Madaracs' Star Trek SOS Captain's Chair Restoration

Madaracs

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Madaracs' Star Trek SOS Captain's Chair Restoration

The human adventure is just beginning...

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I finally picked up my cabinet this weekend. As you can see... there are a few things wrong with it.

To name a few issues:

  • It is FILTHY and stinky. (Look at the full size images on the flickr set ---link at bottom---you can almost smell it yourself.)
  • All of the art work was stripped and a Choplifter "kit" was installed.
  • The rear artwork was replaced by a giant Sega sticker.
  • The sides were painted blue.
  • There was a huge rats nest under the seat. (No, not figuratively. It's real!)
  • I've got some swelling on the frame and on the lower supports for the monitor and chair.
  • No spinner
  • Original transformer under the seat is nasty, rusted and smells like pee.

Here's the good stuff:

  • Rubber mat looks to be in good shape albeit dirty and stinky. Totally cleanable.
  • I've got a full set of extra plastics - including speaker grills.
  • I've got a spare transformer and power supply (that needs to be rebuilt.)
  • Full PCB board set is nearly on it's way.
  • Wiring harness looks OK
  • Also got the G08 monitor and chassis that belongs in this machine. (sans smoked plexi shield)
  • Full extra front bezel--which I think is the original unmodified one with a start button on it?
  • Almost a complete set of metals for the entire cab. Hinges, vents, etc.
  • It looks like Chair artwork will be reproduced by ThisOldGame and on order. 3/26/2012
  • I'm going to have a lot of extra parts from the Choplifter. And the Choplifter board set looks to be in excellent condition. Very very clean.

First things first:
  • I'll be dismantling the beast this week, removing plastics, stripping paint and bringing the plastics to be buffed, cleaned, painted and have clear cote applied.
  • I'm going to send out a bunch of metal parts of to be sandblasted and powder coated.
  • I'm going to cap and reassemble the G08.
  • Going to pull the choplifter parts (bad Power Supply--and good board.) Pull the 19" Monitor (WG4921) horizontal mount chassis and it appears to be working.

Full Flickr Set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21068145@N06/sets/72157629326686190/

More to come...
 
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Nice score
It's always makes me happy to see another captains chair saved and brought back from an conversion.
At least you have the control panels for the arms and it doesn't look like they drilled any extra holes to mount the joystick. If you can not find the cockpit spinner you can use one from an upright. The only difference between the two is the PC board attached to the spinner. The cockpit version has the plug on the bottom and the upright has the plug off to the side. It makes it a little harder to fit into the arm but it can be done. The pin out for the plugs are the same.
The gray rubber floor mat will clean up real nice with a little elbow grease using a wire brush and Windex or other type cleaner.
 
Today:

  • Removed the WG4921 Monitor.
  • Removed the controls.
  • Removed the canopy.
  • Removed the plastics, washed and prepped them to bring to body shop.
  • Discovered that they painted over the orginal bezel with blue paint. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY would you wreck a perfectly good Star Trek? (Was able to find a used one that will work.)

Updated Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21068145@N06/sets/72157629326686190/

If you look at this photo of the bezel...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/21068145@N06/6879300514/in/set-72157629326686190

...at full size you can zoom in on the bottom and you will see Star Trek art under that blue paint.

I'm taking both sets of my plastics to be done up at the body shop. In one of the photos you'll note someone has scratched the Dead Kennedy's logo into the rear right panel. I almost want to keep that there, but it's going to get fixed and you'll never know it was there. There are dings and scratches in the other panels as well.

This thing was like a mouse castle. Found another nest inside the left arm. The palstics all cleaned up pretty nicely with soap and water.

The bolts for the control panel are pretty rusty. In fact one is completely wrecked. I'm going to be replacing those if I can. I might give them an acid bath and repaint the good ones.

I have to say, I'm impressed with Sega's design. It was very easy to pull the monitor. I think I'm going to paint the internal housing where the monitor sits with Kills.

Luckily I have four extra sides as well. The four that go under the plastics. In the photos you'll see some darkened wood. I'm not sure what it is but it was wet. Since it was a mouse castle, I'm not taking any chances and will pull them and replace. I suppose if the wood isn't swollen, I can paint the sides with Kills too.
 
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I love Choplifter and think it's a great game, but why does it always seem like those kits are used to brutalize the most classic of games? :(

I agree choplifter's not a bad game but the kit was also responsible for the demise of many Dragon's Lair's . Well I suppose it was mostly because the laser disc player failed and was to costly to replace and in the case of Star Trek I suppose it was due to the G08 monitor. I guess the Choplifter kit release was just in the right place at the right time but it still sucks.
 
I agree choplifter's not a bad game but the kit was also responsible for the demise of many Dragon's Lair's . Well I suppose it was mostly because the laser disc player failed and was to costly to replace and in the case of Star Trek I suppose it was due to the G08 monitor. I guess the Choplifter kit release was just in the right place at the right time but it still sucks.

Funspot NH has one in a MACH3 cockpit which looks funny as hell, although in their defense they've already got another complete and working M3 on the floor so I guess they had to do something with the other.
 
I have had two Choplifters ... and both were in MACH 3 cabinets.

Guess that was a pretty popular conversion!

Good luck with your project ... watching intently.

Steve
MM
 
This amuses (and saddens) me. :D The monitor that is in the machine was taken from a Dragon's Lair.

dragonslairtitles.jpg


The burn in on the monitor says:

1. Insert Coin
2. Select 1 or 2 players.
3. Use the joystick to control the movements of Dirk the Daring.
4. Press the Sword button to have Dirk use his sword.

