Red Tent Red Powder Coat Questions: Part One

nerdygrrl

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A question for those of you that have done the powder coating route with your red tents.

What powder brand/color did you use for the top and how did you achieve the original texture?

What did you do regarding the hinges, and plastic wire wraps inside?

I have seen a number of restoration threads where the cabs have been powder coated, but not much more detailed info regarding the powder used, etc.

I have these guys minus the locks broken down, not sure what sized socket I will need for the lock nuts on those. It's looking like a 20-21M and am hoping to have them sent off to get blasted and coated ASAP.

I need to wait on the base as I am still missing coin boxes.

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To each his own...but I've restored 2 Red Tents and I don't think powder-coating is the right thing to do for 3 reasons:

1. The original paint from factory wasn't really that great to begin with. It was just a single layer of paint for both the red and the black. The original sprayed paint just wasn't that nice to begin with. Powder coating is just going to look "too nice", IMO.

2. You are going to spend a fortune getting it powder-coated and you will never get your money back on that. I know restoring these games is not all about the money but you will dumping FAR more money into it than red tents are even worth these days.

3. I doubt you will get a powder-coater to match that "hammered" finish on the red. And if you can, I bet it's going to cost even MORE. I'd rather match the texture with a rattle can than have smooth red with powder coat. The hammered texture of the red was pretty unique and iconic to the red tent. That's more important to me than anything else.

Close up shot of the texture I was able to achieve with nothing but a rattle-can.
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Agree with TheYeti.👌
I restored one years back and am bamboozled why everyone powdercoats Nintendo cocktails. It's not the factory finish. 🤷‍♂️ It looks especially jarring on the brown cocktails. 😩

Plus you can't powdercoat over most body fillers, so it shows every single dent and imperfection and crusty spot. As an ex-blacksmith I'm pretty competent with a hammer & dolly and still struggle to get anything smoothed out enough for powdercoating. Body filler + a painted hammer finish will be a lot more forgiving.

And you can easily touch up paint if you nik it during reassembly. Can't do that with powdercoating.

Your Playchoice resto is looking great!
You'll get the Red Tent back to it's glory too! 🎪
 
To each his own...but I've restored 2 Red Tents and I don't think powder-coating is the right thing to do for 3 reasons:

1. The original pain from factory wasn't really that great to begin with. It was just a single layer of paint for both the red and the black. The original sprayed paint just wasn't' that nice to begin with. Powder coating is just going to look "too nice", IMO.

2. You are going to spend a fortune getting it powder-coated and you will never get your money back on that. I know restoring these games is not all about the money but you will dumping FAR more money into it than red tents are even worth these days.

3. I doubt you will get a powder-coater to match that "hammered" finish on the red. And if you can, I bet it's going to cost even MORE. I'd rather match the texture with a rattle can than have smooth red with powder coat. The hammered texture of the red was pretty unique and iconic to the red tent. That's more important to me than anything else.

Close up shot of the texture I was able to achieve with nothing but a rattle-can.
View attachment 861542

Absolutely stunning. Thank you for taking the time to respond and for providing such an amazing and detailed oriented restoration thread.
Agree with TheYeti.👌
I restored one years back and am bamboozled why everyone powdercoats Nintendo cocktails. It's not the factory finish. 🤷‍♂️ It looks especially jarring on the brown cocktails. 😩

Plus you can't powdercoat over most body fillers, so it shows every single dent and imperfection and crusty spot. As an ex-blacksmith I'm pretty competent with a hammer & dolly and still struggle to get anything smoothed out enough for powdercoating. Body filler + a painted hammer finish will be a lot more forgiving.

And you can easily touch up paint if you nik it during reassembly. Can't do that with powdercoating.

Your Playchoice resto is looking great!
You'll get the Red Tent back to it's glory too! 🎪

It seems painting is the way. Sadly for me it is not a skill set that I excel at and winter has taken hold up here in ME. I guess I'll get these hoods as cleaned up as best as I can and circle back on this in the spring unless I can find a heated garage to get some painting in.

Thank you both for your input. I want to do this correctly.
 
Personally I like a game with character so I'd buff them out and just enjoy it! 🙃

You did great with your Playchoice tho so if you decide to do a full resto on the red tent I'm sure it'll turn out great! 😃

Luckily red tent hoods look good with a lil orange peel so it's a good machine to practice on. 😅

You've got this!!! 💯
 
Personally I like a game with character so I'd buff them out and just enjoy it! 🙃

You did great with your Playchoice tho so if you decide to do a full resto on the red tent I'm sure it'll turn out great! 😃

Luckily red tent hoods look good with a lil orange peel so it's a good machine to practice on. 😅

You've got this!!! 💯

If it wasn't for the amount or rust and well mouse debris I might have left them alone. There was/is no way to do that. They will continue to deteriorate. The rust will continue to spread, the mouse urine...well that was a health hazard.
 
I guess I'll be the voice to endorse powder coating then. Agreed, to each their own, but I fricking love my powder-coated Red Tent and would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a no-brainer for me, especially since mine was converted to a Neo Geo. Used a hammer/dolly set to get all of the major dents and dings out and then called around for quotes, since this was my first dive into powder coating. I got quotes that went as high as $2000 and in the end, found a local shop that did the entire project (including sandblasting) for a mere $225 which is ridiculously cheap. To sand, bondo, paint the entire thing would be far more expensive when factoring in my time so it was an easy confirmation. No prep work needed. No sanding, no filling. Just drop the pieces off. Easy peasy.


