Latest acquisition - Quantum project

[joeycuda]

well, the melamine is particle core. Atari used straight particle board, with what i assume to be a heat or pressure (or both) applied film. I can find nothing like it available where i am at. Prok found something he called black film mdf where he's at in florida, and said it's a dead on match to the smooth finish on Galaga. that's also about the same finish on the atari cabs, except for the white sides. Replacement art would fix that. It's alot easier to make new strips to hold it together than sniping off all those staples too.

I think the melamine particle core board looks great, but I worry about the particle board being more susceptible to dings and chips. Doing the cabinet and applying the art is a one shot thing, so I want to make sure. If using birch ply, the only place it would be apparent would be the back (exposed) edges of the side and top panels.

I made these MC cabaret side panels, using matte black Formica on the insides, which is overkill I know, but they're rock solid. With the plywood slightly undersized, they're just right for 3/4 t-molding.

 

[mcandrewsoun]

Might be savable..

My Gravitar cab was in almost exactly that condition. I used a chisel to "carve" the edges back to flat, then bondo/spot putty to get it smooth. I used several 320+ grits to get it feathered into the vinyl, and was able to get a decent gloss white that looks very close to original.

Good luck!
Andrew

 

[EclipseEye]

Very nice, thanks for posting - it will be a nice project.

I am very interested in seeing your build. I am planning on building a Space Duel replica cab for my ZVG Multi-Vector project.

Im just not sure what to use for the materials? Particle board, plywood or MDF??

 

[chas010]

Awesome game would love a project one at some point also. My money is on the pesky avg chip.

 

[ifkz]

I had to do a similar restoration on my first game, Centipede. It's original cab was just like this, only stripped bare of the side art. I had to find a donor cab and move everything over.

I am glad to see that you are taking this project on, the game will reward you in the end, no matter what it costs you in dollars and cents. I hope this is a keeper for you.

I'd like another experienced rebuilder/collector to answer this: could you peel the side art and front art off and then re-apply it on the new cab? (ie save everything you can from it that is original)

Either way, good decision to make a new cab, that particle board is not saveable, and probably smells. I'm looking forward to progress with this, my new favorite thread.

 

[joeycuda]

I had to do a similar restoration on my first game, Centipede. It's original cab was just like this, only stripped bare of the side art. I had to find a donor cab and move everything over.

I am glad to see that you are taking this project on, the game will reward you in the end, no matter what it costs you in dollars and cents. I hope this is a keeper for you.

I'd like another experienced rebuilder/collector to answer this: could you peel the side art and front art off and then re-apply it on the new cab? (ie save everything you can from it that is original)

Either way, good decision to make a new cab, that particle board is not saveable, and probably smells. I'm looking forward to progress with this, my new favorite thread.

That Atari vinyl art is laminated to the particle board pretty well. It's not coming off. Fortunately, Phoenixarcade is doing a run of sideart, pretty amazing that's it happening. I'm sure it will be great stuff and it will allow me to build a replica cabinet.

I got the speaker grilles from Takeman. I'll use those instead of the originals, but I'll probably use the original marquee and bezel brackets and resell the ones I got, as well as the repro metal control panel.

I think Quantum is a really interesting/neat game, from what I've seen and played in MAME, or else I wouldn't be interested. The rarity is attractive, but I want to own a Quantum for the gameplay and the design/art.

 

[EclipseEye]

I think Quantum is a really interesting/neat game, from what I've seen and played in MAME, or else I wouldn't be interested. The rarity is attractive, but I want to own a Quantum for the gameplay and the design/art.

I agree, its a great addictive game, reminds me of Qix for some reason.

 

[JeffC]

Great pick-up. Definitely a worthwhile restoration regardless of the cabinet condition.

And please bag up that PCB! It's the toughest part to get; seeing in the back of the truck is making me nervous.

Congrats and good luck with the project.

 

[DPtwiz]

you know Joey, i have been thinking about your restore. Here's the best solution i could come up with for originality. Get a really nice Gravitar or black widow, and swap over all the Quantum specific pieces, including the panel with the serial. Would definately be authentic in material and construction, then make a new cab for the less rare machine.

 

[joeycuda]

you know Joey, i have been thinking about your restore. Here's the best solution i could come up with for originality. Get a really nice Gravitar or black widow, and swap over all the Quantum specific pieces, including the panel with the serial. Would definately be authentic in material and construction, then make a new cab for the less rare machine.

That's a good idea, and it would work..and one could swap the upper back panel to keep the numbers right.

Only negative I can see is that you'd then have 2 games instead of one with technically unoriginal cabinets. Yeah, that's getting super anal, but thought I'd mention it.

I have a Gravitar cabinet that's slightly less swollen, but again, would never look really good. I got it mainly to copy and make a Quantum cabinet, but I do have the harness, boardset, found a marquee, have a spare 6100, so figure I'll build a Gravitar one day. Really, I just need a control panel for it (and a new cabinet).

I've actually thought about pulling double duty and building 2 of every panel, except of course where the 2 cabinets are different. Eventually maybe someone can print Gravitar art, even if inkjet. I do the Quantum cabinet with Darin's sideart, then a Gravitar cabinet with no sideart.

The more I think about it, black adhesive vinyl on particle board would be the closest in terms of available materials and methods, but really, it's not the original cabinet. As much as a replica should be exact, it's still a replica, so it should allow for some very slight changes, as long as it looks fairly authentic and all of the dimensions are exact. I'm not crazy about the melamine particle board, for fear of chipping or dings later. It looks really close to the heat laminated stuff they used, but not exactly. The adhesive vinyl looks closest to me, but due to relying on the adhesive, I'm a bit worried about wear and peeling on the t-molding edges later. Matte black formica of course isn't 'correct', yet looks VERY close to me and has superior wear properties, even if way overdoing it.

