinding, sanding and correction work on the top of the panel. I didn't have any issues and everything came out as planned. I ended up media blasting the panel along with the Takeman repro Q*bert panel I had acquired. I had to work a little filler on the top to smooth everything out, but not much. That was expected, though. Both panels received a few coats of Krylon Satin Black paint+primer with light sanding inbetween. I've found this paint works great on clean metal without any primer.

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TOG CPO Me ASAP

I needed a CPO and This Old Game (TOG) was the only place around that had a decent one. Their site listed it as in stock, along with the cabinet side art, so I took a gamble and ordered it. TOG has not had the best reputation when it comes to delivering things on time, so I was prepared to wait. It only took three weeks for my in-stock order to ship! The quality is excellent, however I should mention that I needed to email them multiple times and call to get them to ship it out. Both the CPO and side art are excellent. Worth a wait.

Installation was a breeze, however the CPO was not die-cut so it was a little tricky lining everything up perfectly. The Krull control panel has bevels around the joystick holes and they were a little difficult to deal with, but I prevailed. I went with new standard 8-way Wico ball-top leaf joysticks, and really like the look and feel - but will be addressing the sticks. Translucent red start buttons came from ArcadeShop, and I had leaf holders from an extra Space Duel CP that worked with them.

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Let's Make Some Bat Handle Wico Joysticks for Krull: Part 1

The joysticks I got are Wico 8-way ball-top leaf joysticks and they were bought new from ArcadeShop. I did a bunch of research here on KLOV and found that @andrewb seems to be the resident Krull joystick expert. He's chimed in on several threads out here with helpful info. It seems that Wico replacement joysticks for Zaxxon are a close fit and just need a button hole filled, but they are NLA and unobtainium at the moment. I also read here that Wico Command Control joysticks for the Atari 2600 have the same bat handle mold, but they're too short.

With the original sticks commanding $400 a pop, and the Wico Zaxxon replacements not being available, I decided to see if I could make the Wico Command Control joysticks a viable solution. I'm happy to say I have a recipe that works. I've got quite a few pics on this as nobody has done it before, so I broke this post into two posts.

Step 1: Obtain a pair of new Wico 8-way ball-top leaf joysticks. You will need the joystick bases, top hole cover, spring and bushing. You can put the c-clip and joystick handle in your stash. You won't need them for this. These are currently $40 each.

Step 2: Obtain a pair of old Wico Command Control joysticks for the Atari 2600. Disassemble them. You will need the bat handle only. Everything else can be put in your stash. Here's a pic of the joysticks and a comparison with the ball-top handle. The Command Control joysticks are marginally shorter. There is a difference of 3/8" at the bottom of the shaft, which we can creatively make up. You'll see here that the newer Wico joystick busing is much taller than the Command Control busing, and not quite as wide. eBay pricing on these currently is about $29 plus shipping for a pair.

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Step 3: The hole through the center of the Command Control shaft for the top-fire button mechanism is the perfect size to run a #10-24 tap through it to thread it. Use that size tap to thread the bottom of the shaft. Most taps that size cut 7/8" of threads - and that's exactly how much you want threaded here. Go slow and use proper techinique. Keep everything wet with a lubricant like WD-40 and be sure to back off a full turn for every half turn you make to keep the threads you're cutting clear.

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Step 4: You'll be using a 1.25" button head #10-24 screw to retain the bushing, and when threaded into the hole you tapped, there will be a 3/8" length of threads that won't screw into the base. this is the difference that makes up the rest of the length of the shaft. The screw head will retain the bushing. The busing is 1" tall, so there's no compromize basically hanging that busing 3/8" off the bottom of the shaft the way it will sit. It will be perfectly secure and as sturdy as if it was on a solid base. Test fit to your control panel because at this point you'll want to.

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Step 5: Fill the fire button holes in your Command Control bat handles. I used JB Weld Steel Reinforced Epoxy for this. It's a fantasic product that will fill holes and gaps in metal and plastics, and provides a rock hard repair. The only downside is that it takes 24 hours to cure. Fill the holes and leave them a little proud so the tops can easily be rounded - but don't overdo it. JB Weld is not the easiest thing to sand.

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Step 6: After the JB Weld has cured, you're going to want to sand both bat handles to get the correct profile on the top without any marring or divots, you may want to sand off the mold lines at the top on each side, and you'll want to rough up the entire stick for painting. Use 220 grit, then 320 grit, sandpaper to achive a correct/clean profile. You can put your sanding block in a vice and the bat handle in your drill and make quick work of it without worrying about not keeping things round. Another option is to put your drill in a vice and use it as a lathe.

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Let's Make Some Bat Handle Wico Joysticks for Krull: Part 2
Now it's finishing time. Continue along...

Step 7: It's time to dye the bat handles. I've had great luck dying automotive interior plastics with SEM ColorCoat. I had some Landau Black here on hand from an old AMC/Jeep project as that matches old AMC black interiors. This is really thin stuff that spays on easily and beautifully. It's nearly the consistency of water. I did six light coats with approximately eight minutes between each coat. Wait about an hour after your last coat before moving onto the next step.

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Step 8: Use an automotive clear coat and spray on two coats. One thin, and follow up with a thick coat ten minutes later. The idea here is to get a glossy shell we can work with during finishing. I used U-POL Clear #1, but just about any automotive clear will do. Make sure it is a gloss clear, though. Let this sit for 24 hours to be sure everything cures properly.

