Pole Position cockpit artwork project complete!

TheShanMan

Well-known member

Donor 2011, 2024
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Messages
5,657
Reaction score
725
Location
Hillsboro, Oregon
Several people know I've been involved in reproducing the pole position cockpit artwork due to having none on mine (was converted to Road Riot 4wd and couldn't recover the original art under the hideous gray paint - see attached photo).

There was a localarcade image for this artwork but it was in quite a poor state when I got a hold of it. Seems it was created from a photo and/or auto-traced and/or hand drawn. But objects were way off, colors were way off, dimensions and overall shapes were way off, etc.

So it took probably 50 hours of my own time working on the vector image based on photos of original artwork (thanks phet!) and also quite a bit of help from Rich/rikitiki (thanks Rich!). It also included a lot of test prints on my home printer, taping them together, and taping the massive matrix of pages to my cabinet to determine what adjustments to make to get it to fit right (and it didn't come very close initially). Finally the image was complete. It's not a dead on reproduction but it's pretty dang close and IMO no one would be able to tell the difference unless studying it against the original side by side.

Rich was awesome enough to volunteer to help me on this project. He solvent inkjet printed it. By the estimates he gave me it took about 9 hours to print the 5 pieces! Then he came over to my house and basically installed it for me, giving me an in person lesson on installing side art. I'm thankful for that because I've never done side art before and this would have been a difficult and daunting cabinet to start with.

The end result was just incredible and I couldn't be happier about it. My game has been transformed from a turd to a gem.

This weekend I took the game to the Seattle show and got a ton of compliments on it, and I really enjoyed seeing it get a ton of play.

I don't think Rich has worked out pricing yet, but if anyone is interested in getting this artwork please contact me or Rich. I'm happy just to have this on my own cabinet, but if it can help anyone else out I'm thrilled to be able to do so.

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • 2010-01-08_ Picture 027.jpg
    2010-01-08_ Picture 027.jpg
    62 KB · Views: 99
  • IMG_1588.jpg
    IMG_1588.jpg
    91.1 KB · Views: 92
  • IMG_1589.jpg
    IMG_1589.jpg
    95.1 KB · Views: 89
  • 2011-06-01 Pole Position Arcade Project 001.jpg
    2011-06-01 Pole Position Arcade Project 001.jpg
    94.8 KB · Views: 863
The thing was a beauty at the show. IMO, it was almost a disservice to the game to put it in the farthest back corner of vid room.
 
That thing looked awsome at the show, like it had just rolled out of the Factory. Glad i got to meet you and pay a complement in person.
 
Several people know I've been involved in reproducing the pole position cockpit artwork due to having none on mine (was converted to Road Riot 4wd and couldn't recover the original art under the hideous gray paint - see attached photo).

There was a localarcade image for this artwork but it was in quite a poor state when I got a hold of it. Seems it was created from a photo and/or auto-traced and/or hand drawn. But objects were way off, colors were way off, dimensions and overall shapes were way off, etc.

So it took probably 50 hours of my own time working on the vector image based on photos of original artwork (thanks phet!) and also quite a bit of help from Rich/rikitiki (thanks Rich!). It also included a lot of test prints on my home printer, taping them together, and taping the massive matrix of pages to my cabinet to determine what adjustments to make to get it to fit right (and it didn't come very close initially). Finally the image was complete. It's not a dead on reproduction but it's pretty dang close and IMO no one would be able to tell the difference unless studying it against the original side by side.

Rich was awesome enough to volunteer to help me on this project. He solvent inkjet printed it. By the estimates he gave me it took about 9 hours to print the 5 pieces! Then he came over to my house and basically installed it for me, giving me an in person lesson on installing side art. I'm thankful for that because I've never done side art before and this would have been a difficult and daunting cabinet to start with.

The end result was just incredible and I couldn't be happier about it. My game has been transformed from a turd to a gem.

This weekend I took the game to the Seattle show and got a ton of compliments on it, and I really enjoyed seeing it get a ton of play.

I don't think Rich has worked out pricing yet, but if anyone is interested in getting this artwork please contact me or Rich. I'm happy just to have this on my own cabinet, but if it can help anyone else out I'm thrilled to be able to do so.

attachment.php

Finally!! Wow, looks great. Glad to have helped. I'll have to get me a set at some point.
 
That thing looked awsome at the show, like it had just rolled out of the Factory. Glad i got to meet you and pay a complement in person.