I don't remember the exact code/name of the powder, but the top had a hammer finish as well as the black bottom. Reason for the textured black was simply to hide some of the imperfections since the base was pretty rough even after flattening and getting the dents out. It worked well and it's nice and smooth to the touch. I love it.

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To me, finding a good powder coater is like finding a good mechanic. When you find one and develop that good relationship, it's priceless. The local guy I use now is awesome and he takes on all sorts of one-off, oddball jobs. He's a retired engineer and does it as a little side business. I just hope he keeps with it for years and years to come. You can't take anything for granted these days.


Old restoration thread: https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/red-tent-restoration.327091/
 
Damn $225?!! 😯
Yeah go with his guy 😅

Yeah, and the crazy thing is they originally gave me an estimate of $350 so it wound up even cheaper. I had a ton of stuff powdercoated by that shop over the years before they closed down. It was around that time, that I found my local guy, Doug, who's pretty awesome. The issue with a lot of the bigger shops is that they don't take smaller, one-offs like these arcade projects so that's one of the caveats when searching for a powdercoater.
 
I guess I'll be the voice to endorse powder coating then. Agreed, to each their own, but I fricking love my powder-coated Red Tent and would do it again in a heartbeat. It was a no-brainer for me, especially since mine was converted to a Neo Geo. Used a hammer/dolly set to get all of the major dents and dings out and then called around for quotes, since this was my first dive into powder coating. I got quotes that went as high as $2000 and in the end, found a local shop that did the entire project (including sandblasting) for a mere $225 which is ridiculously cheap. To sand, bondo, paint the entire thing would be far more expensive when factoring in my time so it was an easy confirmation. No prep work needed. No sanding, no filling. Just drop the pieces off. Easy peasy.


I don't remember the exact code/name of the powder, but the top had a hammer finish as well as the black bottom. Reason for the textured black was simply to hide some of the imperfections since the base was pretty rough even after flattening and getting the dents out. It worked well and it's nice and smooth to the touch. I love it.

View attachment 861602


To me, finding a good powder coater is like finding a good mechanic. When you find one and develop that good relationship, it's priceless. The local guy I use now is awesome and he takes on all sorts of one-off, oddball jobs. He's a retired engineer and does it as a little side business. I just hope he keeps with it for years and years to come. You can't take anything for granted these days.


Old restoration thread: https://forums.arcade-museum.com/threads/red-tent-restoration.327091/


I have a really great sand blasting and powder coat hookup back in MA. They charge me like $10 to sandblast and $25 to powder coat a coin door. They would do an entire set of pinball armor for me for $150.

I figure this job would be in the $500 range which I am ok with because as you said time, but for me also execution. I am not a good painter. I was also under the assumption that the OG's had been powder coated which is what confused me when I saw the wire ties in there covered in red.
 
I sandblasted mine and painted and couldn't be happier. You can use a hammered paint to get the textured look prior to spraying the red. I have a local powdercoat guy that does all my coin doors and metal parts for my pin/vid restorations, and he was still quoting a "bro" price of $500.
 

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I sandblasted mine and painted and couldn't be happier. You can use a hammered paint to get the textured look prior to spraying the red. I have a local powdercoat guy that does all my coin doors and metal parts for my pin/vid restorations, and he was still quoting a "bro" price of $500.

That is gorgeous.
 
Thanks - I don't think you can really go wrong either way (paint vs powdercoat). Definitely excited to watch your restoration journey :)
 
To each his own...but I've restored 2 Red Tents and I don't think powder-coating is the right thing to do for 3 reasons:

1. The original pain from factory wasn't really that great to begin with. It was just a single layer of paint for both the red and the black. The original sprayed paint just wasn't' that nice to begin with. Powder coating is just going to look "too nice", IMO.

2. You are going to spend a fortune getting it powder-coated and you will never get your money back on that. I know restoring these games is not all about the money but you will dumping FAR more money into it than red tents are even worth these days.

3. I doubt you will get a powder-coater to match that "hammered" finish on the red. And if you can, I bet it's going to cost even MORE. I'd rather match the texture with a rattle can than have smooth red with powder coat. The hammered texture of the red was pretty unique and iconic to the red tent. That's more important to me than anything else.

Close up shot of the texture I was able to achieve with nothing but a rattle-can.
View attachment 861542
This! I restored 3 tents myself and the original paint job was so pathetic that even a not-so-handy finance geek like me was able to handle a few coats of high end spray paint.

IMG_2768.jpg
 
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This! I restored 3 tents myself and the original paint job was so pathetic that even a non-handy finance geek like myself was able to handle a few coats of high end spray paint.

View attachment 861624

You really haven't seen my painting abilities or should I say lack there of. I am terrible, rolling, rattle cans, spray gun...I have friends who are very accomplished in this area and we have been through all of the tips and tricks, I cannot execute it for the life of me.

All of that being said, it does seem like painting is the way to go on this. So I will figure it out.

I can't thank everyone enough for commenting and sharing your amazing looking cabs.
 
I did powder coat, loved it so very very much. I can't remember the name of the red, but my powder coater showed my a bunch of samples which I compared to the original and one was nearly spot on.

As for texture, I just didn't worry about it. And, this may be controversial, but I never missed it or thought about it again. The fresh paint was such an improvement I just didn't care.
 
I haven't done any red tents but I've done coin doors and what I've found works best is to get a paintable rocker guard spray from an autoparts place. Clean up the metal as best you can (I sand blast if it's bad, but I have a sandblast cabinet), then spray an even coat or 2 of the rocker guard. This will give you a (usually black) textured surface that you can then paint red.
 
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