MK1 & MK2 Restorations!

Meph

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In the last few weeks I have managed to pickup both MK1 & MK2 cabinets, boards, marquees and started my projects. I brought the MK2 home first and started cleaning it all up. The switching power supply and the extra I brought home were both bad. Ended up picking up a Happ power Pro and that all works good now.

The artwork is pretty good on this cabinet so rather than replace it I am planning to just touch it up. The only problem with the art is the extra holes drilled in the control panel but I think Xenomorp is going to be able to help me out with that.

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The T-Molding and new controls will be here on Wednesday. New piece of plexi has been cut/drilled. My only real problem right now is that I have 2 non-working monitors and no experience repairing monitors.
 
Today I brought home my MK1 cabinet. This one will need a bit more work than the MK2 cab. I haven't tested anything out yet so I don't know what works. I do have a working MK1 board a bought a few weeks back and a nice marquee for it. Here is what i'm starting with.

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I am going to start stripping the paint tonight I hope and will see what condition the art is under it.
 
For the MK2 cab I did get a NOS Marquee and CPO. I am hoping I don't have to use the CPO just to cover those 2 holes since the CPO on my machine is practically mint. We will see.

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Broodwich pointed me to the black/colored instruction card which I sent to a local printer.

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And rather than using "moves" cards around the bezel like some others have I decided to make a poster that will go on the wall. Its 24"x36" but it might get a little bigger so I can add the special stuff on the bottom such as how to randomly select characters, how to get hidden characters like smoke, etc.

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Lastly, they really chopped up the original control panel on the MK1 so they could make it a Golden Tee. Since I am going to be making a new control panel and will need to get an overlay I am thinking about making my MK1 into a MK1 and UMK3. If I do that then I will end up using this overlay or something similar. I am trying to get a hold of the original file so I can have it printed. I like this overlay because it will fit the MK1 machine perfectly but has the extra button for run.

 
I decided to test out my stripping skills. I have done radio cabinets with lacquer before but never pain with vinyl under it. Came off easy as pie and the art under is very encouraging. This piece took about 10 minutes. I can move to larger areas now but I don't plan to do too much at once.

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mk2 is old news to me


but


the mk1 is looking good, imo do the edges last so you don't get a lot of white/fade. also try and get the CPO without the character pictures.
 
I will do the edges last, thanks. I wasn't sure if MK1 had the CPO without the character pics. My MK2 is without and I hate the one with. I will look around. Might have to make it myself if I can't find what I want.
 
I will do the edges last, thanks. I wasn't sure if MK1 had the CPO without the character pics. My MK2 is without and I hate the one with. I will look around. Might have to make it myself if I can't find what I want.

agreed i hate the character one as well, when i strip my cabs i use the citristrip full strength on a rag/paper towel and go over the edges and you'll get almost no white residue and no fading of the thin edge.

you should be able to do that entire cabinet and the control panel box with just a small bottle.


edit: oh and remove the t-molding that's on there so you won't get build up on the edge as well. (i know it was just a test spot just making sure you didn't forget).
 
Lucky bastard found one with good side art underneath?!? lol If you can't tell, I'm jealous. Dont get me wrong, I love mine with the art from Rich....but having found a good condition MK would be like opening the greatest present ever. If that present were covered in paint and had to be opened using citrus stip. :)

It's a shame about both those control panels. The street fighter I can kinda see, but the golden tee...somebody needs drug into the street and shot for that one.
 
Very cool to see two MK games getting restored.

Thought I would weigh in on one little "issue".

Be aware that if you go with the layout on that alt mk1 CPO, any purist that's actually into playing the MK series is going to be sorely disappointed.

While it DOES add the run button, it also adds a six button main area which is in the style of the Street Fighter series. In other words, you're going to have two middle block buttons...assuming you even hook them both up.

If you are going to go with a mod for run, you want a CPO with main buttons that look like a 5 on a die, and a run button to the bottom left.

Otherwise, if you get good at MK, and go to some place in the future with one, prepare to suck at pulling off any combos.

That CPO was created for folks Maming their cabs to play both MK and Street Fighter...and everything else on Hyperspin.
 
Yeah I was talking with Broodwich about the control panel last night. Somehow I was blinded when looking at it and thought it was 5+run not 6+run. I'm pretty good with graphic design but my wife does it for a living. I may end up just making one myself with the 5+run design. I don't plan to have any games in it other than MK1 and UMK3.
 
I am using 1 of my mk cabs for mame but i decided against that cpo because the mortal kombat logo is not the same and i want it to be as authentic as possible. Hoping this old game will help me out with a small edit once the control panel is done. I dont ned the run button but i would like 6 buttons across with there words on it. Hoping thats the one he is restoring. I happen to be lucky like you and found one with no fading, bought it off ebay for 200. Only needed minor touch ups. Good luck on the restoration.
 
What great finds - I hope the MK1 artwork was being protected by that paint and that the paint isn't hiding some horrible damage. I wish MK1 cabs were available in the UK. I've only ever seen one advertised on the Ebay servers in 8 years - Enjoy!
 
What great finds - I hope the MK1 artwork was being protected by that paint and that the paint isn't hiding some horrible damage. I wish MK1 cabs were available in the UK. I've only ever seen one advertised on the Ebay servers in 8 years - Enjoy!

This is where I ended last night. So far the artwork looks fantastic. The control panel box is a bit rough but it should be nice once I touch it up.

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mk2 is old news to me


but


the mk1 is looking good, imo do the edges last so you don't get a lot of white/fade. also try and get the CPO without the character pictures.
I'm confused...what do you mean by doing the edges last? I'm curious because I stripped the paint off my MK cab and didn't do that. I don't recall it causing any problems.

Edit: Can't resist sharing my cab....here's a comparison between the faded one I originally had and my current cab.

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Wow, what a difference. Did you guys have any problems getting little spots of paint off? I have little speckles of paint through out the cab that aren't coming off. I will take some close ups tonight before I finish up for the night to show you what I mean. I know they will come off but its going to be tedious I think.
 
Wow, what a difference. Did you guys have any problems getting little spots of paint off? I have little speckles of paint through out the cab that aren't coming off. I will take some close ups tonight before I finish up for the night to show you what I mean. I know they will come off but its going to be tedious I think.
The biggest problem I had was white areas of the artwork being softened up by the Citri Strip. I had to be careful and go back and clean the white areas with water and elbow grease after letting it settle back down from the Citri Strip. I was actually really lucky that whoever painted the cabinet used a really crappy paint and it came off without a lot of fuss.
 
When it comes to making you own panel for your MK1, it's not as hard as you'd think. I recently did it for my MK4 to MK3 conversion...

Got the control panel completely done! This was the final piece of the puzzle to complete the conversion.....


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Yeah this stuff is coming off but not without a lot of elbow grease. The painted this cab pretty good. Other than one spot you cant see the art through it and the paint is being very stubborn. I will win in the end but its work.
 
So you just routed out a spot for the dust washers to sit recessed and then put the CPO over it? Friction over time wont cause any problems with the CPO?
 
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