 

[chris25810]

I wouldn't sweat the details of originality on this one. You have a rare game that's complete and if you have to make a new cab for it, so what. If you plan on restoring it with all new art, powder coating etc. it's no longer original anyway but it still doesn't take away the rarity of the rest of the parts. Make it look new and beautiful but most of all be glad that you own something that many will never find.

 

[joeycuda]

I wouldn't sweat the details of originality on this one. You have a rare game that's complete and if you have to make a new cab for it, so what. If you plan on restoring it with all new art, powder coating etc. it's no longer original anyway but it still doesn't take away the rarity of the rest of the parts. Make it look new and beautiful but most of all be glad that you own something that many will never find.

Thanks for the advice. I sometimes think, in terms of building or woodworking, there are many ways, then there's a best way. I want to find that best way. I'll finish my Missile Command cabaret rebuild before I start on this, so I should have some more experience by then with laminate vs vinyl.

I do agree that once you do an extensive restoration, especially a new cabinet, it's no longer truly original, so it does lose something. I'll just make the cabinet looks as authentic and 'new' as possible.

 

[dezbaz]

Pretty cool find there

Great internals.

Looking forward to this one

 

[DPtwiz]

it does lose something heh... the swell and the smell!!

 

[OregonPacman]

Too bad the cabinet is in such a sad state. A rare bird indeed.

 

[cleverlyj]

Too bad the cabinet is in such a sad state. A rare bird indeed.

agreed, but still a cool find. so what is the story behind all the water damage? seeing the rust on the keys and what not, looks like it was in a very humid environment. either way, great pickup! it's definitely worth the project.

 

[joeycuda]

agreed, but still a cool find. so what is the story behind all the water damage? seeing the rust on the keys and what not, looks like it was in a very humid environment. either way, great pickup! it's definitely worth the project.

I don't know much, but do know that the building this game and others were in was in sad shape, roof leaking on games, and many ended up getting busted up. Sucks that games, cars, etc.. will just sit for years until ruined or nearly ruined by neglect. No telling how many rare games rotted away in barns and sheds.

 

[mrbill2084]

I wouldn't sweat the details of originality on this one. You have a rare game that's complete and if you have to make a new cab for it, so what. If you plan on restoring it with all new art, powder coating etc. it's no longer original anyway but it still doesn't take away the rarity of the rest of the parts. Make it look new and beautiful but most of all be glad that you own something that many will never find.

I think if you ever plan to sell it, you will notice a big difference. I would bet you could get a decent converted quantum cab delivered to you for $1k. Drop the parts into it and you have a $3500 game.

If you repro the cab, put new art on it. I think the most you could get for it is $2k.

Another way to look at it, you got $1500+ is quantum parts there.. You can sell the parts, buy a zvg, buy a space duel and pocket about $500..

 

[chris25810]

I think if you ever plan to sell it, you will notice a big difference. I would bet you could get a decent converted quantum cab delivered to you for $1k. Drop the parts into it and you have a $3500 game.

If you repro the cab, put new art on it. I think the most you could get for it is $2k.

Another way to look at it, you got $1500+ is quantum parts there.. You can sell the parts, buy a zvg, buy a space duel and pocket about $500..

Good way of looking at it Bill but why after spending alot of time and money to clean up/refresh all the parts would you put all that nice stuff in a shitty converted cabinet? Building or restoring one of these is going to be out of the park expensive(ask me, i know) and the last thing i'd want to look forward to after cleaning up all that mess is spending another 50 hours on a converted cabinet that i just spent $1000 on. The return on this type of project comes down to the quality of the restoration, there will be people that will only accept a true original and pay a high premium and there will be plenty of others that that will pay a premium for the attention to detail in a well documented restoration even if the cabinet is a repro. I'll go on record and say that i have sold several games and have legitimate offers on some of my current games that are well beyond any figures i've ever seen mentioned here. Attention to detail and lots of pictures will get the return you're looking for should you ever decide to sell. You won't get it here though!

 

[joeycuda]

Good way of looking at it Bill but why after spending alot of time and money to clean up/refresh all the parts would you put all that nice stuff in a shitty converted cabinet? Building or restoring one of these is going to be out of the park expensive(ask me, i know) and the last thing i'd want to look forward to after cleaning up all that mess is spending another 50 hours on a converted cabinet that i just spent $1000 on. The return on this type of project comes down to the quality of the restoration, there will be people that will only accept a true original and pay a high premium and there will be plenty of others that that will pay a premium for the attention to detail in a restoration even if the cabinet is a repro.

I have to agree, and I can see it both ways. I know there are some converted cabinets out there, but how many are super clean with no swelling AND for sale? I doubt many. In my experience, Atari (particle board) cabinets are usually either really nice or swollen. Sometimes the swelling is just from humidity, as it's not really localized.

Since all the numbers match, but the cabinet is shitty, I might as well keep the parts intact, but have a new cabinet and make use of the art Darin is running. While I'm very aware of what I am spending, I'm not thinking a whole lot about how much I could resell for someday. Who knows, even the prices on the Atari vectors may be in the crapper by then! My motivation for an accurate and acceptable replica cabinet is driven more by me wanting perfection and something to look at than what it will be worth.