This Capcom Big Blue wasn't made for Bowlin; it's a Fighter!

Brosiedon

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This Capcom Big Blue wasn't made for Bowlin; it's a Fighter!

I'm slow; incredibly slow. Too many projects, too many hobbies. I realized the other day that it has been almost a year since I started this thing and I still haven't finished it.

But here I am, I apologize in advance if any of the pictures just come out ridiculous, my phone takes crazy big photos and it becomes fun resizing them all. Also, I am going to admit that this is my first cabinet fix (I'm not sure if I would call it a restore). So I have been learning as I go. And boy have I learned a lot.

I give you my SF2 - Hyper Fight/ Marvel vs Capcom 2 Big Blue Project:

I got this cabinet as a trade from a friend who picked it up with another complete cabinet. Between the two of us we saved it from the dump. It had been converted to a bowling game and then mostly stripped out. Through a series of purchases I was able to get a working Naomi - Marvel vs Capcom 2 setup, and working Hyper Fight boardset. And so the cabinet's future had been decided, seeing as this is cabinet #77 of SF2-CE according to Dynamo's tag.

First came stripping the cabinet and its black paint. This went smoothly, but unfortunately as you can see, someone had decide to chop the cabinet short to run a shorter marquee...or fit it into a moving truck I guess.

I'm not much of a wood worker but I had some particle board lying around, so I drew out some "wings" for the top based on the edges I already had and whipped up a new top for it.
 

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Continued...

Top fixed, it was time to fix the damage to the bottom. Two of the bottom corners received heavy bondo treatment, and I completely scrapped the feet setup on the bottom (inserts were trash) for a nice new set of shiny feet and supports.

After plenty of sanding, I made what I believe to be my greatest mistake thus far, roller painting. I wasn't able to find a suitable spot for a spray setup, and for whatever reason new vinyl sides just didn't sit well with me. So, thinking I had done my research I chose to go with some durable Sherwin Williams oil paint and roll it. I had them close match the marquee light panel and proceeding to apply my primer.

It looked good; until I realized how bumpy it still was even with a foam roller. I sanded some more and hoped for the best on the blue top coat. The result in general was disappointing. I believe it looks nice, but there is texture...and the paint just has not been as durable as I expected it to be. In the future, I will likely apply car vinyl to it as I have seen here elsewhere.

At this point the cabinet got to come inside, and enjoy its new space. It was at this point that progress has really slowed down, and I hope will pick back up over the summer.

- I have done some work on the K7400 25" I have for this guy but I am still
troubleshooting it. Purely my knowledge of circuit boards here.
- The control panel had a ton of extra holes in it. I borrowed a friend's welder, but
my welding didn't meet my expectations. Panel looks alright but could use a repro. Would
recommend a Jb Weld option for next time.
- Artwork for SF2- CE has been bought and just needs to be applied. Assuming I can
accept the texture from the rolling.
- Have new IL joysticks and buttons for the control panel (red, white, and blue of course),
just sorting out my wiring to get the Naomi and CPS1 setup working.
 

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To get it really smooth you have to do several round of painting (primer) and sanding, start int at 220 and going up, on each coat you put on. Two coats of primer with 3 round of sanding, 2-3 coats of paint with 4 round of sanding, using 2000 grit at the end. Final sanding should be done wet.

It's a pain in the balls to do but the result is incredible if you can't spray it.
 
Nice save! Big Blues are the Cadillac of arcade games, good to see you keeping this one alive.

The Big Blue factory finish isn't smooth - it has texture. Most fighter cabs aren't Nintendo smooth.

I usually go one coat of primer then block sand. If it's reasonably smooth (all depends on if you needed bondo or not) I'll move ahead if not go for a second coat and block again until smooth. Then I usually do 2 top coats with a foam mini roller with light sanding in between, but I don't kill myself.
 
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