DragonsLairInstructions.jpg


I agree choplifter's not a bad game but the kit was also responsible for the demise of many Dragon's Lair's . Well I suppose it was mostly because the laser disc player failed and was to costly to replace and in the case of Star Trek I suppose it was due to the G08 monitor. I guess the Choplifter kit release was just in the right place at the right time but it still sucks.
 
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Plastics are at the body shop for repainting. They're going to primer them, fill the gouges and scrapes (and Dead Kennedys logo) and sand where needed. They will be painted bright white and clear-cote will be applied. They should be more durable than when I took them in! And I can wax the thing to boot.

They're also going to to all of my metals too. Bringing them in this weekend.

Can't wait to get them back and show photos. My side-art is on the way so I'll store that flat for a few days before applying. More to come...
 
Thought I'd share this Q&A I had with Muel:

Muel said:
How is your Star Trek project going? Does the game actually work?

Unfortunately--or fortunately since I have to completely dismantle it--No. As you know, it was converted to a Choplifter. I did obtain two board sets (one tested fully working) so I'm confident that by the time I get the cap-kit done on the Electrohome (not using Bob's--there are some bottle-cap resistors that are not the right ones) and get the chassis back together, re-wire everything it should work. I'll bench test it first.

Muel said:
Did you also buy artwork from Rich?

2 Sets. I have two full sets of plastics. Both are being restored--I'm having a body shop do the work since they're so dinged and scratched. I thought about doing the Retrobright treatment but the sheen of the plastic has worn and a clear cote will look sexy when it's done. I'll sell one set when I'm done.

Muel said:
Mine ST:SOS cockpit is working again and now it is justr cosmetic work to be done.

I hear ya! I've got to gut my entire machine to rid the thing of mouse droppings and pee. I'm going to paint all of the wood with kills that is salvageable. Luckily I have many extra pieces... Including the four sides that hold the exterior plastics. (I have almost enough pieces to MAKE another cabinet! Including the top!)

Muel said:
Keep us posted!

I sure will. Thanks for the inquires and help on that bezel art again, man.

~~~~~

I was able to get most of the metals pulled last night. I'm pulling the rest tonight and then I have to decide if I'm going the powder coat or paint route on the black stuff.

All of the unpainted stuff I'm going to get sandblasted--maybe some things like the coin bucket I'll paint.
 
Ugh.

Updated Photos here. They start at the Control Panels with the Sega logo being pulled.

  • Stripped Sega Logo artwork off of the back of the chair.
  • Stripped overlays from Spinner and Button panels.
  • Pulled all metals except the coin-door (tomorrow)
  • Pulled the chair and the mats from the back section.
  • Scrubbed and cleaned the mats.

On the mats, I used a green scotch brite pad with dish soap and warm water first. Then I scrubbed them with some oxi-clean and finally some orange Zep. Afterward, I gave them a diluted bleach bath and rinse. Also when I pulled the aluminum trim it was in good shape. Looks like the aluminum weather stripping will buff up nicely.

Can I just say I hate how they built the damn base on this thing? Seriously WTF? It's stapled! The rest of the cabinet is very accessible via bolts and screws but NOoooooo--NOT the base. Beatches. I think I'm going to drill large doorknob holes in the bottom so I can suck out and nasties that have potentially nested in there. Then I'll staple screens to prevent any new ones from getting in.

Star Trek SOS, I hate myself for loving you.

Kirk: My friends, the great experiment: The Excelsior. Ready for trial runs.
Sulu: She's supposed to have transwarp drive.
Scotty: Aye, and if my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a wagon!


Maybe I should throw some wagon wheels on her too.

--updated URL to flickr--
 
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Actually..adding swivel castors to this game is a back and time saver if you ever need to move it.
 
Is there a link or tutorial to installing them? I don't want it too high off the floor and I'd want them to lock if I put wheels on it.

I just went to Lowes and picked out 8 castors that fit what I wanted. I used 8 to support both halves of the game.(4 on each half) I think they were 2in diameter... but this your game so really its up to you which size. Just remember they have to support the weight of the machine. Mine are non locking because my game is on a carpeted floor.
 
Going to pick up the plastics today. Man, do these look fanTAStic. (Will post pics later.)

Dropping Dropped off all metals to be sandblasted and painted.

Question: Does anyone know how to get the plexi-glass separated from the Sega branded plastic elbow piece that holds them both together? It's glued really tight. Both pieces of Plexi need to be reproduced because they have giant cracks in them.
 
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As you can see I have the machine stripped down to the decking. The wood was so warped and swollen I ended up using a planer to even it out. I'm using bondo to fill in the gaps. Hopefully in the next week (when the weather changes--had some awful luck with rain lately) then I'll be able to finish up the decking.

The plastics turned out brilliant.
 
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As you can see I have the machine stripped down to the decking. The wood was so warped and swollen I ended up using a planer to even it out. I'm using bondo to fill in the gaps. Hopefully in the next week (when the weather changes--had some awful luck with rain lately) then I'll be able to finish up the decking.

I had to do the same thing on my resto. I ended up rebuilding the corners with wood putty and bondo. then primer and black paint.

The CNC files you asked for are here:
Sega Star Trek CNC
Ofcourse; YMMV as I was unable to create mine from the CNC files. If you do get them made; please consider having the custom door made for me... I'd like to see how it comes out.

The ZIP contains an instruction PDF to explain how the file is laid out. And contains an alternate door to better venting for to help prevent G08 fires. It also contains fan "standoffs" to aid in noise suppression.
 
Wow! Those plastics DO look amazing!!

I think that I'm still going to try the retrobrite 1st on my ST:SOS cockpit...

...but DAMN! Those plastics of yours look like they just came from the factory!

I can't wait to see them with the new artwork on them!!!

-MUEL
 
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