So glad you stopped me and introduced yourself. And to switch gears, I didn't see the Mouse Trap getting a lot of play so it was really nice to hear you enjoyed it and I heard from a couple other guys about it too.
 
So glad you stopped me and introduced yourself. And to switch gears, I didn't see the Mouse Trap getting a lot of play so it was really nice to hear you enjoyed it and I heard from a couple other guys about it too.

Thanks for bringing them, wished i could of talked to you more, but there is always next year.
 
the game looked awesome! it looked like brand new...when I walked around the corner and saw it my jaw dropped...I had to really control myself from running over to it full speed and diving into it...I noticed you guys hanging out so had to act casual about it ...I drove the wheels off the bad boy...crisp picture, controls were nuts on...OH Yea!...wanted to take it home soooo bad...you were there and when I bailed out of it you were gone, I tip my hat to you sir nicest PP cab I have ever seen.

B.
 
what an inspiration!
i have an upright in serious need of work
makes me want to build a cockpit instead just to put the artwork on it.
did you do the interior art/cp art as well ?
 
Looking closer though, I see that some of the geometric shapes are still the wrong colors. The trapezoid and triangle near the seat entrance should be orange, not red. Maybe they're different colors on either side though? Not sure, the pic I have of the same side you show is obscured by a chair.
 
the game looked awesome! it looked like brand new...when I walked around the corner and saw it my jaw dropped...I had to really control myself from running over to it full speed and diving into it...I noticed you guys hanging out so had to act casual about it ...I drove the wheels off the bad boy...crisp picture, controls were nuts on...OH Yea!...wanted to take it home soooo bad...you were there and when I bailed out of it you were gone, I tip my hat to you sir nicest PP cab I have ever seen.

Thanks! Yeah, rest assured this baby ain't for sale. Sadly, it did take a little bit of damage so I'm gonna have to have Rich reprint a piece. This really was the wrong cabinet to restore to mintyness and then bring to a show, but I loved seeing it get so much attention so that makes up for the extra work I have to do. But this game isn't going to leave my game room ever again. I learned my lesson on that one. Anyone who wants to see it in person though can always hit me up when they're in the Portland area though. :D

As for the picture, it was the beneficiary of a tube swap. I still need to size the picture better and IIRC I'm going to have to get a new width coil for it. But it wouldn't be right for the game to look this good and then have a crappy monitor with a lot of burn.

what an inspiration!
i have an upright in serious need of work
makes me want to build a cockpit instead just to put the artwork on it.
did you do the interior art/cp art as well ?

Thanks Andy! I did have to paint some of the interior (much of the vinyl was stripped off as you can see in that "before" picture I posted), I installed a new floor mat, I made the cardboard bezel by hand (turned out absolutely perfect), repaired 7 lock bar holes, but didn't have to deal with the interior artwork fortunately. I still need to restore the coin doors and pedal area and replace the top panel and back door as both have significant water damage and all I had time to do before the show was paint them.

The artwork is pretty much exact compared to the original:

Thanks phet. I never noticed your bezel in the pics you sent me (probably none were at that angle). You've got the original PP bezel which I don't think I've ever seen. Mine has the PP2. Yours matches the cabinet better than mine, although since I'm running PP2 I think overall I prefer having the PP2 bezel (has info on all 4 tracks printed on it).

Looking closer though, I see that some of the geometric shapes are still the wrong colors. The trapezoid and triangle near the seat entrance should be orange, not red. Maybe they're different colors on either side though? Not sure, the pic I have of the same side you show is obscured by a chair.

That's entirely possible. I did have trouble in some cases distinguishing between orange and red in your pics, whether due to fading, lighting, or both. I would be happy to correct any colors for future printings so please let me know about this or any other object after conclusively determining what is correct.
 
Wow, Shanman, that is a thing of beauty! Amazing job, it looks fantastic. The baby blue t-molding really makes it pop... Now I want to replace mine with the blue. How much t-molding does that cab take?
 
wow that PP cockpit looks amazing! A co-worker offered me a PP cockpit a little while ago and I passed. I sure regret that now heh.

Love seeing beautiful restored games! Bravo!

Tom
 
Looking closer though, I see that some of the geometric shapes are still the wrong colors. The trapezoid and triangle near the seat entrance should be orange, not red. Maybe they're different colors on either side though? Not sure, the pic I have of the same side you show is obscured by a chair.

my machine looks like a dark orange almost red. it is the same color as the triangle that is below the car on the front piece.

IMG050.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom