Temporary Overlay... What have you used?

mschwartz01

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So I'm finishing up my street fighter 2 control panel and I want to get it playable until I can get my hands on an overlay. Has anyne used anything as a "temporary overlay" in the past?

I looked around my local walmart and saw contact paper but it wasn't visually pleasing but cheap for a big roll.

I also found vinyl with adheisive made for the cricut machines that was a good size 24"x12" but I'm guessing it was thin vinyl.

Has anyone found something that had a little thickness to it that got you by until you had your real overlay?
 
I would mind the adhesive used, since you probably don't want a big job of re-prepping the CP...assuming you already cleaned it up. Your first idea, contact paper, seems good to me, since there's a HUGE variety (just look outside of Walmart) and it's designed to come up somewhat easily...at least compared to other products. It's a temporary overlay after all.

Check Home Depot & Amazon.com for lots of options. "Drawer liner" pulls up a ton of stuff on Amazon.
 
I was thinking, you might even be able to get by with a non-adhesive product by wrapping it around the back of the CP and taping it down. Buttons would hold the top from moving too much for a little while. Maybe...

Post up what you wind up doing, I'd be interested to see how it turns out.
 
I had to google that one, lol

That may work if I just do the top of the CP (without going over the bend)

How easy is that stuff to cut all of the holes out of?
 
just paint the panel black with appliance epoxy or I guess any black paint for that matter. You would generally do this to prep before applying a cpo any way. It will look nice enough plus be ready to apply the cpo when you get it. Also not sure which style machine you are going with but many of the fighting games I always saw had a layer of plexi over the cpo. Probably to protect them while on route but Painting black then cutting plexi to fit properly over the cp would also give it a finished look , make it ready to play and ready to go when the cpo arrives.
 
Well here was my attempt this evening...

Wanted to make my street fighter 2 playable...

Found all white contact paper at target ( it was either white or faux marble)

Put on 2 layers and put it all together...

Its playable but it isnt visually appealing...

I'm honestly debating on leaving it as is until I find as actual sf2 cut corner CP. This was my first attempt at modifying a metal control panel and I wish it was better. I don't think this one deserves an actual SF2 CPO...

Anyway here is a pic and honestly this pic does it justice... As you can see, the contact paper is so flimsy that I couldn't get it without wrinkles in a few spots. I also need to trim the edges up better...

IMG_20121027_010216.jpg
 
Stencil material and even cling vinyl work well. On top of original CPOs I use polypropeline.
 
This might sound weird, but I used some black vinyl left over from recovering a bar stool. My 60 in 1 cabinet had a wood CP so I just upholstered it. There are no graphics so it looks a bit plain, but the thicker material feels great to the touch!
 
I'm still gonna say you should pull off the contact paper and whatever is under it (looks like some of an old overlay) and properly sand and prep the panel and paint it black.
 
black 14" vinyl i got at a local vinyl and plastic shop years and years ago, it doesn't cover the entire panel in all cases but normally works well.
 
Go to JoAnn fabric and get black adhesive vinyl. It is sticky, but easy to remove. It is thick enough to where you wont get those wrinkles, too. I have been using it as a temoporary control panel cover for about a decade now. I guess I might just as well call it permanent.
 
Yeah, but then you'll just have to remove that adhesive. I say strip it down properly, get a nice even finish with a combination of wire wheels and sandpaper and spray paint it with primer and either satin black or glossy black. It's cheap, will look good, and all you'll have to do is wipe it down clean to apply a CPO. All of the vinyl options you're looking at will look pretty bad and just require more work later.
 
Go to JoAnn fabric and get black adhesive vinyl. It is sticky, but easy to remove. It is thick enough to where you wont get those wrinkles, too. I have been using it as a temoporary control panel cover for about a decade now. I guess I might just as well call it permanent.

So I went to JoAnn's today and they had never heard of adhesive vinyl... they had vinyl but it had a cloth backing.... felt like the stuff used to upolster diner booths...

Did I ask for the wrong thing?
 
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