Nothing like the first one...Double Dragon

Brick Top

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This is not a top notch show worthy Phet-type resto, but more of a story. I don't really think it belongs in a "showcase" but this seems the most appropriate sub-forum after reading the descriptions.

Just about a year ago, I picked up my first full-sized cabinet. Of course I had no idea what I was getting into. I had read about 60-1 JAMMA boards and I was sure that if I had a vertical JAMMA cab and one of those I would be in heaven.

I bought the first JAMMA cab with a vertical monitor I could find on the local CL. At the time, it housed SNK Bermuda Triangle. Sorry I took no pics back then, but you can imagine it, sides painted black, paper bezel, laminated paper marquee, red t-molding, generic Technos CPO.

I 60-1'd it and was happy for about a week or two. I made another cab into the multigame and used this one to switch out different JAMMA boards, the drawer in the bottom makes it a pretty good cab for that. I had Rastan, Double Dragon, NBA JAM, Klax, and a few others.

Here it was masquerading as NBA JAM..

CIMG1025%20%28Large%29.JPG


Time went by and I decided I wanted to cosmetically bring it back closer to what it originally was. Thanks to KLOV and it's members, I found a Marquee, a CPO, and finally a bezel. Got rid of the whorish red t-molding and voilla..

CIMG1554%20%28Large%29.JPG


I will probably swap the comp sticks with some original ball tops, and if you ask about all the buttons, well sorry, but its doing duty as my modded XBOX rig. Runs MAME and a crapload of other emus. Wiring is still all JAMMA, and can be swapped back to dedicated DD in a second.

Now do I dare try to remove the black paint on the sides to see what is underneath? I have seen the original Taito art when the light hits it just right.

one more pic for fun..

CIMG1552%20%28Large%29.JPG
 
Cool. I am restoring a Double Dragon right now. Best part? The cab sides are all original and 95% perfect, so I only need to piece mine together. I love these cabs. Mine had zero wiring and zero parts, just a shell. Yours looks good, but I would try some safe strip or citristrip on the sides. Paint should come right off, revealing the hopefully intact grey, black, white and red screened vinyl underneath.
 
Well as far as removing the paint on the sides, what have you got to lose? You can always paint it black again if it doesn't turn out. Just my 2 cents but congrats on your work on the cab. Double Dragon is an awesome game and a great JAMMA cab for swapping boards. :)
 
I picked up some citristrip just for this purpose. No guts no glory right?

And like supergun says, I can always paint it black again!

Thanks guys for the comments, and Phet, I cant wait to see yours when it is finished.
 
Very cool, Jordan. The only fighter that I actually played and liked in the arcades (not that I was good at it). Looking good!
 
Thanks for the kind words Jeff, things have gone a bit downhill now..

I started stripping the sides with citristrip. The art is under there and looking pretty decent. Mad amount of work though! This was my first time with the citristrip. I have used other strippers before, but it was always stripping stuff down to bare metal.

I think I screwed up and left the stuff on for too long. I ended up with a whitish hard dried up mess that wont easily scrape off. I ended up using a scrub brush with soap and water and plenty of elbow grease to get the crap off there. I scrubbed for hours and in some places the vinyl has lifted and bubbled. I will not give up though. I am going to do the best I can anyway! Re-application of the strip and scraping it off before the stuff dries seems to be the ticket.

I made a huge mess all over the place too. Next time I need to move the game out into a more open area and lay down some big ass drop cloths.

Maybe once it is all cleaned up I can hit the bubbles with some heat and try to make them shrink. Or slice them and spray some 3M adhesive and glue it back down. Oh well I have plenty of stripping to do before that happens.

If anyone has tips on dealing with dried citristrip, and/or lifted vinyl I would love to hear them.

PS DD was the first game I ever "finished" on 0.25 in the arcade. Well not arcade, but Handi-Mart to be exact.
 
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So, I decided to have another go at it a few nights ago. This time in a larger area, giving myself plenty of time, laying the cabinet down on its side, and without distraction.

This is after about 6 hours of work over the course of 3 nights. Multiple applications of Citristrip, various scrapings, towelings, and scrubbings. I think we might get somewhere with this one. I won't say its fun or easy, but it has some reward.

IMAGE_173.jpg
 
So, I decided to have another go at it a few nights ago. This time in a larger area, giving myself plenty of time, laying the cabinet down on its side, and without distraction.

This is after about 6 hours of work over the course of 3 nights. Multiple applications of Citristrip, various scrapings, towelings, and scrubbings. I think we might get somewhere with this one. I won't say its fun or easy, but it has some reward.

IMAGE_173.jpg
It's definitely not easy to do. I've tried on a couple of vinyl cabs, including a Double Dragon, and couldn't get the paint off without damage to original art. There definitely seems to be an art to it.
 
I've had good luck with this stuff taking off paint and not eating the vinyl
 

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