Questions re Vinyl Sideart Installation

derSturm

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First, kudos to Rikitiki for his thread "Side Art Installation 101". Great instruction. I wouldn't be inclined to have posted this thread without it, for, before it, I knew nothing of applying vinyl to an arcade cabinet but fear. And now I'm ready to go for it.

Went to thisoldgame.com and ordered the new Mortal Kombat side vinyl. MK is one of the machines I own that I consider to be for sale. I picked it up in a package deal for a really low cost, never really wanting it in the first place. The only things keeping it from being an A+ are a monitor that needs recap'd and that the side art is faded from light exposure. Considering that I bought it from a bowling alley it's ridiculous how few scratches there are, let alone dings. It's nearly immaculate on the outside, except for the faded side panels.

So here are my questions:

In order to get great results applying this new vinyl side art how much prep work should I be prepared to do? Should I, as if preparing to paint a cab, strip it, sand it, prime it, sand it, prime it, sand it... or can I just scrub down the sides to clean and smooth (maybe lightly sanding it out by hand to smooth it)? Or should I do the strip, sand, prime, sand, prime, thing and then paint it?

[OK, so actually that's just one question; and so this whole thread is wrongly titled.]

I just spent $200 as an investment toward raising the resale value of this machine (and to get some practice with vinyl before taking on something more sacred, like Spy Hunter). I want to get the best results possible.
 
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Vinyl is VERY thin so you need to make the surface as clean as possible or it will show through.
 
Will the picture underneath show through? (Granted, if the vinyl is placed PERFECTLY it would be superimposed on the old image, but that's a big IF.) Or is it just that anything with depth like dirt will show through? Is the vinyl, sans the backing, translucent or opaque?
 
The vinyl itself is opaque enough its printed on a 3m that has a "blockout" backing.

But did you see the MK art video?
It shows where he put it on top of the orginal art and you can see the "bump" from the orginal printing.

I didnt cover this in the video before hand. But Prepping the cab is EVERYTHING.

For the Food Fight, and the cab I show in the vinyl installs
The cab was sanded, patched and filled where needed.
Primed (2coats), sanding between each.
I use OILBASED white Kiltz.
 
I can't stress what Rich says enough. Prep the cab sides as if you were painting them only and NOT installing artwork. They need to be perfectly smooth - no pits, no flecks, no dings, no lines. EVERYTHING will show through the vinyl.
 
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