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Step 9: Use your drill as a lathe to wet sand and buff the handles. Put your drill on it's lowest speed setting and work the shaft with wet 800 grit sandpaper. Be sure to keep the shaft and paper clean as you work off any orange peel in the clear coat. Your objective here is to work it down so it's smooth as a baby's bottom - but don't go so aggressively you cut through the clear. When happy repeat the process with wet 1500 grit sandpaper. Your shafts will not be as glossy as you want yet, but just wait. Your final step is to buff with automotive rubbing compound. The sanding and buffing can all be done using your drill as a lathe. Just take your time and resist the urge to go fast. Slow and steady wins the race. One mistake and you'll have to revert to step 6 and do the rest over.

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At this point we're done and can take a look at the ball-top versus bat-handle sticks to see the difference when they're assembled. And how they look mounted back on the joystick bases. This looks exactly the same as if the ball-top was mounted. No variation.

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And here we are installed in the cabinet again. The sticks actuate right, they have the right weight, profile and feel, and I think anyone would be hard pressed to tell the difference between these and an OG stick. All the pics I've seen of Krull control panels are missing the top hole covers. So I'm not sure if they're supposed to be there, or we're supposed to see through the holes and into the joystick assembly. I like it better with the covers, but am not sure if that's accurate from a restoration standpoint.

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Next Steps

At this point the cabinet is in the arcade and sitting in the lineup, but that's all I've done to it. It looks like a Krull, but is still running a Game Elf and needs more restoration work. I'm going to move along on some of that stuff in the short term:

- I have a new switching power supply, AC and JAMMA wiring and a Mylstar JROK to install to replace the electronics in the cabinet. Those should all be installed over the next couple of weeks, and this cabinet will have a decent heart again. What's in there is hacked up and not worth anything.

- I got a cap kit for the WG K4900 monitor from APAR and will be doing that soon. The monitor is actually installed incorrectly (mounted from the bottom instead of the top), and I need to get that sorted, and get the wood/bracketry right for the bezel/speaker area. Needs caps bad as the color on the bottom half is all washed out.

- I picked up a repro marquee and bezel, but am not happy with either of them - so I'm going to try to find originals or better repros. But at least for now the right marquee and a decent enough bezel are on there.

I'll likely let it sit in the lineup looking half pretty and running the JROK until the end of the year, then I'll pull it into the garage to do cabinet/paint work and install the sideart in 2026. I've got three machines that need attention more than this one right now and I want to be sure this one is running for my Christmas party.

Thanks for reading. I'll update this thread when I do more to it, but wanted to at least document what was done so far.

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You've got great skills, @kryptronic . Like you noted, it's practically impossible to get the proper Krull sticks without having to do a bit of macgyver-ing. A friend of mine put two together using the Zaxxon sticks, epoxy to fill, and airbrush to paint. Don't tell him, but I think I like your approach better :D
 
Can someone please call Vanna? I think I need to buy a vowel 😕

Sorry to keep you guessing, but I was on a roll posting. I hope it became clear that while I thought I had a Q*bert, and was all set to make it right, it just wasn't.

The cabinet profile looks like a Krull/Juno First/Stooges:

If there was a prize for this, you won it. It sat in my arcade for a couple of weeks before I figured it out.

You've got great skills, kryptronic. Like you noted, it's practically impossible to get the proper Krull sticks without having to do a bit of macgyver-ing. A friend of mine put two together using the Zaxxon sticks, epoxy to fill, and airbrush to paint. Don't tell him, but I think I like your approach better :D

Thank you for the compliments. While I think the Zaxxon sticks would have been easier to work with, they're not around any more, and you can't argue with the price on the Command Control sticks. Other people here on KLOV posted bits and pieces on this and did the legwork, but somebody had to bring it home. I was motivated to come up with a solution and just worked towards that goal with the tools I had access to.
 
While I was reading that you were going to paint them, I was like, "No! You need to use Vinyl Dye!". Then I kept reading and saw that you did, so Kudos to you on that! The joysticks you fabricated look fantastic! And I have seen firsthand what the originals go for so I completely understand! (If you can find them at all.)

Looking forward to seeing an update in the future! Congrats!

Del
 
I played a handful of games on the machine last night, and really enjoyed using the new sticks. Gotleib made a great choice using the bat handles for Krull. The longer throws get your hands and arms moving. It adds an extra layer of drama and excitement moving Colwyn through the levels - more so than using a short shaft stick. I found it a more immersive and enjoyable gameplay experience. Plus it was cool to play with the right controls - the last time I played Krull with bat sticks was BITD.

While I was reading that you were going to paint them, I was like, "No! You need to use Vinyl Dye!". Then I kept reading and saw that you did, so Kudos to you on that! The joysticks you fabricated look fantastic! And I have seen firsthand what the originals go for so I completely understand! (If you can find them at all.)

Thanks. Yeah, dye for the black, not paint. I looked back and did mention painting. Good catch. I chose SEM ColorCoat as it's meant to handle/withstand heavy use, then doubled-down with a heavy clear coat.
 
Cool game but I could just never get into that movie. I'd watch MASH over that, and I hate MASH 😆

I hated MASH, too. I remember sitting there bored out of my mind watching it with my parents. I was ten years old when Krull came out, and I remember being super excited to see the movie, and desperately wanting a glaive of my own. I had to wait for it to show up on HBO a few years later and I taped it on VHS. The tape must have been old because the movie was totally unwatchable. All I remember is a red lava scene in the beginning that recorded so poorly I couldn't see what was happening, so I turned it off. To this day, I still haven't seen the rest of the movie. I don't feel like I really missed anything, though.
 
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